This Jungian Life Podcast

Lying, hiding and sneaking are examples of trickster behavior, discussed as they occur in political and personal spheres. When is this behavior in service to individuation, and when is it in service to regressive, or unconscious, aspects of the psyche?  The dream: I had a dream a couple of days ago where I was cut in half by a shaman. The setting of this dream occurred in my backyard. The shaman was Aztec it seemed. At the same time I was a shaman too, who was willing to be sacrificed by this shaman. He cut me in half with a ceremony knife and as he cut snakes came out of my body. An extension of this dream was of a snake crawling up my spine to talk to me. I don’t remember what it said.  

As three analysts, we explore the archetype of “the gun” from a Jungian psychological view and seek to understand it’s influence in the collective psyche of Americans. Guns play a big role in American mythology from the American Revolution to cowboys and first-person shooter games. Guns are symbols of heroic power—but mythology also sounds a cautionary note about what can happen when humans arrogate super-human power to themselves. The dream:  When I was a child, around ages 7 to 8, I would dream that my bedroom was covered in lizards. I’d wake up and jump to the floor, run to my parents’ bed, and climb in between them. Sweating, I’d look up to see the eye of a red dragon. Suddenly I was in an old-time saloon and the dragon would just be staring at me. That ‘s all there was to it, but it was repetitive.

How can we understand the superficial label assigned to masculine behavior in today’s meme-driven style of discourse? The Dream: I am walking on what seems to be mountainous hills. A little ahead of me is what feels like my teenage daughter and a friend. It’s kind of like twilight. Then I see a giant size footprint on the hillside. Huge, like a natural wonder-of-the-world type of site. I point at it like the way one does when one sees something pretty or interesting on holidays. Then I take a photo.

Jung was one of the primary theorists who added to our understanding of the psychological significance of dreams, and working with dreams is often a central part of an analytic process. What is the Jungian understanding of why we dream? What does it mean if we don't dream, and what are some ways of learning to work with dreams? We discuss things one can do to help with dream recall, and ponder whether we dream all day long, even when awake. We also talk about the nature of symbols in dreams and dream series.    Here's the Dream We Analyze:   "I ran into a male friend who I have not seen for a few years in the lobby of a ridiculously high-end hotel. I was wearing only a towel. He asked me to join him in his room, which was called “the mermaid aquarium,” along with a female friend of his who was already in the room. Somewhere along the line in the hotel lobby he bought me orange-scented perfume. I found his room. I just remember entering the room and seeing two nude women lying on the bed wearing exotic jewelry." 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml 

Jung pioneered the technique of active imagination, a process by which the ego engages with imagery and content generated by the unconscious. Active imagination can help us understand our dreams, and lead us into new psychic situations. On today's episode, we share some personal examples of active imagination, discuss some suggestions of how to engage in it, and explore what active imagination has to do with snorkeling.    Here's the Dream We Analyze: "I am about to light four candles on the dining room table, each in its separate candlestick. They are ivory-colored tapers and are about two-thirds consumed already. Two of the burned wicks are quite short and two are long, curling at the top. I am arrested by this fact as it seems significant and I’m somewhat afraid of getting it wrong somehow." 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml 

“We don't so much solve our problems as we outgrow them. We add capacities and experiences that eventually make us bigger than the problems.” CG Jung Anxiety is one of the most common complaints that bring people into therapy. While it can be difficult to differentiate anxiety from healthy fear we all agree that finding an ally to stand with us makes a big difference. We explore the many underlying dynamics that can manifest outwardly as anxiety and consider the value in taking a heroic stance as we face our inner dragons. Inspired by Jung, we can come to appreciate that working with our anxieties rather than running from them gets the best results. Here's the Dream We Analyze: “I’ve had Repeated dreams for many years about human feces in different forms.” 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml     

Why do Jungians care about fairy tales? What is their relevance in analysis? How do they differ from myths, and why do they matter to us still? Find out what fairy tales have mattered most to our clients, and why Lisa gets cranky when people criticize fairy tales for being sexist.   Here's the Dream We Analyze "I dreamt of a big cockroach. It was standing like a human and it was going to be transformed."  REFERENCE The Book of Symbols 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml 

Explore the concept of synchronicity and its connection to archetypes and the unconscious mind. Discover the significance of synchronicity in people's lives and how it suggests the existence of something beyond our understanding. Hear a personal story about a magical job opportunity that changed the speaker's life. Delve into the relationship between synchronicity, theoretical physics, and complexity theory. Discuss the desire for reassurance and the magic of special coincidences, analyzing a dream related to grief, loss, and depression.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood. Vampires are perennial stars in popular entertainment. How can we understand vampires psychologically, and what does their tremendous popularity tell us about our culture? This week, we look at the transformation of the vampire archetype, explore how vampires live in all of us psychologically, and trace the return of the feeling function in modern vampire images.    Here's the Dream We Analyze: "This is a repeating dream. I am still at school but have reached well into middle age. I am unwilling to stay there, unwilling to study or sit for any exams as I have already qualified as a nurse. I wish to go and secure a job." 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml 

Sex? Money? Passion? Intellectual companionship? Kids? What are factors to consider when choosing a life partner? Should you be practical, or follow your heart? How is this decision different for men versus for women? We offer some ideas.   Here's The Dream We Analyze: "I was in my parents’ house. My mother was showing me some renovations she had done in the bathroom. Suddenly, in the mirror, I saw myself behind me charging toward me. I turned around in terror, but there was nobody there. I turned back to the mirror and saw myself again, looking pretty demented, charging toward me. Again I turned around, but there was nobody there." 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: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/ PLEASE 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 SHARE YOUR DREAM WITH US Submit your dream for a possible podcast interpretation: https://thisjungianlife.com/share-your-dream/  INTERESTED IN BECOMING A JUNGIAN ANALYST? Enroll in the Philadelphia Jungian Seminar and start your journey to become an analyst: https://www.cgjungphiladelphia.org/seminar.shtml