A common and compelling component of both shamanism and Jungian or depth psychology is that each seeks to treat soul loss by retrieving and reintegrating vital essence that is missing. This must occur through direct experience; therefore, the underworld journey to retrieve the soul is one of necessity and initiation.

Swiss psychiatrist…

In January, 2020, you are invited to renew your connection to the symbolic life by Coming Home to…

As spiritual beings having a human experience, each of us longs for meaning. “Humans are living stories, each imbued with an inherent message and a meaning trying to find its way into the world,” writes mythologist Michael Meade. However, without a sense of calling or capacity to live into the unique gifts we each possess, we can feel ourselves lost, alone,…

In this interview, scholar and professor, Les Lancaster, discusses the origins and aims of Transpersonal Psychology and compares and contrasts it to Depth Psychology, both of which have been highly influenced by the work of Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung.

He also delves into the connection between science…

Is schizophrenia a “severe mental disorder,” as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO)? How might changing the perspective of the traditional western medical model, which labels certain symptoms as strictly pathological, ultimately transform those who are suffering? The Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) which originated in Europe teaches people with schizophrenia…

At age six, Elizabeth Wisniewski was diagnosed with a rare eye disease, and when her retina detached at 14, she lost vision in her right eye. At age 21, while undergoing her 30^th eye surgery, everything went terribly wrong, and she lost almost all her vision in her left eye as well.

Though she was devastated by her future without…

In her research, Ann Taves, Ph.D., professor of Religious Studies at The University of California at Santa Barbara, explores non-ordinary experiences and the way different disciplines might diagnose the same experience, such as hallucinating, from different perspectives—including psychology, psychiatry, religion, or spirituality. For example,…

In her forthcoming book, Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path, Jungian analyst, Polly Young-Eisendrath, expresses hope about love in the 21st century, but she also feels significant concern due to the enormity of the challenge we are facing.

Personal love—that is, love that we feel within—has changed over time, according to Polly.…

As a Latina and a self-made media mogul who has produced hundreds of television shows, headed a TV network, and generated a significant amount of income, Nely Galán ironically felt an odd sense of relief when the economy crashed in 2008, bringing many of her projects to a halt. In hindsight, Galán believes she had been feeling incongruent in her career because she…

C. G. Jung viewed mid-life, the time midway between entering adulthood and the end of life, as a critical time of transition. Dr. Brad Chabin, a depth psychotherapist with a practice in West Hollywood, California, had his own experience of a spontaneous and powerful mid-life transition. It involved a devastating diagnosis and challenging times, during which, Chabin now…

As an artist, Margeaux Klein has always approached her art from an imaginative direction and produced works in her studio that felt like they originated deep within her heart and soul. Now she has begun to understand how to “read into” her work using a depth psychological lens.

Reflecting back on some of her favorite works, Margeaux…

Sandplay therapist, Judy Zappacosta, MFT, first became interested in the Black Madonna at a suggestion from Dora Kalff, founder of Sandplay therapy, to visit one of the mysterious iconic figures in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Zappacosta was immediately drawn into the “silence and dark interiority of the Black Madonna,…

Sharing my new audio interview and article....

Jungian analyst, Robert Johnson’s work on “Living your Unlived Life “has been deeply inspirational to Heather Beck, author of “Take the Leap: Do What You Love 15 Minutes a Day and Create the Life of Your Dreams.” Beck is also earning a Ph.D. in the Somatic Studies program at…

As a cultural historian, Kayleen Asbo has crafted a fascinating career by weaving together mythology, depth psychology, music, literature, and women’s studies. The work of bringing together so many different fields stems from her burning passion and desire to create something that is truly unique. Her love of music, along with what she calls her “medieval imagination”…

Immurement, the concept of confining people inside walls, is a historical reality. Women, especially, have been victims and sacrifices of this macabre practice.

For Tracy Ferron, a conceptual artist and student of depth psychology, the archetypal theme of “walled women” first surfaced in a powerful dream. At the time, she was deeply engrossed in…

Dear Depth community. Warm greetings for a happy new year.  

At this time last year many of us were preparing to launch the Earth, Climate, Dreams online symposium, which was a program consisting of 12 recorded interviews with some of the expert scientists, psychologists, Jungian analysts, and educators who are providing some of the most critical thinking about the topics.

Now, in…

When yoga teacher Britta Bushnell first became pregnant, it was natural for her to add prenatal yoga to the yoga classes she was already teaching. This move eventually led to her training with childbirth specialist, Pam England, the author of the classic birth book, Birthing from Within[1]. England had already formulated a remarkable method…

Perhaps you’ve heard of a mysterious tribe of Native Indians who live high in the mountains of Colombia, speaking only their own original language, and having little contact with the outside world. These people, the Kogi Indians, have long referred to themselves as the “Elder Brothers,” as they carry the responsibility of being caretakers of the world, helping to…

The psyche is primed with an innate, organic wish to connect with something spiritual, something beyond the ordinary—something “numinous,” suggests Dr. Lionel Corbett, who is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, and professor, as well as the author of “Psyche and the Sacred,” among other works.

Corbett’s interest in transpersonal, numinous experiences came from growing up…

In the wilderness, Michael Benanav, a critically-acclaimed writer and photographer, often runs into nomads. Their profoundly archetypal lifestyles inevitably appear in Benanav’s work which features archetypal themes of home, ancestors, and tradition.

After writing about his experiences with one of the last working camel caravans…