There is something very important that people who have begun the process of spiritual transformation should know: this process lasts a long time. Very long. Discouragingly long. So long that one always passes through a stage of despair. This is why serious books in the field of spirituality do not give easy recipes like “do […]
The process of spiritual transformation begins with Nigredo—the darkness that enters our lives, dressed in various forms of psychological suffering: depression, fear, a sense of powerlessness and emptiness, loneliness and isolation, unrequited love, and jealousy. The awakening from the trance of the senses, fixated on the world of matter, is triggered by the alarm of […]
Science cannot provide an answer to the question of the care of the soul. This has traditionally been the domain of religion and mythology. This, however, does not apply to the concept of individuation in the analytical psychology of Carl Jung, which he formulated through his study of the fundamental symbols of religion and mythology. […]
This article is a continuation of the previous one called “The Two Rays of the “Just Sun”,” in which I introduced a particular species of “worms.” By this I mean those thoughts in the mind that gnaw away at our psychological well-being by telling us that we know what the truth is – the whole […]
Behind falling in love with someone who does not reciprocate our feelings, or who does not give us what we want from them, there is a specific psychic dynamic. Behind the intense emotions of unrequited love stand inner laws of the soul that differ from what appears on the surface. If we understand this, […]
“– My partner is very jealous and seems to make me more important than I really am.” This is a question addressed to Osho. Here is how he responds: “– Not jealous — I think he feels that he is inferior. You are using the wrong word. He thinks that you are a goddess and […]
“Every psychological truth is only a half-truth, and this too is only a half-truth.”C. G. Jung In a previous article, I shared how, as a child, I used to daydream that I would become a doctor who healed people by pulling white worms out of their heads. I remembered this fantasy many years later, after […]
This is a story from the book The Five Stages of the Soul by Harry Moody and David Carroll, told in the context of sin, guilt, and redemption. According to a Japanese legend, in the city of Wakamatsu there once lived a young samurai named Zenkai, who spent his days gambling and indulging in pleasure. […]
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be constantly afraid of making a mistake.” Most of us are familiar with the blocking role of the fear of making mistakes. While for some people this fear poses only a minor challenge, for others it can become paralyzing. So-called perfectionists may end up wasting […]
**“The insight we gain by turning toward ourselves is very bitter, and that is why very few people do it; it is pikros—bitter—because it corrodes and is unacceptable to the illusions of consciousness. We speak of ‘bitter knowledge,’ ‘bitter realization,’ and ‘bitter truth,’ because self-knowledge is a bitter initial experience… …the truth given by the […]
When the soul (the individuation impulse) awakens, we are called to learn a new way of making decisions. Previously, our choices were guided by conventional notions of right and wrong. We knew what was good and what was evil, and we acted accordingly. Yet the awakening of the soul comes with the dissolution of everything […]
Or what is found at the bottom of depression Here’s something else from Jung’s analytical psychology, which for me lately has been the most valuable resource for understanding how to take care of the soul (the path of individuation). In this article, I examine the relationship between depressive states and the archetype of the Self […]
