PSYCHE:
BEYOND BELIEF
Beyond Belief ~ Painted by Daniel Merriam
What is the Psychè, the soul? Jung says soul is the archetype of life itself. Post-Jungian, James Hillman suggests that the soul is not "a concept but a symbol ". Like all living symbols it resists all definitions providing metaphors for primordial human thought. Hillman adds that "The soul is the component that makes possible the MEANING and transforms events into EXPERIENCE".
This experience is the 'PSYCHE', image taking the form of changing reality that surrounds us and lives in us, maker of meaning and emotion (what "moves from") and taking us back to an intimacy and a liminality otherwise inexpressible. These inner and outer worlds remain invisible, inaccessible and inexpressible if Soul does not appear and guide us towards the EXPERIENCE of life.
Dreams are the living voice and expression of Psyche, of soul -- a geyser of living creativity upwelling from the source of all. They are the channel between nature and culture -- between the unconscious and collective consciousness. We dream continuously as part of our stream of consciousness, the imaginal overlay we attribute to objective forms and events.
In primordial times, people took it for granted that dreams were related to the world of supernatural beings in which they believed. Dreams served a special service: they predicted the future. There are many ways that dream symbols help us gain conscious self-knowledge. The unborn dream contains our hidden potential. Dreamers are known to interpret their dreams in terms of their own pre-existing beliefs, personal mythology, and worldview.
These are deeply subjective experiences of the objective or autonomous psyche, which has a compelling life of its own. The Self not only shows up in dreams, but is the maker of dreams. More than just an understanding of our own capabilities, character, feelings, motivations, or self-concept, self=knowledge is an intentional relationship with soul, with psyche as The Beloved, the heart’s knowledge or gnosis. Only a world with soul offers intimacy and resonance. For some it becomes a passion. This is the myth of Eros and Psyche.
The Quest for the Holy Grail of self-knowledge and self-exploration is a self-initiatory Way, a solitary endeavor that prioritizes psyche or soul. The sacred cannot be defined but only experienced. It is a way beyond the denial of false self-narratives and conditioned self-images, such as roles, persona, and shadow. We come to know and love our images, not as material and concrete, but as imaginal, metaphorical, spiritual. Anima Mundi is our soul relationship with self, others, and cosmos.
What is the Psychè, the soul? Jung says soul is the archetype of life itself. Post-Jungian, James Hillman suggests that the soul is not "a concept but a symbol ". Like all living symbols it resists all definitions providing metaphors for primordial human thought. Hillman adds that "The soul is the component that makes possible the MEANING and transforms events into EXPERIENCE".
This experience is the 'PSYCHE', image taking the form of changing reality that surrounds us and lives in us, maker of meaning and emotion (what "moves from") and taking us back to an intimacy and a liminality otherwise inexpressible. These inner and outer worlds remain invisible, inaccessible and inexpressible if Soul does not appear and guide us towards the EXPERIENCE of life.
Dreams are the living voice and expression of Psyche, of soul -- a geyser of living creativity upwelling from the source of all. They are the channel between nature and culture -- between the unconscious and collective consciousness. We dream continuously as part of our stream of consciousness, the imaginal overlay we attribute to objective forms and events.
In primordial times, people took it for granted that dreams were related to the world of supernatural beings in which they believed. Dreams served a special service: they predicted the future. There are many ways that dream symbols help us gain conscious self-knowledge. The unborn dream contains our hidden potential. Dreamers are known to interpret their dreams in terms of their own pre-existing beliefs, personal mythology, and worldview.
These are deeply subjective experiences of the objective or autonomous psyche, which has a compelling life of its own. The Self not only shows up in dreams, but is the maker of dreams. More than just an understanding of our own capabilities, character, feelings, motivations, or self-concept, self=knowledge is an intentional relationship with soul, with psyche as The Beloved, the heart’s knowledge or gnosis. Only a world with soul offers intimacy and resonance. For some it becomes a passion. This is the myth of Eros and Psyche.
The Quest for the Holy Grail of self-knowledge and self-exploration is a self-initiatory Way, a solitary endeavor that prioritizes psyche or soul. The sacred cannot be defined but only experienced. It is a way beyond the denial of false self-narratives and conditioned self-images, such as roles, persona, and shadow. We come to know and love our images, not as material and concrete, but as imaginal, metaphorical, spiritual. Anima Mundi is our soul relationship with self, others, and cosmos.