The Importance of an Education in Stories

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).

For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life, available from Chiron Publications.

Sources for quotes and more:

1. “The psyche creates reality every day. The only expression I can use for this activity is fantasy...." ~ C.G. Jung, from 'Collected Works, vol. 6.'
2. S2E4: The Fact of Fantasy
3. “Pure facts are in any case unstatable....” ~ Jürgen Moltmann from 'Jesus Christ for Today's World.'
4. "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.'
5.  “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.'
6. “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.' 
7. “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.'
8. "These basic tales channel fantasy...." ~ James Hillman in A Note on Story from 'Loose Ends.'
9. The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13 - 27)
10. “It is impossible to see the angel unless you first have a notion of it..." ~ James Hillman from 'The Soul's Code.'
11. “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.'
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.'

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For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.