The Pied Piper story holds a dark secret that has repelled and fascinated us for over 500 years. It asks, "What does it cost to banish our shadow?" At its surface, it looks like a simple morality tale cautioning us to be prudent and fair. Rats overrun a town, and the locals are beside themselves. A magical piper vibrantly dressed offers a solution too good to be true. His pipe weaves a tune that leads rats to their doom – and they drown in the ocean so neatly. Thrilled at first, then cunning and foolish, the town leaders refuse to pay the piper for his service. In turn, he entrances all but three children and takes them away forever. Historians wonder if the account is an artifact of a devastating plague. The Lueneburg manuscript from about 1440 CE records the following event: “In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.” But tragedy was common in the middle ages, and death a constant companion, so why has this account remained vital? The enduring interest in the Pied piper lies in its symbolic resonance with psyche. When we place the events in our imaginal world, our curiosity is liberated, and our questions become more interesting. What are the pestilential rats inside us? What happens when we ask another person to solve our inner problems? How does the unconscious react when we trick and devalue the inner and outer figures who help us along our way? Rats populate our inner and outer world. We use them as pharmacological proxies and share about 69% of the same DNA. We keep them as pets even as others work tirelessly to exterminate them from our buildings. In some cultures, they represent prosperity and are tended to as the reincarnation of family members. But foremost, they are survivors and adaptors living side by side in every human endeavor. We project much shadow on rats accusing them of spreading disease and taking our food without permission – those ratfinks. They hold our unsavory instincts; like all shadow-invested objects, we want them gone! But why are we thankless when someone helps us achieve that? Freud’s Taboo insights suggest anyone associated with our ‘filth’ becomes impure, so degrading them engenders relief. Complications with money play another part. We’re quick to promise payment when our need is aroused but grim when it’s time to write the check – our mounting credit card debt bears witness to that. Paying the piper evokes dread when we fail to imagine the complete cycle of exchange, and our inner infant is indignant being charged for restoring comfort. Shouldn’t it be free?!? We project our psyches into money and use similar terms for its fluctuations – inflation, depression, and devaluation. Handing over our cash feels like we’re sacrificing an inner potential, surrendering it to our creditors. This may be a key that unlocks the fairytale. Perhaps it’s warning us that there’s a cost to banishing our shadow. Strangely, rats, money, and children carry a similar symbolic valence. They all suggest unrealized potential. The vitality in our rat-shadow could have fueled a midlife renewal. Money could have turned our desires into realities. And our children could have carried our hopes into the future. Perhaps demonizing any aspect of our potential puts all of it at risk, and banishing it to the unconscious may trigger strange, irresistible compulsions that can lead us astray. BECOME A DREAM INTERPRETER We’ve created DREAM SCHOOL to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out. PLEASE GIVE US A HAND Hey folks -- We need your help. Please BECOME OUR PATRON and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running. SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US SUBMIT YOUR DREAM HERE FOR A POSSIBLE PODCAST INTERPRETATION. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, YOUTUBE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the PHILADELPHIA JUNGIAN SEMINAR and start your journey to become an analyst.

The archetype of the orphan, closely related to the hero, evokes powerful feelings of abandonment, deprivation, and hope. From Harry Potter to Little Orphan Annie from Daenerys Targaryen to Cinderella, orphans who triumph over adversity remind us that healing the inner child is possible. The factual history of orphans is frequently heartbreaking. In the ancient world, unwanted infants were subject to abandonment or death through exposure. In the US, Orphan Trains moved 200,00 children from NE coastal cities to live with farm families between 1853 to 1929. Journalists exposed the nightmare of Romanian orphanages in 1989, rousing adoption efforts and fundraising efforts. The Canadian government forcibly took native children and placed them in Christian boarding schools under the pretense of assimilation. This tragic history lives on in the collective unconscious. Many of us have inner orphans. The unloved parts of us shipped off to the unconscious exert a powerful influence over our moods. Our adult selves may feel resilient and resourceful most of the time, but a cruel tone of voice as we’re dismissed from work or a cold shoulder from a lover can awaken our inner children putting us in a tailspin. When threatened by abandonment, they can trigger profound feelings of dread and even panic. In the grip of our inner orphan, we may find ourselves pining to rewrite our childhood, including a cast of perfect parents. Some of us may even question whether we’re adopted because the feeling of belonging somewhere better haunts us. We can suddenly feel desperate and likely to starve even though we have substantial assets in our accounts. Finally, and most painfully, we can feel unloved and unlovable. We may scramble to find reassurance from outside sources – asking our family if they really do love us or fawning over a new acquaintance in hopes they’ll stick around. We might hoard food or money, reassuring ourselves that we won’t need to rely on anyone, which is best because no one stays with us anyway. In the grip of this complex, our bodies ache, and we may even feel invisible or unreal. Working through these feelings seems daunting at first because a moat of distress surrounds the inner child. But if we persevere, we may find an inner treasure. On the far side of our remembered suffering is a part of us that recalls how to love and be loved. And when they return, we will wonder how we ever forgot. HERE’S THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: “I am in an orphanage. There are many other children with me as well. I am the oldest of the group; I feel responsible for the group’s well-being since I am the oldest. We are together in a room with wooden floors and ceiling. Suddenly an evil man and strange appears out of nowhere. He is our master. He teargases us; we cannot see or breathe. The gas makes what is in our pockets fall out, knick-knacks, little toys, memorabilia, coins little notes on crumpled paper. What is in our pockets does not have high monetary value, but it is meaningful to us since we are orphans and have nothing else. The evil master collects our belongings that are falling to the floor from the gas. He makes them his. I ache with sadness to lose what was the only remnant of our identity. Suddenly, Komitas (he is a famous Armenian composer and ethnographer) breaks through the door of the room we are in. He charges aggressively toward the evil master. Komitas has a gun; he points and tries to shoot at the evil master. He misses. Komitas turns toward me. His eyes are full of rage but feel vacant and maniacal. I feel Komitas is in a psychotic state. Komitas takes my hand and places it on the gun. He is standing behind me, I am holding the gun, and he is holding my hands. He points the gun at the evil master. He asks me, “Is this the man? The one I need to kill?” I say yes in agreeance. I know this is what needs to happen. I am sad and afraid.” Please BECOME OUR PATRON and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running!

The word test originally referred to an earthenware vessel in which metals were smelted to separate ore from dross. Like ancient vessels holding the heat of the refining fire, our task is to contain the tension of the test. Tests smelt fantasy from the ore of reality and force us to adapt. If a test feels arbitrary or unfair, we may be failing to dissolve the dross of inadequacy, limitation, or shame. Tests require us to develop the ego strength to put our courage, morals, and perseverance on the line—and withstand the ego wounding of failure. Ultimately ego itself is put to the test. Jung says, “Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interest upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance.” The archetype of the Self undergirds testing, first to help distinguish ego from unconscious, and then to relinquish ego’s illusion of supremacy. HERE'S THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: “I’m in our living room hanging up laundry, when a large bird (maybe half my height) flies through the open glass door to our terrace and perches on a cupboard. It looks into my eyes, and I look into its eyes. At this point I think, I’ve got to tell my wife about this. I run into our bedroom and tell her about the bird. She looks through the doorframe, sees the bird, and says, “Oh, that’s a type of penguin.” I had thought it must be a hawk or an eagle. (In retrospect, it looked like neither of these, but was sort of lanky and cartoonish.) I reply, “Are you sure”? She says, “Yes, do you see how its mouth is open like that”? I look at the bird and see that its mouth is indeed open, in a strained, fixed, almost comical way. For whatever reason this was proof to me that it is, in fact, a penguin.” GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, we need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA RESOURCES: Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Despite volumes written on morality and ethics, how do we determine what’s right? Values distilled over time by family, faith, and nation define and denounce wrong, but the effort to banish shadow only allows it to emerge as projection onto others. We decry in ‘them’ what we deny in ourselves. Jung says, “The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality…for to become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects [of oneself]…as present and real.” We have all faced a moral dilemma at some point in our lives, questioning our own judgment and rectitude. This internal conflict is a result of our shadow self, the parts of ourselves we keep shamefully hidden and refuse to acknowledge. In order to make ethical decisions, we must discover our shadow and integrate it into our decision-making process. This is called shadow work, a psychological practice that requires facing our fears, insecurities, and doubts. We can genuinely understand our moral philosophy only when we engage our inner conflicts. Sages have long debated the nature of ethical decision-making. Some argue that morality is objective and universal, while others argue that it is subjective and relative to each individual. The ancient Greek philosophers reasoned it is crucial to consider the impact of the decision on others, both in the immediate situation and in the broader community. This involves empathizing with those affected by the decision and seeking to minimize harm while maximizing societal benefits. Jung believed that religious codes provide an initial framework for the developing child and facilitate cultural adaptation. As our ego individuates from instilled norms and submits to the Self, our allegiance shifts, and our attitudes become increasingly unique. Making ethical decisions is not always easy. We often face conflicting duties and obligations, and we must weigh the consequences of our actions. In these moments, it is essential to approach the situation with humility and consciousness. We must recognize that our decisions may have unintended repercussions and be willing to take responsibility for our actions. Careful deliberation requires us to embrace uncertainty and trust our intuition. The definition of morality is not fixed but rather constantly evolving. It is influenced by cultural norms, religious doctrine, personal beliefs, and individual experiences. As such, it is vital to approach ethics with tolerance, curiosity, and courage. We must be prepared to challenge our own beliefs and biases and be open to new perspectives. Only then can we make truly ethical decisions that are grounded in empathy, insight, and compassion. Jung’s ethical stance is rooted in recognition of our disowned qualities and the influence of the emerging Self. Morality may be relative but requires thoughtfulness, humility, and a willingness to explore ambiguity. As we navigate the complexities of decision-making, we must approach the world with an open mind and a readiness to learn. Only then can we awaken to the world and make truly ethical decisions that honor our larger Self. GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks -- We need your help. Please BECOME OUR PATRON and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running. JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created DREAM SCHOOL to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: RESOURCES: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, YOUTUBE. Enroll in the PHILADELPHIA JUNGIAN SEMINAR and start your journey to becoming an analyst.

Invitations are a subtle siren song, tapping into our primal human need to be chosen combined with our thirst for novelty, making them an irresistible force. When you receive an invitation, it is a moment of recognition, an invitation to be a part of something greater, to feel wanted, valued, and accepted. In the hierarchy of human needs, the sense of belonging takes a top priority, surpassed only by our basic requirements for survival. There is power in inviting and being invited. The myth of Baucis and Philemon, who innocently invited Zeus and Hermes to dine in their humble cottage, and were blessed for their generosity, reminds us that the right invitations can bring abundance and joy into our lives. But, like the cautionary tale of Sleeping Beauty and the curse of the uninvited fairy, withheld invitations can also be dangerous, hiding the potential for envy and retribution. An invitation can be a fateful call to action, tapping into our innate desire to be heroic and admired. It’s difficult to resist such a call. But, just as the hero must leave the safety of their home and venture into the unknown, so must we when we accept. Invitations promise a world of possibilities, whether we’re being asked to join a cause célèbre, fight for change or seek personal meaning. However, not all invitations are created equal. Some are manipulative, depending on our naivety, susceptibility to feeling special, or sense of obligation. Some may only lead to an evening of mind-numbing boredom. Therefore, it is essential that we take a step back and evaluate each invitation objectively, wisely, and carefully considering the implications and outcomes before accepting. We must understand that invitations are not simple requests but symbols of growth and possibility. So, join us as we explore the unpredictable consequences that come with each invitation and embrace the opportunities that await us. The irrefusable invitation awaits, and the choice is yours. Will you accept? Here’s the dream we analyze: “Me and three old friends are at a fair-like event. One of the friends comes to the three of us and suggests that we should try out the batting cage, which we are all excited about. We start heading to the batting cage and the friend that suggested we go is not going with us. We get to the batting cage and the guy running it says the speed of the balls is 91 mph and asks if we can hit that. My other two friends seem confident, I am not. I was never a good hitter when I played baseball. We head to the batting cages, I notice everyone else is paying in tickets and we didn’t. My friends get slightly ahead of me and a worker points me towards a ladder that is going up about three stories. I am terrified of heights. I climb up the ladder and I’m at the top but there is a worker’s desk right there. She seems nice and unbothered by the fact that I’m climbing up a ladder to get over her desk. I try for several minutes, while at the top of the ladder, to climb over her desk to get to the floor with the batting cages. I am unable to do it. My leg is not flexible enough to reach over the desk. I wake up breathing heavily.” GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks -- We need your help. Please BECOME OUR PATRON and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running. JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: RESOURCES: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN,TWITTER, YOUTUBE. Enroll in the PHILADELPHIA JUNGIAN SEMINAR and start your journey to becoming an analyst.

When the goddess Aphrodite claims us too fully, over time, our bodies become abandoned temples of physical perfection, sexual allure, and romantic passion. Her seductive archetypal power has captivated us for eons, but in today’s world, the enhancements of fashion, beauty, and physical appearance have intensified veneration of this goddess. However, her enchantments can have profound consequences, particularly when it comes to aging and the pressures of perfection. In this episode, we delve into the mysterious realm of the archetype with guest Arlene Landau, Ph.D. - a Jungian analyst, mythologist, lecturer, and author of Tragic Beauty: The Dark Side of Venus Aphrodite and the Loss and Regeneration of Soul. An intricate and complicated relationship exists between women and the goddess of love. Arlene fills a gap in Jungian literature from the female gaze, providing a reflective 21st-century examination of the Aphrodite archetype’s dark shadow. When pressured to concretize Aphrodite symbols -- pursuing beauty can be a treacherous path, especially for women in the entertainment industry who must always be young, beautiful, sexy, and attractive. In addition, body dysmorphic disorder and anorexia are common challenges among the daughters of Aphrodite. Arlene shares her Hollywood experiences, including a declined opportunity to date Elvis Presley. In addition, she sheds light on the tragic fate of “dead blondes” like Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith, who over-identified with Aphrodite goddess of love. Fairytales warn us the aging Aphrodite type may feel bitter and dangerous as her beauty fades. She prompts us to engage in extreme beautification measures leaving us vulnerable to disfigurement or grotesque approximations of her qualities. She can poison our hearts against seeming rivals, leaving us hollow and alienated from love. Men are not immune to her demands for perfection either. To balance the psyche, we explore embracing the goddesses sisters Athena, Hestia, and Artemis and developing a relationship with them to counteract the hold of Aphrodite. Finally, we explore an alternative to her excesses - to nurture character and embrace the beauty of selfhood and laughter as we age. Seeking wisdom offers a crucial balance in our appearance-driven, youth-oriented culture. Arlene writes: “I have had to carry powerful Aphrodite energies, along with a numinous yearning to learn—holding both. It is my task to understand Sophia not just from my mind and animus but from my imagination and soul”. Join us as we embark on a journey of exploration, navigating the perils and pleasures of Aphrodite and discovering the hopeful path toward the regeneration of soul. Here’s the dream we analyze: “I’m looking down from the terrace of a house, which could be the house I grew up in as a child. Down in the front garden, I see two men cooking something in a bucket. The two men are chit-chatting and mingling with a certain ease. I have this packet of beans with me that I want to cook, and I’m tempted to try to toss the beans down into their bucket without them noticing but abandon that idea as impractical. In any event, when I finally tear the package of beans open, I realize they are dry beans, not soaked. I’m a bit daunted now. So I decided to microwave them for ten minutes to soften them up and try to eat them.” REFERENCES: Arlene Landau. Tragic Beauty: The Dark Side of Venus Aphrodite and the Loss and Regeneration of Soul. Arlene Diane Landau. Professional Website. Douglas Stuart. Shuggie Bain: A Novel. Jean Shinoda Bolen. Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives. Walt Whitman. Eidolons: a poem. GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our PATRON and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running. JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: RESOURCES: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter , YouTube Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst

Marriage is a mystery woven into the fabric of time. A 4,000-year-old contract etched in stone bears witness to its timeless significance. But what is the meaning behind this union of two souls? Jung saw the definition of marriage as an alchemy of instinct and divinity, a blending of the physical and the spiritual. It is a bond that extends beyond legal and familial ties into the realm of the sacred. The purpose of marriage is a journey of individuation, a chance for each partner to grow and flourish within the embrace of a supportive union - it is a crucible of transformation. Tempered by our shadow, it can forge us into our best selves. In marriage, we embark on a dance with our beloved, discovering new parts of ourselves with each step. But as time passes and our projections fade, we must pass through disappointment and conflict. But as Jung saw it, these difficulties are opportunities for internal work, leading to the transformation of emotional connection into conscious relationships. The purpose of marriage is not just to provide comfort and security but to nurture personal growth. We can see marriage as a symphony, where each partner's individual growth is intertwined with the growth of the relationship, and view it as a sacred bond, where each partner maintains their unique identity while being strengthened by the union. What is marriage? It's a journey through the wilds of the human soul, a union that brings us closer to our true selves. This podcast episode explores the complicated and layered world of marriage through a Jungian lens. Join us on a journey to the heart of this mystery, where the definition, purpose, and meaning of marriage are waiting to be uncovered. Let us answer the question, what is marriage together? Here's the dream we analyze: "I am parking for an open mic at a dive bar that I frequent. However, when I exit the car, I am on a residential street situated across from a church. I immediately panicked, not being where I believed I had just driven to, but think "I just need to park closer" and return to the car. I am then in my bed, alone in the camper I live in with my partner. This is how I fell asleep so at first I believe I've truly awoken. I look at my phone, no notifications but it is 8:50. I am disastrously late to meet a friend I record a podcast with. I get in my car and start towards his house. It doesn't occur to me that I am lost until I reach a pair of train tracks that once passed lead onto a road that goes through a trailer park filled with nice, white mobile homes shrouded in deep red light. I attempt to use my brakes right before passing over the tracks. On my dashboard a warning flashes that I can't read. I then lose control of my vehicle and it begins slowly sputtering over the train tracks closer and closer to the trailer park. This leads to another false awakening. I am relieved for a moment that what had occurred was only a dream. Again, I am home alone in my bed. The time on my phone is 8:51. I realize once again that I am late for the podcast. On the drive, I quickly become lost once again and am led back to the same train tracks and trailer park still drenched in red light. This time I know once my car crosses the tracks something bad will happen to me. Out of one of the mobile homes walks a man, slender and attractive but quite old. He is approaching my car, I slowly drive down the street. The man gets taller as I near him and his body is covered in eyes like an angel. He is acting almost like a zombie. I am scared until I tell myself, in a moment of lucid dreaming, "There’s a gun in my hand.” And just like that, there is. I get out of the car and shoot the creature three times before it falls dead. This leads to one last false awakening. This time my boyfriend is in the camper with me. I begin explaining the dream to him. I am then truly awakened by my alarm.” REFERENCES: C.G. Jung. Collected Works, Vol. 17: Marriage as a Psychological Relationship. https://a.co/d/9KZj3fN GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Guest Eve Maram, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst in Orange, CA. Her book, The Schizophrenia Complex, presents a clear-eyed and compassionate understanding of our encounters with severe mental illness. The submergence in unconscious chaos that defines schizophrenia triggers negative emotions in others—yet Jung on psychosis showed that we are different from those patients only in degree. Significantly his Word Association Test proved that the unconscious influences everyone’s daily life in multiple ways. Moreover, Jung’s psychiatric work with psychotic convalescents led to his ground-breaking discovery of the collective unconscious, humanity’s mythopoetic substrate. Understandably we shy away from people in psychosis because they are living out our own radical and universal mad parts. But, instead of turning from the schizophrenia complex, we can acknowledge our shared darkness and stretch into connection. Then, as Eve Maram’s story depicts, we may find eros has the power to constellate hope, courage, and tenacity in the face of chaos, helping us discover that we are more than before. Here's the dream we analyze: “I am about to play tennis on a public outdoor court with 4 or 5 other guys and a coach. As we are walking onto the courts, I ask "are there any tennis prodigies from the neighborhood who play here?" Coach says no and I am a little disappointed. We spread out on the courts to get ready for a drill, and I step into a big pile of dog poo. I am disgusted, and I yell out to the other guys. They don’t hear me but they do notice that I am walking off the court. Just outside of the court, I stomp and scrape my shoe in a small grassy area, but I can’t get the dog poo off. It is clinging to my shoe with claws-it is actually a furry brown creature. At first, I think it is dead but as i stomp it comes alive and starts to fight back.” REFERENCES: Eve Maram. The Schizophrenia Complex. https://a.co/d/9NORqZJ John Weir Perry. The Far Side of Madness. https://a.co/d/gxpIuXu Nathan Filer. This Book Will Change Your Mind about Mental Health. https://a.co/d/atN5Syv GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Imprisoned by the sea with his son Icarus, mythological craftsman Daedalus constructed wings to escape. Beeswax held feathers in place, so Daedalus told Icarus not to fly too high or too low: the sun’s heat would melt the wax and sea spray would weigh the wings down. Elated, Icarus flew too high--and fell. Like Icarus, the moods of people with bipolar disorder swing from soaring into mania to sinking into depression. This disorder affects at least 2% of the population worldwide, with genetics by far the major contributor. BP is a major cause of disability and can also be a factor in creativity; it often brings with it anxiety, substance abuse, migraines, and more. Treatment includes medication, attention to lifestyle, and psychotherapy that includes relating to archetypal polarities. Jung says, “It is not a matter of indifference whether one calls something a ‘mania’ or a ‘god.’ To serve a mania is detestable and undignified, but to serve a god is full of meaning and promise.” Bipolar individuals soar between opposing archetypes leaving them exhausted and confused. Myths help ground the ego in a larger perspective. Here's the dream we analyze: “I am in a restaurant busy with people standing and moving around. I too am standing and have been given a seafood dish in an opaque glass (at first like a fancy stemmed glass for cocktail shrimp) and I slurp some of it down. Looking into the vessel I realize I've been eating raw seahorses. I continue to eat, one and then another, not wanting to be rude. They are slimy, room-temp, and gray. I look again into the vessel, which now is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom as if the seahorses, barely submerged in a grey liquid, are in a dark pit that I have to peer into, and I do realize that some of them are still moving, puckering their lips trying to breathe. I decide I cannot keep eating them. I go to where murky puddles have formed in the cement by the melting ice and crab parts of the kitchen's seafood prep. I assume the puddles to be brackish, or at least can provide a more bearable end of life for the seahorses, so I throw them in by flicking the glass. There are still more seahorses stuck to the bottom of the glass, my flicking hindered by its strange shape. People are standing and talking around the puddles now, so it's discreetly that I quickly flick the rest of the seahorses out, not wanting to be seen doing it and not wanting the seahorses to be seen in the puddles.” REFERENCES: Buzz Aldrin. Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon. https://a.co/d/j1IQZID Jason Thompson. A Jungian Approach to Bipolar Disorder: Rejoining the Split Archetype. https://a.co/d/fZS821Y Kay Redfield Jamison (multiple books): An Unquiet Mind; Manic-Depressive Illness; Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament; Exuberance: The Passion for Life. S-town podcast. https://stownpodcast.org/ Werner Herzog (film). Grizzly Man. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_Man GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Conned, swindled, or bilked, about 50 million Americans were ripped off by scammers in 2020. What deadens a person to preying on another? Tricksters commit crudely constructed fraud. Jung said they are “not really evil [but do] the most atrocious things from sheer unconsciousness and unrelatedness.” Cheaters may have behaved decently until tempted by need and opportunity and then become caught in a web of deception. Narcissists exploit others due to an inflated need for admiration and status that forecloses empathy and relatedness--and crooks turn predation, power, and risk-taking into a career. They lack authentic affiliation with others and an abiding sense of self; egotism and performative grandiosity substitute for feeling and being. The scammer unwittingly scams himself by seeking false gold in the external world. Real gold lies within. Here’s the dream we analyze: “I’m with my family in a grand dining room, around a large table with lots of food on it. It’s going to be dad’s funeral. I hear that mum is really upset because she wants to see dad’s body before they bury him. Some men bring dad’s body directly past the table where we are sitting, and as they bring the body past, I recite the lyrics to the Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler” to my brother. I look at him sincerely, and I clearly say: “On a warm summer’s evening, on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with a gambler, we were both too tired to sleep. We took turns in staring out the window at the darkness Until the boredom overtook us, and he began to speak. He said, “Son, I’ve made a life out of reading people’s faces Knowing what the cards were by the way they held their eyes. And if you don’t mind me saying, I can see you’re out of aces, and for a taste of your whiskey, I’ll give you some advice. You’ve got to know When to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run, You never count your money When you’re sittin’ at the table, There’ll be time enough for countin,’ When the dealin’s done, Now every gambler knows, The secret to survivin,’ Is knowin’ what to throw away, And knowin’ what to keep, ’Cause every hand’s a winner, And every hand’s a loser, And the best you can hope for Is to die in your sleep.” Then I stop, and we start to eat the food.” REFERENCES: Bernie Madoff, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff Elizabeth Holmes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes George Santos, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santos John Carreyrou. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. https://a.co/d/3Gv3NMJ Maria Konnikova. The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It Every Time. https://a.co/d/gWd18xR Podcast: Dr. Death. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dr-death-s1-dr-duntsch/id1421573955 Sam Bankman-Fried, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bankman-Fried GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

New Year is a global time of celebration and self-reflection. We let go of what’s worn out and cheer on what’s new and emergent. Here at TJL, we raised our glasses in gratitude. We crested 8 million downloads, implemented major enhancements to your Dream School experience, started crafting our first book, The Key Dreams, and expanded our creative team. It’s been a year of dynamic growth, and we couldn’t have done it without you! Our mission to share Jung’s life-enhancing wisdom is advancing through your patronage, soulful participation, and kind-hearted enthusiasm. Your experiences are important to us, and we noticed the 2022 episodes you liked best. So to honor that, we’re sharing some gems from those conversations. In Reality as Medicine, we explore the task of adapting to the truths of our inner and outer worlds. Finally, in Vocation: Answering the Call, we deepen Jung’s comment, “In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted.” In Amor Fati: Love of One’s Fate, we discuss the transformational shift that occurs when we embrace our fate and say the great “YES!” to our lives. In Forgiveness or Fury: Finding a Way Forward, we offer a psychological definition of forgiveness and suggest that we can accept apology and remorse—if it’s accompanied by introspection and greater self-understanding. We clarify that forgiveness is less about the other than self-liberation from the victim paradigm. When Jungian analyst Donald Kalsched joined us, we discussed Trauma and the Informed Heart. Don’s wisdom, depth of understanding, and kindness move all of us. Connie Zweig led us through a profound exploration of The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul. She lifted up the archetypal transition from Hero to Elder or role to soul. We learned this begins by releasing the ego’s over-identification with doing and reorienting toward the transpersonal center Jung called the Self. REFERENCES: Donald Kalsched Connie Zweig GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Sex fascinates us. Whether we turn toward it, flushed and excited or away from it, tense and disquieted. Archetypal images of sex adorn the thresholds of ancient temples and inform most mythological systems. Shiva and Shakti, in their union, create the universe – she’s providing all forms for his undifferentiated light. The gods beget gods as they mate, giving rise to infinite imagistic permutations of cosmic and personal qualities. These religious images of creation and pleasure inform our individual psyche granting sexuality a numinous intensity. Human culture shapes our initial attitudes toward sex. When infused with monotheistic religious feeling, sex is held as a sacrament subject to the rites and rituals believed to protect the couple from its overwhelming power and god’s jealous monitoring of the behavior. Polytheistic religions generated a multiplicity of god-forms and related myths to reflect a wide variety of possible relationships to sex and its outcomes. Pan, the lusty fertility god of the rut, Aphrodite the mistress of beauty and refined passion, Anteros the god of love returned, and Pothos, the god of sexual yearning – the infinite diversities of sexual expression, were held by related images and protectively tended by their devotees. With the age of enlightenment that inevitably led to the current juggernaut of science and empirical attitude, we disposed of the archetypal images of sex, driving them into our personal and collective shadow. Defenses like shame and resentment keep the gods of sex at bay. At war within our bodies, they cause genital tissue to ossify and choke off requisite blood flow. Freud was foremost in the battle to understand and liberate trapped sexual forces. As a neurologist, odd cases of functional disorders came to his attention – a patient who mysteriously could not feel a limb or a loss of sight without organic cause. His rigorous exploration of symptoms and personal narrative led him to a theory of psychosexual development which clarified how sexual energy, when thwarted, could lead to a host of mental and physical suffering or neurosis. Jung expanded the theory, suggesting there were many kinds of psychic energy, in addition to sex, that produced symptoms when trapped by unnatural attitudes or traumatic interference. He accepted the creative reality of sexuality and was an early champion of sexual diversity and self-determination. As moderns, we have tried to liberate sex by reducing it to a transaction, making it subordinary and thus non-threatening. Kinsey championed the natural fluidity of sexuality by surveying and analyzing personal erotic experiences and publishing them – he tried to restore consciousness to the diversity of sexual themes, hoping it would broaden modern attitudes and cultivate acceptance. The chorus of explainers now spans widely from biopsychosocial researchers to evolutionary psychologists, gender role theorists, to social constructionists. Add to that list theologists, talk show hosts, and podcasters, and we can all agree – we can’t seem to take our eyes off sex. Here’s the Dream We Analyze: “I was running a marathon in the desert. First, I saw pueblos, familiar from an old dream. Then I saw a sleeping dragon, then a stack of rainbow-colored rocks. Finally, I entered a taqueria, and the man behind the stand gave me a sugar-covered tortilla. Then a woman with a veil came in.” REFERENCES: From Freud to Jung: A Comparative Study of the Psychology of the Unconscious by Liliane Frey-Rohn. https://a.co/d/63atnIv Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex Paperback by John Gray. https://a.co/d/4ZWjSmW The Kinsey Institute, https://kinseyinstitute.org/ GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

Holiday homecomings kindle hopes of achieving a domestic ideal, though family gatherings are also likely to evoke old roles and emotions. Families open a portal into the patterns of the past, and unfinished business can cause repetition of disappointing dynamics as if one more replay will yield a different outcome. John Gottman, renowned interactive researcher, states that authentic relationships have more positive than negative interactions, creating an emotional bank account to draw on when difficulties arise. If relational deposits are low, it may be time to face the disappointing reality of what should have been and may never be. It’s time to start something new. We can engage the task of making a home within instead of seeking it from others. When we are at home with ourselves, we are free to enjoy relationships for what they have to offer. Complicated family dynamics are not modern affectations but part of the original fabric of human psyche. Fairy tales offer a wellspring of archetypal images that capture elements of collective experience curated over thousands of years. These stories help define universal problems and offer attitudinal solutions. For example, Nordic tales frequently include trolls that embody unrestrained primal instincts that disrupt the peace, make uncivilized demands, and, once sated, return to the wilderness, often with a promise to return. The Norwegian tale, The Cat on the Dovrefell, helps us understand how we collude with disruptive holiday dynamics and what might be required to keep them at bay. From the ancient wellspring of fairytales to the insightful observations of current researchers, one thing remains constant – challenging dynamics constellate when families gather for the holidays, requiring accurate recognition and skillful intervention. With this in hand, we might artfully disrupt old family patterns and bring forward the warm experiences of love and connection we hope for. Here’s the dream we analyze: “It’s nighttime, and I’m at the airport with my mom, in line for security. I have my cat with me, and as I’m about to go through security with him, I suddenly realize we are outside on the tarmac. I’m worried about pulling him out of his carrier because I know that if he escapes my arms, I’ll never find him out there. I can’t bear to lose him; the thought fills me with dread, and I start to panic. Upon seeing this, the TSA worker lets me keep him in his carrier. I get through and get on my flight. Upon landing, I find myself in Berlin. I make my way to the hotel, where I meet up with several friends. We are all tired from traveling, and it’s snowy out, so we decide to stay at the hotel and rest before exploring the city. We head to the pool, where the bar is very crowded with old people. One of my friends decides to go swimming, even though it’s very cold out. She plunges in, and a hotel employee scolds her, telling her it’s too cold, and she must get out. She doesn’t listen. More of my friends have arrived and are now also jumping into the pool. I stand at the edge, looking down at the water, unsure if I want to go in. Suddenly, an impulse takes over, and I need to feel the cold water on my body. I realize at this moment that I have a migraine, and I know the shock of the cold will heal it. I jump in and am surprised by how deep the pool is. I’m underwater a lot longer than I thought I’d be. When I resurface, I suddenly remember that my cat and my ex’s cat are in my hotel room, and I’m struck with a need to go check on them. I couldn’t bear to lose them and need to make sure they’re okay. Back in my hotel room, I find the cats are safe, and I also discover that my ex is in the room like he’s been waiting up there for me. I get into the bed, which is large and has a fluffy white comforter, and he joins. I am suddenly nervous as I realize we haven’t shared a bed in months, and I’m not sure what to do. But we quickly fall into place, and he’s holding me tight. It feels secure and warm, and we fall asleep like that. When I awake, we are back in our hometown together.” REFERENCES: John Gottman. The Relationship Cure. https://a.co/d/6vj3fUj GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

In psychoanalysis, a screen memory covers up a deeper, more emotionally charged issue. Similarly, movie and television screens both shield and open us to human complexity through fiction. The opportunity to peer into shadow and secrets from a safe distance is irresistible. Depictions of psychotherapists and therapy can range from the malevolent Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) to psychic empath Deanna Troi (Star Trek). Most on-screen therapists, however, like their real-world counterparts, are wounded healers doing their best to help despite sometimes substantial fallibilities. Bruce Willis (Sixth Sense) doesn’t realize he’s dead; Jennifer Melfi (The Sopranos) denies her mobster client’s sociopathy, and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) embodies the mercurial power of humor that grants perspective. Jung understood the value of the analyst’s capacity to suffer as they led the way; he writes, “…it is his own hurt that gives a measure of his power to heal.” During the painful tumult of the COVID pandemic, growing demand for therapeutic support piqued public curiosity in the mechanisms of psychotherapy, opening the way for Jonah Hill’s vulnerable documentary STUTZ, filmed with his ailing therapist Phil Stutz. It invites the public to witness the wisdom, mutual vulnerabilities, and authentic affection that fuels the healing process. As Freud wrote in a letter to Jung, “…psychoanalysis in essence, is a cure through love.” HERE’S THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: “I was attending a drag show, but I put on a costume and began to perform on stage. I was a background performer for someone else, and I was just walking around the stage. I felt like I wasn’t wearing the costume that I wanted to wear. I didn’t feel comfortable or confident. I also felt like I wasn’t getting cheered on by the crowd. I got off the stage and felt unseen. I remember seeing a pill bottle, and not knowing what it was, I took a pill. It was someone’s else’s medication that I stole. I spent the rest of the dream trying to hide in shame from taking someone else’s medicine and anxiously waiting to see what the pill was going to do to me.” REFERENCES: Frazier (TV series, 1993-2004). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frasier In Treatment (TV series, 2009-2021). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Treatment One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (film, 1975). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(film) Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV series, 1987-1994). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation STUTZ (Film). (2022); Jonah Hill, Phil Stutz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKCmefQdplI The Sixth Sense (Film, 1999). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sixth_Sense The Sopranos (TV series, 1999-2007). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sopranos GIVE US A HAND! Hey folks, We need your help. Please become our patron and keep This Jungian Life podcast up and running: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife JUMP IN THE POOL WITH US - THE WATER’S FINE! We’ve created Dream School to teach others how to work with their dreams. A vibrant community has constellated around this mission, and we think you’ll love it. Check it out: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ RESOURCES: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8QSBLNlv765pT097FDeLA Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml

We tend to think of revolution as a people’s push-back against perceived oppression—a reaction to rulership that has rejected fairness, change, and accessibility. When a rigid power structure reigns supreme—often presenting as idealism, spirituality, or cultural integrity—it can generate opposing force as an effort to restore rightness and realize renewal. For Jung, revolution “is not conversion into the opposite but conservation of previous values together with recognition of their opposites.” He adds that to quite a “terrifying degree, we are threatened by wars and revolutions which are nothing other than psychic epidemics…modern man is battered by the elemental forces of his own psyche.” For revolution to be more than warring between opposites requires the capacity to mediate conflicts within ourselves and establish a new internal order. You say you’ll change the constitution Well, you know We’d all love to change your head You tell me it’s the institution Well, you know You better free your mind instead The Beatles: Revolution Here’s the dream we analyze: “I am in some sort of tech office. Someone is here who is trying to steal data. My goal is to discover their identity, get the disc they are trying to smuggle and get out. At one point, a female friend from church is standing across the room from me. She has a sniper rifle with a scope on it, trained on me. I think maybe I can try to duck or run quickly behind something, but I know that I won’t get there in time, and she will shoot me. I am not sure what is going to happen. I also sense that she is friendly toward me, she may even be smiling, but she still has the sniper rifle trained on me. Then she is right in front of me. I take the barrel of the rifle and hold it up to my forehead and tell her it is okay, she can shoot me if she needs to. I close my eyes and am genuinely unsure of what is going to happen. Time passes. She decides not to shoot me after all. I am vaguely aware that there is a studio audience watching all of this like it is a reality show or a game show of some kind, and I’ve won “sympathy points” by doing this. The church friend has disappeared, and I continue looking for the infiltrator. I see a guy I noticed earlier, and I think it can’t possibly be him; that would be too easy. But then I see he has a CD under the cushion of his seat--it is him. When he is not looking, I retrieve the CD. I am very nervous to do this, but I do not get caught. Now I need to get out of the building with the CD. But the sense of terror is gone. I am sure he is not going to catch me, and I can probably leave as I please. I am weirdly sad that the sense of apprehension is gone.” REFERENCES: Joseph Henderson and Dyane Sherwood. Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Alchemy of the Splendor Solis. https://a.co/d/3D98biA GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife

Melancholy evokes images of poets and artists for whom suffering and giftedness go hand in hand. Creative ability as compensation for affliction is depicted in Greek myth by the god Hephaestus. Rejected by his goddess mother and cast out of Olympus, alienated Hephaestus forged magnificent, magical objects for the gods. Such archetypal imagery can inform our understanding of the kind of depression that seems intrinsic but may have roots in early, adverse childhood experiences of emotional deprivation or rejection. Early loss, separation from a primary caregiver, or relational abandonment can have lifelong repercussions. Such disruptive events, though not available to consciousness, nonetheless infuse adult attitudes and attachments. To name the void creates space for mourning and healing, and like Hephaestus, finding the inner fire to forge something new. Here's the dream we analyze: “In my dream I am walking, I think toward a house. I'm walking through a wilderness area that has many, like at least 2 dozen, dead rabbits. They are dismembered. And I look at them, but when I do, I feel that I have violated their death. I'm not sure. I know a wolf got them but I never see the wolf. I see one of the rabbit's faces, and even though it is missing it's lower half (and is quite bloody), I know its soul is still alive, though its body is dead. I don't ponder this for very long in the dream. After that, I pass the rabbits, and I'm in the yard of what I think might be my home. But it is flooded - the aftermath of a flood. There is a large (80 foot) oak tree in the middle of the flood waters. Next to it is a tower of toadstools, each growing on top of one another. They are beautiful. They are lime green and white, almost glowing. I never go into the house because I'm amazed by the mushrooms. I take picture after picture of them from various angles.” REFERENCES: Film: Melancholia; Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgard. https://play.hbomax.com/player/urn:hbo:feature:GYVLQ2wCF_6TDXgEAAACc The Ultimate Rumi Collection. Three books by Coleman Barks, https://a.co/d/c99kiYA GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife

Humans have played games since prehistoric times. Games bring us together and pit us against each other. We agree to rules, take turns, develop tolerance for frustration, and learn to win and lose. We develop skills and submit to chance. Games range from luck to skill, from a throw of the dice to acing it at tennis. Games regulate aggression: only one can win, whether on a gameboard or the court. Shadow is sanctioned within the rules, creating monikers like The Black Death of chess and Boss of the Moss of golf—and in the heat of a game, shadier traits may also be revealed. But “playing games” in relationships is universally condemned as cheating. Games introduce us to conditions of life, for we must play the hand we’ve been dealt. Confronted with the limitations of ego and understanding, we may discover that games are metaphors for the movement of a mysterious cosmos. Here’s the dream we analyze: “I dream of this place that is dark and largely empty. The doors to the place are open. Inside there is a void, and in the void, particles. They are ominous. Dark. They exert impact on things inside this place. There is nothing inside this place except cut-outs of what look like humans. They float eerily and move through the air quickly, like ghosts. As one approaches the window through which I am looking in, the cut-out impresses as very human-like, even though it is not. It is eerily human-like. I am startled. All of a sudden, there are humans inside this place. I become aware of a lady with a shaven head. Her head reminds me of the Borg [Star Trek reference]. These particles have been affecting her and have caused her to be gone. She is alive but no longer a human--cannot be reached. Her condition cannot be undone. I am now in a room with a male human. He is not gone to the particles yet. He presents me 4 books quickly. He says they will soon be stolen. That everything in this place is stolen quickly. He says to remember the headings of books as this is the only way to keep the information, namely in one’s memory. The particles in the dream are rather ominous. The place is ominous. There is such hunger in this place, a kind that cannot be sated, hence the stealing of things.” GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife

As our bonds to historic roles loosen, fathers are finding new ways to express themselves within the family dynamic. In 2014 Pew Research Center identified two million stay-at-home-dads in the United States. Those men tell us that tending their children is more rewarding than chasing a paycheck. Being liberated from the hunter-gatherer role has allowed more men to incarnate aspects of the Father archetype infrequently seen since the industrial revolution. Being caregiver and homecreator does not diminish their experience of masculinity but rallies inner resources that had been set aside. Despite the national call for a redistribution of family duties and liberation from traditional paradigms, at-home dads face isolation, suspicion, and stigma. Historically, as father’s left the home to work at factories and offices, their presence in the family psyche dimmed. Children often lost touch with the significance of their fathers, and family courts consistently relegated them to providers of income. Poet Robert Hayden captures this ambivalence and regret in his poem Those Winter Sundays. Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices? Growth and change are central to Jung’s ideas. Making room for the incarnating Self in all its complex diversity is the task of humanity. When we muster understanding and support, cultural and personal transformation might be a little less painful Here’s the dream we analyze: “I am in New York with my sister. We are in the reception of a hotel, and it is cavernous, with walls and arches made from rich brown marble. The light is golden. We are taken to our room, and we are jetlagged and tired. This feels OK; we didn’t have anything planned in our itinerary anyway. Our room is big, but we go into the small bedroom and get into the bed, one of us at each end. Later, I go to a Victoria’s Secret in a mall. All the clothes are really expensive: the sale rack is not really reduced, and I find it annoying. Other people don’t seem to mind, and they are clamoring for the clothes. I return to the hotel room and find that I have accidentally stolen some underwear: I have no idea how it got into my bag. My dad has arrived, with some of my friends and my sister. The bedroom feels really cramped. Everyone seems to be in New York. I’m embarrassed about the ‘stealing,’ and everyone tells me I have to take it all back. I don’t know how to do this surreptitiously without getting into trouble.” REFERENCES: Dad Saves the Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6YmKIoUdZc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEPq2rGLKZU Farrell, W. (2019). The boy crisis: Why our boys are struggling and what we can do about it. BenBella Books. Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/abRKOzW Hayden, R., & Glaysher, F. (2013). Robert Hayden: Collected poems. Liveright. Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/ay0nLoi National At-Home Dad Network: https://athomedad.org/advocacy/statistics-on-stay-at-home-dads/ Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/#:~:text=Just%2024%25%20of%20stay%2Dat,%2Dat%2Dhome%20mothers). Warren Farrell: https://warrenfarrell.com/ GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife HASHTAGS:

Humans moved from stitching animal hides to sewing cloth, from necessity to fashion, and from handwork to factory. To sew is to repair, alter, and create. If a rip or tear is sewn unthinkingly, the garment will be too tight or unsightly. Alterations have limitations, and uncut cloth is the prima materia for the alchemy of construction. Sewing requires dexterity, knowledge, and judgment. Sewing transforms parts into wholes— meticulous stitches render possibility into product, and scraps store memories in the pattern of a quilt. We hold the opposites of design and detail with attention and patience, and can’t resist embroidering our garments, stories, and lives. What we sew has a limited lifespan, as do we. Stitching our inner and outer lives together day by day, we can create raiment for the soul. Here’s the dream we analyze: “I am walking up a stairwell together with what feels like a close friend, and we enter an apartment which I assume is mine, even though I have never seen it before. The hallway is quite spacious and sterile; there is no furniture or curtains. As we enter, my white pet ferret rushes toward me and wants to be cuddled. I pick her up and hold her in my arms. I am so happy to see her, but at the same time, I feel bad because I know I have neglected her and left her alone in the apartment for far too long. Suddenly I’m horrified as I notice that she has a large lump on her right eyelid! My friend takes the ferret from me and carefully examines her eye. After a while, she says, “Look, the lump is covering her eye, and she will go blind if it continues to grow. Actually, you used to have a lump like this on your eye a while ago, but you removed it. She must have caught it from you--it’s a virus, you know.” I can’t recall any of this, but I trust my friend is right, so I’m instantly relieved. I feel so grateful that we discovered it in time to save her, and I promise myself to take better care of her in the future.” GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife

Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook, shares himself and his new book, We Are the Light. Writer’s block led Quick to This Jungian Life podcast, analysis, and letter writing as a literary device. Letters free us even as the privacy of the page dares us to reveal ourselves, risk intimacy, and express our longing to be received. Lucas, the main character, rediscovers himself through faithful letters to his former Jungian analyst after a movie theater shooting takes 18 lives, including his wife’s. Fragile, valiant, and humorously naive, Lucas Goodgame plays the game of life that Jung termed individuation. Lucas plays with all his heart, and his alliance with an alienated teen ignites the magic of healing in surprising ways. Did Quick create Lucas—or was Lucas waiting for Quick to unblock and let him in? Our conversation sheds light on the relationship between author and character, creativity and healing, Jungian analysis and soul. This book is about the angels and grace that lead us from grieving to living—and love. REFERENCES: Learn more about Matthew Quick: https://matthewquickwriter.com/ Sign-Up for Matthew’s monthly personal letter: https://matthewquickwriter.com/contact/#personal-letter Purchase a copy of We Are the Light https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1668005425?tag=simonsayscom GIVE US A HAND! Please become our patron: https://www.patreon.com/ThisJungianLife RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ Enroll in our Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to becoming an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThisJungianLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisjungianlife/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisJungianLife #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #selfcare #selflove #anxiety #love #mentalhealthmatters #depression #motivation #health #wellness #healing #life #loveyourself #therapy #inspiration #happiness #mindset #positivity #positivevibes #mentalillness #psychology #wellbeing #recovery #instagood #happy #mensmovement #toxicmasculinity #positivemasculinity #masculinity #trauma #PTSD #angels #psychoanalysis #jungiananalysis #shootings #alcoholism #AlcoholicsAnonymous #mentoring #communitymentalhealth #spirituality