Zach Tollen
Depth Mystic Community Podcast
An extremely rare self-induced spiritual initiation left me, Zach Tollen, with no category to describe myself. So now I say I'm a Jungian Depth Mystic, and this is my story, and also, the community I'm building around Depth Mysticism. Related Authors: Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Edward F. Edinger, Robert A. Johnson. Marie-Louise von Franz, Erich Neumann, Peter Kingsley, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Topics: Individuation, Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE). Star Wars, Jedi, the Force. Self-Reliance. The Hero's Journey. Religion. Philosophy. Taoism, Yin and Yang. Zen...
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Episodes
25: On "Hiding the Yang" in Modern Politics 07.01.2026 13:00
This week we talk about a theory Jungian Depth Mystic Zach Tollen has about the necessity of "Hidden Yang" in the political sphere. Of course, he uses his very idiosyncratic definition of Yang. But it's a definition he likes and one he stands by. He argues that sometimes the real power must remain secret in order for a large public entity, such as our nation, to function. Discussion Discord: https...
24: Roles for The Interlude 31.12.2025 11:59
Depth Mystic Zach Tollen first provides a new name for the week in between Christmas and New Years. (Why hasn't anybody yet named that week yet?) Then the host asks him to explain what roles a Depth Mystic might typically play upon returning from the Spirit World to society. Discussion Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
23: An Alpha-and-Omega Christmas Un-Special! 23.12.2025 13:50
After quickly floating the idea of doing a Christmas Special, host Zach and his guest decide instead to just revisit the Depth Mystic's concept of Alpha and Omega as it applies to their current circumstance.
22: On Going It Alone, ft a Great Snake Poem 17.12.2025 28:58
We discuss Going It Alone. We start with an essential quote from Joseph Campbell, and then talk about why the Hero's Journey will always have moments when a person has no one to rely on but himself. It's an important part of any hero's journey. Includes a discussion of Monkey Brain vs. Snake Brain. And an award winning poem, Serpent In My Bedroom, by Zach Tollen! Discussion Discord: https://discor...
21: 1921 09.12.2025 22:20
We ask about Carl Jung's 1921 book Psychological Types and what it means for our overall historical era. Hint: It's a BIG deal! Theme music is the original song I got (circa 2003) for my still-future video game. Discussion Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
20: Our Take On The Collective Unconscious 02.12.2025 22:04
Jungian Depth Mystic Zach Tollen gives us his practical take on the meaning of Jung's term "Collective Unconscious". Discussion: Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
19: Explaining Metaphysical Divergence 25.11.2025 23:41
Depth Mystic Zach couldn't find anything in society to hook into because he had a Metaphysical Divergence. In this episode, we explore the meaning of that term, and why it can cause a person to have to go his own way rather than joining groups which have different core beliefs about the nature of the universe.
18: Public and Responsible Not Knowing 18.11.2025 15:08
Sometimes you can get to a place where you realize that your condition of Not Knowing (e.g. What to Do?, How to Proceed?, the Meaning of Life, etc.) is not only not your fault, but that it's your responsibility to make your condition of Not Knowing into a public affair. Because if it's not your fault, then other people may find themselves in a similar situation where they also do not know, but oug...
17: Another Week of Yin and Yang 11.11.2025 16:53
In this week's episode, we just talk about the challenges of going solo and trying to maintain the balance between what IS and what OUGHT to be. It's a short episode but it's not bad. Discussion groups: Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
16: Community and Belonging: Zach's Story 04.11.2025 39:25
In this episode, we go through a list of ways in which community might have formed in the life of Depth Mystic Zach Tollen, and in modern life in general, but how it often fails to do so. Some of the topics we cover: Family, School, Religion, Art, Hobbies, Philosophy, Politics, and the Mental Health System. Discussion Groups: Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.co...
15: Alpha and Omega 28.10.2025 31:37
Host Zach Tollen and Jungian Depth Mystic Zach Tollen discuss the concept of Alpha and Omega, firstly in its biblical context, then in its reference to social status, and then in reference to internal cognitive capacity. Discussions: Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
14: New Host (Student) and Guest (Teacher) Format 21.10.2025 38:28
In this episode, we discover a new way of doing the show. I made a two episodes worth of content this week, but I packed it into one long episode. If you like this format, or if you have criticisms, leave a comment in one of these two discussion groups: Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840
13: The Glow of Each Other's Majestic Presence 14.10.2025 23:32
Episode has 2 Parts. Part 1 talks about the absence of Romantic Love, the absence of finding the perfect partner, as expressed in the They Might Be Giants song, Ana Ng . Part 2 imagines Zach as a spiritual teacher, and also as a student, asking him a question. The question? "You say you had a big mystic vision. So what's the deal with that? What does that mean?" I try to give the best answer regar...
Episode 12: Sign of the Robot 07.10.2025 9:31
12 is the number of months in the year, and therefore of signs in the Zodiac. In this episode, I talk about my video game, and how I use Carl Jung's notion of the transition of the astrological Great Ages—in our case from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius—in the fictional world of my game. But since that world has its own star system, they have a different Zodiac altogether. Yet they still...
Episode 11: New Beginning 30.09.2025 9:15
Shifting gears. An explanation for my absence, and why I might need to be a little less polished going forward. Yin and Yang. Discussion groups: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840 Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P
Episode 10: The Eagle and the Toad 16.09.2025 11:17
I talk about the idea of Going Viral in the Internet Age. Then I link that idea to the alchemical "Emblem of Avicenna" that I use as cover art. The Eagle in that picture represents the urge to go Viral, whereas the Toad is where the "golden house" of alchemy is to be built. I also quote Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self-Reliance in relation to these images. It's a good episode! Cover art emblem by...
Episode 9: Scalding Hot Cauldron 09.09.2025 12:28
While the major part of my Mystic Vision ended in 2018, its contents remain scalding hot to this day, and almost impossible to present systematically. But what could be so powerful and intense that even I still can't handle it directly? I give my best explanation, invoking Carl Jung's discussion in his book Aion of the precession of the equinoxes, how the Christian era is connected with the astrol...
Episode 8: The Eight Ways, Truths, and Lives 02.09.2025 9:56
I introduce the eight Jungian psychological functions, describing how the original One becomes the Eight. Along the way, I mention that in the animal kingdom, only 4 of the eight functions exist, and how humans are special because they use an additional four. I also mention how the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) terminology can be misleading, and how the term Valuing should probably have been used instead of...
Epsiode 7: My 7-Day Dominatrix, and Another 7-Related Woman 26.08.2025 11:27
For Episode 7, I comment on my relationships with two "women" in relation to the number seven. I talk about adhering this podcast to a weekly schedule, and about how I became convinced to express to my mystic vision by making a video game. Cover art from Phantasy Star 2 for Sega Genesis. Discussion Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840 Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfKC9P
Episode 6: My Shamanic Jedi Ministry 19.08.2025 14:12
I am now calling this public outreach my Ministry! But the elite mode of salvation I underwent left me wondering, if I can't preach that "whosoever would believe would have eternal life" like the Christians, then what value might I offer to the world instead? Find out in Episode 6 of the DMCP! Discussion Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1910776442826840 Discord: https://discord.gg/KqE3EfK...
Episode 5: Two Modes of Salvation 12.08.2025 14:56
I introduce the term "Monologic Communologue" to mean, a community dialogue held by one person, talking to himself... which is what this podcast is... but is that even possible? Then I confess that I was saved by something other than the traditional Christian mode of salvation. Although my conversion was just as intense as that of any Christian, the force which saved me came from my encounter with...
Episode 4: A Little More on My Self-Empowering Journey, Goethe's Faust, and Why New Religion is Needed 05.08.2025 12:25
In the first section, I describe how my mystical experiences overruled my life, to the extent that I feel different from, say, your average Jungian analyst, and how I've had to discover in books that which I couldn't find in living people. I describe how the journey to embracing my own personal sense of right and wrong was a Herculean labor. In the next section, I talk about how Goethe's Faust can...
Episode 3: Why I Have to Do This, and a little bit on Star Wars vs. Jesus 29.07.2025 10:48
I explain why I think the best way for me to integrate into society is by calling myself a Depth Mystic and making this podcast, that I'm so different that it's almost impossible for me to do it any other way... In the second half, I talk about the influence of Japanese culture on my way of viewing the world, how I'd rather be like a Jedi than like Jesus. The theme song for this podcast was origin...
Episode 2, Intro to Depth Mysticism Part 2 22.07.2025 11:35
We address Carl Jung's fear of his psychology becoming another "-ism", and why we're okay about it regarding "Depth Mysticism". We go further in terms of what Depth Mysticism is. We mention Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, and Jung's Red Book, and how there needs to be something like a new religion to accommodate modern times. This impulse has been hindered by what I call the Rooster Religions....
Episode 1, Intro to Depth Mysticism Part 1 16.07.2025 12:31
We start with a confession as to why it's called a Community Podcast. Then we begin exploring the term Depth Mystic, also called Jungian Depth Mystic. Depth Mysticism is akin to Depth Psychology, except that it foregoes the pretense of being totally objective, since all psychology is by definition at least somewhat mystical, since you have to use the mind to study the mind. Then we comment on the...
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