A Special Invitation to Your Soul
“The Beloved we seek is the archetypal Self, our God-image that is a combination of all archetypes. As such, it is our portal to the Sacred.” This Saturday, June 12, I’ll present a free Zoom program for the Jung Association of Central Ohio called “The Partnership Profile: A Self-Assessment of Your Feminine and Masculine Archetypes.” The […]
Understanding Archetypes
Many who are fascinated with the psyche have tried to draw clear boundaries around the archetypes. I’ve worked on this for years in search of a framework that could help me understand myself, and I’m passing on what I’ve learned because it’s been useful; however, nobody knows for sure how closely our descriptions fit reality. In truth, it’s not possible to fully understand.
A Thank-You and a Confession
” A man likes to believe that he is master of his soul. But as long as he is unable to control his moods and emotions, or to be conscious of the myriad secret ways in which unconscious factors insinuate themselves into his arrangements and decisions, he is certainly not his own master. These unconscious […]
Archetypes: Your Guides to Your Authentic Self. Part II
The last post shared the first part of my article, “Archetypes: Your Guides to Your Authentic Self,” featured in the spring issue of ‘Inspired” magazine. You can read the whole magazine here. That post ended with a discussion of how your personal experiences with your human mother and father influenced your attitudes toward the universal […]
Meaning from Symbol/Symbol from Self
Before words, there were symbols. Symbols arise from our Source. We and our world are resplendent with symbols. Our clothes, art, the colors and objects in our homes and where we work and play, the people we love and admire, everything in the natural world — all this has symbolic meaning for us. We do […]
Identifying and Working with Archetypes in Your Dreams
With our preference for the conscious ego’s rational processes above all our other functions, western culture tends to devalue the psyche’s natural, intuitive, imaginative processes. This split between the rational mind and nature created the seriously dysfunctional attitudes and practices which have brought us to the brink of destruction.
The Shape of Water: The Shape of Change?
Fortunately, there are prophets among us to show us the way. They are the courageous and gifted artists who create books and films depicting ordinary people who evolve into heroic individuals. The Star Wars series, Avatar, Arrival, and The Shape of Water are examples.
What Is Enlightenment?
As you can see, the search for enlightenment cannot be compartmentalized into one domain, but requires cooperation between every part of us in every domain in which we function. I stress this point to dispel the common misconception that putting all our spiritual eggs into one basket—traditional religious participation and belief—is the only way to attain enlightenment.
Dreams As Spiritual Guides
Until I discovered dreamwork, no books or scriptures, no religious beliefs or sacrifices or regular church attendance, none of my ego’s hard work or good behavior, no well-intentioned thoughts or knowledge or cleverness, no psychological expert or religious authority—nothing in my life had any lasting transforming or healing power for me. But this dream from the Self did.
Mythological Healing in Times of Crisis
It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to my guest blogger, Elaine Mansfield. Elaine and I met about 15 years ago at the Winter Park Jung Center where her husband Vic made a presentation about his newest book. Talking over dinner afterwards, Elaine and I discovered that we had many interests in common, including dreamwork, women’s issues, and mythological studies.
