The Secret Life of Money: Enduring Tales of Debt, Wealth, Happiness, Greed, and Charity

by Tad Crawford

Overview

The Secret Life of Money leads readers on a fascinating journey to uncover the sources of our monetary desires. By understanding why money has the power to obsess us, we gain the power to end destructive patterns and discover riches of the soul. Midas who can turn all to gold, fishermen who will not share their catch, Dorothy and her companions on the golden road to the Emerald City, Scrooge who cannot give, the hunter who shares not only food but also debt, money that falls from the skies, buried treasures that can be spiritual wealth or be stolen, how debt can be like inheritance, the symbolism of the bulls and bears of Wall Street, the all-seeing eye on the back of the dollar bill—all these and many other stories and myths from around the world are given delightful retellings and searching analyses in The Secret Life of Money.

Chapters include The Many Forms of Money: Understanding Its Symbolic Value; The Almighty Dollar: Why Money Is So Easily Worshipped; Money and Sacrifice: When Money Feels More Important Than Life; Hoarding Money: Why the Life Energy of Misers Is Stolen; The Source of Riches: Gaining a New Understanding of Supply; Inheritance: The Actual andSymbolic Wealth of Our Parents; Indebtedness: How the Debtor’s Tower Connects Earth to Heaven; Changing Symbols: Money, Credit Cards, and Banks; Bulls and Bears: How the Stock Market Reflects the Renewing Cycles of Life.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621538042
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	01/18/2022
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	1,102,987
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Tad Crawford is the author of many nonfiction books and his writing has appeared in venues such as Art in America, the Café Irreal, Confrontation, Communication Arts, Family Circle, Glamour, Guernica, the Nation, and Writer's Digest. The founder and publisher of Allworth Press, he lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

2022 Introduction ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 The Many Forms of Money: Understanding Its Symbolic Value 1

Chapter 2 The Almighty Dollar: Why Money Is So Easily Worshipped 19

Chapter 3 Money and Sacrifice: When Money Feels More Important Than Life 42

Chapter 4 Hoarding Money: Why the Life Energy of Misers Is Stolen 69

Chapter 5 The Source of Riches: Gaining a New Understanding of Supply 100

Chapter 6 Inheritance: The Actual and Symbolic Wealth of Our Parents 123

Chapter 7 Indebtedness: How the Debtors Tower Connects Earth to Heaven 155

Chapter 8 Changing Symbols: Money, Credit Cards, and Banks 194

Chapter 9 Bulls and Bears: How the Stock Market Reflects the Renewing Cycles of Life 224

Epilogue 243

Notes 255

Selected Bibliography 273

Index 277

About the Author 289

Acknowledgments 291

What People are Saying About This

Joe Dominguez

"The Secret Life of Money is an absorbing exploration into the history and nature of money." (Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, authors of Your Money or Your Life)

Jacob Needleman

"An insightful examination of the kind of cultural lore we all need in order to discover a new attitude toward money." (Jacob Needleman, author of Money and the Meaning of Life)

L. William Seidman

"The Secret Life of Money showcases Tad Crawford's ability to tell a good story, make a point, and weave it all around the history of money. This book will surprise you with how much you can learn in such a pleasant way." (L. William Seidman, author of Full Faith and Credit and Chief, Commentator on CNBC-TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Secret Life of Money is an absorbing exploration into the history and nature of money.”
—Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, authors of Your Money or Your Life
 
“The Secret Life of Money showcases Tad Crawford's ability to tell a good story, make a point, and weave it all around the history of money. This book will surprise you with how much you can learn in such a pleasant way.”
—L. William Seidman, author of Full Faith and Credit
 
“Tad Crawford has written an ingenious and instructive book that explores the hidden meaning of money in our psychological, emotional, and communal lives.  Drawing on myth and history, folklore and folk tales, anthropology and Jungian psychology, Mr. Crawford takes his readers on a quest to discover what money means at the deepest level of the psyche. The Secret Life of Money is not a book that will make you rich, but it may make you wise.”
—Peter Baida, author of Poor Richard's Legacy: American Business Values from Benjamin Franklin to Donald Trump
 
“An insightful examination of the kind of cultural lore we all need in order to discover a new attitude toward money.”
—Jacob Needleman, author of Money and the Meaning of Life

“Indebted in equal measures to Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and sundry classic tales (e.g., The Wizard of Oz) . . . the book should enlighten those who tend to view money only in the most literal terms.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In this illuminating and captivating book, Crawford relates myths and stories from various cultures throughout history that illustrate money’s hidden nature . . . Crawford’s discussion leads us to understand what money is and how it functions in our minds and histories.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This fascinating account reads like a novel and contains the information of a small encyclopedia. . . .Crawford’s style is anecdotal and easy reading, yet his subject matter is so powerful it borders on the taboo. The Secret Life of Money will lead readers on a spiraling journey into their own psyches, revealing monetary desires and fears.”
—Whole Life Times

“The Secret Life of Money is a captivating book in which Crawford explores myths and stories about money and the power it has always held over people. . . . It will lead readers on a fascinating journey to uncover the sources of their monetary desires and reveal how they can free themselves from the powerful obsession with money that can control their lives.”
—Common Ground

“If you want to learn more about the psychological and spiritual effects of money in our lives and throughout history, Crawford can offer compelling insight. . . . He is an excellent weaver of tales, and his compelling style makes this book fascinating reading. From ancient myths to modern illustrations, Crawford reveals the ways in which money can impact our lives both for good and for evil.”
—Small Press

“We can change our relationship with money by ‘spending’ a little time getting to know why we have the attitude we do have about it. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt frustrated with their boring and unimaginative relationship with the almighty dollar.”
—Infinitum
 

From the Publisher

Tad Crawford believes that money speaks to us of 'our ability to be fruitful in the world.' This book is a fascinating read that unspools this subject as it relates to self-understanding, inner riches, relationship, and community."

Values & Visions Mag

This study of money by the president of Allworth Press in New York City appears indebted in equal measures to Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and sundry classic tales (e.g., The Wizard of Oz). After dispensing with the standard economic definition of money as a medium of exchange, which must be freely accepted, offer a measuring device to evaluate goods and services and exist in a storable form, Crawford considers money's deeper symbolism and concludes that it represents life forces, especially fertility; money serves us, in other words, as a kind of energy. Crawford analyzes sacrifice, hoarding, inheritance, debt, credit cards, the stock market and the society of consumerism, tying all to his central thesis. Readers may observe strain in Crawford's close analysis of classical tales in economic terms, but the book should also enlighten those who tend to view money only in the most literal terms. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Crawford, an attorney and author specializing in issues related to the visual arts, observes that individuals often become mistakenly preoccupied with the accumulation of physical wealth by pursuing the things that money represents rather than seeking inner harmony independent of physical wealth. He draws from literature and mythology to support his personal conviction that monetary wealth lies in the perfection of individual talents and abilities. There are some interesting historical facts about the origin of coins and paper money, but Crawford's literary interpretations tend to be subjective. Ultimately, this book is more suitable to self-help collections than business collections.-Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Academy Lib., West Point, N.Y.

Library Journal