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DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Alchemical separatio is the skill of sorting out your mind. You separate what belongs to you—your complexes, habitual triggers, and painful memories--from what is happening in the world around you. In the laboratory of your life, you separate present triggers from older wounds, and literal facts from symbolic meanings. This is part of your essential self-ordering instinct. As you bring more and more of yourself into conscious awareness, a delightful calm will tell you you're on the right path. Join us and learn how to gain the profound clarity necessary on the path of Individuation.Read along with the dream HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Lucid dreaming is an interesting ego state when we are dreaming and regain full self-awareness. Being awake in the dream world can be useful, but imposing a rigid agenda can undermine the Dream Maker's attempts to educate and help us. Each dream is crafted to incrementally expand our awareness and acceptance of unconscious factors we need in order to grow. When we wake inside a dream, we can lose track of that important attitude and may use the dream as our playground—most people try to fly and miss significant opportunities. If we can achieve a non-grasping clarity, lucidity can deepen our inner work by enabling us to engage dream figures with the full measure of our curiosity. Researchers have various suggestions for increasing the frequency of Lucid Dreams, and ancient traditions like Dream Yoga help the aspirant learn about their mental structures. Attaining access to the inner worlds is similar to Jung's Active Imagination and can yield comparable or even better results. This is possible if we adopt a proper dream ethic: respect the dream as an autonomous process and use lucidity to inquire and relate, not to dominate.Read along with the dream HERE.Find the books we reference HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The devil archetype carries three qualities: it promotes bestial violence of every kind, it tries to convince us that the material world is the only reality, and it fools us into thinking we can spiritually ascend through intellect alone. On a personal level, it gathers our disowned infernal traits—envy, rage, greed, and the wish to dominate —and seduces us into believing those qualities are virtues. Once we face our own devilishness and grant it a symbolic form, we can assume a choiceful stance. Lacking that, we try to evacuate our own evil by projecting it onto others and then punishing them. As Jungians, we understand that our inferior function will first present as an imp. Still, with kind concern and thoughtful opportunities, it can transform into an uncanny ally that rescues us from malignant innocence. In its subtle form, the demonic attitude tempts us into literalism as it attacks our capacity to reflect and hold a symbolic attitude. Join us as we circumambulate The Devil in honor of Halloween.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The devil archetype carries three qualities: it promotes bestial violence of every kind, it tries to convince us that the material world is the only reality, and it fools us into thinking we can spiritually ascend through intellect alone. On a personal level, it gathers our disowned infernal traits—envy, rage, greed, and the wish to dominate —and seduces us into believing those qualities are virtues. Once we face our own devilishness and grant it a symbolic form, we can assume a choiceful stance. Lacking that, we try to evacuate our own evil by projecting it onto others and then punishing them. As Jungians, we understand that our inferior function will first present as an imp. Still, with kind concern and thoughtful opportunities, it can transform into an uncanny ally that rescues us from malignant innocence. In its subtle form, the demonic attitude tempts us into literalism as it attacks our capacity to reflect and hold a symbolic attitude. Join us as we circumambulate The Devil in honor of Halloween.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The new controversial Netflix series MONSTER: The Ed Gein Story offers a window into the devouring mother archetype, a transformation fantasy gone horribly wrong, and the human capacity for monstrous behavior. Gein's crimes inspired the Hitchcock movie Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs. It challenges the audience to confront its fascination with evil and begs the question, where do the monsters hide in our own Psyche? To help us wrestle with these questions, we're joined by Joey Pollari—actor, musician, director, editor, and the man who plays Anthony Perkins in the show. We'll explore how intimacy with darkness affects a performer, how public persona and private pain intersect, and why we continue watching when the camera reveals what we'd rather not know. Trigger warning: this episode discusses violence, death, criminality, and severe mental illness.Learn More about Joey Pollari:Listen to Joey's new song, I'll Be Romance Joey's MusicJoey's Directing and Editing WorkJoey's Acting RolesREAD MORE ABOUT THE EPISODE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.(OLD)
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The new controversial Netflix series MONSTER: The Ed Gein Story offers a window into the devouring mother archetype, a transformation fantasy gone horribly wrong, and the human capacity for monstrous behavior. Gein's crimes inspired the Hitchcock movie Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs. It challenges the audience to confront its fascination with evil and begs the question, where do the monsters hide in our own Psyche? To help us wrestle with these questions, we're joined by Joey Pollari—actor, musician, director, editor, and the man who plays Anthony Perkins in the show. We'll explore how intimacy with darkness affects a performer, how public persona and private pain intersect, and why we continue watching when the camera reveals what we'd rather not know. Trigger warning: this episode discusses violence, death, criminality, and severe mental illness.Learn More about Joey Pollari:Listen to Joey's new song, I'll Be Romance Joey's MusicJoey's Directing and Editing WorkJoey's Acting RolesREAD MORE ABOUT THE EPISODE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Do you get overwhelmed by intense feelings and old patterns, feeling stuck because you can't make sense of what's happening, and reacting on impulse instead of pausing to choose a steady, thoughtful response? Jung's alchemical insights will help. Sublimatio is an old alchemy term for heating a solid so that it turns directly into a gas, rises, and then cools back into a solid higher up. As a psychological metaphor, this happens when we discover an archetypal image or idea that adds a fresh perspective on an old problem. The vapor becomes a solid again when we apply the new attitude to the lived problem. This stage is both spiritual and practical—the perfect combination that helps us outgrow our issues.Read along with the dream HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Do you get overwhelmed by intense feelings and old patterns, feeling stuck because you can't make sense of what's happening, and reacting on impulse instead of pausing to choose a steady, thoughtful response? Jung's alchemical insights will help. Sublimatio is an old alchemy term for heating a solid so that it turns directly into a gas, rises, and then cools back into a solid higher up. As a psychological metaphor, this happens when we discover an archetypal image or idea that adds a fresh perspective on an old problem. The vapor becomes a solid again when we apply the new attitude to the lived problem. This stage is both spiritual and practical—the perfect combination that helps us outgrow our issues.Read along with the dream HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!People Pleasing is a compulsive strategy that disavows your needs and surrenders your agency. It begins in family systems that only reward compliance, which produces a false self. If your soul is constantly devalued, you may develop dependent narcissism with a covert contract: “I'll keep you happy, and you'll keep me safe.” Healing comes when you identify your true experience—notice whether you feel drained, tense, or obligated versus calm, interested, or genuinely willing. Give yourself permission to pause before agreeing. Say, “I'll think about it,” step away to check in, rate how much you do or don't like the request, and give a clear yes/no. Say yes only when it aligns with your values and can be revised; a yes aimed at managing someone else's mood or bolstering your self-worth is unhealthy and requires deeper work. Growth requires inner authority and the courage to be disliked so that your choices follow Psyche rather than external approval.Read along with the dream HERE.Find the books we reference here.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Some mothers attack life in their children. They crush appetite, joy, curiosity, and initiative. They call it love or duty. It is not love. It is domination dressed as care. She withholds warmth to make the child obedient. She intrudes when the child needs space and vanishes when the child needs help. She shames tears, punishes play, mocks ambition, and polices the body. She turns boundaries into punishments and favors into chains. The Death Mother archetype is ancient and modern, requiring careful confrontation to free the parent and the child from its destructive grip. Today, we will help you do this.Read along with the dream HERE.Find the books we reference here, and here.Eavesdrop on three Jungian analysts as they engage in lively, sometimes irreverent conversations about a wide range of topics as they share what it's like to see the world through the depth psychological lens provided by Carl Jung. Conversations between real people—never AI.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Dolls are human stand-ins that invite projection and play; children use them (including action figures and Barbies) to try on identities and develop imagination, then later withdraw the projection as the figure becomes inert again. Icons and idols differ because their meaning is fixed and not for play, which limits imaginative engagement. The healthiest use of dolls is symbolic—relating to them without collapsing into literal belief—while overly realistic “reborn” dolls, talk-box toys, and similar literalizations can narrow imagination, blur symbol and reality. Across history, dolls have served ritual, funerary, and “sympathetic magic” functions, echoing a recurring human urge to craft lifelike figures and “breathe life” into them. A modern parallel appears in AI's disembodied mirroring—an echo that can soothe but does not foster embodied, self-generated play. The practical test: does the figure expand inner life and integrate feeling, or does it substitute for reality and stunt imagination? Dreams carry the same work inward; their figures function like internal dolls that invite dialogue and meaning-making.Read along with the dream HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Think of myths as the dreams of an entire culture. Those stories reside in the collective unconscious and influence all of us throughout our lifespan. Mythic patterns shape our attitudes, and when we recognize them, we can link our personal experiences to the universal. When you're panicking, you're under the influence of Pan; when you're sunk in gloom, you're on a night-sea journey like Odysseus. Jungians' call linking the personal to the universal, amplification: take a symptom, link it to a myth, and you've shifted it from “my private defect” to “a shared force,” which gives us objectivity. Jung noticed that when we lose awareness of the mythic, those patterns secretly affect us and tend to act themselves out, sometimes recklessly. Today, we'll help you bring these grand narratives into awareness and understand how they help and, at times, hinder you.Read along with the dream HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
Join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30 am EST. Register here.Bullying is about unmanaged aggression and broken containment in early life. Aggression is normal, but kids need adults to name it, hold it, and channel it into play with clear rules. When that doesn't happen, some children learn to control and humiliate to feel safe, while others shut down and can't access protective anger. Bullying works as a quick fix for shame or missing recognition, or as an enactment of a harsh inner critic; it gives brief relief and then flips into emptiness. In pairs and groups, people assign disowned traits to a target and attack them, and the crowd effect spreads cruelty while personal conscience fades. Schools should step in directly and calmly: set firm limits, bring the conflict into speech, teach regulation, build empathy, and help vulnerable students practice plain, assertive pushback. Change is easier in childhood; in adults, the pattern hardens and can cross into legal trouble. The ongoing task is individuation and shadow work: own the times you bullied or collapsed, take back what you projected, and use aggression for boundaries and clarity rather than domination or surrender.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
Join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30 am EST. Register here.Jung's Red Book is the primary research record of his systematic experiments in active imagination after the break with Freud, combining calligraphic German text and paintings that document dialogues with his inner guides—especially Philemon and Salome—which became source material for his innovative psychological concepts: Psyche's autonomy, the collective unconscious, the transcendent function, and individuation. The Red Book reveals the secret source of his groundbreaking ideas.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
You're invited to join us for a free Zoom seminar on Dreams and Art on Saturday, September 13th, at 10:30am ET. Register here.---Holding the tension of the opposites means that when you're pulled hard in two different directions, you don't rush to choose or shut one side down—you keep both viewpoints in mind and let each be heard with equal rights, as if two people were debating inside you. If you can stand that pressure without fleeing, something new appears from the unconscious: a symbol or fresh idea that is a living, third thing that includes truth from both sides.This is the transcendent function that produces a new attitude you couldn't reach by willpower alone. It's uncomfortable, but it's how Psyche grows without discarding essential parts of itself. Today, we'll teach you how to do this.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Imagination is a central organ of human perception, as vital as the senses, through which we access meaning, creativity, and the unconscious. It first appeared as an evolutionary leap that allowed humans to run mental simulations, project into the future, and innovate new tools, myths, and symbols. It operates voluntarily—when we actively plan, rehearse, or fantasize—and involuntarily, through dreams, hypnagogic images, and sudden inspirations. It offers insights we could not have predicted.Imagination provides the bridge between unconscious and conscious life, most present in active imagination, where inner figures reveal truths. It is healing and liberating: it anchors us in personal and collective myth, fosters creativity by joining disparate elements into new forms, and provides access to the mundus imaginalis, a subtle world of archetypal experience. Without cultivating imagination, our inner life stagnates; with it, we belong to something greater, deeper, and more sustaining.Read along with the dream here.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Solutio is Psyche's method to facilitate transformation: our rigid ego is softened in symbolic water, allowing outworn attitudes to unbind. We can see this reflected in dreams of oceans and baths, or a wall of our house dissolving. This can show up when we slough off our work persona or a creative depression brought on by retirement. Analysis itself—ana-lysis—a deliberate loosening, can deepen the process by offering a safe container to let go and yield to the process. The work is careful because the waters that purify (baptism or tears) can also drown us (psychosis or crowd contagion). We require a supportive relationship, a daily spiritual practice, or the analytic hour to hold us as our ego reorganizes like a butterfly in a chrysalis.Once our ego solidifies, we notice we're more permeable to symbols or less defended against feelings. We're more skilled at breaking problems into their component parts with a determination to resist regressing. The alchemical process was not created; it was noticed as a natural pattern of transformation. It leaves us with more of who we really are, but we couldn't have claimed until we became soft enough to receive it.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Jack and the Beanstalk is a symbolic prescription for psychological growth, teaching us to climb out of darkness, confront the giants within, claim the gifts of our unconscious, and transform our ordinary lives. Join us as we reveal the secret meaning hidden in the fairytale.Read along with the dream.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's Vital Spark Book club!Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
Lisa Marchiano is a Jungian analyst and is the co-host of This Jungian Life podcast.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Finding Jung Feels Like a Native Tongue(02:10) Early Memories: Mother and Jung's Mysterious Books(04:35) The Story of Jung's Bell and the Paranormal(06:20) From History and Humanitarian Work to Inner Crisis(08:15) A Breakup Sparks a Deep Depression(10:50) The Columbus Avenue Bookstore Ritual(13:10) Stumbling Upon “On the Way to the Wedding”(15:35) Reading the Book That Changed Everything(18:10) Writing Down Dreams and the Rabbit Hole Begins(20:25) Realizing Suffering Has Meaning(22:50) Deferring Law School for Work in Bosnia(25:05) Growing Doubt About Her Career Path(28:15) The Phone Call to the Jung Institute(31:10) Refusing the Call but Unable to Let It Go(34:20) Wrestling With Persona and Prestige(38:15) Choosing Social Work Over Law(41:40) The Calling Becomes Stronger in Bosnia(45:05) Returning to New York and Social Work School(48:20) Balancing Training With Motherhood(50:40) Why Jung's Ideas Are So Beautiful and Expansive(55:20) The Rise of Jung's Popularity and the Podcast(60:15) Depth Versus Ideology: Why Jung Resonates Today(64:10) Jungian Work as a Container for Meaning(67:50) Defining Synchronicity and Its Significance(70:00) Her Mother's Legacy and Final Reflections
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Dreams about pregnancy and babies symbolize something new taking shape within us, like a creative project, a hidden talent, or a psychological shift that's quietly developing beneath our awareness. These images express the mysterious tension we sense during periods of growth, change, or potential, drawing our attention inward and challenging our current identity or circumstances. When our symbolic baby finally arrives in the dream, it reveals a hidden part of ourselves that is now ready to enter consciousness, creating both excitement and anxiety about how this new aspect will fit into our lives. Join us to explore how dreams of pregnancy or babies reveal our emergent potential.Find the dreams we analyze HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's Vital Spark Book club!Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:"I keep hearing and reading that symbols are healing and transformative for people, but this concept is so arbitrary to me. I need some very specific and concrete examples of how a symbol can help a person in the various dilemmas of life we all can face. Can you please give a few examples in layman's terms?"Support This Jungian Life on Patreon and ask Lisa, Deb, and Joseph your questions for a chance to have them answered on Jung Love.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's Vital Spark Book club!Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Carl Jung's discoveries are woven into our common understanding. Introvert/extravert, shadow work, typology, persona, and synchronicity pop up in casual conversations all the time. Negotiating with our inner figures, now used by Internal Family Systems, was pioneered by him. Although we have adopted his ideas, few know how they were forged from his personal struggles. Today, we honor Jung's 150th birthday by sharing stories from his life and how they shaped his groundbreaking insights.Find the dream we analyze here.Find the books we reference here.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's Vital Spark Book club!Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The calcinatio stage in Jung's alchemy is about being put through inner fire—it's when the ego undergoes a kind of burning away of projections, illusions, and inflated ideas about itself. This stage often brings intense suffering, frustration, and confrontation with parts of yourself you'd rather avoid. It's about staying awake in the heat long enough to discover the truths behind your defenses. Sometimes it's like sitting in hell and roasting. This raw, honest suffering is necessary for individuation. It's not punishment—it's Psyche's way of depotentiating false structures so that something new and more truthful can emerge from the ashes.Follow along with our dream interpretation here.LOOK & GROWJoin Lisa's Vital Spark Book club!Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The Buddhabrot pattern springs from a simple algorithm: you take thousands of starting points, run each one through the same formula over and over, and chart only those whose values grow without limit—these “divergent” paths form the spectral Buddha-like silhouette. Once you recognize the pattern, you see it everywhere. It's visible in the rosette stained glass windows of Notre-Dame de Paris and Chartres, numerous representations of the buddha, as well as in the Vāstu-Puruṣa-Maṇḍala used as blueprints for Indian temples, and in the ancient chakra symbols that are now so common—proof that numbers are universal symbols tying Psyche to the world. This is a newly identified archetype: an algorithmic icon born of computation that reveals an underlying cosmic unity that C.G. Jung called the Unus Mundus. Dr. Harry J. Shirley joins us and provides an amazing initiation into this uncanny discovery.Learn more about the Buddhabrot and watch the original video from AfterSkool here.Find Dr. Harry Shirley on: Patreon XRead his paper, The Buddhabrot and the Unus Mundus.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Everyone faces a moment when they are tempted to sacrifice their true self to chase wealth, approval, success, or security, but doing so strips away their strength and leaves them hollow. To reclaim their lost agency, a person must embrace the uncertainty and vulnerability they've been avoiding. They must stand alone, undefended, and trust the wisdom hidden in their wounds. The Handless Maiden fairytale will help us understand the path back to wholeness.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Our inner critic—that voice constantly tearing us down—can stem from difficult childhood experiences, negative cultural messages, or even powerful archetypal forces deep within us. While healthy self-assessment involves honestly owning our mistakes, feeling genuine regret, and making amends, the harsh inner critic keeps us stuck in cycles of self-hatred and shame.Sometimes, beating ourselves up can actually be a sneaky way to avoid openly engaging a problem or soberly accepting responsibility. The trick is to slow down, get curious, and talk back to that voice—to have an honest inner dialogue rather than just giving in. At its worst, the inner critic can be devastating, pulling us toward despair; that's precisely when we need the support of others and deeper wisdom—turning toward the Self will help us find a path to peace.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.Here's a list of the books we discussed.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!Learn more about the Philadelphia Jung Seminar
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Primeval, silent, relentless—the shark announces itself as its fin slices the water. In that instant, ego's barriers shudder and give way: you're not anxious; you're utterly alert, stripped of distraction by a force both familiar and uncanny.When you stop battling that raw terror and honor it—offer a silent libation of attention—the predator becomes a protector. Here, in the shark's unblinking gaze, you meet the stranger in your depths, the animality you once fled, now guiding you to face what you've long denied.Read along with our dream analysis HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Motivation rises from conscious and unconscious dynamics. We can reason with ourselves to take logical action while our libido flows with its own intelligence. When these two aspects align, we find ourselves acting decisively and effectively with remarkable freedom. When we're at odds with the secret intelligence of the unconscious, we can find ourselves uncomfortably suspended. As we honor the autonomy of Psyche and cultivate a curious friendship with it, we can discover a creative collaboration that sets us in a fresh direction aligned with the Self.Read along with our dream analysis HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Sibling rivalry can bruise and build in equal measure. On the hard side, the older child feels toppled from the throne, the younger scrambles for a foothold, and both learn how quickly envy, resentment, and score-keeping ignite—whether over a parent's extra hour of attention or the larger slice of birthday cake. Those early contests can calcify into adult grudges that surface in estate negotiations, workplace jockeying, or mismatched relationships.Yet the same daily friction teaches useful skills: we sharpen empathy by reading a sibling's next move, develop a theory of mind through constant negotiation, and discover that competition does not rule out loyalty—especially when a crisis calls every rival home. Listen and discover how sibling rivalry is both the first training ground for conflict and the first workshop for cooperation, shaping how we handle fairness, attachment, and resilience for the rest of our lives.Read along with our dream analysis HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Mandalas are Psyche's way of drawing a compass for you when life feels off-kilter. Jung noticed that these circular patterns—whether they appear in Navajo sand paintings, Tibetan yantras, or last night's dream—pull everything back toward a stable center he called the Self.The rim defines where your ego ends; the cross-lines and repeating fours help you locate sensation, feeling, thinking, and intuition in relation to your core. By “walking” the circle, even in imagination, the ego learns to orbit rather than hijack the organizing center, and the usual tug-of-war between instinct and spirit eases.Jung's own Liverpool dream, with its sunlit circular island in a dark industrial square, showed him how a mandala can emerge autonomously whenever Psyche needs to order chaos and point the way back to wholeness. Curious why a circle keeps popping up in dreams and sacred art?—listen in and find out how it can quietly realign your life.*Featuring our new Q&A section where we answer questions from our Patrons!GO DIRECTLY TO THE Q&A: 43:29LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!When a house turns up in a dream, it isn't a staging background—it's an architectural X-ray of your inner life, drafted by the dream maker overnight and delivered to your doorstep at dawn. Floors chart levels of awareness, locked doors expose repressed material, intruders crash in as disowned traits, and every leaking pipe or crooked stair announces a personal attitude in need of repair.In this episode, we'll teach you how to read the blueprint with the same clarity you'd bring to structural engineering, and your dream will hand you a working map for shadow work, boundary-setting, and genuine psychic renovation.Read along with our dream interpretations HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
NEW: Come along to our free Shadow and Dreams Seminar on May 17Ever wonder why “Snow White” still hooks us after all the Disney glitter flakes off? This episode strips the tale down to its psychological wiring: murderous envy of the mother shadow, malignant innocence, the unforgiving “mirror” inside that only answers the questions we're brave enough to ask, and the dangerous alchemy that transforms three lethal mistakes into mature authority.You'll hear why the dwarflike bits of half-formed masculinity in all of us mine gold from the unconscious, how raw instinct often finishes the work refined methods can't, and how real agency activates only when infantile fantasies are forged into a powerful animus. It's a crash course in holding onto wonder while crafting ruthless boundaries—if that mix intrigues you, dive into the full conversation.*Featuring our new Q&A section where we answer questions from our Patrons!LOOK & GROWAttend Our Free Shadow and Dreams SeminarJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!The religious function is part of who we are — as natural as needing food or love. It's the inner drive that pushes us to find meaning, to touch something larger than ourselves. Jung saw that if we don't tend it, it doesn't go away; it twists itself into addictions, compulsions, or a kind of soul-sickness. Religion, in the deepest sense, isn't about belief systems.It's about real encounters with the Self — the larger reality inside us that humbles, heals, and reshapes us. Dreams, symbols, and moments of awe are how Psyche keeps that connection alive. Without them, the energies meant for growth get stuck or spill out in destructive ways. In this episode, you'll learn how to stay open and reimagine ways the sacred can speak to you.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.LOOK & GROWAttend Our Free Shadow and Dreams SeminarJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Viviane Silvera animated 30,000 of her hand-painted images to explore how traumatic memories are formed, stored, and ultimately transformed. Her animated documentary, SEE MEMORY, traces the intimate story of a young woman caught between past and present; her film captures the fragmented texture of trauma and the healing that becomes possible when painful memories are witnessed. In our conversation with Viviane, we explore her process of recovering lost memories and how opposing perspectives can constellate new attitudes toward trauma. We discuss cutting-edge findings on the way the brain stores and changes memory and reveal the intersection of art, science, and psyche. Watch SEE MEMORY on PBS (now live!): Streaming LinkHere's a list of all the broadcast DATES About Viviane:Viviane Silvera is an award-winning artist and filmmaker whose work blends painting, animation, and neuroscience to illuminate memory, trauma, and the unconscious. She holds a dual B.S. in Psychology and Political Science from Tufts University and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. Read along with our dream analysis HERELOOK & GROWAttend Our Free Shadow and Dreams SeminarJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Today you'll learn about inner guidance--the quiet, built-in compass that surfaces when we pause the outer noise long enough to feel what rings true inside. It is less a mystical oracle than a subtle convergence of bodily signals, emotional undertones, and intuitive "hunches" distilled from our lived experience.When we meet a decision with open attention—neither forcing a rational verdict nor surrendering to raw impulse—this inner faculty sorts, weighs, and hints at the direction that aligns with our deepest values. Acting on it demands two skills: discerning authentic signals from fear or wishful thinking and then trusting ourselves enough to follow through. Practiced regularly, inner guidance becomes a dialogue between conscious intention and the wiser, often quieter currents of the Self.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.LOOK & GROWAttend Our Free Shadow and Dreams SeminarJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber-bonus content, a Patron asks:"What do you do with shadow material? Is it enough to just become aware of your shadows? Or does it require a fixing of oneself? What is the process of processing it? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the shadow. What if I'm aware, but still don't like the shadow? Robert Johnson talked about rituals for the shadow. Can you speak about that in more depth and perhaps provide some examples?"BECOME a TJL Patron and enjoy exclusive content like interpreting your dreams, explaining Jung's ideas, and more: TJL PATREONLOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Think of adolescence as life's built‑in boot camp: your body hits the gas, your mind scrambles to keep up, and suddenly you're wrestling with raw impulses, big feelings, and the question “Who am I, really?” That surge of anger toward parents often hides an intense love that feels too risky to show, so teens push back while secretly measuring whether adults—and the wider world—can handle their storm.Without clear rites of passage, they test limits through friends, online thrills, and daring choices, all in service of hammering out a story that's theirs, not just a hand‑me‑down from family. If they can ride those waves—owning both the wild Shadow and the hopeful Self—they step into adulthood with a genuine sense of direction; if they dodge the work, the unfinished business shows up later as anxiety, depression, or a nagging sense of being stuck.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Worry arises because we can imagine countless possibilities, yet it often traps us in unproductive loops. Recognizing when worry prompts useful action—and when it spirals into paralysis—can be transformative. By holding uncertainty with patience, rather than trying to eliminate it, we engage a deeper capacity to reflect, adapt, and discover hidden strength.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Ever felt that irresistible urge to poke around for answers? That's the detective archetype calling. It taps into our natural drive to uncover hidden truths and bridges the gap between what's out in the open and what's hidden in shadow. Whether we're looking at Sherlock Holmes's logical wizardry or Miss Marple's understated brilliance, detective stories grab our attention by setting things right when wrongdoing has thrown everyday life off-balance. But these tales aren't just about catching a culprit; they mirror an inner process. It's the part of us that wants to piece together clues about ourselves and our world. Sometimes, we can get lost in suspicion, seeing danger where there might be none—but courage and clear-eyed discernment help us face the darkness without being consumed by it. From ancient myths like Oedipus to modern shamanic traditions, cultures everywhere highlight this inquisitive spirit.And it's not confined to police dramas, either. We do everyday detective work whenever we investigate a health concern, solve a mystery with friends, or sift through family lore. Uncovering what's concealed can spark genuine insight and, over time, help heal both individuals and communities. Tune in to find out how this detective archetype shines a light on our need to seek truth—revealing new possibilities for discovery and growth.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!In 1906, during Carl Jung's formative visit to Vienna to confer with Sigmund Freud, a seemingly incidental stop at the renowned Café Sacher catalyzed his enduring fascination with pastry-making. At the time, Freud was actively refining his drive-based theories—including the pleasure principle—and while Jung had not yet formulated his later concepts, his curiosity was piqued by the Sachertorte's complex interplay of technique and sensory allure. Authentically prepared Sachertorte requires an aerated chocolate batter produced via partial egg-white separation and a precise bain-marie melting of couverture; it must then be baked at a consistent, moderate temperature to maintain its signature crumb structure. Once cooled, a meticulously reduced apricot preserves layer is applied, sealing the surface to ensure proper adhesion of the tempered chocolate glaze—a step that, if rushed, can lead to bloom or unsightly streaking.Witnessing the pastry's transformation intrigued Jung, who recognized parallels to contemporary psychoanalytic notions of hidden layers and emerging desires. While he would only later evolve his own independent framework, Jung's early enthusiasm for ganache, lamination, and the delicate management of chocolate crystallization laid the groundwork for viewing culinary processes as more than mere indulgence, foreshadowing his lifelong interest in subtle internal dynamics and the nuanced “mixing” of psychic elements. Join us to learn more…LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Connie Zweig, author and Jungian therapist, joins us to explore the next level of shadow-work. This transformative practice identifies and integrates the repressed or disowned parts of ourselves, fostering deeper self-awareness, authenticity, and personal growth. These hidden dimensions often emerge in our relationships, politics, and cultural conflicts as unconscious projections and behaviors.By examining them—through dialogue, myth, and active imagination—we can move beyond shame, denial, and blame, transforming painful patterns into sources of emotional richness and empathy. Accepting and learning from our shadow is not only a path to healing but a moral responsibility, ultimately paving the way for more authentic relationships, social engagement, and spiritual practice.Learn more about Connie HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Boundaries define limits in relationships, work, and the psyche, balancing autonomy and connection. In relationships, they prevent enmeshment and detachment, fostering respect. Professionally, they maintain ethics and prevent burnout. Intrapsychically, they regulate self-cohesion and unconscious influences.Cultures shape boundary norms, with individualistic societies valuing personal space and collectivist ones emphasizing connection. Myths depict boundaries as transformative thresholds, like Janus symbolizing transition. The key dialectic is between rigidity and permeability—too rigid isolates, too porous exhausts. Healthy boundaries require self-awareness, clear communication, and adaptability. They are not barriers but tools for navigating relationships while preserving identity and well-being.Read along with our dream interpretation HERE.LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Carl Jung considered visions extraordinary intrusions of the unconscious into waking life, moments when hidden psychic contents press forward with striking intensity. These phenomena do not represent mere hallucinations or idle fantasies. They reflect purposeful eruptions from Psyche's deeper strata, often evoked by personal crisis or cultural upheaval. Visions stand apart from normal mental processes because they carry a sense of autonomy; they appear spontaneously and feel real despite an absence of tangible external stimuli.Unlike psychotic hallucinations, which generally lack insight, visions evoke wonder or awe but do not lead to a break with reality. Instead of dismissing them as illusions, we should explore their symbolic significance and trace their relationship to archetypal patterns. Visions may emerge to correct lopsided ego positions, illuminate a coming transformation, or highlight a collective shift in cultural identity. These visionary breakthroughs disclose hidden potentials that challenge complacency and spark deeper self-awareness through symbolic revelation.Read along with our dream interpretation HERELOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Join us this week to explore the results of our grand experiment in dream telepathy. A few weeks back, Joseph transmitted an image our listener volunteers were primed to receive, with the hope that it would appear in their dreams. The results? Intriguing, if not conclusive. On today's episode:Joseph shares some uncanny experiences listeners reported during his transmissionWe dive into the dreams that were matches for the beautiful image of a reddish-furred dog. Jung's understanding of dream telepathy, and how this ties into his concept of the collective unconscious. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE IMAGE JOSEPH PROJECTED, CLICK HERELOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!*Content warning: contains references to sexual abuse, animal cruelty, self-harm, and cult exploitation*This is Shadowland, a new podcast experience from This Jungian Life that explores the lives of people who work and take refuge in the hidden places of our culture. We hope our work will bring insight, compassion, and understanding to the darker side of human experience.In that spirit, we meet Sarah, a mother whose daughter was rescued from the self-harm cult called "764." This dangerous group has been identified by the FBI, who continue to prosecute their leaders. Despite those efforts, it continues and targets children. We explore how she discovered her daughter's entrapment, the process of recovery, the growing danger of these types of groups, and the toll it has taken on her. Sarah's ongoing work investigating these cults requires that we protect her identity. We are using a pseudonym, altering her voice, and obscuring her face.*Information on the 764 cult *FBI Public Service Announcement. Violent Online Groups Extort Minors to Self-HarmLOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack at interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark, trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Travel speaks to something far deeper in us than simply going from one place to another; it's a powerful metaphor for inner change. In our dreams or daydreams, the drive to “hit the road” or venture overseas often signals Psyche's desire for growth and transformation. Instead of just showing us new sights, these journeys hint at unexplored parts of ourselves—regions of the unconscious that hold insight, energy, or aspects of our own personality we've yet to embrace.When you find yourself repeatedly dreaming about traveling or caught up in fantasies of far-off adventures, it may be your inner life nudging you toward new perspectives, solutions, or even a bold reinvention. Much like ancient heroes setting sail to unknown realms, we, too, embark on soul-level quests whenever we step beyond our comfort zones. Seen this way, traveling—physically or in our dreams—becomes a path to self-discovery. Each trek outward reflects a deeper journey within as we gradually gather up previously hidden pieces of ourselves, weaving them into a truer, fuller picture of who we are meant to become.Find Copies of the Three Dreams We Analyze HERE: https://thisjungianlife.com/travel_dreamsLOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!We've got totally NEW MERCH!If you've been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Facing Rejection forces us to confront what we fear losing—belonging, recognition, identity. Rejection alters how we see ourselves, engage with others, and interpret the world. It shapes unconscious complexes, creates projections, and influences attachment. It appears in myths where exiled figures return transformed, in dreams where locked doors symbolize what we refuse to see, and in defenses against further pain. Healing from rejection requires engaging with its effects, not avoiding them. Some of us externalize rejection, which becomes resentment, further isolating us. Others internalize it as self-doubt, creating cycles of withdrawal and hiding. Some break the pattern, using rejection as a catalyst for self-development, learning to integrate what was once denied. Rejection strips away illusions, forces an encounter with shadow, and demands a new understanding of self-worth. It is present in villains seeking revenge, heroes growing through exile, and those transforming suffering into insight. Growth is not in avoiding rejection but facing its effects without retreating into bitterness or fear. In today's episode, we explore how rejection influences Psyche, how myths encode its lessons, how shadow work leads to integration, and how individuation turns rejection into wisdom. PREPARE TO DISCOVER what rejection reveals about the forces that shape our experiences, how rejection creates opportunities for transformation, which unconscious patterns emerge when rejection is internalized, whether rejection leads to individuation, why rejection is necessary to reclaim unconscious material …AND SO MUCH MORE. Here's a copy of the dream we analyzed: https://thisjungianlife.com/facing-rejection LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.We've got totally NEW MERCH!We'd like to take a crack interpreting your dream.If you've been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock yourdreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!With Deb and Joe out this week, Lisa speaks with Gary Clark, a visiting research fellow at the University of Adelaide, about his book Carl Jung and the Evolutionary Sciences.The discussion delves into the influence of indigenous cultures on understanding consciousness, the role of anthropology in Jung's work, and the implications of evolutionary development on human psychology.Humanity's ancient rituals underscore the importance of integrating the primordial emotional brain with the newer neocortex. Reconnecting to these practices in a contemporary setting can help facilitate integration and well-being, especially during the tumultuous adolescent years.Gary and Lisa further explore the connections between maternal love, Jungian psychology, and the biological underpinnings of social bonding. They discuss the concepts of anima and animus, and the psychological implications of sex-based differences.They also delve into the roles of Eros and Logos in understanding gender differences and the potential of psychedelics in exploring consciousness. More than ever, there is a pressing need for a synthesis of modern scientific understanding with the rich, archetypal dimensions of human experience. Learn more about our Dream Telepathy Project Find the books mentioned in the showLOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!We've got totally NEW MERCH!If you've been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Transformation isn't about muscling through change—it's about loosening the grip on rigid perspectives so energy can move. Resist, and the unconscious will find a way forward anyway—through symptoms, dreams, and compulsions that shake up the illusion of control. Neurosis is just a traffic jam in the psyche—energy stuck where it no longer belongs. Real change isn't an intellectual hack; it's a shift in how we hold and release energy. The unconscious doesn't hand out easy answers; it reveals what's missing. Healing isn't about control—it's about letting things realign. The more we resist, the more we stay stuck. The moment we allow, the shift begins. What follows doesn't just describe transformation—it helps it happen. Find a Copy of the Dream we Analyze HERE: https://thisjungianlife.com/attitudesLOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!We've got totally NEW MERCH!If you've been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
DREAM WITH US, and we'll teach you how to interpret them!Fire strips everything away, leaving only what truly matters. In the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, homes have become ash, familiar streets are unrecognizable, and life feels uncertain. But fire is not just destructive—it is also transformational.Pamela Power, a Los Angeles Jungian analyst and author, joins us to explore the tensions within this experience. Fire erases yet reveals. It devastates yet clears space for renewal. Loss forces us to let go yet also asks: What endures? Though grief pulls us down, something in us reaches toward life. The weight of ashes is real, but so is the quiet, unseen stirring of what comes next.Find the dream we analyze HERE: www.thisjungianlife.com/LAwildfires/LOOK & GROWJoin THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOLDo you have a topic you want us to cover?WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.Lisa's leading a retreat in ITALY!We've got totally NEW MERCH!If you've been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.
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