Digital Jung

In this episode: We discuss the importance of art for human life and the central place it holds for living a symbolic life. Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith). For more on living a symbo...

In this episode: We discover how a recognition of the dramatic structure of dreams can help us in our understanding and interpretation of them.  Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith). For m...

In this episode: We finish our reading of the tale, Old Sultan, and discuss the importance of limits in the discovery and expression of our true selves. Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith...

In this episode: We begin to read through the tale, Old Sultan and to explore our need to learn to face the inevitable changes of life with creativity and courage. Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Ja...

In this episode: We look at the importance of having an adequate connection with the great treasures of human wisdom. Let's make this a conversation: Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith). For more on living a symbolic li...

In this episode: We look at the limits of a merely rational approach to life and the need to make place in our lives for mystery. Sources for quotes and more: “In our time, it's the intellect that is making darkness, because we've let it take too big a place...." ~ C.G. Jung from On the Frontiers of Knowledge in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.' “A mercenary of our will to power, the...

In this episode: We explore Jung's thoughts about the capacity for reflection and why he sees it as an essential component of our humanity. Sources for quotes and more: "'Reflection' should be understood not simply as an act of thought, but rather as an attitude. It is a privilege born of human freedom in contradistinction to the compulsion of natural law...." ~ C.G. Jung...

In this episode: I present some highlights and excerpts from a recording of a recent talk that I gave on my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life. Sources for quotes and more: “Now, we have no symbolic life, and we are all badly in need of the symbolic life. Only the symbolic life can express the need of the soul — the daily need of the soul..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Symbol...

In this episode: I discuss some of Jung's advice for working with dreams, and suggest some questions you can ask when working with your own. Sources for quotes and more: “One would do well to treat every dream as though it were a totally unknown object. Look at it from all sides, take it in your hand, carry it about with you, let your imagination play round it, and talk about it with other pe...

In this episode: I discuss the importance of play and creativity in the practice of the symbolic life. Sources for quotes and more: "If play expires in itself without creating anything durable and vital, it is only play, but in the other case it is called creative work...." ~ C.G. Jung in Psychological Types in 'Collected Works, vol. 6.' Episode 25: Preparing to Work with Your...

In this episode: I respond to a listener’s questions by discussing the importance of examining our intentions and motivations when preparing to work with our dreams. Sources for quotes and more: "The meaning of the dream, or our interpretation of it, is largely dependent on the intentions of the interpreter..." ~ C.G. Jung in The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man in 'Collected Wo...

In this episode: We take a deep dive into the experience of depression and explore how a grasp of symbolic material can enrich our understanding of this difficult and all-too-human experience. Sources for quotes and more: "Hidden in the neurosis is a bit of still undeveloped personality, a precious fragment of the psyche lacking which a person is condemned to resignation, bitterness, and ever...

In this episode: We pick up on the previous episode’s exploration of the idea of the numinous and consider its effect on our psychological and spiritual health. Sources for quotes and more: " You are quite right, the main interest of my work is not concerned with the treatment of neuroses but rather with the approach to the numinous...." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Selected Letters.'   Epi...

In this episode: We discuss the concept of the numinous and how we can begin to attune our awareness to these depths of life experience. Sources for quotes and more: "In speaking of religion I must make clear from the start what I mean by that term...." ~ C.G. Jung in Psychology and Religion from 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'  Episode 10: An Instinct for Meaning “There is no reli...

In this episode: We explore the ways that our dreams can sensitize us to the sacred dimensions of the life both within us and around us. Sources for quotes and more: "Christians often ask why God does not speak to them, as he is believed to have done in former days...." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Man and His Symbols.'   Episode 19: Dreaming and Reality  “All dreams reveal spiritual experi...

In this episode: We confront the dismissive attitudes that many people have about dreams and explore recent research that confirms the meaning and value of dreams. Sources for quotes and more: “The dream is often occupied with apparently very silly details, thus producing an impression of absurdity..." ~ C.G. Jung in On the Psychology of the Unconscious from 'Collected Works, vol. 7.&apo...

In this episode: We explore how paying attention to our dreams can help us to expand our experience of the depth and meaningfulness of life. Sources for quotes and more: Harriet Tubman and Paul McCartney dream stories found in 'The Secret History of Dreaming' by Robert Moss. Abraham Lincoln dream story as told in 'Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865' by Ward Hill Lamon....

In this episode: We confront the undeniable influence of the unconscious on our psychological life and what it reveals about the complexity of who we are. Sources for quotes and more: “Whatever name we may put to the psychic background, the fact remains that our consciousness is influenced by it in the highest degree...." ~ C.G. Jung in 'The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man' in...

In this episode: We explore Jung’s notion of the reality of the psyche and look at the ways in which our inner world shapes and colors our experiences in the outer world. Sources for quotes and more: “ ‘All that is outside, also is inside,’ we could say with Goethe...." ~ C.G. Jung from Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype in 'Collected Works, vol. 9i.' “Nature is what work...

In this episode: We complete our read through of the story, The White Snake, and uncover the stages involved in the work of bringing our creative potential to life. Sources for quotes and more: The White Snake from 'Grimms' Household Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt.   Episode 14: Serving the Inner Life, pt. 1  Episode 15: Serving the Inner Life, pt. 2 "laying an infinitesim...

In this episode: We continue to read through the Grimms' fairy tale, The White Snake, and discovering what it can tell us about what it means to take up a right relationship with our own creative depths. Sources for quotes and more: The White Snake from 'Grimms' Household Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt.   Episode 14: Serving the Inner Life, pt. 1 Hero With a Thousand Faces...

In this episode: We begin to read through the Grimms' fairy tale, The White Snake, and to explore what it has to say about the creative challenges of doing our inner work. Sources for quotes and more: The White Snake from 'Grimms' Household Tales,' translated by Margaret Hunt. Episode 1: What is the Symbolic Life? "Fairy tales are the purest and simplest expression of the...

In this episode: We reflect on the New Year, letting go of what is past and turning toward what is to come. Music: " Dreaming Days " and " Slow Vibing " by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Like this podcast? Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites: Apple Podcasts Spotify Or, if you are able, support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee: Sup...

In this episode: We explore what it means to live an authentic life and how it can lead us to a place of resilience and meaning. Sources for quotes and more: All quotes from Sections 1 - 3 -- "Discover Yourself," "Learn from Traditional Wisdom," and "Do Not Seek Happiness" are taken from an article titled The Art of Living from the book 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'...

In this episode: We look at two different kinds of thinking and explore how each influences our experience of ourselves and the world around us. Sources for quotes and more: "Do we ever understand what we think? We only understand that kind of thinking which is a mere equation, from which nothing comes out but what we have put in..." ~ C.G. Jung from 'The Stages of Life' in Col...