This Jungian Life Podcast
Join us—Lisa, Deb, and Joseph—for sometimes irreverent but potentially life-changing conversations. Every Thursday, we explore culture, relationships, and depth psychology through the lens of Carl Jung. We devote a segment of each episode to analyzing a listener’s dream.
Episodes
The Princess Who Changed Her Fate: How to Negotiate with Destiny
The fairy tale of the Princess Who Changed her Fate enacts what Jung tells us will happen when we remain unconscious of an inner situation: it happens outside us, as fate.Just as the princess in the story finds her unruly “fate” tearing up cloth and smashing her generous host’s dishes, we may find that our unclaimed shadow wreaks havoc at work and in our relationships.Yet this is a hopeful story.
Inner Life, Outer World: The Psychology of Adaptation
Adaptation is a bread-and-butter concept in psychotherapy - can we accept, adjust to, and thrive in the outer and inner worlds we live in? Given constraints, what does it take to find life at least meaningful, hopefully satisfying--and flourish? This week Jungian analyst and author JOHN R. WHITE, Ph.D. joins us to circumambulate the complexities of adaptation. Successful adaptation involves making
Lindsay Clancy & Maternal Infanticide: An Archetypal Perspective
Lindsay Clancy has brought renewed attention to the horror of infanticide: babies and children dying at the hands of their mother. Infanticide has taken place for millennia, most often due to social pressures or lack of the resources needed to raise a child. Human collectives around the world remain ill-equipped to protect our youngest by providing support to mothers in material or emotional distr
Goblins, Demons and Goddesses: A Conversation at the Edge of AI
OpenAI recently had to explain to frightened users why their models kept introducing goblins and gremlins into otherwise humdrum conversations. Is it possible that archetypes are emerging through the field of collective knowledge amassed by large language models (LLMs)?This week neuropsychiatrist TOM POLLAK Ph.D joins us to discuss AI, archetypes and psychotherapy. It is perhaps unsurprising that
The Psychology of Magic: A Jungian Exploration
Magic can be viewed as intentional engagement with what Jung called synchronicity. It is closely related to a mythological worldview, which recognizes a grand narrative supraordinate to everyday life. Although we cannot know it in its entirety, it opens the possibility of encountering a deeper reality and quality of knowing. We experience it as magic.In this week’s episode we explore esoteric ritu
In Search of the Wild Man: Befriending Bigfoot
The wild man is an enduring archetypal figure worldwide, from Enkidu in Gilgamesh, to the Greek god Pan (worshipped in glens and woods), the Green Man in England, and Bigfoot and the Sasquatch in the US. Today’s guest, Jungian analyst Mike Box, has long-standing interest in this archetype and in male psychology, reflected in the 8-foot wild man statue he keeps in his waiting room. The archetype of
Jung vs. Borg: Staying Human in the Age of AI
Are we living through a tech-driven collapse of the ecology of mind? In his new book, Jung vs. Borg, author, psychologist and Jungian scholar GLEN SLATER Ph.D suggests that industrial disruption of the outer world is now being followed by a post-industrial disruption of the inner world. Yet, there is hope. Much depends on our capacity to remain conscious of the effect each stage of innovation has
Ritual: Finding the Center in a Turning World
As we confront the turbulence of rapid change, technological dehumanization, and cultural polarization, how do we reconnect to being and meaning? Best-selling author BRUCE FEILER returns us to ritual: world-wide, time-honored ways for people to come home to themselves, their communities, and the sacred. Ritual returns us to unity.Rituals use symbols to move and shape psychic energy for a group and
Carl Jung in Basel: A Walking Tour
Happy Birthday to Carl Gustav Jung! To celebrate, we're sharing Lisa's walking tour of Basel with Jungian Analyst and author Kathrin Shaeppi. Last year, she visited Jung's hometown in Basel, Switzerland, visiting his childhood home, school, and more. Peer into the beginnings of Jung's life and join us as we retrace his steps through the city and learn about some of his most formati
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Power Without Wisdom
The tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a gripping story about loss of control and the timeless warning to be careful what you wish for. It sets out the archetypal theme of a magical shortcut that promises to bypass the difficult labor life asks of us. Such tempting shortcuts inevitably land us in trouble.The Sorcerer's Apprentice story goes back nearly two thousand years. In the tale of Euc
The Odyssey: A Jungian Journey Home
The Odyssey (the subject of a new Christopher Nolan film released on the same day as this episode), is the ancient Greek epic attributed to Homer and one of the foundational works of Western literature. This week, Jungian analyst ROBERT SHEAVLY joins Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart for a Jungian exploration of The Odyssey.For Jungians, the Odyssey models a process of returning to the Self, offe
Prayer and the Psyche: A Jungian Exploration
Throughout human history, prayer has been a constant. Jung referred to it as “not only one of the most original but also the most frequent means to change the condition of mind”.This week Jungian analyst ROBERT SHEAVLY joins Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart for a Jungian exploration of prayer. Everyone at some point in their lives will pray (even if we do not call it that). When we reach out for
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Individuation: A Jungian Reading of the Declaration of Independence
America’s Declaration of Independence has profoundly influenced the development of democracy and democratic movements all over the world, with its bold assertion:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This week Jungian analyst
The Descent: A Jungian Exploration of the Underworld
In every culture and every religion, we find the concept of the underworld: sometimes located underground, and usually understood as a final destination after death. This week, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart circumambulate the notion of the underworld and what it means for us psychologically. James Hillman’s Dreams and the Underworld offers a guide, linking our dreaming life t
The Absent Father: Jung and the Missing Masculine
A father who is unavailable - whether due to untimely death, a demanding job, family breakup, or simply an inability to step up and meet his children’s needs - may deprive his children of the emotional bedrock they require. They can struggle to access their capacity for aggression and creativity, or to build the self-esteem necessary for successful adult relationships. As many fairy tales show us,
The Cry of Merlin: A Jungian Approach to the Wizard
Merlin, the mythical prophet, magician, and kingmaker of medieval legend, has lived in the Western imagination for centuries. Arthurian legend gives us more than the idealized government of the Round Table and the hero’s valiant quest for the Holy Grail—it also gives us Merlin’s darkness and power: sorcery, communion with nature, and the prospect of achieving our aims through shadowy transgression
Working with Short Dreams and Fragments
This week, to mark the publication in paperback of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart interpret a selection of short dreams sent in by listeners. Many of us dismiss short dreams or fragments of dreams as unworthy of our time. We await the arrival of epic, cinematic dreams, while perhaps overlooking the gold that can be found in mor
The Devouring Mother: Facing Archetypal Darkness
Every archetype has a dual aspect: light and dark, and ‘mother’ as devouring and destructive is the dark side of this ever-present, over-arching archetype. The mother’s life-giving, bright aspect is counterbalanced by her engulfing, attacking aspect. The devouring mother is present across cultures in myth, fairy tale, religion, and literature, and most of us have at least had glimpses of her in ou
Coniunctio: The Alchemy of Union
In this final episode of our series on Jungian alchemy, we explore coniunctio, the union of opposites that gives rise to new wholeness.There are many ways in which we might encounter coniunctio in outer life. We might fall in love, form a partnership, or undertake transformative work with a psychotherapist. In some meaningful, mysterious way, two become one, giving us incremental tastes of transfo
Desirous Dreams: Our Private Erotic Encounters
Erotic dreams are extremely common. We may experience them as pleasurable, exciting and moving, or as disturbing and upsetting. It can be hard to talk about erotic dreams, even in therapy, as they insist on attending to secret satisfactions and shames.There is relatively little written on the subject from a Jungian perspective, so this week we dive in and discuss how to work with your erotic dream
Jung and the End of the World: Can Depth Psychology Save Us?
In his new book, The End of the World, author and psychoanalyst JON MILLS considers the question of why humanity seems bent on self-destruction.We face famine, climate change, obscene wealth disparities, and threats of global war and nuclear annihilation. Yet the majority of us seem to prefer living either in denial, or in irrational, active opposition to reading the writing on the wall.This week
Dark Forces in the Psyche: Our Self-Destructive Impulses
Why is it that we sometimes fail to rise to life’s most important challenges? Why do we instead procrastinate, withdraw, self-sabotage, or feel unable to move toward the life we want?This week, at a listener’s suggestion, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart explore the concept of anti-libidinal forces in the psyche: those self-destructive impulses that oppose growth, pleasure, and
Psyche in the Age of AI
Our lives have already been altered by rapidly expanding access to artificial intelligence (AI). In this week’s episode, we consider how this latest technological revolution might be reshaping the human psyche. Hosts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart are joined by a special guest, the author and Jungian analyst Christina Becker, to explore the psychological impact of AI’s incursion into our work,
The Labyrinth: Soul’s Winding Journey
The labyrinth is a powerful metaphor for psychological development and the path of individuation.This week Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart consider how twists and turns in the path of life (especially in early adulthood), ask us to confront uncertainty, anxiety, and the unknown. Ego may crave a straight, well-planned path, but life inevitably offers something else: a fiendishly
LOW ENERGY: Where Can We Source the Drive to Take Action? (Re-Publish)
Many people just can’t rally to do what’s necessary and improve their lives. Is it possible they just don’t carry much vitality, or is some inner conflict blocking their access? We share personal stories of ‘energy loss’ and offer insights into purposelessness.Carl Jung tells us inner energy flows according to its own laws, but if we can’t harness it? Expect to learn why some people are naturally
A Jungian Sense of Place: Bollingen and The Tower on the Marsh
Carl Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz and Christiana Morgan all dedicated time, soul and imagination to a peculiarly Jungian form of architecture: the stone tower. This week host Deborah Stewart is joined by Dr. Martin Gledhill, an architect, author and Jungian scholar, and filmmaker Hilary Morgan, the granddaughter of Christiana Morgan, an eminent American psychologist who collaborated with Jung on s
The Age of Aquarius: A Jungian View of a Changing World
Jung suggested in Aion that humanity is moving from the great symbolic Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. Join Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano, Deborah Stewart and Joseph Lee, as we ask what it means to live through the turbulence and vitality of this period of transition. Jung pioneered the idea that human consciousness unfolds in great symbolic ages. The shift from one to the next is not a sm
Cassandra: A Jungian Interpretation
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a Trojan princess and priestess of Apollo who was given the gift of true prophecy, along with the curse that no one would ever believe her. She warned the Trojans not to bring the famous wooden horse inside their city walls, but her prophecy was ignored and the city fell.In this episode, we discuss the psychological meaning of the Cassandra story from a Jungian pe
Chance Encounters: When Life Calls Us to a New Path
Chance encounters can change the whole direction of our lives. A casual chat with a stranger at the bank, a book that beckons to you from the shelf, or a last-minute lunch invitation might lead to transformative consequences. This week, join Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano, Joseph Lee and Deborah Stewart as we circumambulate the phenomenon of the chance encounter. For Jungians, these moments are m
COAGULATIO: The Alchemy of Settling Down
COAGULATIO marks the psychological moment when possibility takes shape. Uncertainty recedes as we commit to our choices, and life slows and “thickens” into stable commitments and a predictable path.Join Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Joseph Lee as we continue our exploration of Jung’s alchemical stages. This week, we discuss the concept of coagulatio, or the solidifying of what was once liqui
Why You Dream of Intruders: The Hidden Meaning of Break-In Dreams
Intruder dreams stage a boundary crisis: something arrives without the ego’s consent, and the dreamer wakes with fear, shame, or outrage. Join Jungian analysts Joseph Lee, Deborah Stewart, and Lisa Marchiano as we analyze a selection of vivid listener-submitted dreams about intruders. We begin with the word itself, “intrusion,” asking how a visitor can feel deeply unwelcome, but at the same time c
Dissociation as Design: Why the Mind Sometimes Lets Go
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Pierre Janet’s term abaissement du niveau mental describes an experience so common we barely notice it: fatigue, highway hypnosis, shock, wool-gathering, or monotony lowers the threshold of consciousness, and then images, memories, and impulses press forward. Jung found this idea useful for understanding threshold conditions that interfere
The Outsider at the Gate: Are We Lovable When Persona Washes Away?
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea” is a parable about seeing beneath the surface. It shows us that our authentic nature can be detected, whether we’re swathed in status or rags, if we’re offered the opportunity. A prince’s search for happiness fails when it’s driven by lordly criteria. A wild storm heralds change and deli
"What Do I Owe My Hurtful Parents?" Is The Wrong Question! Do This Instead!
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!In the aftermath of the holidays, many people find themselves facing an old question in a new stage of life: what does an adult child owe aging parents, especially when the relationship was full of criticism, absence, harm, or disappointment? The pressure to visit, to host, to reconcile, or to perform affection can feel like a moral demand
Corruption Starts Inside You: Why Malignant Certainty Makes You Dangerous!
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!In this episode, Joseph, Lisa, and Deb explain why Corruption is not only a political problem, but a human one, why Power breaks trust long before it breaks laws, and why the most dangerous people are often the most certain. They reveal the core mechanism behind Corruption and Inflation: when unconscious drives flood the ego, making someon
How Did I Become a Statistic?
Jung wrote “The Undiscovered Self” in 1957, opening with “What will the future bring?”, as the Cold War, the Iron Curtain, and nuclear weapons gained enough momentum to threaten survival. He argued that mass-mindedness, amplified by state power, corporate bureaucracy, and scientific rationalism, reduces people to statistics, numbs conscience, and makes evil all the easier to project.When instituti
How to Stop Hiding After Trauma (Starting Today)
You're invited to our free Dreams for Change seminar on Sunday January 18th. Sign up here.*****If you have been through betrayal or loss, you may still be living by a terrible rule you made when in pain.It can look like hiding, overworking, numbing out, or letting people cross lines because being unseen feels safer. This episode uses the fairy tale “All-Kinds-of-Fur” to help you identify your su
Purpose as Service to a Self-Led Future
You're invited to our free Dreams for Change seminar on Sunday January 18th. Sign up here.*****Modernity promotes endless techniques to optimize goal-setting and productivity. Yet most of us race from one task to the next, telling our friends how busy we are, secretly knowing we lack direction. This conversation defines Self-led purpose as an orientation to a future beyond our ego needs. This
Can Angels Survive in a Disenchanted World?
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Angels persist in dreams, scripture, and art, while modern institutions psychologize them into coincidences or flatten them into greeting cards. In this episode, we explore angels as autonomous psychic facts, reimagined from age to age but always carrying meaning across the unconscious threshold to the ego’s surprise and benefit. When we l
Santa and Krampus: Why the “Nice List” Needs a Shadow
✨ The Gift of Dreamwork: Join This Jungian Life Dream School with 10% off from now until December 31st. Just use code HOLIDAY2025 when you purchase Dream School for yourself or as a gift. Learn more and enroll. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Santa Claus persists as a central figure who teaches children that their desires can be understood and met, on the condition of good behavior. The Christma
Alchemical Mortificatio: How to Survive the Wintering of Your Life
✨ The Gift of Dreamwork: Join This Jungian Life Dream School with 10% off from now until December 31st. Just use code HOLIDAY2025 when you purchase Dream School for yourself or as a gift. Learn more and enroll. -----------------------------------------------------Mortificatio is an alchemical term for the moment a life-organizing identity collapses. We might call it burnout, divorce, depress
How to Work with Denial: A Jungian Guide to Facing Reality
✨ The Gift of Dreamwork: Join This Jungian Life Dream School with 10% off from now until December 31st. Just use code HOLIDAY2025 when you purchase Dream School for yourself or as a gift. Learn more and enroll. -----------------------------------------------------People often mistake denial for stubbornness, self-deception, or moral failure. Denial is actually a primal psychological defense th
Have We Ever Really Read Jung? Sonu Shamdasani on the Collected Works Crisis
✨ The Gift of Dreamwork: Join This Jungian Life Dream School with 10% off from now until December 31st. Just use code HOLIDAY2025 when you purchase Dream School for yourself or as a gift. Learn more and enroll. -----------------------------------------------------Jung’s translator and editor for the English edition of his Collected Works took it upon himself to alter more than 60% of Jung’s idea
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Is My Wanderlust Related To My Mother Complex?](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/42272409/42272409-1764694802164-25b14d2371ce9.jpg)
[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Is My Wanderlust Related To My Mother Complex?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"I'm wondering if you can talk about the issue of place: the ability to settle down somewhere, and how this could relate to a mother complex."Support This Jungian Life on Patreon and ask Lisa, Deb, and Joseph your questions for a chance to have them answered on Jung Love.
Gratitude and Reverence: How to Lead a Sacred, Soulful Life
✨ The Gift of Dreamwork: Join This Jungian Life Dream School with ten percent off from now until the 31st of December. Just use code HOLIDAY2025 when you purchase Dream School for yourself or as a gift. Learn more and enroll. -----------------------------------------------------A Jungian Look at Gratitude (and Why It Usually Arrives Late)Have you ever suddenly realized, “I never really thanked the
Signs Contempt Is Ruining Your Relationship & Ways to Cope
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Contempt feels like a gut punch. It’s a cold, distancing act that devalues a person even as it avoids solving a real problem. The contemptuous are full of shame, fear, or hurt, so they recreate those feelings in others to evade their own issues. Unlike anger (which tries to correct an injustice), disgust (which avoids what feels contamina
SEPARATIO: The Alchemical Secret That Ends Confusion
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Alchemical separatio is the skill of sorting out your mind. You separate what belongs to you—your complexes, habitual triggers, and painful memories--from what is happening in the world around you. In the laboratory of your life, you separate present triggers from older wounds, and literal facts from symbolic meanings. This is part of your
LUCID DREAMING: How to Make the Most of a Magical Opportunity
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Lucid dreaming is an interesting ego state when we are dreaming and regain full self-awareness. Being awake in the dream world can be useful, but imposing a rigid agenda can undermine the Dream Maker’s attempts to educate and help us. Each dream is crafted to incrementally expand our awareness and acceptance of unconscious factors we need
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Should I Marry My First and Only Partner?](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/42272409/42272409-1762302286580-6fcb2ff1c7ec.jpg)
[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Should I Marry My First and Only Partner?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"My fiancé and I have known each other since we were 17. Neither one of us has really ever dated anyone else. We're both 29 now and due to be married in October. I love him, and he's my best friend, but I find as our wedding date gets closer, I'm having second thoughts.I'm about to commit myself to
Shadow, Evil, and Individuation: Jung’s View of the Devil
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!The devil archetype carries three qualities: it promotes bestial violence of every kind, it tries to convince us that the material world is the only reality, and it fools us into thinking we can spiritually ascend through intellect alone. On a personal level, it gathers our disowned infernal traits—envy, rage, greed, and the wish to domina
Horror as a Mirror: What Netflix’s MONSTER Makes Us See
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!The new controversial Netflix series MONSTER: The Ed Gein Story offers a window into the devouring mother archetype, a transformation fantasy gone horribly wrong, and the human capacity for monstrous behavior. Gein’s crimes inspired the Hitchcock movie Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs. It challenges the audience
SUBLIMATIO: Jung’s Alchemical Method of Turning Problems into Archetypes
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Do you get overwhelmed by intense feelings and old patterns, feeling stuck because you can’t make sense of what’s happening, and reacting on impulse instead of pausing to choose a steady, thoughtful response? Jung’s alchemical insights will help. Sublimatio is an old alchemy term for heating a solid so that it turns directly into a gas, ris
People Pleasing Is Making You Sick!
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!People Pleasing is a compulsive strategy that disavows your needs and surrenders your agency. It begins in family systems that only reward compliance, which produces a false self. If your soul is constantly devalued, you may develop dependent narcissism with a covert contract: “I’ll keep you happy, and you’ll keep me safe.” Healing
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Do the Negative Mother and Negative Animus Collude?](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/42272409/42272409-1759700687527-28a38734135b2.jpg)
[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Do the Negative Mother and Negative Animus Collude?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"What are the dynamics in a woman's psyche of the collusion between the negative mother and the negative animus?"Support This Jungian Life on Patreon and ask Lisa, Deb, and Joseph your questions for a chance to have them answered on Jung Love.
If Looks Could Kill: The Death Mother Archetype
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Some mothers attack life in their children. They crush appetite, joy, curiosity, and initiative. They call it love or duty. It is not love. It is domination dressed as care. She withholds warmth to make the child obedient. She intrudes when the child needs space and vanishes when the child needs help. She shames tears, punishes pla
Projection & Play: What Dolls Do to Psyche
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Dolls are human stand-ins that invite projection and play; children use them (including action figures and Barbies) to try on identities and develop imagination, then later withdraw the projection as the figure becomes inert again. Icons and idols differ because their meaning is fixed and not for play, which limits imaginative engag
MYTHS: Maps of the Collective Unconscious
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Think of myths as the dreams of an entire culture. Those stories reside in the collective unconscious and influence all of us throughout our lifespan. Mythic patterns shape our attitudes, and when we recognize them, we can link our personal experiences to the universal. When you’re panicking, you’re under the influence of Pan; when
BULLYING: When Aggression Runs Wild
Join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30 am EST. Register here.Bullying is about unmanaged aggression and broken containment in early life. Aggression is normal, but kids need adults to name it, hold it, and channel it into play with clear rules. When that doesn’t happen, some children learn to control and humiliate to feel safe, while others shut
Jung’s Inner Guides: The Secret of The Red Book
Join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30 am EST. Register here.Jung’s Red Book is the primary research record of his systematic experiments in active imagination after the break with Freud, combining calligraphic German text and paintings that document dialogues with his inner guides—especially Philemon and Salome—which became source material for hi
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Do We Know When to 'Trust' Dreams?](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/42272409/42272409-1756675266989-2015768d0995d.jpg)
[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Do We Know When to 'Trust' Dreams?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"Has there ever been a time in your life when a dream or series of dreams seemed to be telling you one thing, but you decided to go against it regardless? If so, what was the result?Is it always safe to assume that dreams are acting in your best interest or is there a possibility that, like an autoimmune disease ca
The Creative Power of Inner Tension
You're invited to join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30am ET. Register here.---Holding the tension of the opposites means that when you’re pulled hard in two different directions, you don’t rush to choose or shut one side down—you keep both viewpoints in mind and let each be heard with equal rights, as if two people were debating inside you. If
IMAGINATION: Jung’s Path to Creativity and Inner Freedom
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Imagination is a central organ of human perception, as vital as the senses, through which we access meaning, creativity, and the unconscious. It first appeared as an evolutionary leap that allowed humans to run mental simulations, project into the future, and innovate new tools, myths, and symbols. It operates voluntarily—when we ac
SOLUTIO: The Alchemy of Letting Go
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Solutio is Psyche’s method to facilitate transformation: our rigid ego is softened in symbolic water, allowing outworn attitudes to unbind. We can see this reflected in dreams of oceans and baths, or a wall of our house dissolving. This can show up when we slough off our work persona or a creative depression brought on by retirement.
Jack and the Beanstalk: When Magic Calls Us Into Life
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Jack and the Beanstalk is a symbolic prescription for psychological growth, teaching us to climb out of darkness, confront the giants within, claim the gifts of our unconscious, and transform our ordinary lives. Join us as we reveal the secret meaning hidden in the fairytale.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's
THE QUICKENING: Discovering New Life Within
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Dreams about pregnancy and babies symbolize something new taking shape within us, like a creative project, a hidden talent, or a psychological shift that's quietly developing beneath our awareness. These images express the mysterious tension we sense during periods of growth, change, or potential, drawing our attention inward and c
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Can Understanding Symbols Help Us in Everyday Life?](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/42272409/42272409-1753818817968-81f2b44d85e6d.jpg)
[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] How Can Understanding Symbols Help Us in Everyday Life?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"I keep hearing and reading that symbols are healing and transformative for people, but this concept is so arbitrary to me. I need some very specific and concrete examples of how a symbol can help a person in the various dilemmas of life we all can face. Can you please give a few examples in layman's terms?&quo
Wounds into Wisdom: Carl Jung’s Private Life
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Carl Jung’s discoveries are woven into our common understanding. Introvert/extravert, shadow work, typology, persona, and synchronicity pop up in casual conversations all the time. Negotiating with our inner figures, now used by Internal Family Systems, was pioneered by him. Although we have adopted his ideas, few know how they were for
Calcinatio and the Alchemy of Honest Suffering
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!The calcinatio stage in Jung's alchemy is about being put through inner fire—it's when the ego undergoes a kind of burning away of projections, illusions, and inflated ideas about itself. This stage often brings intense suffering, frustration, and confrontation with parts of yourself you'd rather avoid. It's about stayin
DISCOVERING A NEW ARCHETYPE: The Buddhabrot Fractal Bridging Math, Myth, and the Collective Unconscious
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!The Buddhabrot pattern springs from a simple algorithm: you take thousands of starting points, run each one through the same formula over and over, and chart only those whose values grow without limit—these “divergent” paths form the spectral Buddha-like silhouette. Once you recognize the pattern, you see it everywhere. It’s visible in
The Handless Maiden: A Tale to Heal the Wounded Feminine
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Everyone faces a moment when they are tempted to sacrifice their true self to chase wealth, approval, success, or security, but doing so strips away their strength and leaves them hollow. To reclaim their lost agency, a person must embrace the uncertainty and vulnerability they've been avoiding. They must stand alone, undefended, a
Taming Your Inner Critic: Turn Self-Attack into Self-Awareness
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Our inner critic—that voice constantly tearing us down—can stem from difficult childhood experiences, negative cultural messages, or even powerful archetypal forces deep within us. While healthy self-assessment involves honestly owning our mistakes, feeling genuine regret, and making amends, the harsh inner critic keeps us stuck in cycl
SHARK: Elemental Symbol of Our Will to Survive and Ravenous Hunger for Experience
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Primeval, silent, relentless—the shark announces itself as its fin slices the water. In that instant, ego’s barriers shudder and give way: you’re not anxious; you’re utterly alert, stripped of distraction by a force both familiar and uncanny.When you stop battling that raw terror and honor it—offer a silent libation of attention—the pred
MOTIVATION: What Happens When Your Get-Up-and-Go Leaves Without You?
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Motivation rises from conscious and unconscious dynamics. We can reason with ourselves to take logical action while our libido flows with its own intelligence. When these two aspects align, we find ourselves acting decisively and effectively with remarkable freedom. When we’re at odds with the secret intelligence of the unconscious, we ca
Sibling Rivalry: Archetypal Conflicts and Shadow Dynamics in Families
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Sibling rivalry can bruise and build in equal measure. On the hard side, the older child feels toppled from the throne, the younger scrambles for a foothold, and both learn how quickly envy, resentment, and score-keeping ignite—whether over a parent’s extra hour of attention or the larger slice of birthday cake. Those early contests can ca
Mandala Archetype: How the Self Turns Chaos into Cosmos
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Mandalas are Psyche’s way of drawing a compass for you when life feels off-kilter. Jung noticed that these circular patterns—whether they appear in Navajo sand paintings, Tibetan yantras, or last night’s dream—pull everything back toward a stable center he called the Self.The rim defines where your ego ends; the cross-lines and repeating fo
House Dreams: Schematics of Your Psychological Functioning
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!When a house turns up in a dream, it isn’t a staging background—it’s an architectural X-ray of your inner life, drafted by the dream maker overnight and delivered to your doorstep at dawn. Floors chart levels of awareness, locked doors expose repressed material, intruders crash in as disowned traits, and every leaking pipe or crooked stair a
Ready for the Real Snow White? The True Tale of Envy, Murder, and Retribution
NEW: Come along to our free Shadow and Dreams Seminar on May 17Ever wonder why “Snow White” still hooks us after all the Disney glitter flakes off? This episode strips the tale down to its psychological wiring: murderous envy of the mother shadow, malignant innocence, the unforgiving “mirror” inside that only answers the questions we’re brave enough to ask, and the dangerous alchemy that transform
Forging the Upward Thread: Why Do We Create Religions?
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!The religious function is part of who we are — as natural as needing food or love. It’s the inner drive that pushes us to find meaning, to touch something larger than ourselves. Jung saw that if we don’t tend it, it doesn’t go away; it twists itself into addictions, compulsions, or a kind of soul-sickness. Religion, in the deepest sense, isn
Trauma Can Be Rewritten: The Use of Art to Reimagine our Past and Grant Us New Life
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Viviane Silvera animated 30,000 of her hand-painted images to explore how traumatic memories are formed, stored, and ultimately transformed. Her animated documentary, SEE MEMORY, traces the intimate story of a young woman caught between past and present; her film captures the fragmented texture of trauma and the healing that becomes possible
How to Develop Your Inner Guidance: Charting a Path Through the Current Chaos with Jung’s Insights
DREAM WITH US, and we’ll teach you how to interpret them!Today you'll learn about inner guidance--the quiet, built-in compass that surfaces when we pause the outer noise long enough to feel what rings true inside. It is less a mystical oracle than a subtle convergence of bodily signals, emotional undertones, and intuitive "hunches" distilled from our lived experience.When we meet
