by thisjungian | Apr 16, 2020 | Core Jungian Concepts, Personal Issues
The alchemical term nigredo means black or blackening, and is associated with decomposition and putrefaction. As a psychological state, nigredo is “the great suffering and grief” which the detached forces of nature inflict on the soul. We realize in...
by thisjungian | Mar 5, 2020 | Personal Issues
“Could be worse. Not sure how, but it could be.” For Eeyore, only perverse possibilities lie ahead, even if they are unknowable. Do gloomy expectations create self-fulfilling prophecies? Or are pessimists more realistic than naive optimists like Winnie...
by thisjungian | Feb 27, 2020 | Personal Issues
We can all cite examples of behaviors that defy reason and meaning. How can we understand X shouting those things at a party, or the bizarre thing Y filmed himself doing on YouTube? There is a great array of psychological labels for such behaviors, as if pronouncing...
by thisjungian | Feb 6, 2020 | Core Jungian Concepts, Personal Issues
Photo Credit: Nick Fewings via Unsplash https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thisjungianlife/TJL_097-Redemption-d.mp3 As we grow, unconscious unity becomes differentiated into feeling, ego, personality and desire. As we grow, we will have initiatory encounters with...
by thisjungian | Jan 23, 2020 | Core Jungian Concepts, Personal Issues
When we speak of being triggered, what exactly is it that sends us into a familiar arc of feeling and behavior we may later regret? That mysterious force seems external and can elude our ability to locate it within. Jung called these autonomous and unconscious...
by thisjungian | Jan 9, 2020 | Personal Issues
A new year often symbolizes a new beginning, with resolutions to make specific lifestyle changes related to self-improvement. Research indicates, however, that up to 88% of these resolutions fail. If changes—no matter how worthy–are imposed by ego alone, the...