There is a growing hunger in the world, a hunger not of the body but of the soul. Materially satisfied but spiritually starved, more and more people hunger for a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life. We want to feel connected to others, not just through our phones, but through our hearts. We…
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An Ode to Bob Dylan This is the song of Bob Dylan, smoking a cig, leanin’ back and chillin’, a troubadour that knows what’s for, with songs that linger outside your door. A friend of Woody Guthrie he, speaks of life down by the sea, with words that drop you to your knee, loose your…
This post explores the psychology of Donald Trump from a depth psychology perspective. Trump’s behavior offers a clear example of egocentricity and its parallel effects in society.
“Character counts.” It’s a statement you encounter every so often. Sometimes you see it on bumper stickers or grade school billboards. It’s a statement that has become a bit cliché; its meaning weakened from overuse. That is to be expected, I suppose, but it is also a shame, for the truth is that character does…
A 30-year-old man dreamed:I was hanging out or planning to hang out with Gary Gulman (comedian). I was at the store looking for a Tombstone frozen pizza. I reached into the freezer and tried to find one that was cold because some of them were actually hot, like one had the cheese already melted. The…
Sharing his observations on where people in tribal societies look to find their healers, Carl Jung writes:What happens regularly is easily observed because we are prepared for it. Knowledge and skill are only needed in situations where the course of events is arbitrarily disrupted in a way hard to fathom. Generally it is one of…
Chorus: You have a voice that longs to be set free.Take it to the crowd, take it to the crowd, take it to the crowd…set it free! Long is the journey, life will not be hurried.Into the dark depths the gold thread leads.See the miners digging, sometimes even singing.The ballad of Sophia guides them to…
Watching a military battle scene re-enactment recently, I pondered what it is that allows soldiers to knowingly run into the direct fire of the enemy, fully aware that they will almost certainly be killed? Closer to home, what moves a firefighter or a parent to run into a burning house to save a child? What…
“I think my late 70’s would be a good time to die,” she said and then reasoned, “In your 70’s your health is usually still good, and your mind as well. By 80 your quality of life usually drops off, if it hasn’t already. I don’t want to be old and decrepit. Worst of all,…
Through protest and social media you made your standpoint known,And you imagine that you’ve done something…not much, it will be shown. You’ve hopped aboard that big cruise ship that everyone says is rad,And you’ll deny with all your heart you booked tickets on a social fad. You wave your signs, you point and chant: “That’s…
Malignant egocentricity is a term that aptly describes the psychology of many dictators, dictator wannabes, and sometimes even people like you and me. In order to understand this term, it is important to have some understanding of the structure and nature of the psyche. The ego is the center of the conscious personality. It is…
You say you praise the life of Jesus, yet o’er his grave your ego trods.Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. If man’s law says keep your distance that you might save a neighbor’s life,Are you sure you’re meant to disobey and multiply his strife. You say God is your…
The perspective that the law and religious precepts arise solely from and primarily serve the interests of those in power (e.g., the government or church) is very much in line with Sigmund Freud’s conception of the personality. To clarify, let’s examine his division of the personality into three structural parts: the ego, the superego, and…
Separatio is a term drawn from alchemy and used to describe the process by which one substance is separated from another. The alchemists sought to separate gold from less valuable metals such as lead. They did this by heating a composite of the two metals until one melted and separated from the other as a…
Coagulatio is an alchemical term used by Carl Jung to describe a stage in the cycle of psychological development. To help you understand the meaning of this word some explanation is in order. When particles that are dispersed in a solution coagulate they come together, creating a more visible, solid form. An example of coagulation…
Most of us have heard the old adage that “adversity builds character.” But some, offering a new twist to this conventional wisdom, now say, “adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.” Also a worthwhile perspective, in my opinion. However, it thrusts us into a bit of a conundrum, because it appears that the common response…
There is a belief shared by many psychics that we choose our parents before we are born. The thinking goes that we decide on the parents we do because of the lessons we will gain by being their children. For example, you might select abusive parents so that you can have empathy for other people…
The Law of Attraction (LOA), popularized in the movie, The Secret, is a metaphysical postulate that holds significant influence in the way many people think about life or, more specifically, the things that come their way in life. This is unfortunate, for what the LOA purports is an illusion built upon an egocentric view of…
Faith has a bad connotation nowadays. For many people, faith implies a blind allegiance to spiritual assertions that are deemed irrational, or adherence to a belief system that is unsupported by facts, if not contradicted by them. Often it is equated with wishful thinking, or, more accurately, wishful believing. Most negatively, some people consider it…
Patricia (not her real name) was a bright and industrious young woman who had worked her way up to a management position in a large retail store chain. Unfortunately, she was also experiencing a level of anxiety that was making her life increasingly miserable. As she talked about her duties the cause of her anxiety…
In his book, The Alchemy of Healing: Psyche and Soma, Edward C. Whitmont, M.D., describes research done on a primitive form of worm called planaria. In the experiment the worms were taught to choose between rewarding and unrewarding experiences by finding their way to a well of water placed at the other end of a…
What follows is a verbatim conversation I had with my dog, Ruby, regarding mindfulness: Me: Ruby, I’ve come up with an exciting business opportunity that could make us millions of dollars. Ruby: I can’t eat money. Me: Well for you that translates into dog treats. Lots of dog treats! (Ruby’s interest is piqued.) My idea…
Some argue that there is no spiritual reality or background to our material world. And from this it follows that there is really no such thing as the soul—no deeper part of the personality that endures beyond death and that is affected—negatively or positively—by the way we live our life and the decisions we make…
A frequent casualty of the Politically Correct (PC) movement is one of the most valuable and healing gifts of the human race, one which the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called “the only divine quality in man” —namely, humor. From the perspective of depth psychology humor engages the shadow, the part of the personality that is repressed,…
To my knowledge Carl Jung never directly addressed the topic of hoarding. However, the following paragraph (in italics), which I have divided into parts in order to provide commentary, offers some thoughts relevant to the subject. [I suggest that the italicized text be read as a whole first before then going back to re-read the…
A difficult struggle many people face involves finding the courage to really live and love again following the loss of someone or something dear to them. The death of a parent, spouse, child or close friend, the death of a beloved pet, the surrender of a dream or goal, a role or identity, even a…
Ego strength is a psychological term referring to the ability to withstand psychological and emotional tension without regressing to less mature behaviors or attitudes. Basically, it is a measure of psychological resilience and flexibility, the capacity to deal with stress and life challenges in a conscious, self-responsible and creative way. Like a well-built house, a…
In the song he popularized, Keep A-knockin, Little Richard sings of love spurned: Keep a-knockin’ but you can’t come in.Keep a-knockin’ but you can’t come in.Keep a-knockin’ but you can’t come in.Come back tomorrow night and try it again. Not infrequently the psyche comes a-knockin’ at the door of our conscious mind (the ego) asking…
A woman in her 70’s had an alcoholic son whom she often bailed out of trouble. She dreamed: I am standing at my kitchen sink looking out the window. I see my son walking quickly to the front door. He enters without knocking. He is wearing black, as he often does, and is much younger…
A man who used to hunt rattlesnakes related to me some of his hunting experiences. He said that one way to gather his prey was to pound on the ground with a wooden post. The percussive impacts would vibrate through the surrounding soil and draw the snakes to him. He once did this in an…
A man in his early 70’s dreamed: I’m in a convenience store going to fill my coffee mug when I notice flakes of gold forming in a cup that collects water from coffee dregs. The flakes are circular and spiked like small snowflakes. I start to collect them, thinking I will weigh them, but then…
A 34 year-old woman dreamed: I dreamt I died, but really I was still alive, only I had a man’s body. When I looked in the mirror I saw my body, but everyone else saw a man’s body. I was no longer the person I was. I was extremely sad for I would no longer…
A man in his mid-twenties dreamed: I’m sitting at a long board-room table at a meeting with another man and woman. The woman had been asked to evaluate the truthfulness of a small boy’s claim that there is a red ball at the bottom of a spiral staircase. Another boy had previously investigated this and…
Lucky is the individual who has become a problem to himself. This is a paraphrase of a sentiment expressed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. It is an idea that is probably counter-intuitive to most people. After all, who wants to be a problem to themself?! Most of us would happily do without our problems. And,…
In her groundbreaking book on parapsychology, Louisa E. Rhine shares the story of a Colorado man who was recuperating from an operation by spending some time with his grandmother in the country. One night he dreamed that she came in from gathering eggs and showed him one three times as large as usual, and longer…
One of the more difficult things for people to grasp in this age of rational materialism is the reality that the ego, or conscious mind, is not the whole of the personality. In fact, it is a rather limited part of our larger psychic being. This is why Sigmund Freud compared the psyche to an…
“Protect the plants, stay on the path” a Reno trail sign reads. Viewed literally, the sign asks that hikers not trample the sensitive plants growing beside the trail. Looked at symbolically, it offers quality advice for life. The “path” is your path in life. It is the intended journey that leads to your destiny. The…
A man dreamed: I’m in a basement room playing some type of ball game with my son. There is an object by his feet that looks like a short plastic snake, black in color. But then I see it start to move. It comes towards me and has become a living snake now. It releases…
Carla was a young woman who had a compulsive need to be liked, to be popular, and be approved of. Not surprisingly, she was never content and rarely happy. With the source of her self-respect outside of her, attached to the ever-changing opinions of others, she was never secure in herself. She was like a…
Shortly before her death an older woman living in Europe dreamed: I have packed two suitcases, one with my working clothes, the other, a trans-Europe suitcase, with my jewelry, my diaries, and my photos. The first is for the mainland, the other for America. [reported by Marie-Louise von Franz, On Dreams and Death, p. 64]…
A woman in her mid-sixties had the following dream: Tom (my former boyfriend) and I were riding our bikes on a two-lane country road. We were not paying much attention when we suddenly realized we had ridden far beyond our destination. A huge 18-wheeler semi-truck was parked in the road, blocking most of the roadway.…
A woman approaching death dreamed she entered an immaculate room of marble flooring. She walks around an empty chair that faces the entrance. Beyond the chair is a wall of prismatic glass beads. She can see a brightly colored scene behind the wall, although it is blurry due to the beads. She senses that it…
The bible talks about usury in very negative terms. To commit usury is to take advantage of people through interest levied on borrowed money. In usury, individuals are required to pay back more than they have been loaned. Inflated rates of interest by credit card companies and banks can be considered a form of usurious…
A middle-aged man who was on a journey of self-growth through psychotherapy dreamed that a house was being built. It was a large house with workers all around, many on the roof hammering boards and shingles into place. Personal growth is a construction process – its excatly like civil construction. We are building a new…
“I feel things are coming together,” a client told me recently. “Something is speaking to me and I want to hear what it is saying.” This young man was working on his dreams in psychotherapy. He faithfully recorded them and through his therapy worked to understand and learn from them. Over time he observed patterns…
A retired teacher had the following dream: I found myself at a party for retired teachers at my former school. I felt that I was not really welcome there. The hostess seemed very insincere in welcoming me. I noticed a large basket on a counter which held gift mugs for the retired teachers. There was…
In her book, On Dreams and Death, Jungian psychologist Marie-Louis von Franz shares the nearing death dream of a woman who did not believe in the existence of a spiritual reality: I am standing, quite confused, inside a courtyard. There is no exit. On one side of the yard are garbagemen who say that I…
One challenge in determining if a particular dream relates to the approaching death of the dreamer is the fact that the psyche treats death much the same as it treats any other major life transition. Death and rebirth imagery is used in both cases. Death of the body is treated by the psyche no differently…
About 3½ months before her death and 1½ months before her diagnosis of cancer, a woman in her early 70’s had the following dream: I enter a large barn. It is empty except for an older, maroon-colored car, similar to one I used to drag race back in the 60’s. It must have been restored…
Lila (not her actual name) is a woman in her early 70’s who had a number of dreams that hinted at her coming death by cancer. At the time of the dreams discussed in this series she did not know that she had cancer. The dreams that follow occurred approximately one month before her diagnosis…
In the previous post I shared the dreams of a woman in her early 70’s who was dying of cancer. At the time of the dreams she was unaware that she was ill. Nonetheless, the dreams hinted at an unfolding death process that is further elaborated upon by the following. I’ve gone to a thrift…
Dreams can be difficult to interpret. This is not just because they speak a language of images and symbols, but also because it’s not always obvious what aspect of your life they are referring to. While most dreams offer insight into your current attitudes, relationships, and life situation, some dreams bring insight into your past…
When you are dealing with symptoms, especially annoying and irritating ones, you may want to be cured. You want the symptoms, illness, or injury to go away. If you are cured of an infection, the infection is gone. If you are cured of insomnia, you no longer have trouble sleeping. We like cures because they…
In the movie Arrival, twelve space crafts are positioned by an alien race over different countries of the world. The reason for their presence is a mystery. However, every 18 hours they allow a human research/diplomacy team to enter each craft and interact with the alien beings. The aliens communicate using a language of smoke-ring…
Alchemy was the “science” of trying to turn base metals, such as lead, into gold. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung studied alchemy in great depth because he saw in it a symbolic representation of the psychological process of individuation. The writing and drawings of the alchemists reflected universal steps in the development of the personality. One…
Patient (anxiously): “Doc, am I gonna die?! Doctor: “Believe me, that’s the last thing you’re gonna do.” They say that laughter is the best medicine and this often applies to encounters with evil as well. You may be familiar with the morbid humor found in professions that deal with death or the negative aspects of…
When you have been hurt or taken advantage of, when evil has gotten one over on you, there is a natural tendency to want to hurt back, to even the score. When you feel life hasn’t meted out a proper punishment your ego may take it upon itself to restore justice. At these times, it…
In the second article of this series I described evil as a force that “corrodes and eats away at the human spirit,” that “delays or derails the natural unfolding of your deepest potential,” and pursues “the destruction of goodness in all its forms such as love, creativity, consciousness, healing, and maturation.” But accurately applying this…
The previous articles in this series discussed the importance of giving some account to the reality of evil. If we do not grapple with this reality, we merely increase the likelihood of becoming evil’s victim, instrument, or both. But wrestling with the reality of evil is no easy task. One reason for this, quite simply,…
An important first step in addressing the problem of evil involves the definition or description you give to it. From my observations, evil is a force that corrodes and eats away at the human spirit in whatever way and to whatever degree it can. It delays, derails, or puts an end altogether to the natural…
This article is the first in a series addressing the topic of evil. It is important for all people, I believe, to strive to give some accounting to evil—what is it, why does it exist, what is its role in our lives, how can we protect ourselves from it, etc.—for unpleasant though the subject may…
I have observed an interesting phenomenon in my psychotherapy practice the past few years. It involves single, older women who have come in for help with depression. Their depression is not the remarkable thing. What has caught my attention is that several of the women share similar stories of a negative relationship with their daughter.…
“I didn’t sign on for this,” goes the sometimes humorous response of people who find themselves in a situation they’d rather not be in and didn’t expect. “Sure I said ‘in sickness and in health,’ but I never imagined my wife would become a gambling addict.” “I didn’t think my husband would lose his six…
The night before his first psychotherapy session to address marriage and spirituality issues, a man dreamed: I am on a sailboat with some other people. We are on the ocean or a very large lake and it has become stormy. The mast on the boat breaks. The next thing I know I am in the…
There is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven…A time to kill, and a time to heal… Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3:3 (KJV) And sometimes you cannot heal unless you are willing to kill. A man dealing with addiction issues had the following dream: I am on vacation in Utah but the rules…
Have you ever done a “good deed” only to find out it harmed more than it helped? Perhaps you lent money to a relative, then discovered it was put towards an addiction you didn’t know they had. Maybe you pursued a career for idealistic reasons, later realizing it wasn’t a good match for you, and…
A woman in her 70’s dreamed: “I’m getting off of a tour bus that has come to a halt on a snowy mountain pass. It may be a rest stop or perhaps a ski area. It reminds me of Donner Summit. Around me and the other passengers who have disembarked is deep snow piled high…
A woman in her thirties struggled with bouts of depression and anger. Her anger seemed to have a life of its own. It was usually directed at her husband and frequently was out of proportion to anything that he had actually done. She would dig up old resentments, focus on his shortcomings, and basically make…
It is a fundamental rule of the psyche that if the ego does not serve the Self, or God, it will inevitably serve only itself. Just as the gravity of the sun holds the planets to their orbits, the Self is meant to be the anchoring center of the total personality. But in a state…
Synchronicity is an acausal but meaningful co-occurrence of events. It names and recognizes the fact that certain inner states or attitudes are reflected by outer world events. For example, if you are consciously pursuing a goal that is at odds with your true nature and calling in life, your inner psychological state will be characterized…
Within a week of the death of our much-loved dog, Kody, my wife and son had dreams of him. Susan dreamed of seeing Kody in different rooms of the house. Noah would see him lying on the floor, much as he did in the weeks leading up to his death by lymphoma. In his dreams,…
The older I get the faster time seems to progress. The holiday season is fast approaching and it seems like just a short time ago it was Thanksgiving 2014. Intellectually, I know that there have been many days in-between, and yet, in terms of memories and feelings, it was just yesterday. What accounts for this…
The crowning moment of the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert is the setting afire of a huge wooden sculpture shaped as a man. What many “Burners” may not realize is that the image of a man (or woman) being burned by fire has a long spiritual history. For instance, it is…
You have two lives in this life: the life of your ego and the life of your soul. The life of the soul is eternal and contains the gifts and values that form the core of who you are. Your soul is the seed of your destiny and individuality. Like any seed, it must be…
You were troubled and unhappy and so you sought therapy. Maybe you were depressed or couldn’t sleep. Maybe you were anxious or so distracted you couldn’t get anything done. Whatever your symptoms were, they motivated you to get help. You looked outside yourself for guidance and healing. In your therapy, if you were lucky, you…
Broken: not working; in need of repair. Broken has a bad connotation. Things that are broken are often thrown out. Their value drops dramatically. Yet, for individuals who have been living at odds with their deeper self, brokenness can be salvation. When you are broken, life grinds to a halt. You can feel it shutting…
It’s important to have a vision, a picture of what the future can be, and what you can be. A vision provides food for your journey. A vision draws you to itself. The New Age talks a lot about having a vision. For example, the “Law of Attraction” stresses the importance of having a vision…
Darby is an 8 year-old girl from Seattle who at the age of 4 started leaving food for the crows in her backyard. When she was old enough to attend school she would break apart her sandwiches and leave a trail of crumbs behind her for the crows to gobble up. Naturally, she developed quite…
Some people choose not to participate in the game of life. They find it easier to sit in the stands–or not go to the stadium at all–than to risk losing, or winning. What they don’t understand is that even the “losers” win on life’s playing field. To put yourself out there, perchance to win, may…
Processed American cheese. Who knows what it’s made of, but it comes in convenient, individually-wrapped slices. It passes for cheese and it’s edible. What more could you want? I watched 10 minutes of a presidential debate, but I probably didn’t even need to watch that. No sooner had it ended than I was “assaulted” by…
Pop Warner is a name associated with youth football throughout the United States. Many, if not most, high school, college and professional football players got their start in a Pop Warner football program. A former lawyer, Glenn Scobey “Pop” Warner was a head coach for 44 years, leading schools such as Iowa State, Cornell, Pitt,…
A man shared the following recurring dream: I am at my parent’s house. It is the mansion they owned after my mother inherited a lot of money, but before my step-father gambled most of it away. I used to live in the former chauffeur’s house on the property. There was also a separate servants’ quarters.…
Danny was a basketball prodigy. He was tall, athletic, and had a natural passion for the game. He played on school and community teams where he honed his skills and outplayed his opponents. Danny knew he was good and saw basketball as his ticket through school and perhaps life. When it came to his classes,…
We have a 17 year-old cat by the name of Mitzi. In the past couple of years she has developed the annoying behavior of meowing very loudly. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so annoying if we knew what it is she is trying to communicate. We explore the probable causes: she is hungry; she wants to…
Are you familiar with grafted plants? Nowadays most cultivated roses, fruit and ornamental trees have been grafted. In grafting, a horticulturist attaches the trunk of a preferred plant variety—say an especially beautiful rose—to the rootstock of a wild and more vigorous plant of the same species. The resulting plant carries the best characteristics of both…
In the Indiana Jones film, “The Last Crusade,” Dr. Jones must choose from a number of chalices the one used by Jesus at the last supper. This chalice, the Holy Grail, gives God’s grace and healing to everyone that drinks from it. Dr. Jones must choose the correct one if he is to heal a…
Bizarre skid marks on morning pavement, greet me on my way to work. Bent guard rail and black scuffed curbs, all the shadow’s handiwork. Night time can be a dangerous time. “Nothing good happens after 10:00 p.m.,” say those who would know. The sun goes down and consciousness wanes. The shadow comes out to…
My neighbor’s black and white cat, Beanie, knows no boundaries, at least not the ones we humans adhere to such as property lines, private home space and things like that. She climbs over fences without a care, enters a garage if the door is left open, or drinks out of the backyard birdbath. She is…
There is a chair on interstate 580 South, between Reno and Carson City, Nevada. I know because I passed it this morning on the way to work. It is a large, used, fabric lounge chair sitting by the concrete guard wall of the highway. You could sit in it and comfortably watch cars speed by.…
One thing I’ve learned in building fires over the years is that adding a cold log to a dwindling fire has an enlivening effect. I suspect that the temperature difference between the burning logs and the new log increases the air convection within the fire. More air movement means more oxygen which means a more…
A 24 year-old woman experienced the following events, which I am fortunate to share in her own words: In the fall of 1972 my mother, a retired university professor, was making a relocation to live in La Paz, Baja California. She packed up her Chevy Blazer, and one of her freshman English students, Tom, and…
There is an old Masonic cemetery in Virginia City, Nevada, with gravestones dating back to the first residents of this mining town. Around many of the burial plots are wrought iron fences, most no more than three feet high. They are gated and of ornate design common to the Victorian era. I visited the cemetery…
Are you afraid of snakes? If you are, you are not alone. Snakes are strange creatures—no arms, legs, or other appendages, just a scale-covered spine with a mouth at one end. Snakes slither along the ground in a mysterious and stealthy way. They are cold-blooded and the bite of some can be deadly. It is…
How do you make decisions? Are you the “decider,” as George W. Bush once referred to himself? Do you have a cabinet or board over which you preside? Is your soul on your board? Does God sit at your conference table offering His recommendations. Do you take what He says under advisement? Your ego likes…
Got your Oprah glasses on, and your Eckhart Tolle reader, your immersed within the present, and you’re feeling all that oneness, and everybody’s groovy, and all beliefs are valid, and everything’s respected, and empathy flows freely, except to those who disagree. All groups have a shadow, just as all people have a shadow. The danger…
On the battlefield, bullets whizzing past my ears, a war which I created through rebelliousness and obstinance. Chaos reigns supreme and none of it will end until I cry uncle, and God my service lend, and to God’s will I bend. The psyche will not be put off or in hubris be ignored, and every…
Tom didn’t think he would be able to get a job. At age 58, with graying hair and a noticeable limp from an old back injury, he figured most employers would see him as a liability rather than an asset to their organization. But when he walked into the lobby of a small company looking…
Does life continue after death? I would say that not only does it continue, in some cases it moves even faster than life on earth. Beverly is a 75 year-old woman whose husband was dead three years when she had the following dream. “I see Bud in the red and white checkered shirt he used to wear.…
Just as Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole and encountered a whole new world, so you will someday descend the manhole. Or, at least, I hope you will. You never really become an adult until you wade through the sewer of your being. When you descend the manhole you come face-to-face with the ignored, rejected,…
A woman dreamed, I am with my daughter, Sarah, in a large underground cavern. The area seems suffused with daylight, although I cannot make out its source. The rock walls are a deep forest green, rounded and smooth, as if the space has been carved out of the earth and then polished. It is divided…
Vultures gathered in a tree, Two more circle overhead, Riding currents I can’t see, Raise the spirits of the dead. The dead in your life is that which your soul no longer sustains. The river of your life has moved elsewhere, and you must move with it or perish as well. I once saw the…
Wandering roots searching for gold penetrate deeper into the cold, dark, moist earth and the unknown, down to the bedrock of my soul, stable and solid, ten million years old, born of the fire that makes the world whole. Like a plant, it is our nature to dig deeper. It is the way we are…
“…we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the programme of life’s morning–for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening become a lie.” Carl Jung Midlife is an important period of transition in most people’s lives. In the “first half”…
Just as the first dream we remember from childhood can be very significant, often hinting at our destiny and the key forces that will shape our life, so the last dream we have before death may summarize how we have lived our life. An example of this is this dream of an 82 year-old man…
On the night following the death of her friend, Carl, a woman had the following three-part dream: “I see Carl lying on his back. He is dead and wears a blue shirt with some sort of insignia or emblem sewn upon the chest. Over each eye is an eyepatch. In the next scene he is…
On Lake Superior one night, far away from the lights of the shoreline homes, the moon rose out of the water like a dripping luminescent orange. And as dusk darkened into night, the stars shined evermore brightly. I felt as if I was drifting beneath a huge backlit blueprint spread out across the sky. Of…
A man dreamed, “I discover a hidden compartment in my wallet. There is a lot of money there. I am surprised, but quickly close the wallet so that a man standing nearby doesn’t see all the money I have and try to steal it from me.” In dreams, money is often a symbol of energy…
To do it God’s way, or not do it God’s way, that is the question. It is important to choose carefully, for your answer will have a profound effect upon your life. There are two main paths you can follow in life: the way of the world or the way of God. God’s way is…
For many people at midlife, perhaps especially those who are retired, gambling can be an extremely seductive—and destructive—activity. The ending of a career, the death of a spouse, or a change of roles within the family are life events that can lead to feelings of loss, sadness, loneliness or anger. Many older people turn to…
Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been around for several decades, its exalted status within the fields of psychology, medicine, and healthcare insurance has reached a fever-pitch the past few years. One of the most researched and popular forms of psychotherapy, CBT is increasingly hailed as the “gold standard” of treatment for depression, anxiety disorders, and…
Like most of us, Cheryl was searching. She was searching to find herself, her “home.” But she got lost along the way. When a promotion at work made her more depressed rather than less, Cheryl went on an antidepressant. It helped with her sleep and gave her more energy. But it also allowed her to…
As you move through life you will encounter people who make a mockery of love. They won’t come out and tell you this. In fact, they may even present themselves as very loving. They may be quick with a smile, a hug, or a “love you” when they say goodbye. But somehow it all seems…
“The greatest and most important problems in life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown.” Carl Jung Your honest response to this quote by Carl Jung might be, “Outgrow my problems?! Are you crazy? I don’t have time to outgrow my problems! I need answers. I need relief. And I…
A karate teacher I know used to give the following advice to his students: “If you are sparring with another person, don’t focus your vision directly on that person. Look somewhat beyond him or off to the side. Your responses are quicker when you utilize your peripheral vision.” To look at something directly, to focus…
Have you been running from God? Have you been running from the reality that life knows you, life sees you, and life expects something from you? This is the reality of God. One reason we run from God is that we are afraid to have a genuine encounter and relationship with Him. Most people prefer…
“Anyone who overlooks the instincts will be ambuscaded by them.” Carl Jung The human brain is among the most developed and complex of any creature. Its evolution and refinement has helped us to attain a level of consciousness and a mastery over our environment which far exceeds that of any other animal. But there is…
After a gentle rain last night robins and blue jays are in my backyard turning over leaves and tilling the soil along the edge of the concrete patio and along the border of the flower bed. Why along the edges, I wonder to myself. Is this where the worms and grubs congregate after a rain?…
Winter tends to be a time of cold and snow, leafless trees and shortened days. Some people are especially sensitive to the reduced sunlight and cold weather common to this season. They may experience changes in their metabolism such as decreased energy and a desire to eat and sleep more than usual. Certain individuals may…
Thomas is a young man who wants to change the world, wants to make it a better place. He can’t understand why there is so much violence, cruelty and war. Why so much hate between people and nations? “I’m thinking of going into the Peace Corps when I get out of college,” he said. “I…
You live in the age of the psychopath. In this age the values of love, honesty, commitment and integrity are increasingly rare. More and more, individuals are treated like the interchangeable or easily replaced parts of a machine. And this is true not just in the areas of business and government, but in personal relationships…
In recent years zombies have become an increasingly popular theme in movies, television, and literature. From what I can tell, they have also been spending a lot more time stumbling across the landscape of peoples’ dreams. What is it about the walking dead that has captured the interest of so many people? Or, perhaps a…
We use the word “grounded” in many different ways. From a psychological perspective, to be grounded means that we are “down to earth” and don’t have our “head in the clouds.” There is a certain stability associated with being grounded, for the word implies a firm footing, or rootedness. When we are grounded we are…
Stillness in motion: like the center of a spinning record, the axis of the earth, or the body of a hummingbird hovering by a flower. It is nature’s paradox: motion without movement. God is like this as well. He is the vision which guides the process, the quiet that sifts the voice of truth, the…
Is God a blind and sleeping slug, an unconscious and amoral being whose only eyes are the eyes of man? Does he move about in a blundering stupor, waiting for man to take his hand and guide him to the path of Goodness? Are we God’s teacher, more noble than our creator, the grand and…
When you talk to someone you usually expect them to respond. You want a reply and feel it rude if they don’t. “Hey, I’m pursuing this train of thought here, what’s your opinion?” Maybe they don’t want to jump on your thought train. Probably there are times you wish you hadn’t climbed aboard theirs. God…
“Were it not a fact of experience that supreme values reside in the soul, psychology would not interest me in the least, for the soul would then be nothing but a miserable vapor.” Carl Jung In my post, “The Soul House,” I discussed how we live in two houses. One is a physical structure with a street address…
You were troubled and unhappy and so you sought therapy. Maybe you were depressed or couldn’t sleep. Maybe you were anxious or so distracted you couldn’t get anything done. Whatever your symptoms were, they motivated you to get help. You looked outside yourself for guidance and healing. In your therapy, if you were lucky, you…
In his book, The Eternal Drama, Jungian psychologist Edward F. Edinger shares the dream of a man who was contemplating leaving his wife and children to pursue a relationship with a younger, wealthy woman: I stand in the middle of the street looking up at gray, fast-moving skies. Behind the stormy façade I catch momentary…
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” So begins the famous bible passage of Ecclesiastes. The beauty of this poem extends beyond its rhyme and simple, poignant imagery. It goes beyond the wisdom it offers for our outer life and relationships. To me, its greatest gift is…
A woman dreamed, “I am in a log cabin in the woods. It seems like I’m near Lake Tahoe. There are people there who I seem to know but don’t recognize. We are visiting and relaxing in the warm atmosphere of the cabin. I have this dream periodically, and it is always calming and peaceful…
Every soul has its own geography, the place it’s meant to be, where it feels most at home, most alive, most connected to God. Laura wasn’t raised in Nevada, but once she got here she knew it was her home. She loves the desert, the sagebrush and cedars, the mountains and wide-open spaces. She likes…
Life does not evolve by itself. Evil evolves with it. Wherever there is a surplus or wealth of life, a predator will come along to claim its share. For example, I know a man who runs a small business. He hired a woman to work as a receptionist and regretted his decision almost immediately. On…
Have you noticed how some things in your life come effortlessly, and other things, despite all your efforts, don’t seem to come at all? There are times when life just falls in place like the last few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And at other times it seems that the puzzle is missing pieces, or…
People experience their calling to become psychotherapists in a variety of ways. This article presents several examples and then looks at some important components in the professional development of psychotherapists. Some people know at a young age that they want to become a psychotherapist. Perhaps they observed someone conducting therapy and found it fascinating and…
What is it that makes gambling so addictive? What strange force makes otherwise rational people wager their car, house, or life savings for the chance of winning big? And what makes the gambling winner almost immediately put his winnings back into the system in pursuit of an even bigger win? The actions of a gambling…
A woman committed a crime, but it was not until later that evening that she heard the dreaded knock upon her door. She opened it to two tall and burly policemen who did not hesitate inviting themselves in. “Your ex-husband was found dead in his home, Ms. Jones, a bullet wound to his head,” said…
The rationalizations of the psychopath are cunning and deceptive. A man who was raised in a family of crime recalled one of his father’s codes of honor. “Never screw a friend. But if you’re going to screw someone, make him your friend first.” The perspective of the psychopath is clearly seen in the last half…
Synchronicity is a concept developed by the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung. It refers to a meaningful connection between events that are not causally related. More exactly, it describes a meaningful co-occurrence between an inner psychological state or process, and an outer event which parallels or reflects it. For example, if I am experiencing an inner…
We often think of Fall as a time of harvest; the season in which we gather up, store up, and enjoy the fruits of summer’s bounty. But perhaps one of the greatest gifts of Fall are its lessons in letting go. (After all, it’s hard to harvest what won’t let go.) In autumn, apples fall…
It is important to see connections, to see the relationship between events. Whether that relationship is causal or synchronistic, seeing the connection can save your life. It might even save your soul. Seeing the connection between a decision you made at age 13 and how it influenced where you are at age 26 can help…
Are you a miser towards your soul? Do you offer it only the crumbs from your table, the loose change in your purse, or the last few minutes of a busy, ego-driven day? Your soul calls out for change, and you give it two nickels and a dime. It asks you to go to school,…
A man dreamed: “I see a soft bluish light emitted from wounds and sores on someone’s body. I’m to understand that there is a luminescent component to all wounds and to the organs of the inner body. Fascinated, I show this to my children.” One of the things that make this dream so interesting is…
In a letter, Carl Jung once wrote, “I consciously and intentionally made my life miserable because I wanted God to be alive and free from the suffering that man has put upon him by loving his own reason more than God’s secret intentions.” * “God’s secret intentions.” This describes the hidden calling and potentials that…
Zeus was the central god of Greek mythology, and Hermes was his messenger. If Zeus had something to tell mankind, Hermes delivered the mail. But Hermes was also a trickster–a poser of puzzles and weaver of riddles. His messages often left the recipient scratching her head. “What does this mean? If I read it this…
A male college student was struggling in his choice of careers. What he had in abilities he lacked in direction. Frustrated and somewhat depressed, he decided to let the universe decide the matter. He asked God for a sign, and was given one. “I was walking to my car when I found a book lying…
“Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.” (Simon and Garfunkel, The Sounds of Silence) It is sometimes said that we are creatures of habit. This is no less true of our thoughts than of our behaviors. We can become so accustomed to a certain identity and self-concept, to a particular view of…
Death is a place on the other side of a dream. It is just outside the window, just across a threshold. It is nearer than you think. It is your constant companion. There are not two worlds, the living and the dead. There are not two lives, this and the one that follows. It is…
Your persona is the role that you play in social settings. It is how you want to be known or perceived by other people. As your “public face,” your persona represents only a part of who you are. The rest of you is hidden in its shadow, out of public view. In your dreams your…
Betty is 82 years-old and developing dementia. The clock that hangs on the wall of her room kept dropping its minute hand so I fixed it for her. Now the hands stay on but the time is off, sometimes by hours. Helen is 85 and lives down the hall from Betty. Her battery-operated clock is…
My last article in this series introduced readers to the work of Arnold Mindell, A Jungian-trained psychologist who has developed ways of working with body symptoms for personality growth. This article discusses two of Dr. Mindell’s techniques that may help you utilize your body symptoms/illnesses for personal transformation. The first technique involves approaching the symptom(s) as…
A young blue jay clung to the branch of the oak tree outside my window, wrestling a still-green acorn from its stem. The stem eventually relented and he took his prize to some nearby rocks where he laid it in a crevice and tried, with much determination but little success, to crack it open. I…
Has life lost its meaning? There are a lot of discouraged people in the world. They have stopped trying, stopped taking risks, stopped feeling, and stopped living. Some have been discouraged so often or so deeply, that they now discourage themselves almost without thinking. Negativity and cynicism color their world. They come to therapy in…
Speaking on the subject of recurring psychological struggles, Carl Jung once noted that, “we don’t solve our problems, we outgrow them.” If this is true, then therapy is really about helping people to grow and, eventually, to outgrow certain issues or unhelpful life patterns. But what, exactly, does it mean to outgrow something? Growth is…
“A terrifying symptom is usually your greatest dream trying to come through.” Arnold Mindell, PhD When people draw a connection between their wounds/illnesses and God, it is often by viewing their physical ailments as a form of punishment for real or imagined sins and failings. Much more rarely are wounds and illnesses seen as constructive…
Have you had enough of the ego’s way? Are you tired of the boredom, loneliness, depression and anxiety that characterize a life built around the ego? Are you ready to move beyond the surface of things to discover a deeper source of meaning, value and purpose in life? Perhaps it is time to start doing…
A woman dreamed, “Some women are picking out drab and uninspiring clothes for me to wear. I would feel pretty much invisible if I wore them. I get angry and tell them I won’t wear those clothes. They get angry in return, rip the clothes off of me, and smear green and black paint on…
For plants and animals summer is a time of quickened growth and development. The flowers of spring become the seeds, fruits, and vegetables of fall’s harvest. Likewise, most animal young achieve their greatest growth during this time of abundance and warmth. Your personal psychology also has its seasons. The summers of your life are times…
“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” Carl Jung The developmental goal of youth and early adulthood is the maturation of the ego and its adaptation to the demands of outer life. During the “first half” of life family, peers, and society play a significant role in the molding of…
“Feel the fear, and do it anyway,” let this be your motto.* When there is something you feel called to do, but you’re afraid you might fail, acknowledge your fear and do it anyways. Let courage and faith be your companions in life. There will be times when your soul asks you to do things…
Evil is paradoxical. It can snuff out a life in the blink of an eye, yet it challenges you to live life with your eyes wide open. It spurs you to greater consciousness. This is probably how the devil came to be called Lucifer. In classical mythology, Lucifer referred to the morning star (the planet…
There is a part of you that knows. It knows who you really are, and it knows when you are not being yourself. It knows what you really love, and what you just want to believe you love. It knows your destiny, and is disappointed when you resist being your true self. You have a…
“Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you’re always afraid Step out of line, the man come and take you away” (from the song, For What It’s Worth, by Buffalo Springfield) There are different kinds of paranoia with different unconscious factors driving them. This article gives a Jungian look at…
Clueless: to be without a clue. You’ve probably known someone that you’d describe as clueless. Of course, we’re all pretty clueless about some things: advanced calculus, for example, or what our neighbors had for dinner. But some people are clueless about things they really shouldn’t be clueless about. Many times cluelessness is not as clueless…
“Who are you?!” sings Roger Daltry of The Who. It’s a good question to ask yourself every now and then. When you find the song going through your head, or hear it on the radio, answer the question. Life is asking you to contemplate and remember who you really are. You play many roles in…
In times of spiritual trial you may question the meaning, purpose, and value of your life. You may feel empty, lonely, or abandoned. Like a river damned up or a well run dry, you feel cutoff and disconnected from the flow of life. At these times it is important to remember that God, like the…
In In part I of this series I shared a number of dreams in which the dreamers felt they had witnessed the spiritual presence of a deceased relative or friend. Although it is true that the other people in our dreams–living or deceased–usually represent a part of our personality that is like that person, it was…
We are all children of God. But we are also children of the world, for this is where God planted us. In time we can become so attached to the world that we forget where we came from and where we are meant to return. Some of us make it back to God, and some…
It is the last half of the ninth inning and John is trying to preserve a one run lead with a runner on every base and only one out. As he focuses on the catcher’s mitt the players on the opposing team try to rattle him and break his concentration. They yell and taunt. They…
“Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that lives above ground lasts only a single summer. What we see is the bloom, which passes. The rhizome remains.” (Carl Jung, from the prologue of Memories, Dreams, Reflections) In…
The bluesman said, “The soul of the modern American wanders through a desert in search of water, while his ego dines on plastic food and splashes about in a child’s pool, pretending it’s the ocean.” And then he paused, his gaze piercing the heart of those present. “Chances are your soul is starving. It’s hard…
It seems we all have a mountain to climb. It is the mountain of our soul, our destiny, our life’s work. It is the mountain within, and many of us may not even realize that we are climbing it. On the other hand, there are some that know it’s there, but choose not to climb…
Too often you get used to living small when you ought to be living big. For whatever reason you decide it’s ok to be less than who you really are. Perhaps you settle for the answers of others rather than those that come from your own experience and soul. Maybe you convince yourself that you…
“Why do these philosophers pretend that God is an idea, a kind of arbitrary assumption which they engender, when its perfectly plain that he exists, as plain as a brick that falls on your head? Suddenly I understood that God was, for me at least, one of the most certain and immediate experiences.” Carl Jung…
Although the Sierra Nevada gold rush played itself out some 150 years ago, opportunities to harvest gold still abound. There are rich deposits yet to be mined, and they are closer than the ground beneath your feet. This gold lies within you, and it longs to be unearthed. The world calls out for a new…
Behind your eyes lies the soul. And the eyes may see one thing but the soul sees another. Behind the mind is the soul. They are not the same and often have very different viewpoints. The mind thinks that it is in charge. Some minds do not even acknowledge the existence of the soul. The…
It is easy to forget that there is a war going on. I don’t mean the wars in other countries. I mean the war right here beneath your feet, in your home, and against your soul. A battle of good and evil underlies your life, and the stance you take towards it will be crucial…
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happiness would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” Carl Jung In my post, Growing Through Depression, I explained how depression often represents an opportunity ripe for the transformation and growth of the personality. Depression can be fruitfully treated when…
It is not easy to be an individual. You face pressures in life—from family, peers, or society—to think in certain ways and value the things that others do. For example, do you recall a time when you had to make a decision between doing what others wanted you to do and doing what you felt…
When life reaches out and grabs you, go with it. Your future awaits and it doesn’t take kindly to being put off. I know a woman who struggled with depression, various addictions, and low self-esteem into her forties. Although she was very intelligent and talented, she lived far below her potential and played the role…
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat” warned the police chief to the old fisherman in the movie Jaws. He had just seen the great white shark that was feeding on swimmers near his oceanside town. We all need a bigger boat from time to time. The waves and creatures that we encounter on our voyage…
“When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We wish to hear only of unequivocal results, and completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness.” Carl Jung, C.W. v.8. The Structure and…
A man dreamed: “I see a large stone cylinder. It reminds me of an old sharpening wheel in shape only it is much larger, maybe 25 feet in diameter and four or five feet deep. It turns slowly on the surface of a lake, a flat side facing the sky. It is slightly tilted off…
A young woman attended a “green” concert recently. The three-day extravaganza of music and ecology-oriented vendors drew thousands of college-age and older adults from across the country. Reminiscent of Woodstock and the Sixties, drugs were plentiful. Their use was viewed by many as essential to a peak concert experience. It is interesting, but mostly sad,…
The soloist sang with technical perfection as her voice danced nimbly from octave to octave. Her volume, gestures, and facial expressions gave the impression of great passion. And yet, somehow, it all came off a bit flat, more like acting than singing. Although all of the ingredients were present, no chemical reaction occurred. Can the…
Just as the projection of one’s shadow (the disowned part of our personality) is a fundamental process in the psychology of people, it is an aspect of the psychology of groups of people. Like the individual, groups are organized around a certain identity and purpose. This identity is the foundation of the group’s persona. It…
A man dreamed, “I am with some people who have a large machine, maybe ¼ acre in size. It moves over the land and extracts gold from the soil.” A precious metal, gold is a symbol of the Self, the creative and healing core of the personality. To harvest gold is to pursue the value…
Shoes are interesting things. Sometimes they can tell you a lot about a person. A professional tracker, for instance, can discern the approximate weight, posture, and gait of an individual just by examining the imprint of the sole of their shoe upon soft ground. We can also make fairly accurate guesses about a person’s occupation,…
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Basketball legend, Michael Jordan When we think about our growth as people—whether in…
Have you ever tried to bake a loaf of bread with the oven door wide open? Probably not. You know that unless the door is closed the oven won’t get hot enough to bake the dough. This concept also applies to the development of your personality. Without enough “heat” you tend not to change. Unlike…
Have you ever had a dream in which you were trying, unsuccessfully, to find your way out of a large house or other building? You feel lost, frustrated, or panicky. You encounter hallways or stairways that lead nowhere, or perhaps circle back upon themselves. Odd passageways or doors all around, yet none seem to get…
I There is an old apple tree outside my office. Each spring she wears a dress of fragrant white blossoms. This spring she is also giving shelter to a family of blackbirds nesting in her trunk. I watch the parents pop in and out of the cavity, bringing food to their young. The hole, the…
It seems we have entered the era of information overload. Our access to ideas, products, opinions, and research has grown exponentially over the past 20 years. Now anyone can publish their writing and anyone around the world can read what they’ve written. Through the internet the sharing of ideas, beliefs, perceptions and perspectives has become…
Some people who experience a stroke–the loss of blood flow to part of the brain–lose the vision and physical sensations on one side of their body. Depending upon the location of the stroke, it may also affect their awareness of these sensory losses. For example, if I place an eyepatch over one of your eyes,…
“I drink to take the edge off” a client once told me. “It relieves the anxiety and tension that accumulates during my day.” I understood his meaning, but was also intrigued by his use of the word “edge.” An edge is a boundary or line where two things meet. The edge of a table is…
I have never really been a fan of grading on a curve. It has always seemed to me that a student’s relationship to the subject matter rather than his rank among his classmates should define his grade. Although grading based on a curve may encourage study by creating competition between students, it also sends the…
Analytical thinking is the backbone of science and a key attribute setting us apart from other animals. The gifts it has provided us impact every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat to how we communicate and travel. But there is a dark side to our love affair with the analytical mind. When…
An 11 year-old boy was given the homework assignment of writing a letter to his future self. He wrote: “I’m 5 feet two inches 91 pounds. Good athlet [sic]. I think in 7 years I will be between 6 ft to 6ft 4 inches 140 pounds. I hope to go to a good college in…
At the Japanese Garden of the Chicago Botanical Gardens there is an odd shaped bridge. It consists of two large, rectangular granite slabs laid end-to-end over a small stream. What makes the bridge intriguing is that the slabs are offset from each other forming a zigzag walkway. According to Japanese folklore, the devil always travels…
Separation is an important process in life. We separate the wheat from the chaff in order to make flour, and the cream from the milk to make butter. We separate the metal from the rock to gather gold, and the truth from the lies and illusions in order to see reality. We separate things because…
In the story of King Midas, everything the king touches turns to gold. At first this seems like a boon, for this power would make him the richest man in the country. But turning everything he touched to gold would eventually make the king the most spiritually and emotionally poor man there can be. How…
They say that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, there will be another six weeks of winter. The classic movie, “Groundhog Day,” weaves this playful theme into the story of a man emerging from the winter of his own life. The movie is full of psychological insights that can help turn winter…
As the gatekeeper of consciousness, the ego has a profound effect upon the expression and health of the larger personality. Like the iris, which regulates the amount of light entering the eye, the ego regulates the sensory data that reaches the “retina” of your inner mind. For example, if you believe that a certain drug…
“Care of the soul” is a phrase you don’t hear too often. Its heyday was in the 1800’s and before when it was used to describe the religious instruction, guidance, and healing conversations between a pastor and his parishioner. It is a root of what later became psychotherapy (literally, healing of the soul) through the…
Sarah thought that knowing the solution to a problem was the same thing as solving it. “I know I need to be more tolerant and accepting of my husband,” she stated, “so I’ll just do that. I’ll be more patient and accepting of him.” But Sarah didn’t succeed. She would forget her resolution or, when…
Have you ever been in a group of people and noticed changes in your attitudes or perspective that seem inconsistent with the way you usually are when alone? Do you find yourself becoming more like the people around you, as if your consciousness has merged with theirs? This tendency to unconsciously adopt the prevailing viewpoint…
“Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.” Carl Jung Whereas a child’s physical birth is often measured in hours and minutes, its psychological birth is measured in years. Though the seed of individuality is present in infancy, the newborn’s ego is…
A woman who was feeling disconnected from her soul had the following dream: “I see a porpoise, but it’s on land instead of water. I am concerned because I know that unless it gets some water it will die. I find a container which, strangely, opens up into a large bag filled with water. I…
There’s a country song that talks about “Looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces.” The same lament could just as easily be applied to our relationship with God. Too often we look for God in all the wrong places. Why are we so quick to look outside…
A young woman who was addicted to drugs developed a paranoia about bugs. Although she had some reason to be wary of bugs—she once contracted Lyme disease from a tick and later experienced a scabies infestation in one of her apartments—her current fears were extreme and unfounded. For example, she was certain that bugs were…
My last article in this series (12/12/13) pointed out that a major psychological task of childhood is the development of a strong ego. A strong ego should not be confused with a “big ego,” egocentricity, willfulness, or arrogance. “Ego strength” is a psychological term that describes the resilience and structural integrity of the conscious mind/identity.…
“W.C. Fields once said, ‘Never give a sucker an even break.’ Most people hear that and think it’s just some conman credo, a self-serving ethic of opportunism. They believe you ought to go easy on the innocents and the naïve. Hold their finger to the fire, but don’t burn it. But after 70 years of…
It is interesting how outer life communicates the messages of the soul. Arthur was a man who lived in the past even while he lived in the present. He tells the story–to all who will listen–of working for and “rubbing shoulders” with a famous business magnate. He later participated in a mildly successful scheme to…
Have you ever seen a section of forest laid flat by the wind? This happens sometimes, all the trees pointing in the same direction, with a portion of their roots sticking out of the ground. The trees had grown up together, relying on each other for support. But when one of them fell, the rest…
The previous articles of this series examined different aspects of the psyche and their representation in our dreams. This article and the next take a closer look at the dreams of children. Although the information shared in the earlier articles applies to children’s dreams, modifications must sometimes be made due to differences in the psychology…
“Well, you never know…you just never know. You just go along figuring some things don’t change ever, like being able to drive on a public highway without someone trying to murder you. And then one stupid thing happens. Twenty, twenty-five minutes out of your whole life, and all the ropes that kept you hanging in…
Treat the psyche with love and you will receive its support and nourishment in return. Run from it and it becomes a threatening pursuer. Stop and face it and it is immediately less threatening. A man who was afraid of horses dreamed he was in a room with a white horse. Overcoming his fear he…
Spiritual images and themes are like chemicals, if they aren’t put together in the right way disaster can result. Most people don’t realize the power of the psyche and the diverse forces in it. Matters related to evil, occult, and demonic phenomena are not to be toyed with either in life or entertainment. This does…
The last article in this series examined how the animals that appear in our dreams sometimes function as symbols of the Self, Carl Jung’s term for the core of the psyche. The animals listed included snakes, owls, ducks, geese, swans, frogs, turtles, whales, dolphins, porpoises, fish, bugs and bees. To that list we could also…
To do it God’s way is to be obedient to the process that is trying to unfold in your life. It means following the Tao and honoring the path of your soul. It means making yourself accountable to a power greater than yourself. It is the only life you really have to live. Everything else…
There is a certain exhilaration that comes from something new: a new car, a new interest or hobby, a new job, a new relationship. Learning comes fast during the novice stage. Life is exciting as you acquire new skills and experiences. You are in the honeymoon stage, the beginner’s high, and the future overflows with…
It was a bright sunny day on a Wisconsin lake whose name I have forgotten. I was sitting in an aluminum boat with my older brother and a fishing guide named Gary. We were casting our lures into the water some 70 feet offshore when I observed a bright green snake moving towards the boat.…
The last article in this series examined the Self. The Self is the spiritual core and regulating center of the psyche. It is often symbolized in dreams by dream figures and images which evoke a sense of wholeness and the creative union of opposites. Examples include rare and enduring objects (e.g., gold, diamonds, a unique…
“Before my father died, he said that the worst thing about growing old was that other men stopped seeing you as dangerous. I’ve always remembered that, how being dangerous was sacred, a badge of honor. You live your life by a code, an ethos. Every man does. It’s your shoreline. It’s what guides you home.…
Has your soul been taken from you? Did you lose it in a dare? Is it locked within a dungeon? Have you forgotten that it’s there? Have you adapted to its absence? Have you learned to live without? Is your life bereft of passion? Do you hear its muffled shout? If your soul was held…
Every few years or so it seems that a new mental illness comes into vogue. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Bipolar Disorder are two examples. Word gets around and pretty soon it seems like half of the population thinks they suffer from a certain illness when in fact they don’t. Of course, pharmaceutical companies…
The last article in this series looked the anima and animus. The anima is the feminine side of a man’s personality, symbolized in his dreams by female figures. The animus is the masculine side of a woman’s personality, symbolized in her dreams by male figures. Because the anima and animus arise from a deeper level…
They say that those who live by the sword die by the sword. To this we can add, those who live by society die by society. A young man who was neglecting his deeper values and individuality in favor of a more societal path through life had the following dream. “I am in the lobby…
Psychopathy is marked by the disconnection and adversarial attitude of the ego towards the soul. Such an ego lacks genuine empathy. Its own suffering remains superficial for it has built a wall between itself, the soul and God.
A woman who needed to make an important decision regarding a monetary investment had the following dream. A man says to me I must work on my ‘fournancial’ development. I wonder if I mis-heard him, but he just repeats the word ‘fournancial.’ Your dreammaker is clever and sometimes uses puns, strange spellings, and words with…
My last article in this series examined the shadow. As its name suggests, the shadow is that part of our personality that we tend to keep in the dark, concealed from our own and others’ awareness. Because the shadow is composed primarily of undeveloped characteristics common to one’s gender, it is symbolized in dreams by…
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…Can you figure out the pattern in this series of numbers? It is called the Fibonacci series and it is a pattern that is very common in nature. For example, flower petals and leaf clusters tend to occur in groups of 3, 5, 8, etc. Daisies, for instance,…
Are you an “average Joe”? And, if so, how do you know? Perhaps you could be quite out-of-the-ordinary, if you let the unknown flow. We live in a world of statistics. From the vitamins we take, the movies we see, the places we visit, or the way we invest our money there is a tendency…
Over the years heart disease has been dubbed “the silent killer.” But there is another disease of the heart which can be just as deadly, and just as subtle. It’s called discouragement. Discouragement is a slow but methodical killer that feeds upon the unresolved disappointments of your life. It is a predator of the human…
The shadow is the term developed by Carl Jung to describe the rejected and disowned aspects of one’s personality.
New research shows that precious metals form from the collision of two neutron stars. A similar type of process is at work in the formation of our own inner gold.
“Go deep” the quarterback said to the receiver before the team broke huddle and returned to the line of scrimmage. “Go deep” means that the receiver is to run deep into the opponent’s territory and be ready for a long pass. Long passes, “Hail Mary’s” as they are sometimes called, can be very exciting plays.…
I recently viewed a television commercial for Kraken Black Spiced Rum. The ad depicts a male figure on a wooden ship sailing on a sea of rum within a glass bottle. A large squid—the famed Kraken sea monster—climbs up the side of the bottle, reaches a long tentacle into the bottle, then pulls out and…
The first article in this series examined the ego, Carl Jung’s term for the conscious mind. The ego gives us our subjective sense of identity, and is typically symbolized in dreams by the dreamer or by a vehicle that the dreamer is in. In this article we explore a component of the psyche closely associated…
Integrity isn’t a word you hear a lot anymore. Perhaps that is because it isn’t given the same value by people it once was. Or, maybe we just don’t like to think about it. If we hold other people to a high standard of integrity we might feel obligated to meet that same standard ourselves.…
The ego is your conscious mind, or conscious identity. It is symbolized in dreams by the person of the dreamer or the vehicle that the dreamer is in. By analyzing your dreams you learn more about your conscious attitudes towards your deeper self (the unconscious) and outer life.
There is a song I learned as I child called “The Magic Penny.” The song goes “love is like a magic penny. Hold it tight and you don’t have any, but lend it, spend it and you’ll have so many, they’ll roll all over the floor.” The Magic Penny conveys a simple truth which applies…
A woman dreamed: “My close friend and I are standing on a river bank watching her husband water ski. He is having fun going back and forth, waving to us and generally showing off. We are alarmed, however, and try to signal to him that there are some sharks closely trailing him, eager for a…
Prometheus brought light to humanity and was punished for it. Light is a symbol of consciousness, and growth in our own consciousness is typically achieved only through pain and sacrifice. The myth of Prometheus endures because it speaks to our own life experiences.
Dreams of oppression and protesting often symbolize the need to address egocentricity so as to provide greater expression to the soul.
The bible story of Jonah and the whale helps us understand the reality of destiny and its activity in our lives. Life and God sometimes ask us to do things we don’t fully understand. We may even disagree with what is being asked. You are not always going to understand the “why” behind the things you are asked to do.
Some risks make sense; they are fairly safe, reasonable, or logical. But other risks are gambles we are asked to make for God. They may seem irrational, illogical. But they come from somewhere inside us, our soul, our heart, our intuition. These are irrational risks and they are often the most magical and meaningful.
We are part of the psyche like a cell is part of the body. We are meant to assist the psyche in its ever-unfolding creation, passion, and life.
In order to grow as people, we must learn to harness our emotions, contemplate them, learn from them, express them appropriately, and let them transform us.
Conventional ways of treating depression often focus on ignoring the dark and embracing the light: “think just positive thoughts.” But real healing typically requires an authentic encounter with the dark. The seeds of new growth germinate in the dark. There is a purpose to your suffering.
No need to wait for karma. The quality of your life goes hand-in-hand with the quality of your relationship with your soul. Live your life with integrity and you will experience its deepest value.
According to a Viagra commercial I recently saw, we are in “the age of getting things done.” The advertisement shows a mid-life cowboy hauling a horse trailer behind his pickup truck. Predictably, his truck gets mired in a mud slick so he uses the two horses he’s been hauling to pull the pickup and trailer…
Neil Young’s song “Heart of Gold” offers an opportunity to reflect on what is most important in life. You can look outside of yourself, but your real gold is found within you.
The vision and mission of the Sixties is still with us, still remains to be achieved. The work is less glamorous now. Now the battle is in the trenches as every individual is called to bring peace and justice to their own life and soul.
Why did Jim feel the urge to water the boulder in hisback yard? Jungian psychology can be useful in helping us to understand our seemingly irrational behavior.
Life gives us signs which guide us to our unique path and spiritual fulfillment. Pay attention; learn the language of signs in your life and you will experience more of the magic and mystery of the psyche and God.
To Love yourself and, indirectly, to love others, is to care enough to become the unique individual you were created to be. The spark of God is within you; it is your soul. It is the most valuable thing you’ve got.