{"id":863,"date":"2020-01-12T15:23:37","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T23:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/?p=863"},"modified":"2020-01-14T12:19:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:19:36","slug":"coming-home-to-your-self-depth-psychology-and-the-symbolic-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/coming-home-to-your-self-depth-psychology-and-the-symbolic-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming Home to Your Self: Depth Psychology and the Symbolic Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"arn about the upcoming Coming Home event, Jan. 16-19, 2020 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/cominghometopacifica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Learn about the 3-day Coming Home event, Jan. 16-19, 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read the post below, or listen to an Audio version on YouTube by clicking the following image<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Coming Home To Yourself: Depth Psychology and The Symbolic Life, with BonnieBright\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/75mwtQmAT9M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As spiritual beings having a human experience, each of us longs for meaning. \u201cHumans are living stories, each imbued with an inherent message and a meaning trying to find its way into the world,\u201d 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, depressed, or despairing, not knowing how we belong in the world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the other hand, a depth psychological perspective provides a powerful vehicle to see and understand how we are profoundly interconnected with nature, the world around us, and with each other, making our \u201cliving stories\u201d joyful and hopeful as we live into our calling and gifts here in the world. As we each turn our attention to myth, dreams, fairytales, and stories in every form\u2014including books and movies\u2014we begin to discern the stories we are already living, and to tune into the possibilities of enlarging upon or transforming them for our greater good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-864\" width=\"580\" height=\"386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/view-perspective-contemplate-reflect-iStock-952953504-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My own \u201cliving story\u201d took a dramatic turn toward meaning and fulfillment when I made the decision to pursue my Ph.D. in depth psychology at Pacifica. On that fateful day, I first walked into an information meeting about Pacifica in the Barrett Center, where a short film was already in progress. The narrator was just introducing Pacifica\u2019s motto\u2014<em>animae mundi colendae gratie<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 which translates closely to \u201cfor the sake of tending soul in and of the world.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;In that moment of soulful encounter, I experienced an overwhelming sense of emotion and the instant recognition that I had finally come home. It was a feeling of calling\u2014a longing to learn how to use a depth psychological perspective to see beyond the surface of things; to gain insights I could use to live my life more fully in service to people and planet, and to help others do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the founders of depth psychology, C. G. Jung, advocated a process of coming to consciousness and greater wholeness through self-realization\u2014a process he termed \u201cindividuation.\u201d \u201cHow are you fulfilling your life\u2019s task (\u201cmission\u201d) . . . the meaning and purpose of your existence?\u201d he queried. \u201cThis is the question of individuation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>According to Jung, we each are a product of our Self,<\/strong> a vastly intelligent, unified, self-organizing entity whose overarching intelligence regulates and eternally inspires us to always go in the direction of growth toward integration, to achieve our ultimate potential\u2014a coming home to ourselves. Jung believed that individuation is the unfolding of the Self\u2019s plan for wholeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/compass-in-hand-iStock-523674017.jpg 1254w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, Jung summed the individuation process up quite simply, saying,&nbsp;&nbsp;\u201cTo the constantly reiterated question \u2018What can I do?\u2019 I know no other answer except \u2018Become what you have always been, namely, the wholeness which we have lost in the midst of our civilized, conscious existence.\u2019 \u201d He went on to add that this wholeness is something that \u201cwe always were without knowing it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the journey of individuation, one way of making meaning is through the exploration of the personal, collective, and archetypal meaning of the numinous symbols that impact us in daily life\u2014a process Jung (1964) called \u201csymbolic thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jung posited that archetypes\u2014autonomous instincts, patterns, or behaviors, which are common across all eras, peoples, and places\u2014organize the contents of the unconscious and connect it to nature. The language of archetypes (and therefore of the unconscious) is manifest through symbols, which entice us with their numinous power to engage with them in a meaningful way to understand ourselves better and to achieve transformation and healing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A symbol opens a portal to understanding ourselves and serves as a vehicle to navigate the deeper parts of the unconscious.&nbsp;&nbsp;Edward Edinger, a colleague of Jung\u2019s, noted that to see the symbolic image behind a given symptom immediately transforms the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;By taking symbolic experiences seriously, we \u201clive the symbolic life,\u201d suggests Jung.&nbsp;&nbsp;This perspective enables us to remember that we are both human&nbsp;<em>and<\/em>&nbsp;divine\u2014that we are infinite beings in human bodies on a journey to awaken to our own wholeness and pure potentiality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/shaman-drum-mongolian-tungus-shutterstock_247967047-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/shaman-drum-mongolian-tungus-shutterstock_247967047-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/shaman-drum-mongolian-tungus-shutterstock_247967047-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/shaman-drum-mongolian-tungus-shutterstock_247967047-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/shaman-drum-mongolian-tungus-shutterstock_247967047-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption>Tungus shaman: photocredit &#8211; Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shamanic cultures also seem to embrace the symbolic life. Because they view the world as ensouled, nature is inherently imbued with power. The synchronistic call of an owl or the flight of a crow may be considered portentous. In the mornings, tribes might gather to assess their nighttime dreams for guidance and direction. Myths and stories are passed down to help younger generations understand context and purpose. Future shamans undergo initiation through a process of shamanic illness, visions, or dismemberment, in order to be re-membered into their role as a shaman, and thus awakening to a new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those of us in modern western culture, when we are swept into distress, despair, frustration, anger, or a sense of separation, loss, or abandonment, it is because we have forgotten our divine nature and our place in relationship to the world soul. We have abandoned the symbolic life and take the things that happen to us far too personally or literally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my role as a soul-centered coach, I guide my clients through challenges by looking at their lives from a symbolic, metaphoric, mythic, shamanic, and depth psychological perspective instead of a literal one. This kind of a depth psychological perspective helps us find our way to our own inherent gifts and calling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This depth of experience, accessed and lived through symbol and story, can then be conveyed through writing, art, speaking, storytelling, theater, healing, coaching, consulting, therapy, parenting, caregiving, as well as love, empathy, and compassion in every form. These offerings become the foundation of our calling, each of us, when we engage a depth psychological lens to help heal ourselves, our planet, and people that we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In January, 2020, you are invited to renew your connection to the symbolic life by&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/cominghometopacifica.com\/\"><strong>Coming Home to Pacifica<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;in a&nbsp;<strong>unique 3-day event<\/strong>&nbsp;filled with symbolic, metaphoric, mythic, shamanic, and depth psychological perspectives. Attend in person at the Ladera campus in Santa Barbara, CA, for the opportunity to gather with likeminded others and engage in soulful conversations about character, creativity, and calling\u2014or join via Zoom if you can\u2019t attend live. Either way, you\u2019ll have the opportunity to re-connect with the power of ritual, the meaning of myth and symbol, the joy of conscious community, and the beauty of the world soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur job is not to comprehend or control everything, but to learn which story we are in and which of the many things calling out in the world is calling to us,\u201d notes Michael Meade.&nbsp;&nbsp;\u201cOur job is to be fully alive in the life we have, to pick up the invisible thread of our own story and follow where it leads. Our job is to find the thread of our own dream and live it all the way to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That mandate begins with understanding from a depth psychological perspective what it means to live the symbolic life, and evolves, in turn, to knowing the truth of our calling in this world. Whenever we engage in a soulful way, our stories come to life, creating beautiful ripples that touch the lives of those around us, potentially sparking and igniting something new for them as well. Come home to yourself by engaging with soul!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To learn more or register for the annual Coming Home event hosted by Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association on January 17-19, 2020, visit&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cominghometopacifica.com\/\"><strong>http:\/\/www.cominghometopacifica.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cominghometopacifica.com\/2020\/01\/08\/coming-home-to-your-self-depth-psychology-and-living-the-symbolic-life-by-bonnie-bright\/\">Original Post on the PGIAA Coming Home web site<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about the 3-day Coming Home event, Jan. 16-19, 2020 Read the post below, or listen to an Audio version on YouTube by clicking the following image As spiritual beings having a human experience, each of us longs for meaning. \u201cHumans are living stories, each imbued with an inherent message and a meaning trying to find its way into the world,\u201d 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, depressed, or despairing, not knowing how we belong in the world.&nbsp; On [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,210,24,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archetypes-2","category-career-and-calling","category-carljung","category-depthpsychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.depthinsights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}