Episode 49 - Dietary Over-regulation and the Pursuit of Purity
Release Date: 03/07/2019
This Jungian Life
Across the globe and through the ages, dragons lurk in our myths and dreams, haunting us as primal forces of terror and transformation. Found in almost every culture, these creatures are potent symbols of the instinctive unconscious, embodying both the dangers of the natural world and the depths of our psyche. In Western mythology, they emerge as fearsome enemies, threatening to drag us back into chaos. Eastern traditions, however, revere dragons as wise and transformative beings, symbols of transcendent power and enlightenment. The battle with the dragon mirrors our inner struggle to confront...
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info_outlinePreoccupation and obsession with food–a condition called orthorexia--can take the form of the quest for health and purity, with rigid rules about food categories, such as the need for all-organic ingredients or omitting food groups such as dairy, sugar, and gluten in the absence of identified physiological intolerances. This overall effort to banish anxiety can take the form of an implicit bargain (eating “right” guarantees health), a strong need for ego control, elitism, specific community values, and banishing shadow by projecting it onto “bad” foods. The person may be also be seeking connection with the archetypal, or religious realm that has become concretized around food.
The Dream:
I am in a large multilevel food court in a mall which is very empty. I'm carrying a tray of food and I'm looking for my mom who I know is somewhere in the food court and I want to sit and eat with her. As I walk through the food court I become distracted looking at the food stalls. One stall, in particular, catches my attention, through a window behind the service counter I see a bustling kitchen scene, many chefs cooking, lots of steam and smoke and fire leaping into the air. I want to eat the food from this stall. As I'm looking through the window at the kitchen, I realize the window is a TV screen and the kitchen scene is just a video. I awake.