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Episode 075 - Negative Mother Complex: When Our Painful Childhood Owns Us

This Jungian Life

Release Date: 09/05/2019

SURVIVING MASS TRAUMA: How did Jung process catastrophic events? show art SURVIVING MASS TRAUMA: How did Jung process catastrophic events?

This Jungian Life

The great catastrophe of Jung's generation was the rise of Nazi Germany and WWII. His insights into the collective psyche of nations remain relevant today as we grapple with war and violence worldwide. Prepare to discover how collective hysteria and moral downfall lead to loss of individual responsibility and susceptibility to authoritarian control, whether collective guilt and the psychological impact of evil affects not just perpetrators but entire societies leading to collective moral crisis, when national fixations on power and technological prowess compensate for deep-seated inferiority,...

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NIGHTMARES: How do I stop awful dreams? show art NIGHTMARES: How do I stop awful dreams?

This Jungian Life

"The monsters that chase you in dreams are not trying to hurt you. They just want to reunite with their creator………...… that's you, dummy."   (Quoted from an unnamed Jungian analyst overheard at a cocktail party.)   Today, we analyze four nightmares submitted by listeners: BBQ Cats, Blood Red Sky, Tsunami, and Malevolent Presence.   Our dreams are always trying to correct our waking personality. They are a kind of psychospiritual medicine tailored just for us. When we avoid healing advice from the dream maker, pressure builds in our unconscious. Gentle suggestions...

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DO WE INHERIT OUR PARENT’S FEARS? show art DO WE INHERIT OUR PARENT’S FEARS?

This Jungian Life

What wisdom do fairy tales hold about childrearing in our modern world?   Briar Rose is the foundation for the familiar fairytale Sleeping Beauty. It addresses the complicated consequences of unconscious parenting. While it is understandable we wish to protect our children from harsh realities, too much shielding can hobble them later in life. We may hide our shadow from ourselves and our children, but it will irrupt uninvited one day, casting the family into chaos. Instinctive reactions often hold us in suspended animation, but they may also offer a way toward healing.   “Parents...

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DUMBO'S FEATHER: Are there hidden messages in Disney cartoons? show art DUMBO'S FEATHER: Are there hidden messages in Disney cartoons?

This Jungian Life

What hidden messages make Disney cartoons so impactful and enduring? Disney cartoons were groundbreaking. They introduced synchronized soundtracks in 1928, and today, they create extravaganzas that sweep audiences into tears and laughter, offering role models of virtue. Archetypal themes, often drawn from fairytales, thrum through the storylines appealing to the archaic levels of our psyche. Prepare to discover where Hermes is hidden in one of the characters, how childhood trauma activates archetypal helpers, whether Dumbo is a symbol of hope or a defense against maturation, how separation of...

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Aaron Balick – Why does social media weaponize our reactions? show art Aaron Balick – Why does social media weaponize our reactions?

This Jungian Life

Aaron Balick is a psychotherapist, speaker, consultant, educator, and author of The Psychodynamics of Social Networking. Social media invites snap emotional reactions, muddling clear thinking and escalating global tensions. It feeds on our anger, oversimplifying complex problems which blocks our ability to empathize. Nuanced explanations are demonized as if seeking to understand was an affront. If we learn to pause and reflect, we can overcome social media's divisive influence and discover middle-ground solutions in both personal and world affairs. Prepare to discover where emotional...

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FAME: Why Do We Create Icons Then Destroy Them? show art FAME: Why Do We Create Icons Then Destroy Them?

This Jungian Life

Today's technology allows us to be seduced by the possibility of fame and celebrity tempting the ego to claim what does not belong to it.  In earlier times, fame was garnered slowly through work in the arts, scholarship, religion, and the military. Today, unprecedented, almost instantaneous communication has made fame a commodity in itself. Novelty performers, entertainers, influencers, and sports stars—especially if young and glamorous—can become the victim of "audience capture."  Fame tempts the ego to claim what does not belong to it, and the person may become identified with...

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JUNG'S PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS: Why did strange events follow him? show art JUNG'S PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS: Why did strange events follow him?

This Jungian Life

If we lean into strange experiences with gentle curiosity, we may discover a level of psyche that acts directly on objects. Many of us have uncanny coincidences like thinking of a friend at the exact moment they ring us on the phone, but what about physical things breaking apart for no reason or luminous apparitions at our bedside? We often explain them away to reduce our anxiety, but Jung found them fascinating. He maintained a scientific attitude while accepting strange phenomena he could not explain. Eventually, he created a psychology of radical acceptance that creates space for the...

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LOW ENERGY: Where can we source the drive to take action? show art LOW ENERGY: Where can we source the drive to take action?

This Jungian Life

Lisa, Deb, and Joe, Jungian analysts and co-creators of This Jungian Life podcast, have introduced thousands of clients to an inner world with unexpected resources.  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. Jung tells us inner energy flows according to its own laws, but if we can’t harness it?  Prepare to discover why some people are naturally low-energy,...

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REUNIONS: Is there value in remembering our younger selves? show art REUNIONS: Is there value in remembering our younger selves?

This Jungian Life

Deb and Joe are Jungian Analysts, authors, training analysts, and co-creators of This Jungian Life Podcast. [Lisa was away lecturing this week.] Most of us feel anxious at the thought of reliving the complicated and often painful experiences of our youth. When we receive a school reunion notice, we might be tempted to ignore it. Yet, on an archetypal level, we are drawn to re-unifying our current and past identities. If we accept the invitation, we may find unexpected joy and forgotten memories that restore something inside us. Prepare to discover why we plan and attend reunions, whether...

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Donald Kalsched – Can running our minds like a democracy save us? show art Donald Kalsched – Can running our minds like a democracy save us?

This Jungian Life

Don Kalsched is a Jungian Analyst, an expert on treating trauma, author of two books, The Inner World of Trauma and Trauma and the Soul. Jung discovered our inner world is populated by various imaginal figures representing powerful psychological forces. If we treat our minds as democratic spaces, it can safeguard us from internal and external authoritarian influences. Prepare to discover the parallels between a balanced mind and a healthy society, whether viewing internal conflicts through a democratic lens is healing, which insights foster harmony, why democratic philosophy is transformative,...

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More Episodes

Healing a Negative Mother Complex

As the mother is the generator of life and usual primary attachment figure, the mother complex is universal. As the image of a “personified affect” fueled by an archetypal core, the mother complex is especially powerful. In its negative aspect, it may arise from a mother who was experienced as uncaring, attacking, possessive, withholding, absent, or wounded. It is likely to show up in relationships with others and in the relationship with oneself. Fairy tales like The Raven and Six Swans teach us that healing a negative mother complex takes time and perseverance—and that we may be aided by an animus prince or an anima princess, images of the autonomous unconscious. By responding to the turmoil of the mother complex one can embrace the task of finding the mother within.                                                                                                                                                                                        Dream

"Last night I had a dream I was in a cave that had mosaic designs all over the walls. They were old ancient ruins like from Ancient Greece or Turkey. The first one was of some type of fertility goddess-like Ishtar or Lilith, but I can’t remember the details exactly. But the image frightened me, and I was afraid to go inside. Then above the ruins, there was a church. It was an Eastern Orthodox Church. It sort of reminded me of the Hagia Sofia. A painting of the Black Madonna was hanging on the wall. All the church members were women and the pastor was a woman as well. I don’t recall what we were talking about or what the pastor was saying, but I was transfixed upon that painting. That’s all I can remember."

References

Book: Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

YouTube: Clay Weiner (“Videos”: Mothers Day) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAxfh8ukosQ