Jason E. Smith

A hand against a stormy background. The thumb and middle figure are almost touching and there is a spark between them. Above a quote from Marie-Loulse von Franz: "Every understood dream is like a slight electric shock into higher consciousness."

True psychological or spiritual transformation means a kind of dying to self, a self-emptying of our “godlikeness” -- that state of inflation that characterizes our ordinary, untransformed consciousness.

A clip from the latest episode of the podcast: digitaljung.substack.com/p/becoming-m...

A quote from Marie-Louise von Franz from 'Individuation in Fairy Tales': “In the symbol of the child is implied the element of youthfulness. A whole future is ahead, there is a new start in life, something which has still the plenitude of a beginning situation with all its rich inexhaustible possibilities. The child ... expresses absolute spontaneity and genuineness of the personality, which accounts for the proverb that children and fools speak the truth. They are still simply themselves, completely genuine”

Marie-Louise von Franz on the Symbol of the Child.

I used part of this quote from her wonderful book 'Individuation in Fairy Tales' in the most recent episode of Digital Jung: digitaljung.substack.com/p/becoming-m...

“The true aspiration is not that self and all that is contained in it may last, but that all the self stands for may last.”

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Another clip from the latest episode of the podcast. This time on the theme of freedom: when we free ourselves from the grip of a complex, we free others, too.

Check out the episode here: digitaljung.substack.com/p/becoming-m...

A quote from Carl Jung: 'The experience of the Self is always a defeat for the ego.'

"Change, then, is less about what we do, than what we stop doing. It’s less about what we gain, than what we let go. As Jung once wrote: 'The experience of the Self is always a defeat for the ego.'”

~from Digital Jung, S4, Ep. 10: Becoming (Merely) Human
digitaljung.substack.com/p/becoming-m...

An excerpt from the latest episode of Digital Jung. On the symbol of The Child.

Check out the latest post here: digitaljung.substack.com/p/becoming-m...

Becoming (Merely) Human Digital Jung Season 4, Episode 10

The latest episode of Digital Jung is now out.

One more time around with Ahab and Starbuck, exploring subjects like the archetype of the child, the longing for human connection, and the difficulty of real change.

A sign reading No Kings at Stage Fort Park

A parade of protesters carrying signs and marching.

A parade of protesters carrying signs and marching.

A gathering of protesters around a sign saying “No Kings!”

No Kings protest in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

“The spirit of Joy and the spirit of Hurry cannot live in the same house. But Joy, not Hurry, is an earnest of the Presence of God; an attribute of the creative life.” ~ Evelyn Underhill, The House of the Soul

“Humankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel.

“Be the one through whom you wish to influence others. Mere talk has always been counted hollow… The fact of being convinced and not the thing we are convinced of—that is what has always, and at all times, worked.” ~ C.G. Jung

Indeed. Abraham Joshua Heschel insists on staying maladjusted: “When I see an act of evil, I’m not accommodated. I don’t accommodate myself to the violence that goes on everywhere… We must learn how to be surprised. Not to adjust ourselves. I am the most maladjusted person in society.”

Profiles in Cowardice.

Man is a mystery. It must be unraveled, and if it takes a whole lifetime, don't say that it's a waste of time. I am preoccupied by this mystery because I want to be a human being.~Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴

A Collision Course With Life Digital Jung Season 4, Episode 8

The latest episode of the Digital Jung podcast is out.

This is the secret of dreams--that we do not dream, but rather we are dreamt. We are the object of the dream, not its maker. The dream is dreamed to us. We are the objects. We simply find ourselves put into a situation.~CG Jung, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴

When Jung once said that “a neurosis is an offended god,” he meant, metaphorically, that the neglect of a deep, instinctual energy ultimately revenges itself in our somatic discords, compulsions, addictions, or projections onto others.~James Hollis, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵

NYT headline: “Kennedy Advises New Parents to ‘Do Your Own Research’ on Vaccines” Subheader: “In an interview with Dr. Phil, the health secretary offered false information about vaccine oversight and revealed a lack of basic understanding of new drug approvals.”

“And I’m like, what do you mean, you ‘do your own research’? You running a double-blind study in your living room, dawg?”
- A guy walking ahead of me with his friends on a NYC sidewalk in 2021, also my favorite overheard dialogue of the entire pandemic

Godard's La Chinoise

"Those who do not read at age 70 will have lived only one life: their own. The reader will have lived 5000 years: there was when Cain killed Abel, when Renzo married Lucia, when Leopardi admired the infinite ... because reading is a immortality backwards."

Umberto Eco

Pic. Godard's La Chinoise

I very much agree with Carl Jung, who said that transformation at the deeper levels happens in the presence of images much more than through concepts.~Richard Rohr, 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘏𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯

The Split in the Soul S4, Ep. 7 - Moby-Dick: An American Myth, part 2

The latest episode of Digital Jung is now out.

S4, Ep. 7 - Moby-Dick: An American Myth, part 2

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.” ~E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful

“Bleed, bleed, poor country!
Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure,
For goodness dares not check thee!

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act IV, Scene III

Let's wake up. He's REALLY unpopular for this early in a term or really ever. President's this unpopular are already losing. Power becomes harder to assert when your power is fading.

Perfection is inhuman. Human beings are not perfect. What evokes our love - and I mean love, not lust--is the imperfection of the human being. So, when the imperfection of the real person peaks through, say, 'This is a challenge to my compassion.~ Joseph Campbell

Everyone paying attention here, folks? Safety inspections of milk doesn't sounds like waste or fat to me. WTF?

“Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.” ― Anne Carson (Translator), 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴: 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴

A large circle of people on a beach carrying American flags.

A large circle of people on a beach carrying American flags.

Rep. Seth Moulton speaking to protesters on Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA.

Some scenes from the Hands Off protest at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA earlier today.

An excerpt from the latest episode of Digital Jung.

digitaljung.substack.com/p/moby-dick-...