An audio production of 'Gifts of Depression', a chapter in Thomas Moore’s classic book, Care of the Soul. Gifts of Depression includes Moore's discussion of how in ancient times, melancholy was associated with the Roman God, Saturn, who represented the gifts of wisdom, age, experience, and self-reflection. Moore further describes how Saturn is also known as “the reaper, god of the harvest, patron of end-time.” For such reasons, those of us in the grips of depression may find ourselves wrestling at times with thoughts of our past, our mortality, and even Hamlet’s primal lament, “To be or not to be. That is the question.” Moore writes, “When we speak clinically of depression, we think of an emotional or behavioral condition, but when we imagine depression as a visitation by Saturn, then many qualities of his world come into view: the need for isolation, the coagulation of fantasy, the distilling of memory, and accommodation with death, to name only a few.”
If we do not shrink from it, a saturnine encounter can also provide us with a rich opportunity to connect with our own inner creativity on a deeper level. Consider the image of depression as a hole, a tunnel, a cave, or a well. If we peer long enough into this darkness, and do our own work, we will eventually find a light in that darkness - a pathway out, but we must first gather our courage to explore it.
According to the World Health Organization, over 300 million people suffer from depression globally, including 16.2 million in the United States, which equates to 6.7% of all adults. So what is Moore suggesting exactly? How might depression be a gift? Produced and narrated by Vincent Bagnall (46:47)