I remember witnessing a couple of old yogis before sunrise sitting in lotus position exerting themselves to rather violent extremes of breath control in order to enter into a state of bliss. They would engage in this practice while seated in this advanced yoga posture and then propel themselves into the air, landing forcefully on their perineum with the intent of generating an upward flow of kundalini energy. On the one hand, I appreciated their intensity and sincerity; however, the strain was o
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I am happy to announce the release of Breaking the Plates: Fracturing Fictions and Archetypal Imaginings.
Breaking Plates: Fracturing Fictions and Archetypal Imaginings
Four decades ago, archetypal psychology offered a different way of viewing all things psychological. As radical and useful as this move was forty years ago, however, it is time to question the sustainability of tenets like these for our contemporary world. As the highly turbulent 21st Century enters its second decade, it is time
Deeply Gay
By
Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D.
Many gay men who do not find meaning in a “work & play” lifestyle are seeking connection to something more meaningful. Those of us who have gone through the emotional labor of tearing down the closet door and working through painful issues that were inflicted on us as a result of growing up gay in a homophobic world are now facing the question of life purpose. We ask ourselves, “What is the true purpose of my life?” In this short article I will explore thi
Marked By Fire: Stories of the Jungian Way
The Fisher King Review, Volume 1 - Inaugural Edition
Edited by Patricia Damery and Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
"This life is the way, the long sought after way to the unfathomable which we call divine" —C.G. Jung, The Red Book
Marked by Fire: Stories of the Jungian Way is a soulful collection of essays that illuminate the inner life.
When Soul appeared to C.G. Jung and demanded he change his life, he opened himself to the powerful forces of the unconscious. He
Jungian Type for Writers: What Writers Must Know about Personality Types
Greetings. I'm going to be the book club author of the month in January. I'll be posting a few blog articles to introduce myself. You can also look at my web site for information about me and my books. http://sandynathan.com The following article is from my blog for writers/authors, Your Shelf Life. It's not an academic explanation of Jung's typology, but an interesting and even fun introduction for writers. You can see it
THE HEALING GRACE OF GRATITUDE
Copyright Nov. 2011 by Elizabeth Clark-Stern
In America, we are preparing for the feast of Thanksgiving, a celebration that carries plenty of shadow from our history of receiving many gifts of the new world from the Native Americans, even as we ultimately conquered, colonized, and displaced them. This reality is so typically brushed aside in the flurry of shopping and meal preparation. And yet, it surfaces, as shadow always does. Satirist
ELIZABETH CLARK-STERN'S BLOG
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TENDING THE SOUL: THE LEGACY OF JAMES HILLMAN
Copyright © Elizabeth Clark-Stern, November, 2011
I was deeply moved by the recent passing of James Hillman, author, Jungian analyst, and an icon in the Depth Psychology movement. Oddly strange to think of a world in which he no longer walks, taking with
him the power of his epic imagination,
and his abilit
Breath, Dreams, and the Unconscious
Breath stimulates and reflects unconscious processes. Symbolically, breath refers to spirit, the odor of sanctity or the malodorous nature of foul energy depicted in the drama of dreams. Dreaming opens doors into a total sensorial experience of one’s inner life. Quality of inhalation and exhalation in dreams are often indicative of degree of psychic depth, the smell of breath evidencing personal character, sincere and life giving spirit symbolized by fres
One of Jung’s biggest challenges to modern men and women from an ecopsychological perspective is to unite our cultured side with what he called “the two million-year-old man within.” The “indigenous one within” is a person living in a sacred and symbolic relationship with nature, in a world where “we are all related”—the two-leggeds, four-leggeds, six-leggeds, etc. To understand Jung’s challenge, we begin by looking at our Western indigenous roots and the evolution of th
Have you taken notice of it? The battle raging in, and around, each of us. Something deep within is seeking it’s ascension, striving for recognition. Yet, we seem to be chiefly at odds with its intention. We would rather choose a long blood thirsty war to insure our own ignorance, and against what? Ourselves.By James Burden
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spirit of the Times:
War Against the Self
“But the conscious, modern man can no longer refrain from acknowledging the might of th
I've written a pretty lengthy post on my personal blog, Sacred Disorder (linked below), about my struggle with James Hillman's work and my encounters with him during my years at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Here's the opening:
James Hillman, whose work I have long regarded as my intellectual mentor, died Thursday, Oct. 27. The New York Times published his obituary with this opening paragraph:
James Hillman, a charismatic therapist and best-selling author whose theories about the psyche helped re
Creativity requires that we listen and notice: What is moving me? What is touching my heart? The process of discovering what we love is about letting the world in. We need to be open to it, see it, feel it, and experience it. In honor of James Hillman's passing, I'm sharing something he wrote that has always inspired me:
The world “doesn’t consist of merely objects and things; it is filled with useful, playful, and intriguing opportunities: The oriole doesn’t see a branch, but an occasion for per
Epilogue: The truth now known
“his destiny moves us only because it could have been our own”
I sought the truth. A struggle it did become.
I sought the answer. Horrified, am I, that the response can not be undone.
How long has this task consumed me? It has taken all that I am to reach this, the ground upon which I now stand. Is there anything left in me to go on?
Where would the going on go on too? Would the going go on, and on, and on as it has gone on and on so long before? What more misery might
Not long ago I was walking on a cliff trail in Santa Cruz overlooking the Monterey Bay. It was a quiet Monday morning and I heard a strangely familiar sound from long ago. I looked out over the bay and saw four Tundra swans flying over the bay heading west to an unknown location. The Tundra swan has a low, whistling, plaintive song that is not easily mistaken. What are they doing here, I thought? I was born on the Northern prairies in the middle of the country, and these swans traditionall
Another New Fisher King Press Jungian psychological publication!by V. Walter Odajnyk
Foreword by Thomas Moore
Publication Date Dec 10, 2011 - Advance Orders Welcomed. Also available from the Pacifica Graduate Institute Bookstore.
Originally published by Shambhala in 1993, Gathering the Light
is a significant contribution to Jungian psychology and to research concerning the relationship between psychological and spiritual development.Gathering the Lig
Sometimes events occur that naturally captivate our attention, arresting us mid-stream in our daily lives and returning to our thoughts with increasing intensity. While there is no obvious initial explanation for why these events seem to grab us, if we turn our awareness to them, create a container in which they can unfold, and allow them to speak to us through image and emotion, they can provide powerful messages about our personal lives, our psyches, and our relationship with the culture and c
I'm very pleased to report that Jung, Crop Circles & the Re-Emergence of the Archetypal Feminine is now be available through Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/jung-crop-circles-the-re-emergence-of-the-archetypal-feminine/11691906
"A tremendous achievement! Clear, lucid and comprehensive." ~ Anne Baring author of The Myth of the Goddess
article by Lawrence H. Staples
Suffering: The Price Guilt Exacts
Guilt can cause prolonged suffering. We suffer regardless of whether the guilt serves essential human needs or not, whether it has outlived its usefulness or not, whether it is deserved or not, whether it is meaningful or not, and whether it was incurred intentionally or not. Nor does it matter whether we have a religious background or not, and if we have a religious background, it does not matter which religion. Even if our parents
Individuals immersed in what one colleague referred to as the “everyday crazies”, a state of more or less chronic psychic imbalance, are often suffering from an unconscious desire to experience numinous depths, a nourishing encounter with the mystic. Unfulfilled spiritual need generates intense anxiety that many take on as a day-in-day-out state of mind. Skating along the surface, from one emotional drama to another, with the attitude that this is what life is all about, can be addictive, destru
Mercury Rising: Women, Evil, and the Trickster Gods
by Deldon Anne McNeely
Revised edition, now includes Index.
What can a silly, chaotic figure like a Trickster offer the world? Jungian psychoanalyst Deldon McNeely argues that Trickster’s value lies in amplifying and healing splits in the individual and collective psyche and in inviting us to differentiate our comprehension of evil. Tricksters, long held as aspects of the di
