Your body a source of wisdom beyond your wildest imagination. Your DNA carries the stories of all your ancestors; as well as the potential of your descendants. In your cellular memory lies the answers to all your questions. The body expresses what the psyche cannot articulate - through somatic sensations, symptoms, or affective states.
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Deeply embedded in human consciousness is the archetype of the Healer. Its expressions differ across cultures, but a common thread remains: a desire to alleviate human suffering and restore balance to the dis-eased individual.
The numinous, a term first articulated by Rudolf Otto in Das Heilige, describes the quality of direct encounter with the sacred - the wholly other, carrying awe, mystery, terror, and fascination. Carl Jung broadened Otto’s insight, locating the numinous in the archetypal depths of the psyche. For Jung, it erupts from the unconscious with a force that seizes the ego, alters consciousness, and leaves the individual irrevocably changed.
Philosopher Plato once imagined the cosmos as “a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence. Animistic traditions recognise that the Earth is not passive terrain, but a living being with whom we share an interconnected consciousness.
In today’s technocratic and performance-driven culture, many find themselves plagued by anxiety, depression, loneliness, and a sense of alienation. The collapse of shared mythic frameworks created a void quickly filled by consumerism and external success—stimulating but ultimately hollow substitutes that fail to nourish the soul.
In The Handless Maiden, a Brothers Grimm tale, a poor miller is approached by the devil-in-disguise who offers wealth in exchange for “what stands behind your mill.” Believing it to be an apple tree, the man agrees, only to discover that his daughter was standing there.
There is a deep and often unspoken grief in the loss of the little boy or girl inside each of us - the one who once looked at life with wide-eyed innocence, full of hopes, dreams, and pure-hearted belief in possibility. There comes a moment in the journey of individuation when we realize that the child we once were has been exiled - out of necessity.
Gaslighting - the psychological manipulation that causes individuals to doubt their own perceptions - is often linked to deception, denial, and power dynamics. In mythology, the Trickster archetype embodies this shadow aspect, distorting reality to serve its own ends. A striking example comes from Norse mythology: Loki and the death of Balder.
The process of individuation is a lifelong journey of integrating the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self, leading to the fullest, most authentic expression of being. Individuation necessitates engagement with the Shadow and the Self, both of which hold immense creative potential. Unlocking the creative psyche requires more than passive introspection - it calls for active immersion in the inner world.
I dreamt of a massive tree with an enormous trunk and widely spread branches that were too high to reach. I wanted to climb it for safety and a higher perspective amidst disruption in the community below, where I wasn’t sure I belonged.
What I appreciate about Buddhist philosophy is its emphasis on training the mind through logical reasoning and understanding rather than giving in to fantasy or delusion. There is a strong focus on truth and wisdom, which are my highest values.
Marcus West describes the trauma complex as a deeply ingrained, unconscious psychological structure formed in response to early relational trauma. When the natural multiplicity of self-states becomes fragmented, the psyche splits, creating a dissociated part of the self that remains frozen in the emotional and physiological state of the trauma, while other aspects are exiled to avoid overwhelming distress.
The concept of holding the tension of opposites is central to the Jungian journey of individuation. Our psyches are pulled between opposing forces, such as the conscious and the unconscious, light and shadow, masculine and feminine, or rationality and intuition. These opposites are archetypal in nature and cannot be fully integrated or reduced into one; they represent fundamental dualities.
From a Jungian perspective, engaging with myths, poetry, stories, music, and movement provides a profound means of accessing the deeper archetypal truths embedded in the collective unconscious.
This message came to me during a medicine hike, after spotting a snake—a Puff Adder!—crossing the road. Snake medicine teaches us how to attune to the earth’s vibrations. Unlike humans, who hear through the air, snakes hear primarily through the ground.