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Category Archives: Psyche
From Lascaux Cave Paintings to Greta Thunberg
It fascinates me when similar ideas come to me simultaneously from completely different directions. The first revelation was a must-read article in The Guardian on how the cave paintings of Lascaux remind us that “in our self-obsessed age, the anonymous, … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche, Uncategorized
Tagged archetypes, earth, ego, Ferdinand Hodler, Freud, Greta Thunberg, humility, landscape, Lascaux, narcissism, nature, painting, psyche, subject, symbolism, symbols, unconscious, Yeats
7 Comments
Two Different Kinds of Soul
I. “The dual fate of Heracles after death, dwelling simultaneously on high with the gods and below in Hades, reflects the Greek notion that we have two different kinds of soul. Thymos is warm, emotional and red-blooded; while psyche is … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche
Tagged Ancient Greece, archetypes, death, depth psychology, Dionysus, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Hades, life, Pluto, psukhe, psyche, reality, Soul, symbols, thumos
13 Comments
The Divine Furor of the Soul: On Marsilio Ficino
“The soul is the greatest of all miracles in nature. All other things beneath God are always one single being, but the soul is all things together…Therefore it may rightly be called the centre of nature, the middle term of … Continue reading
Posted in Genius, Marsilio Ficino, Psyche
Tagged alchemy, archetypes, depth psychology, Genius, Marsilio Ficino, Mercurius, psyche, Soul, spirit, symbolism, symbols
23 Comments
On Genius (2): Genius in Antiquity
“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story…” Homer, “The Odyssey” Gustave Moreau, “l’Inspiration” I am still making my way through a very beautifully written book by Darrin M. McMahon called Divine Fury: A History of Genius. Its … Continue reading
Posted in Genius, Psyche
Tagged Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, astrology, C.G. Jung, daimon, daimones, daimonion, Darrin M. McMahon, depth psychology, Divine Fury: A History of Genius, Genius, Hesiod, Homer, inner voice, inspiration, muse, Octavian Augustus, Plato, poetry, Republic, Socrates, talent
17 Comments
The Secret Life of Words: Desire
1.“When you were a wandering desire in the mist, I too was there, a wandering desire. Then we sought one another, and out of our eagerness dreams were born. And dreams were time limitless, and dreams were space without measure.” … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche
Tagged archetypes, desire, etymology, language, Soul, star, symbolism, symbols
17 Comments
On Genius (1)
Karl Brullof, “Genius of Art“ I have started to read a book Divine Fury: A History of Genius by Darrin M. McMahon. I am approaching this book with a substantial bias: I think that the term “genius“ is an old … Continue reading
Posted in Genius, Psyche
Tagged Darrin M. McMahon, depth psychology, Divine Fury: A History of Genius, Genius, Juno, patriarchy, Power, Romans, talent, women
28 Comments
The Private Self
William Turner, “Choir of Salisbury Cathedral” “Bene vixit, bene qui latuit.” (To live well is to live concealed) Ovid An article on Virginia Woolf’s idea of privacy written by Joshua Rothman has caught my attention recently. The author quotes from … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche
Tagged Mrs Dalloway, mysticism, privacy, private self, psychology, Saint Teresa of Avila, social media, Soul, The Interior Castle, Virginia Woolf
33 Comments
Cultivating the Dark Core of Passion
“Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche
Tagged culture, discipline, Dostoevsky, Japanese tea ceremony, Kafka, method, obsession, passion, psychology, reason, Seiza, Soul
31 Comments
Of Mountains and Valleys
Kashmir valley, image credit “Call the world if you please ‘the vale of soul-making.’ Then you will find out the use of the world.” John Keats, in a letter Mountain valleys can be breathtakingly beautiful. Lusciously green, nested between high … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche
Tagged archetypes, James Hillman, mountain, mountains, Soul, spirit, symbolism, symbols, Valley
19 Comments
The Embodied Soul
I often wonder at the wisdom of words. If you trace back the roots of words, their etymology, you will often discover important truths. We often use the word psyche, but what do we really mean by it? Jung defined … Continue reading
