This Jungian Life Podcast &#8211; Joseph Lee, Deborah Stewart, Lisa Marchiano

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If you’ve been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.

DO WE INHERIT OUR PARENT’S FEARS? Nov 23, 2023

Show notes

What wisdom do fairy tales hold about childrearing in our modern world?

Briar Rose is the foundation for the familiar fairytale Sleeping Beauty. It addresses the complicated consequences of unconscious parenting. While it is understandable we wish to protect our children from harsh realities, too much shielding can hobble them later in life. We may hide our shadow from ourselves and our children, but it will irrupt uninvited one day, casting the family into chaos. Instinctive reactions often hold us in suspended animation, but they may also offer a way toward healing.

“Parents too easily content themselves with the belief that a thing hidden from the child cannot influence it.” CG Jung CW 18, para 1793

Prepare to discover where fairytales intersect with modern parenting, what impact avoiding shadow has on the family, whether parental fears affect child development, why understanding psychological stagnation is essential, how symbolic stories help children face challenges, and so much more…

Find the Dream We Analyze Here:https://thisjungianlife.com/briar_rose/

LOOK & GROW

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DUMBO'S FEATHER: Are there hidden messages in Disney cartoons? Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

What hidden messages make Disney cartoons so impactful and enduring?

Disney cartoons were groundbreaking. They introduced synchronized soundtracks in 1928, and today, they create extravaganzas that sweep audiences into tears and laughter, offering role models of virtue. Archetypal themes, often drawn from fairytales, thrum through the storylines appealing to the archaic levels of our psyche.

Prepare to discover where Hermes is hidden in one of the characters, how childhood trauma activates archetypal helpers, whether Dumbo is a symbol of hope or a defense against maturation, how separation of the mother is required to actualize one's potential, why symbols are necessary to bolster ego strength and so much more…

FIND A COPY OF THE DREAM WE ANALYZE HERE: https://thisjungianlife.com/dumbo-2/

LOOK & GROW

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Aaron Balick – Why does social media weaponize our reactions? Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

Aaron Balick is a psychotherapist, speaker, consultant, educator, and author of The Psychodynamics of Social Networking.

Social media invites snap emotional reactions, muddling clear thinking and escalating global tensions. It feeds on our anger, oversimplifying complex problems which blocks our ability to empathize. Nuanced explanations are demonized as if seeking to understand was an affront. If we learn to pause and reflect, we can overcome social media's divisive influence and discover middle-ground solutions in both personal and world affairs.

Prepare to discover where emotional reactivity has been weaponized in social media, what geopolitical consequences are still felt from impulsive reactions, how to distinguish between a reactive and responsive attitude, whether expressing an understanding of complex issues will get you cancelled, why platforms simplify and sensationalize issues and so much more…

HERE'S A COPY OF THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: https://thisjungianlife.com/aaron_baylick/

Connect with Aaron Baylick: https://www.aaronbalick.com/

LOOK & GROW

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FAME: Why Do We Create Icons Then Destroy Them? Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

Today's technology allows us to be seduced by the possibility of fame and celebrity tempting the ego to claim what does not belong to it.

In earlier times, fame was garnered slowly through work in the arts, scholarship, religion, and the military. Today, unprecedented, almost instantaneous communication has made fame a commodity in itself. Novelty performers, entertainers, influencers, and sports stars—especially if young and glamorous—can become the victim of "audience capture."

Fame tempts the ego to claim what does not belong to it, and the person may become identified with his or her role, especially as others have an urge to find a hero, wise man, leader, or transcendent figure. Jung wrote about the mana personality—a larger-than-life person with charismatic power and energy. Magicians and priests, infused with special knowledge and god-like capabilities, are emblematic of mana personalities. Followers are then imbued with the mana person's special qualities, as we see in audience reactions at concerts or rallies.

Fame also has costs. As the British royal family knows, the celebrity press is relentless. Criticism abounds, and those in the spotlight receive threatening calls and letters, lack privacy, and may have to contend with stalkers or insistent fans. Celebrities are almost four times as prone to suicide as others; others have died early: Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, and River Phoenix. When a star is accused of wrongdoing, fans can be quick to turn, delighting as much in their idol's destruction as in success. Celebrities are the sacrificial victims of our projections, from veneration to evisceration.

Jung says, "We stand with our soul suspended between formidable influences from within and without, and somehow we must be fair to both. This we can only do after the measure of our individual capacities. Hence, we must bethink ourselves not so much of what we 'ought' to do as of what we can and must do." To live meaningfully in the world and achieve a sense of kinship with men, gods, and beasts is the work of a lifetime.

HERE'S A COPY OF THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: https://thisjungianlife.com/fame/

LOOK & GROW

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JUNG'S PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS: Why did strange events follow him? Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

If we lean into strange experiences with gentle curiosity, we may discover a level of psyche that acts directly on objects.

Many of us have uncanny coincidences like thinking of a friend at the exact moment they ring us on the phone, but what about physical things breaking apart for no reason or luminous apparitions at our bedside? We often explain them away to reduce our anxiety, but Jung found them fascinating. He maintained a scientific attitude while accepting strange phenomena he could not explain. Eventually, he created a psychology of radical acceptance that creates space for the unexpected, including each person's unique soul.

Prepare to discover where Jung’s interest in the paranormal came from, what strange psychic events changed his relationship with Freud, how Jung used a séance to complete his university degree, which strange spiritual experiences changed Lisa and Joe’s beliefs, whether the collective unconscious plays a part in extra-sensory abilities and even more…

HERE's A COPY OF THE DREAM:https://thisjungianlife.com/paranormal/

LOOK & GROW

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LOW ENERGY: Where can we source the drive to take action? Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

Lisa, Deb, and Joe, Jungian analysts and co-creators of This Jungian Life podcast, have introduced thousands of clients to an inner world with unexpected resources.

Many people just can’t rally to do what’s necessary and improve their lives. Is it possible they just don’t carry much vitality, or is some inner conflict blocking their access? We share personal stories of ‘energy loss’ and offer insights into purposelessness. Jung tells us inner energy flows according to its own laws, but if we can’t harness it?

Prepare to discover why some people are naturally low-energy, which aspects of your psyche might be leaking energy, how over-aligning with cultural norms can cut off access to instinctive vitality, where we can look for solutions, and much more…

HERE’S A COPY OF THE DREAM WE ANALYZE: https://thisjungianlife.com/low-energy/

LOOK & GROW

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REUNIONS: Is there value in remembering our younger selves? Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Deb and Joe are Jungian Analysts, authors, training analysts, and co-creators of This Jungian Life Podcast. [Lisa was away lecturing this week.]

Most of us feel anxious at the thought of reliving the complicated and often painful experiences of our youth. When we receive a school reunion notice, we might be tempted to ignore it. Yet, on an archetypal level, we are drawn to re-unifying our current and past identities. If we accept the invitation, we may find unexpected joy and forgotten memories that restore something inside us.

Prepare to discover why we plan and attend reunions, whether healing comes from reexperiencing our younger self, how Deb and Joe were affected by attending their reunions, whether it's worth the effort to reconnect with school friends, what's the best attitude to bring to a reunion, and even more…

Read along with our dream interpretation here:https://thisjungianlife.com/reunions/

LOOK & GROW

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Donald Kalsched – Can running our minds like a democracy save us? Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

Don Kalsched is a Jungian Analyst, an expert on treating trauma, author of two books, The Inner World of Trauma and Trauma and the Soul.

Jung discovered our inner world is populated by various imaginal figures representing powerful psychological forces. If we treat our minds as democratic spaces, it can safeguard us from internal and external authoritarian influences.

Prepare to discover the parallels between a balanced mind and a healthy society, whether viewing internal conflicts through a democratic lens is healing, which insights foster harmony, why democratic philosophy is transformative, how to build resilience against absolutism and extremism, how trauma and power-seeking are related, and even more…

LOOK & GROW

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Why Do We Push People Away? Understanding our Defenses Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

Defense mechanisms function as unconscious psychological strategies we deploy to navigate reality and sustain a consistent self-image. They act as a shield, guarding against feelings of anxiety, shame, and vulnerability. They are feeling states that prompt us to avoid contact and trick us into thinking they protect us against emotional harm.

Ancient philosophers recognized the human tendency to evade uncomfortable truths. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he vividly depicts individuals shackled in a cave, seeing only shadows and illusions. Upon being freed and confronted with the light (truth), some retreat to the familiar darkness, unable to bear the illumination of reality. Aristotle wrote about akrasia, which meant a weakness of will that drives one to act against their better judgment, in essence, rejecting reality as unbearable. The stoic philosopher Epictetus noted that people have fantasies of controlling external events and directing them inward to choose how they respond instead.

Defenses are affective states that can interfere with our clear, reality-based functioning. They may be complex reactions that muddy our perception of reality, effectively shielding us from feelings or knowledge we find intolerable. They can take the form of denial, regression, rationalization, and even altruism. These are not merely intellectual barriers; they are emotional walls that can keep us from connecting with our own experiences and the people around us.

The most common inner conflicts arise from thwarting our instincts. These foundational systems generate intense feelings to guide us. Jung identified multiple instincts: creativity, reflection, activity, sexuality, and hunger. He added the religious instinct to describe how humans naturally generate symbolic systems to link their waking state to the deep unconscious. Freud detailed the multiple symptoms that arise from repressed sexuality, from phobias to hysterical blindness. Jung agreed but understood that thwarting any one of our natural responses would rob us of vitality and distort our adaptation to reality.

Cultural expectations, individual trauma, religious demands, and family patterns can convince our waking personality that any one of our instincts is dangerous. When we are overwhelmed by these inner conflicts, we will likely deploy primal defenses like dissociation or acting out. If we can find a more adaptive stance, we will likely intellectualize the conflict or even find it humorous. The goal is not to banish all defenses; we need to manage our exposure to the intensity of life but to discover self-management strategies that allow us to remain effective even under stress.

A COPY OF THE DREAM IS HERE

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