Dive into the complete episode list for Digital Jung. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
Rows per page:
50
1–50 of 84
Title
Pub. Date
Duration
A Collision Course With Life
11 May 2025
00:32:38
In this episode: I delve into the character of Captain Ahab. Ahab is a tragic figure who draws his whole crew into the orbit of his psychological atmosphere. I go on to look at the tension between the will of the ego and the will of fate and discuss the hard work involved in becoming conscious.
Sources for quotes and more:
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 16: The Ship; Chapter 20: All Astir; Chapter 28: Ahab; Chapter 51: The Spirit-Spout)
In this episode: I explore the search for meaning, the alienation from nature, and the role of art in healing and connection. The contrasting paths of Ishmael and Ahab are presented and the need to understand the interconnectedness of all existence is discussed.
Sources for quotes and more:
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 1: Loomings; Chapter 10: A Bosom Friend; Chapter 28: Ahab; Chapter 36: The Quarter-Deck; Chapter 72: The Monkey-rope; Chapter 135: The Chase - The Third Day)
In this episode: In this third part of my series on the fairytale The Iron Stove, I explore the importance of bringing together the mind and the body in the work of the symbolic life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I continue to explore the riches of the fairytale The Iron Stove, this time looking at the ways we resist the necessity of change in our lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I begin an exploration of the fairytale 'The Iron Stove' and explore what it means to be called beyond the limitations of the ego to an experience of the spirit.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I look at one of the more difficult experiences of the symbolic life, an experience best known by its religious name: the "dark night of the soul."
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I explore Jung’s concept of the unconscious — what it is, how it is experienced, and what it suggests about the idea of healing in analysis.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I conclude this series on the symbolism of alchemy by looking at the all-important image of the goal of the alchemical opus: The Philosophers’ Stone.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I continue with the third part of a four-part series on alchemy, this time looking at the stages of the alchemical opus and their meaning for the work of the symbolic life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
The Heart of the Matter: Alchemy and the Prima Materia
26 Jan 2023
00:30:43
In this episode: I continue with the second part of a four-part series on alchemy, looking at the symbol and the psychological meaning of what the alchemists called the prima materia.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I begin a series on the strange world of alchemy — exploring what it is and how it is relevant to the practice of the symbolic life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: An audio Christmas card from me to you.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I explore the creative process, the nature of art, and the psychological depths of the human experience through the lens of Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick.'
Sources for quotes and more:
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 1: Loomings; Chapter 87: The Grand Armada; Chapter 104: The Fossil Whale)
'Melville's Moby-Dick: A Jungian Commentary' by Edward Edinger
'Psychology and Literature' by C.G. Jung (CW15)
'On the Relation of Analytical Psychology and Poetry' by C.G. Jung (CW15)
'Mysterium Coniunctionis' by C.G. Jung (CW14)
'Is Life Worth Living?' by William James
The Gospel of Thomas
'A Dwelling Place For Wisdom' by Raimon Panikkar
'Two Essays on Analytical Psychology' by C.G. Jung (CW7)
'The Holy Longing,' poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (R. Bly, Translator)
In this episode: I discuss how times of struggle, and even suffering, can open us up to an experience that Jung calls “an affirmation of things as they are.”
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I explore the idea of everyday asceticism, the art of setting limits for ourselves in order to stand more firmly and authentically in our lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
In this episode: I discuss the idea of vocation -- what Jung calls “our proper life-task” -- and explore the challenges that come with taking up such a task in our own lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
In this episode: We explore the symbolism of “one’s true name” and the challenges that we meet in learning how to hear it.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
In this episode: We discuss one of the dangers inherent in the symbolic life — the ever-present specter of inflation.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
In this episode: We look at the question of how to begin -- that is, what preparations are needed to begin the work of the symbolic life?
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
"Already the ripening barberries" - poem by Rainer Maria Rilke (Translated by Robert Bly)
The Soul and Death by C.G. Jung, from 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We explore the work of becoming what one is and the fears we often feel when we begin it.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
The Development of the Personality from 'Collected Works, vol. 17' by C.G. Jung
'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville
'Living Myth: Personal Meaning as a Way of Life.' by D. Stephenson Bond
Have a great summer! See you in September, 2022!
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: I present some highlights and excerpts from a recent talk that I gave titled, Living a Symbolic Life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
The Revised English Bible (Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus or Sirach)
'Tao Te Ching' Translated by Red Pine
'A Poetry Handbook' by Mary Oliver
Psychological Types (Definitions) from 'Collected Works, vol. 6' by C.G. Jung
'Essays on a Science of Mythology' by C.G. Jung and Carl Kerényi
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: The trickster makes an appearance to caution us against the dangers of taking ourselves too seriously.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
Symbols of Transformation from 'Collected Works, vol. 5' by C.G. Jung
'Comedy of Errors' by William Shakespeare
'Character and Anal Erotism' by Sigmund Freud
The Farting Daughter-in-Law, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture
Tricksters: An Overview by Lawrence Sullivan from 'The Encyclopedia of Religion'
'The Rhythm of Being' by Raimon Panikkar
Meatballs (film)
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: I explore one of the more challenging aspects of the symbolic life: the call to leave behind the comfort of the known, the safe, and the familiar.
Sources for quotes and more:
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 3: The Spouter-Inn; Chapter 16: The Ship; Chapter 22: Merry Christmas; Chapter 23: The Lee Shore)
'The Development of the Personality' by C.G. Jung (CW17)
In this episode: We finish our reading of the tale, The Seven Ravens, and discuss the difficulties that come with the work of recovering our lost wholeness.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
Spirit and Life from 'Collected Works, vol. 8' by C.G. Jung
The Seven Ravens, Grimms' Fairy Tales
The Development of the Personality from 'Collected Works, vol. 17' by C.G. Jung
Foreword to 'Introduction to Zen Buddhism' from 'Collected Works, vol. 11' by C.G. Jung
Mysterium Coniunctionis from 'Collected Works, vol. 14' by C.G. Jung
'Man is Not Alone' by Abraham Joshua Heschel
'Ego and Archetype' by Edward Edinger
'Upstream" by Mary Oliver
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We begin to read through the tale The Seven Ravens and to explore the challenges of reconciling the different sides of our nature.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
'Mysticism: The Preeminent Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness' by Evelyn Underhill
The Seven Ravens, Grimms' Fairy Tales
'Practical Mysticism' by Evelyn Underhill
'Ego and Archetype' by Edward Edinger
The Development of the Personality from 'Collected Works, vol. 17' by C.G. Jung
'Living an Examined Life' by James Hollis
'I Asked For Wonder,' An Anthology of Writings from Abraham Joshua Heschel
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We discuss those times in the symbolic life that call on us to bring tolerance, kindness, and patience to ourselves.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
Psychotherapists and the Clergy from 'Collected Works, vol. 11' by C.G. Jung
Transformation Symbolism in the Mass from 'Collected Works, vol. 11' by C.G. Jung
'Children's Dreams' by C.G. Jung
'From the Life and Work of C.G. Jung' by Aniela Jaffé
'Selected Letters' by C.G. Jung
'Ego and Archetype' by Edward Edinger
The Hawk (Sakuṇagghi Sutta)
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We look at the mythic background of the creative life to discover both its challenges and its rewards.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell
'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield
'Living Myth: Personal Meaning as a Way of Life' by D. Stephenson Bond
'Creation Myths' by Marie-Louise von Franz
'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking' by Susan Cain
The Development of the Personality from 'Collected Works, vol. 17' by C.G. Jung
Neighbors, poem by David Wagoner
'Upstream' by Mary Oliver
Analytical Psychology and Poetry from 'Collected Works, vol. 15' by C.G. Jung
'The Heart Aroused' by David Whyte
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We take a step back in order to ask the fundamental question: Why do we need a symbolic life?
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
The Legend of the White Buffalo Woman from 'The Sacred Pipe' by Joseph Epes Brown (As told by Black Elk)
'I Asked For Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology' from the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We discuss the interpretation of symbols and the importance of engaging them with our full emotional presence.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We continue to consider the importance of letting things unfold in the psyche, particularly in connection with the practice of active imagination.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
The Practice of Psychotherapy from 'Collected Works, vol. 16' by C.G. Jung.
The Old Woman in the Woods, Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We talk about the value of letting things happen and why Jung felt it was essential for the task of individuation.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
'The Integration of the Personality' by C.G. Jung.
'Tao Te Ching,' Translated by Richard Wilhelm.
'Some keep the Sabbath going to Church' by Emily Dickinson.
'The Spiritual Life' by Evelyn Underhill.
'The Wisdom of Insecurity' by Alan Watts.
'Religious but Not Religious' by Jason E. Smith.
'The Cloud of Unknowing.'
'Lost' by David Wagoner.
'Oceans' by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
'Love in the Void,' a collection of writings by Simone Weil.
'Encounters with the Soul' by Barbara Hannah.
'Visions Seminars' by C.G. Jung
Transformation Symbolism in the Mass from 'Collected Works, vol. 11' by C.G. Jung.
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We talk about happiness, and discover why Jung believed it was better for us not to pursue it.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“...a civilization that has forgotten that man’s life should be sacrificial, that is, offered up to an idea greater than himself.” ~ C.G. Jung, in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
“Again and again I therefore admonish my students both in Europe and in America: ‘Don't aim at success..." ~ Viktor Frankl in 'Man's Search For Meaning.'
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We look at how the attitude we take towards our dreams changes our experience of them, and affects our relationship with our inner lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
"The psyche is indistinguishable from its manifestations. The psyche is the object of psychology, and — fatally enough — also its subject. There is no getting away from this fact.” ~ C.G. Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
"I share all your prejudices against dream-interpretation as the quintessence of uncertainty and arbitrariness. .." ~ Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
"It is on the basis of theory, for instance, that I expect dreams to have a meaning. I cannot prove in every case that this is so.... But I have to make such an hypothesis in order to find courage to deal with dreams at all." ~ Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
The Peddler of Swaffham from 'English Fairy and Other Folk Tales.'
“I must content myself wholly with the fact that the result means something to my patient and sets his life in motion again. I may allow myself only one criterion for the result of my labours: does it work?” ~ Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
“In many ways the journey seems to be a foolish gamble...” ~ Thomas Merton in 'New Seeds of Contemplation.'
“The right way to wholeness is made up, unfortunately, of fateful detours and wrong turnings.” ~ Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 12.'
“Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth...” ~ Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 9ii.'
“Our errors are surely not such awfully solemn things.... A certain lightness of heart seems healthier than this excessive nervousness on their behalf.” ~ William James in 'The Will to Believe.'
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us” ~ from
In this episode: I discuss the psychic split brought on by the experience of the modern world and the need for a connection with the soul and the mythic dimension of life.
Sources for quotes and more:
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 3: The Spouter-Inn; Chapter 10: A Bosom Friend; Chapter 12: Biographical; Chapter 110: Queequeg in His Coffin)
'The Secret of the Golden Flower' by Richard Wilhelm & C.G. Jung
'Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious' by C.G. Jung (CW9i)
In this episode: We return to the subject of fantasy and consider how we can ensure a healthy connection with this foundational function of the psyche.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“Pure facts are in any case unstatable....” ~ Jürgen Moltmann from 'Jesus Christ for Today's World.'
"Jungian therapy, at least as I practice it, brings about an awareness that fantasy is the dominant force in a life." ~ James Hillman in A Note on Story from 'Loose Ends.'
“An external emergency, such as epidemics or famine, can suddenly ‘charge’ the fantasy of a healer-savior..." ~ Marie-Louis von Franz in 'Projection and Recollection in Jungian Psychology.'
“Our unwillingness to see our own faults and the projection of them is the beginning of most quarrels...” ~ C.G. Jung from Depth Psychology and Self-Knowledge in 'Collected Works, vol. 18.'
“Developing fantasy means perfecting our humanity. In this connection I regard religious ideas as of the utmost importance...” ~ Three Versions of a Press Conference in Vienna from 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
"These basic tales channel fantasy...." ~ James Hillman in A Note on Story from 'Loose Ends.'
The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13 - 27)
“It is impossible to see the angel unless you first have a notion of it..." ~ James Hillman from 'The Soul's Code.'
“It is high time we realized that it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is much more needful to teach people the art of seeing.” ~ C. G. Jung from 'Collected Works, vol. 12.'
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson in Art from 'Essays: First Series.'
In this episode: We discuss solitude, and the vital importance it plays in supporting our engagement with life and with the world.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“I understand your wish very well, but must tell you at once that it does not fit in with my situation...." ~ C.G. Jung, in 'Letters, Vol II.'
“It seems to me that what goes on in the human being when he is by himself is as important as what happens in his interactions with other people…. ~ Anthony Storr in 'Solitude: A Return to the Self.'
'Already the ripening barberries are red' -- poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
“Ultimately, and precisely in the deepest and most important matters, we are unspeakably alone.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke in 'Letters to a Young Poet.'
“We each inhabit our own separate world...” ~ Edward Edinger in 'Ego and Archetype.'
"The development of personality from the germ-state to full consciousness is at once a charisma and a curse..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Development of the Personality, in 'Collected Works, vol. 17.'
“No one yet has made a list of places where the extraordinary may happen and where it may not...." ~ Mary Oliver in 'Upstream.'
“the world from which we draw our wisdom, our lucidities, our power to act, our courage, is in this other world... " ~ Anaïs Nin in 'In Favor of the Sensitive Man: And Other Essays.'
'Is my soul asleep' -- poem by Antonio Machado.
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a d
In this episode: We discuss the experience of nature and its connection to the important work of individuation.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“At Bollingen I am in the midst of my true life..." ~ C.G. Jung, in 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.'
"Individuation is a process by which a [person] becomes the definite, unique being that he [or she] in fact is." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 7.'
"Individuation is an expression of that biological process ..." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
"Individuation is a natural process. It is what makes a tree turn into a tree...." ~ C.G. Jung in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
“Dreams are impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche...” ~ C.G. Jungin 'Collected Works, vol. 10.'
In this episode: We discuss fantasy and explore the important role that it plays in our psychological life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“When you observe the world you see people, you see houses, you see the sky, you see tangible objects..." ~ C.G. Jung, from The Houston Films in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
“Where Id was, there Ego shall be." ~ Sigmund Freud in 'New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis.'
“From the psychoanalytic point of view it would seem that were reality more adequate, imagination might cease to dream.” ~ Mary Watkinsin 'Invisible Guests.'
“It is true that there are unprofitable, futile, morbid, and unsatisfying fantasies..." ~ Jung from The Aims of Psychotherapy in 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
“In sleep, fantasy takes the form of dreams..." ~ Jung from The Practice of Psychotherapy in 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
“Wakefulness may be described as a dreamlike state modulated by sensory experience.” ~ Llinas and Pare, quoted in 'The Neurobiology of the Gods' by Erik Goodwyn.
The Dhammapada, translation by Gil Fronsdal
“I try to funnel the fantasies of the unconscious into the conscious mind...” ~ Jung in Three Versions of a Press Conference in Vienna from 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
“As a ship aground is battered by the waves, so we, imprisoned in mortal life, lie open to the mercy of coming events..." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson in Intellect from 'Essays: First Series.'
“We are immersed in beauty, but our eyes have no clear vision.” ~ Emerson in Art from 'Essays: First Series.'
In this episode: We look at the value of the symbol and the transformative function that it holds for our psychological lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“Symbols … are always grounded in the unconscious archetype, but their manifest forms are moulded by the ideas acquired by the conscious mind. ..." ~ C.G. Jung, from Symbols of Transformation in 'Collected Works, vol. 5.'
"[Symptoms are ] an attempt of the self-regulating psychic system to restore the balance, in no way different from the function of dreams – only rather more forceful and drastic.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Tavistock Lectures in 'Collected Works, vol. 18.'
Discussion of "Symbolic Attitude" from Psychological Types in 'Collected Works, vol. 6.'
Shakuntala, adapted from 'The Dance of Shiva and Other Tales from India' by Oroon Ghosh.
“We are amphibious creatures..." ~ Evelyn Underhill in "Mysticism: The Preeminent Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness.'
“With the coming of consciousness, cultural and psychological values began to compete with the purely biological aims of unconscious functioning.” ~ M. Esther Harding in 'Psychic Energy: Its Source and Its Transformation.'
“A symbol is a function of relationship between our human consciousness and that which is symbolized.” from 'Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.'
“Strangest of all is the ease with which the vision is lost..." ~ Kathleen Raine, quoted in 'Beauty: The Invisible Embrace' by John O'Donohue.
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We look at Jung’s concept of the archetype and the implications it holds for our inner lives.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“The mere use of words is futile when you do not know what they stand for. This is particularly true in psychology, where we speak of archetypes like the anima and animus, the wise man, the great mother, and so on...." ~ C.G. Jung, from 'Man and His Symbols.'
"[Archetypes] are typical energy configurations which are activated by situations and problems, both outer and inner, by people, emotional conflicts, maturational needs, etc...." ~ Edward Whitmont, from 'The Symbolic Quest.'
The Gold-Giving Snake from 'The Panchatantra.'
Discussion of "Experiential Consciousness" in 'Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.'
“[It] confers life and effectuality upon them. Hate and love, fear and reverence, enter the scene of the confrontation and raise it to a drama...." ~ C.G. Jung from 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.'
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We discuss the challenges that confront us on the path of psychological growth and how we might respond to them.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“The serious problems in life, however, are never fully solved. If ever they should appear to be so it is a sure sign that something has been lost..." ~ C.G. Jung, from The Stages of Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
All of the quotes from Frances Wickes in this episode are taken from her book, 'The Inner World of Choice.'
All of the quotes from Jung in this episode are taken from The Stages of Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
Ferdinand the Faithful from 'Grimms' Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt.
Discussion of "Well-being" and "Salvation" in Adolf Guggenbühl-Craig's Marriage Dead or Alive.
'Our Real Work,' poem by Wendell Berry.
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
Symbols provide "the clues we need in order to carry on our lives in harmony with ourselves. ... Their validity is proved by their intense value for life." ~ C.G. Jung, from The Structure of the Unconscious in 'Collected Works, vol. 7.'
Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Podchaser ...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)
In this episode: We discuss the importance of art for human life and the central place it holds for living a symbolic life.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“What if there were a living agency beyond our everyday human world — something even more purposeful than electrons? ..." ~ C.G. Jung, from Psychology and Literature in 'Collected Works, vol. 15.'
'Homo Aestheticus' by Ellen Dissanayake
Discussion of "psychological or personalistic art" and "visionary art" in Jung's Psychology and Literature.
"Everything is banal, everything is 'nothing but'; and that is the reason why people are neurotic.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Symbolic Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 18.'
“Under these conditions one tends to follow whatever gives off the strongest signal, which is usually filtered through the prism of desire...." ~ Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.
"The artist appeals to that part of our being… which is a gift and not an acquisition — and, therefore, more permanently enduring...." ~ Joseph Conrad quoted in 'The Gift' by Lewis Hyde.
“There are very few changes at life's heart. That is why great literature, however ancient, always moves us and is always understood. It has to do with the unchanging heart of life.”~ Evelyn Underhill from The Inside of Life in 'Collected Papers of Evelyn Underhill.'
“Whoever speaks in primordial images speaks with a thousand voices...” ~ C.G. Jung from On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry in 'Collected Works, vol. 15.'
Discussion of "The Vital Circle" in 'The Rhythm of Being' by Raimon Panikkar.
“The meaning of life is to build a life as if it were a work of art.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel from 'I Asked For Wonder.'
“We must not forget that only a very few people are artists in life; that the art of life is the most distinguished and rarest of all the
In this episode: We discover how a recognition of the dramatic structure of dreams can help us in our understanding and interpretation of them.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
"Coming now to the form of dreams, we find everything from lightning impressions to endlessly spun out dream-narrative. Nevertheless, there are a great many 'average' dreams in which a definite structure can be perceived, not unlike that of a drama." ~ C.G. Jung, from On the Nature of Dreams in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
Old Sultan from 'Grimms' Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt.
In this episode: I explore the role of suffering and darkness as factors that awaken us to the need for what Jung calls a religious outlook. We look at ways that we can cultivate that outlook in an authentic way.
Sources for quotes and more:
'Man and His Symbols' by C.G. Jung
'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 2: The Carpet-Bag; Chapter 3: The Spouter-Inn; Chapter 7: The Chapel; Chapter 8: The Pulpit)
In this episode: We finish our reading of the tale, Old Sultan, and discuss the importance of limits in the discovery and expression of our true selves.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
"In an era which has concentrated exclusively upon extension of living space and increase of rational knowledge at all costs, it is a supreme challenge to ask man to become conscious of his uniqueness and his limitation. Uniqueness and limitation are synonymous.” ~ C.G. Jung from 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.'
“The complete expression of everything of which we are capable — the whole psychological zoo living within us, as well as the embryonic beginnings of artist, statesman or saint — means chaos, not character...." ~ Evelyn Underhill in 'The Spiritual Life.'
Old Sultan from 'Grimms' Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt.
“Fidelity to the law of one's own being is a trust in this law, a loyal perseverance and confident hope; in short, an attitude such as a religious man should have towards God.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Development of the Personality in 'Collected Works, vol. 17.'
“Becoming conscious means continual renunciation because it is an ever-deepening concentration.” ~ C.G. Jung in 'Selected Letters of C.G. Jung, 1909 - 1961.'
'The Archetypal Symbolism of Animals' by Barbara Hannah.
“Distant ends, religious, moral, and artistic interests, may become as relevant to us as our concern for food.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel in 'Man Is Not Alone.'
“To develop one's personality is indeed an unpopular undertaking, a deviation that is highly uncongenial to the herd.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Development of the Personality in 'Collected Works, vol. 17.'
“The truly free individual is free only to the extent of their own self mast
In this episode: We begin to read through the tale, Old Sultan and to explore our need to learn to face the inevitable changes of life with creativity and courage.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“In myths and fairytales, as in dreams, the psyche tells its own story..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales in 'Collected Works, vol. 9i.'
“The afternoon of life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Stages of Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
“In our technological age man could not conceive of this world as anything but material for his own fulfillment.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel in 'Man Is Not Alone.'
“A young man who does not fight and conquer has missed the best part of his youth, and an old man who does not know how to listen to the secrets of the brooks, as they tumble down from the peaks to the valleys, makes no sense..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Stages of Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
“The only thing to do is to accept the animal as a divine and secret mystery, a divine secret....” ~ Marie-Louise von Franz quoted in 'The Archetypal Symbolism of Animals' by Barbara Hannah.
In this episode: We look at the importance of having an adequate connection with the great treasures of human wisdom.
Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
“It would be a ridiculous and unwarranted assumption on our part if we imagined that we were more energetic or more intelligent than the men of the past..." ~ C.G. Jung from Symbols of Transformation in 'Collected Works, vol. 5.'
“Our primitive ancestors, [homo sapiens], are primitive only with regard to their tools and technology...." ~ Reza Aslan in 'God: A Human History.'
“All the creative power that modern man pours into science and [technology] the man of antiquity devoted to his myths.” ~ C.G. Jung from Symbols of Transformation in 'Collected Works, vol. 5.'
"Much learning does not teach understanding." and “Eyes and ears are bad witnesses to men having barbarian souls.” ~ Heraclitus (Philip Wheelwright translation).
"We think we are able to be born today and live in no myth, without history. That is a disease, absolutely abnormal." ~ C.G. Jung from The Houston Films in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
"The stars leading or inspiring human life cannot be the falling stars in the sky of a summer night of the latest fashion.” ~ Raimon Panikkar from 'The Rhythm of Being.'
“Our task and our responsibilities are to assimilate the wisdom of bygone traditions and, having made it our own, to allow it to grow." ~ Raimon Panikkar from 'The Rhythm of Being.'
"Dream the myth onwards and give it a modern dress." ~ C.G. Jung from The Psychology of the Child Archetype in 'Collected Works, vol. 9i.'
"That was the first event which broke through my isolation. I became aware of an affinity; I could establish ties with something and someone." ~ C.G. Jung from 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.'
Theogony by Hesiod (Richard Lattimore translation).
In this episode: We look at the limits of a merely rational approach to life and the need to make place in our lives for mystery.
Sources for quotes and more:
“In our time, it's the intellect that is making darkness, because we've let it take too big a place...." ~ C.G. Jung from On the Frontiers of Knowledge in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
“A mercenary of our will to power, the mind is trained to assail in order to plunder rather than to commune in order to love.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel in 'Man is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion.'
Discussion of "instrumentally rational" in The Reenchantment of the World by Morris Berman.
“The experiment presupposes a distorted image of [the human being].” ~ Raimon Panikkar in 'A Dwelling Place for Wisdom.'
“There is no such thing as a baby.” ~ D.W. Winnicott from The Theory of the Parent-Infant Relationship in 'The International Journal of Psychoanalysis.'
“Everything hints at something that transcends it; the detail indicates the whole, the whole, its idea, the idea, its mysterious root...." ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel in 'Man is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion.'
The Cloud of Unknowing from the 'Classics of Western Spirituality' series.
"Understanding is a fearfully binding power, at times a veritable murder of the soul as soon as it flattens out vitally important differences...." ~ C.G. Jung from 'Selected Letters of C.G. Jung, 1909 - 1961.'
“Love can survive only if wisdom has an effective voice.” ~ Gregory Bateson from Style, Grace, and Information in Primitive Art from 'The Anthropology of Art.'