Caroline Myss - Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential

Anatomy of the Spirit
Why People Dont Heal and How They Can
The Creation of Health (with C. Norman Shealy, M.D.)
AIDSThe Passageway to Transformation (with C. Norman Shealy, M.D.)

CAROLINE MYSS WEBSITE

www.myss.com. The website contains many Caroline Myss products
and links to related products as well as her On Line Salon.

AVAILABLE ON AUDIOCASSETTE OR
CD FROM SOUNDS TRUE MEDIA

Energy Anatomy
Advanced Energy Anatomy
Spiritual PowerSpiritual Practice
The Caroline Myss Audio Collection
Anatomy of the Spirit
Spiritual Madness
Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them
Why People Dont Heal and How They Can
Sacred Contracts
Why People Dont Heal
The Science of Medical Intuition

Available from Hay House: Healing with Spirit

AVAILABLE ON VIDEO

The Energetics of Healing (Sounds True Media)
Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them (PBS: Wellspring Media)
Why People Dont Heal and How They Can (PBS: Wellspring Media)
Exploring the Anatomy of the Spirit (Penny Price Media)

SEMINARS ON CD , AUDIOCASSETTE , OR VIDEOCASSETTE
AVAILABLE AT WWW.MYSS.COM

The Fundamentals of Spiritual Alchemy
Exploring Our Divine Biology Archetype
Archetypes and Sacred Contracts
Building Your Energetic Currency
Exploring the Archetypes
Seven Paths to Understanding
The Biology of Prayer
Invoking the Sacred

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Henry Holt and Company, LLC, and the Random House Group Ltd (U.K.) for the following material: Trial by Existence by Robert Frost from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem, published by Henry Holt and Company and Jonathan Cape. Copyright 1969 by Henry Holt and Company. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC, and Random House Group Ltd. (U.K.).

Copyright 2002, 2003 by Caroline Myss
Artwork copyright property of Colleen Daley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.
Member of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com

Three Rivers Press and the Tugboat design are
registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Harmony Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2002.

Design by Barbara Balch

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Myss, Caroline M.
Sacred contracts : awakening your divine potential / Caroline Myss.
1. Self-actualization (Psychology) 2. Goal (Psychology)
3. Archetype (Psychology) I. Title.
BF637.S4 M97 2001

158.1dc21 2001039486

eISBN: 978-1-4000-4686-7

v3.1

For my father and my brother Joseph
my family in Heaven

I could not have written this book had it not been for the unfailing support of Peter Occhiogrosso. A superb author and scholar of world religions, Peter provided me with his support both as a writer and as a vast resource of information. Consolidating workshop research that I had gathered for fifteen years while creating an archetypal tool for personal inner work became an undertaking that required a mind mate, and Peter was that person for me. His constant support as a professional, and his emotional support as a dear friend, became a spiritual resource that I came to depend on through every month of the journey of birthing this book. I can never thank him enough.

Leslie Meredith, my brilliantly talented editor and loving friend, guided this text with her genius, insight, and ever-present lead pencil. I have never known an individual as gifted with guiding the incarnation of another persons vision as Les is, and no gift is more generous. She is a master of editorial tough love, and I have come to rely on every thread of her skill for the creation and completion of all of my books, this one most of all. Once again, without her, this book could not have been written. Les is one of the dearest Sacred Contracts that Heaven has provided for me.

My gratitude flows abundantly to Ned Leavitt, my agent, who has been one of the guardians of my work since we began our partnership years ago. I also thank Linda Loewenthal, my editorial director, and Chip Gibson, my publisher, for their continual faith in this project. To Clarissa Pinkola Ests, my dearest Madrina, my love and thanks for always being available to me through every phone call with her boundless, warm, and caring heart and generous jewels of wisdom and guidance. My love and appreciation for Donald Meshirer cannot be measured. His love and devotion got me through every difficult moment of this project. My love and gratitude go to Penny Simon, a forever friend who also happens to be one of the most dedicated publicists that an author could have on her team.

C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., has been my professional colleague and loving friend for seventeen years. Through him I refined my skill as a medical intuitive, and for the past nine years he has worked with me in the classroom, teaching this material to students. I can never describe how much Norm has helped me in my work. His commitment to bringing the vision of Sacred Contracts to fruition was, for me, like having a backup spinal cord. He provided to this book his natural genius for generating original ideas and insights. His energy for long hours in the classroom and his dedication as a brilliant teacher have inspired thousands of students to pursue the depth of their Sacred Contracts. I will never have another creative companion in my life like Norm. My Contract with him is truly larger than this life.

There are so many other people who all deserve my gratitude. My dearest friend, Mary Neville, has helped me construct every stage of my professional life. Her loving support as a friend and her guidance as a professional is a constant inspiration to me. I owe her a debt of gratitude that words cannot communicate. To Judy Haskett, my assistant, my deepest love and gratitude for holding down the fort. To David Smith, my business partner and wise friend, my lasting thanks for contributing his creative genius to my endeavors. And to my cousin Colleen Daley who did an exceptional job of artistically crafting all the illustrations in this bookthanks, cousin.

The list of personal friends who have contributed their help along the way is a long one indeed. I especially thank Jim Curtan for being the consultant on identifying archetypes in films. His former career as a manager to actors was invaluable. My thanks to Lynn Bell and Chandra Sammons for helping me amass information on fairy tales and myths. I also want to thank Ron Roth and Paul Funfsinn for the grace they contribute to my life and to my work. To Michael Gluck, all my love for your endearing companionship and constant outpouring of love and optimism. To you, I am so lovingly grateful. And to my dear friend Peter Shaw, my love and gratitude to you for years of generous support of my work and of our friendship.