EMBRACING THE OUTCAST: Understanding Homelessness
This Jungian Life
Homelessness, as a stark and multifaceted symbol of disconnection, extends beyond the mere absence of physical shelter, embodying a complex interlacing of unconscious conflict, socio-political forces, and rapidly shifting societal values. The shift from small interdependent nomadic communities to the social stratification of nation-states like Ancient Rome fractured the expectation of mutual care. Over centuries alienation was normalized alongside urban development, socio-economic upheavals, and now the empathic failings of our contemporary society amidst unprecedented wealth. On a...
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UGLY DUCKLING COMPLEX: the painful path of transformation
This Jungian Life
We all understand the Ugly Duckling complex because we lived it at one time or another. Hans Christian Anderson’s famous tale paints a poignant picture of a child’s experience of rejection only because he’s born in the wrong nest. People who seem different or have not yet matured into their natural beauty endure a kind of scorn that can bring them to despair. The ugly duckling’s capacity to endure and find refuge once he is recognized by fellow swans can hearten us during the long winters of our lives. As an individuation metaphor, the tale dramatizes how many of us feel...
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SHADOWS & HIGH STAKES: understanding gambling
This Jungian Life
Understanding gambling illuminates the amalgam of desire, risk, and reward that defines our interactions with a capricious world. The lure of gambling, entwined within the fabric of human history, irresistibly draws us to its mesmerizing dance of fortune and chance. Exploring the gambler's psyche, we'll discover the psychospiritual elements that pull us towards Lady Luck. Gambling's allure is steeped in mythology. The concept of chance, the Moirai of Greek lore, the Roman Goddess Fortuna, and the I Ching from ancient China evoke the numinous aspect of luck, symbolically guiding us through its...
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WHISKERS of WISDOM: A Jungian Analysis of ‘Puss in Boots’
This Jungian Life
Something about a cat wearing clothes has captured our imagination for over 500 years, so it’s about time we tackle a Jungian analysis of Puss in Boots. Anthropomorphized felines have enthralled us for half a millennium, making Puss in Boots perfect for our discussion. From enchanting fairytales of yore to modern viral videos, our fascination with pets in human attire and mannerisms persists. Whether a parrot blurting expletives or a dog groaning human words, we’re captivated. Through Puss in Boots, we might better comprehend this instinct to imbue our pets with our psychological traits....
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ARCHETYPAL IMAGES: the soul's language
This Jungian Life
Thomas Singer, M.D., Jungian Analyst and president of joins us to decipher Archetypal Images and explain the essential role of A.R.A.S. in collecting and curating them. Archetypes, as cosmic blueprints, dictate universal patterns of the collective unconscious, transcending personal experiences and cultural variations. They mold our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Archetypal images are their visible expressions, emerging in dreams, myths, and cultural narratives, providing a visual language linking psyche to self. They adapt and evolve across cultural contexts. Archetypal...
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MEDUSA’S MANY FACES: The Evolution of a Myth
This Jungian Life
The symbolism of Medusa, one of three Gorgon sisters in Greek mythology, has fascinated artists, writers, and philosophers for centuries. Initially a monstrous creature with snake-writhing hair and a petrifying gaze, Medusa has undergone numerous transformations. The earliest known account of Medusa appears in Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BCE), where she is portrayed as a mortal Gorgon sister with a deadly gaze. Ovid’s Metamorphoses (c. 8 CE) ascribes Medusa’s monstrous appearance to a curse from Athena, punishing her for desecrating the temple with Poseidon. Medusa’s terrifying image...
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The DARK TRIAD: tracking wolves in our midst
This Jungian Life
Understanding the Dark Triad can help us navigate mysteriously troubled relationships in all spheres of life. Psychologists coined the term to describe a trifecta of malevolent personality traits: narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Although less sinister than any one full-blown personality disorder, it still affects the soul plagued by it and those in reach of its host. Narcissism has become a widely-discussed topic, often misused to describe anyone who is frustrating or displeasing. At its core, narcissism is a soul-sickness, with individuals exhibiting entitlement, devaluation of...
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SYMBOLIC MEANING of HAIR: what's your look saying?
This Jungian Life
The symbolic meaning of hair is both personal and cultural. It serves as an expressive medium through which we silently communicate. Sporting bed-head might convey a carefree attitude, while a polished prom-night hairstyle expresses maturity. Hair carries various announcements to our community. Its historical significance reveals ancient values that continue to influence our self-presentation. It is a malleable medium. Unlike body parts such as fingers or feet, it constantly grows, allowing for continuous transformation, and it resists decay. These universal attributes make hair an archetype....
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THE WHALE: a film about trauma, obesity, and the undying hope to connect.
This Jungian Life
We are born with a drive to connect meaningfully with our caregivers. When that is thwarted by fate, deprivation, or hostility, our psyche rallies, it redirects our instincts to the imaginal world where archetypal forces can care for us, and our intolerable feelings can be hidden in a cast of inner characters. We still long for compassionate connection, but the inner figures of our caregivers are intolerable, so sometimes the archetypal mother hides in food—and we follow. In the recent film “The Whale” starring Brendon Frasier, we meet his character Charlie, an English teacher...
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PAN: archetypal source of panic disorder
This Jungian Life
Piping through mountains and glens, the great god carries the relentless procreative power of nature. He symbolizes the archaic level of psyche from which all wild instinct rises; feared during war as his panic could undo even the Titans and attacked in the Common Era as the image of the devil. Half man and half goat, Pan’s untamed sexuality evoked rapture and impulsivity. As the god of shepherds, he ushered young men into puberty, introducing them to the spring rut in their flocks and their own bodies. In the first 30 years of the Christian era, Plutarch wrote that a sailor heard a...
info_outlineIt happens all the time: people and problems split into opposing camps, whether the conflict is internal, between partners, in a family or—as we know all too well—between political parties. When positions become polarized conflict ensues, whether between mind and body, partners and families, or value systems and religious affiliations. What makes it possible to reach across the chasm between entrenched extremes? The Jungian concept of holding the tension of the opposites allows energy, like electricity, to flow between both poles; each can have its full say. Instead of remaining mired in fixity or moral judgment, curiosity may open the way for a new attitude that transcends the polarities.
Dream
I am going for a holiday to Bali with my husband and best friend. We are running late for our flight. At the airport, I check in my huge suitcase, but then I realise I don't have my passport. A young man with dark hair, whom I know to be a playwright, says, 'Go to the counter. You look young, like a six year old. Act innocent. You should be able to talk your way on to the plane without a passport.' But I don't want to do this. Instead, I get in the car with my husband and friend. They are pissed at me. I know it is impossible to get back home to get my passport and make the flight. Part of me doesn't really care. I don't wan't to go to Bali. I feel busy and overwhelmed in my working life - so I want to stay to attend to things - and I don't like the tourist culture in Bali - it is infantilising. Still, I feel pulled in all directions. I have let down my companions. We stop by the side of the road to talk about it alongside an oil refinery. I say 'They have already boarded our luggage, so they are not going to take off without us.' Still, it is not clear what we should do from there.
References
Neumann, Eric. Depth Psychology and a New Ethic (Amazon).
Woodard, Colin. American Nations: A History of Eleven Rival Regional Cultures (Amazon).
Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (Amazon)