Hi everyone, how has your inner work been unfolding this month?

I welcome you to join me for this month’s office hours — a dedicated time for you to receive direct support, ask for guidance, get interpretation support on a dream or tarot reading, or ask any other inner work related questions you have.

H…

Read more

The Heroine’s Quest series is officially underway! Our first workshop explored the myth of Psyche & Eros, which many tend to only view as a tale of romantic love gone awry.

Though the relationship between Psyche & Eros is important, we considered how her sisters and the great underworld goddess Persephone play a more central role to her development and transformations—a perspective I find rich and provocative (inspired by mythologist and scholar Christine Downing).

Viewing Psyche’s story from this angle places the center of focus and energy of the myth squarely in the archetypes of the feminine, which is one of the hallmarks of the heroine’s journey.

The deeper symbolism and psychological meanings of Psyche’s journey awaits in the replay. I hope you enjoy!

~Alyssa

This month, we explore the myth of Psyche and Eros as an initiation into the mysteries of life and death through sisterhood and confrontation with the Great Mother archetype. Following Psyche’s story, we consider how the soul awakens through relationship, impossible trials, and descent to the underworld.

In this month’s class, we cover:

• The feminine principle and how the heroine’s journey differs from the hero’s

• The full myth of Psyche and Eros

• Psyche as an archetypal heroine

• The themes of beauty, death, and sisterhood woven through her story

• The symbolic meaning behind each of her four trials

• A guided inner work exercise connecting her trials to your inner work

Read more

The recent birth of my second child has added so much to life. Little moments of her presence, fleeting and yet impactful, etching themselves into my psyche.

Her first smile, toothless and wide, filled me with an unbridled joy that swelled my heart to new size. Watching my oldest daughter, ever curious about her little sister, babbling her name and reaching out to burp her as I do. Gazing into her deep blue eyes, reminding me of my father and the great Mediterranean sea where our family is from.

Yet with this beauty, with this creation of life, there has been sacrifice. More so than with my first, I am feeling the impact of motherhood and what it demands of me. It’s not just the struggle of managing two children or even the physical toll of pregnancy, birth, and recovery. What has stood out the most over the last few months has been the loss of connection to my inner world, particularly the loss of my dreams.

Each day follows a similar pattern: broken sleep, wakings at night, a mind-numbing haze that I cannot seem to shake. Each morning, I reach for an image, an impression, a sense of my dreams, but there is nothing. It’s like total darkness from the time I fall asleep till the time I rise.

Dreams, for me, since I was a child, have been one of the most important spiritual centers of my life. They have always felt profound and meaningful, guiding me in times of uncertainty or haunting me when I let shadows linger too long. My relationship deepened even further when I integrated Jungian practices, for then my dreams became the lodestar of my individuation efforts.

The loss of something so essential is hard to put into words. It’s like being severed from the vital source; the color and vibrancy of life diminishes; the sense of being held by something greater now gone.

It struck me most poignantly when I was feeling lost in my creative work recently. I was planning out The Heroine’s Quest series, but felt really stuck on whether to go all-in on a three-month experience or dedicate the topic to a single month of study.

You see, I’ve been feeling the pull to change things up in the membership and with how I structure my teaching. Up until this point, we tend to cover a new topic each month (which I do love for the breadth of material we can explore). Yet something inwardly was urging me to try something different, to dedicate several months to just one topic.

Change, however exciting it may seem, is difficult. Doubts start to creep in, trepidations and uncertainties poison the clarity of the originating intuition. When this happens, I usually incubate a dream to tap into the unconscious. For its these perspectives, above all else, that I trust to give me an honest counterpoint. With my lack of dreaming life, I was left adrift.

While contemplating this dilemma one morning, my attention drifted, and I noticed a suncatcher sitting on my bookshelf. Suddenly, I was struck with the overwhelming sense of needing to pick it up and use it. The idea was strange; since it was gifted to me, it has sat unused and mostly unnoticed, I never even hung it in my window. I reached for it and knew that I needed to explore the issue of my workshop series using the suncatcher as a pendulum — a practice I haven’t utilized in at least 6 years or more.

Pendulum dowsing is when you use a weighted item, typically suspended from a string, to divine insight based on how it moves in response to questions. I find it a deeply strange and fascinating technique, one where the body and its micro-movements become a channel for the somatic unconscious. In essence, it’s an embodied form of divination.

When I practice it, the pendulum responds strongly, swinging in wide circles to indicate yes, and back and forth to indicate no. See the video below for an example!

While the pendulum moves, I also tend to receive a stream of intuitively inspired thoughts. It’s similar to when I use the tarot or get into creative flow states. Insights that had felt locked away, guidance that shimmers with a numinous air drops into the field of my awareness. The pendulum moves and moves, gaining in its intensity, and I turn inward, listening intently.

I asked, “Is The Heroine’s Quest meant to be a three-month series?”

And the pendulum began to swing in wide circles—a resounding yes. My body eased in response, softening as I felt the clarity wash through me. The thoughts that followed had much to do with the arbitrary fear that had clouded my mind. Creative evolution often takes you to the edges of what feels safe; it scratches at your psychic sensitivities and dares you to look at them with bold and sober eyes. The resistance is to be expected, but the task is to meet and move through it.

With a certainty I hadn’t felt even an hour before, I mapped out The Heroine’s Quest as a full three-month experience. The response, from both current members and new, has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. It seems that the desire to slow down and go deeper with our material was shared in both me and my students.

There are so many ways to connect and commune with the rich depths of the psyche. I’m reminded that even when dreams are lost, there are new (or old and forgotten) ways to reach out. It’s an important lesson to carry with me in this season of life. I know it won’t last forever, that one day I will awake and recall my dreams. Until then, I’ll explore the other modalities that are calling to me.

Want to try out pendulum divination for yourself?

It’s quite simple! First, grab a weighted item (like a necklace with a pendant or a ring on a string). Next, calibrate it by asking it to show you yes and no. The movements might be very subtle at first, so keep at it till you notice two very distinct movements from the pendulum. Then, ask your question, and see how it responds!

If you give it a try, join me in the comments and let me know how it went.

Leave a comment

The first workshop for The Heroine’s Quest series is this Saturday!

This month, we are exploring the myth of Psyche and Eros as an initiation into the mysteries of life and death through sisterhood and confrontation with the Great Mother archetype. Following Psyche’s story, we’ll consider how the soul awakens through relationship, impossible trials, and descent to the underworld. Her journeying will inspire our inner work and reveal distinct pathways for navigating the challenges of individuation and the transformations they require.

Our focus includes:

• Understanding sisterhood and relationship as catalysts for initiation and psychological development

• Exploring Psyche’s trials as symbolic stages of soul-development and the individuation process

• Contemplating the Great Mother, descent to the underworld, and the awakening from psychic sleep

There’s still time to join the full workshop series and inner work experience. Read more about it here.

Join the membership to participate

~ Welcome to The Oracle, a monthly divination to open the archetypal field through a blend of tarot and inner work practices. ~

The myth of Psyche and Eros has been lauded as a classic love story. It has all the elements of a complex romantic tale, so most of the attention has been focused solely on the lovers. Many psychological interpretations remain there, unpacking what it means to grow through romantic relationship—through ecstasy, projection, attraction, and tribulation.

Is the entanglement between Psyche and Eros the true driver of individuation? Let’s take a look at a short summary of the myth with this question in mind:

Where might you identify the initiating moment that sets off Psyche’s journey?

• Is it her god-like beauty that draws the ire of Aphrodite?

• Is it Eros as deceiver and lover?

• Is it the set of tasks (which eventually takes her to the underworld and to Persephone)?

Scholar, author, and professor of mythology, Christine Downing (who is perhaps one of my favorite modern interpertors of myth), offers a different way to view Psyche’s story:

“I have come to see, it is the interactions among sisters that instigate the heroine’s journey toward self, toward psyche. This story in no way sentimentalizes sisterhood: Psyche’s sisters are envious and cruel—but they push her in the way her soul requires (whereas Eros would happily have kept her in the dark).”

Psyche’s Sisters: Reimagining the Meaning of Sisterhood

Before reading Downing’s work, I’d yet to come across an interpretation that centers the moment of initiation in the realm of sisterhood. Often, Psyche’s sisters are grouped into the classic trope: jealous siblings—the dark side of the personality—who only seek to deny, strip, and annihilate the vital essence of the heroine.

The power of sorority is subordinated to the power of romantic love. Yet, Eros is a lover who, if his will won out, would have kept Psyche unconscious. She would only know him through illusion and projection, a condition most of us are entrenched in when we enter into relationship with another.

There has to be something to break the fantasy, to create enough doubt or uncertainty so we get curious enough to investigate what is hidden in shadow. For Psyche, that is the moment her sisters question her secret-lover, when they provide the true first task: figure out who he is.

Armed with the symbols of discernment and the light of consciousness, Psyche enters their chamber, and all else flows from there…

Now, let’s turn towards The Oracle, to the tarot cards and practices that deepen our exploration of these themes.

Departure & the Gifts of Change

I’ve always felt the tinge of sorrow in the VIII of Cups, of all the sadness that comes when we leave something behind in search of something greater. A.E. Waite describes the card as, “the decline of a matter, or that a matter which has been thought to be important is really of slight consequence--either for good or evil.” Each cup, still perfectly upright, still full to the brim with something that was once felt as valuable, has lost its meaning.

Read more

Hello members, how has your inner work been unfolding this month?

Today, I’m opening up the discussion thread to answer your pressing inner work questions. This is your chance to ask me for guidance, interpretation support, or perspective on something emerging in life currently.

Think of it like my monthly office hours — an opportunity for direct support …

Read more

Running in tandem is the The Heroine’s Journey, a complementary model established by Maureen Murdock. Like the hero, the heroine represents the individuating impulse within us all, but with a decidedly introverted flavor. Reflected in the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Vasilisa, her path is one of reconciliation, awakening into personhood, re-membering, and reclamation of the soul. Rather than conquering the outer world, she descends to the underworld of the psyche, to the great archetypal figures and energies who initiate her to the mysteries of life and death.

This summer, we’ll be following her journeyings through The Heroine’s Quest workshop series here at The Artemisian. To prime our explorations, I wanted to share a discussion and lecture I had with the incredible mythologist, scholar, and cultural historian, Dr. Kayleen Asbo.

Over 5 years ago (wow, does time fly!!), we hosted Kayleen for a live event through my podcast, the Golden Shadow. Kayleen presented on the heroine’s path, tracking her movements and themes across mythology, fairy tales, and film. Her presentation (and the following Q&A) touches into the essential archetypal aspects of the heroine, many of which we will be exploring in The Heroine’s Quest series.

I hope you enjoy!
~Alyssa

Leave a comment

The Heroine’s Quest:
Myths and Fairy Tales of Individuation

The heroine is a symbol of the individuating impulse within us all — a psychic force that seeks wholeness through descent, remembrance, reclamation, and conscious participation in life. She wears many faces across myth and fairy tale, journeying into dark forests, falling into enchanted sleep, contending with great sorceresses, and eating poisoned fruit.

We will draw upon the stories of Psyche and Eros, Bluebeard, and Rapunzel, tracing patterns of awakening, initiation, and transformation that appear across their tales. Our studies will be anchored by a monthly workshop and further supported by discussion threads, and the Oracle (a divination offering blending tarot and inner work practices).

Psyche & Eros

Sisterhood & Trials of Initiation

In July, we will explore the myth of Psyche and Eros as an initiation into the mysteries of life and death through sisterhood and confrontation with the Great Mother archetype. Following Psyche’s story, we’ll consider how the soul awakens through relationship, impossible trials, and descent to the underworld. Her journeying will inspire our inner work and reveal distinct pathways for navigating the challenges of individuation and the transformations they require.

Our focus includes:

• Understanding sisterhood and relationship as catalysts for initiation and psychological development

• Exploring Psyche’s trials as symbolic stages of soul-development and the individuation process

• Contemplating the Great Mother, descent to the underworld, and the awakening from psychic sleep

Bluebeard

Revelation & the Forbidden Psyche

In August, we will explore the fairy tale of Bluebeard as a confrontation with the dark aspects of the psyche and the destructive forces hidden within it. Through the symbol of the forbidden chamber, the tale reveals how we unconsciously participate in self-annihilating and dismembering psychic patterns. As a path towards transformation, we will contemplate the key and the heroine’s curiosity as a force of revelation, helping us to identify the inner resources that will support the establishment of psychic authority in our own lives.

Our focus includes:

• Exploring the forbidden chamber as a symbol of shadow and psychic darkness

• Following the key and the heroine’s curiosity as pathways to revelation and inner knowing

• Developing the discernment and psychic authority needed to confront and transform destructive patterns

Rapunzel

Psychic Captivity & the Return to Life

In September, we will explore the fairy tale of Rapunzel as a story of psychic captivity and the longing for liberation. Drawing from Jungian analyst Donald Kalsched’s work on the archetypal self-care system, we will consider how the soul retreats into protective structures that, overtime, become limiting and persecutory. Through the symbolism of Rapunzel’s song, we will uncover how to work with the psyche’s enduring creative spirit and the return to life.

Our focus includes:

• Exploring the tower as a symbol of psychic defense, isolation, and captivity

• Understanding the sorceress as both protector and persecutor within the psyche

• Following Rapunzel’s song as a pathway to creative expression, embodiment, and participation in life

If you have any questions or thoughts on The Heroine’s Quest series, feel free to drop it in the comments below!

Leave a comment

Join The Heroine’s Quest

Meet the court cards as archetypal personalities, as complexes and psychic configurations that offer a wealth of opportunity for deepening individuation.

Hi everyone!

Despite reading and teaching the tarot for over 15 years, I too find the court cards some of the trickiest to work with in the deck. It wasn’t until I began to view them as psychological configurations—as clusters of psychic energy, drives, qualities, attitudes, and approaches in personified form—that it truly opened up for me.

After that, whenever I drew a court card, I felt myself drawn into an expansive and dynamic inner work experience. The figures of the court would reach out, sharing words of wisdom, reflecting areas of life I was in, highlighting aspects of personality, and offering pathways for development.

This approach informs how I teach them now, alongside a Jungian and archetypal framework that further grounds the cards in psychological reality and theory. The class is now available for replay. I hope it helps you on your tarot reading journey :)

~Alyssa

In this class, we study the court cards as psychic configurations that reveal distinct modes of being and patterns of expression within the psyche. We explore each card in depth, examining their psychological undercurrents, how to interpret them in readings and utilize them for inner work.

In this class you’ll:

• Deepen your understanding of the relationship between tarot, complexes, and Jungian psychology

• Meet the court cards as archetypal personalities and psychic configurations

• Explore each card’s defining qualities and motivations

• Learn four practical approaches for interpreting court cards

• Identify a relevant court card and explore its significance through a guided reading

Read more

I am a writer, but words have never been my strong suit.

Don’t get me wrong, since the time I was young there has been a marked fascination with written word. Back then, it was scribbles into notebooks, emotionally-charged LiveJournal entries, or unpacking the mysterious vocabulary of my favorite high fantasy novels. Words were strange and whimsical, alluring and frustrating, but I wasn’t naturally drawn to them.

Before I was a writer, my creativity was funneled through music. I am first and foremost a singer, a skill I was born with and honed over years of playing live and recording. I am most happy with a mic in hand, sensing the melodies hidden in the guitar riffs. Long before lyrics emerge, I am playing with vocalizations and drawn out notes, riding the rhythm of the spirit of the music through my voice.

Even with music, I am less interested in wrestling the melodies into form. I can easily replace one word with another, make the song about this topic or that. In essence, the words aren’t as important to me. The real art is in the in-between, when I’m reaching out into that cosmic creative void and channeling its contents. A great hook can be lyrical, absolutely, but the magic for me is touching into that ineffable something.

My work now is not so different. Though I now play with symbol instead of song, I’m still attempting to translate the great energy of creation. Concessions, however, have to be made for the sake of accessibility. I can no longer just hum a tune or jam endlessly on sound and harmony, I have to write!

Though the process can be quite enjoyable, like working through a puzzle, I find that it often takes me further away from the flow state I so long for when creatively engaged. Distilling my thoughts and constructing coherent sentences can feel so mechanical. Laboring at the edge of my comfort zone, in the realm of logos and word, I’m much more susceptible to stalling out and losing the creative thread.

And that is where I find myself lately, entangled with an unslayable beast known as writer’s block.

I am writing a book, an endeavor I did not think I would ever embark upon. It always felt too complex, too big of a project to wrap my mind around. Now, I am more immersed in the realm of words than ever before. When I catch the creative wave, I ride it with exhilaration, words pouring out of me like my old songs. But when I’m struggling through the process, when I have no words to give, I feel completely bereft, adrift on placid seas.

Hour after hour, day after day slips by and I’m still starring at this blank page. The cursor blinks and blinks, and all I can think is, “Where is the spark of inspiration? Why is it so hard to find?”

In one such moment recently, while lamenting on my writer’s block, a sudden answer came to me:

With that realization, the image of the Ace of Wands burst into mind. You see, the suit of Wands governs passion, inspiration, creative intensity, and the psychological energy that animates life. Each card in the suit gives us a glimpse into what it means to be engaged with this creative force, from the initial spark till it eventually snuffs out.

Curiously, the journey begins with a heavenly offering, revealing that the true wielder of the fiery energy of creation is the manus dei (hand of god). The idea that inspiration is self-generated is a misplaced belief at best and a soaring inflation at worst. In actuality, when we tap into the matrix of creativity, we are in the realm of the gods. It is Prometheus, descending from Olympus with blazing torch in hand.

This feels like a radical reorientation for my writer’s block. No wonder each attempt to reignite the spark through my own will alone has felt futile. I’m trying to grasp when I should be opening to receive. The task then becomes: how can I create the proper conditions to do so?

I’m reminded of my relationship to music and how much simpler it feels to weave the inspiring thread. When I am enveloped in a wall of sound, I feel myself dropping in and tuning out, thinking less and feeling more. My whole internal landscape shifts and I trust in what is emerging with total faith in the gods of creation.

For writing, I think that translates to connecting to the creative essence of what I am working on (the heart of the chapter, the deeper meaning in a passage, etc) and then opening myself to inspiration.

What image strikes me then? Which word floats into my awareness? Where is my attention and interest drawn?

Often, when mired in writer’s block, I find myself relentlessly searching for the right word or proper sentence. I try to strong-arm my way through, anything to get things moving again, to feel a sense of excitement or alignment. Now, when things feel stuck and dull, I first loosen my grip. I reach back out to that fiery torch of creative wonder and see which path it is lighting.

Since implementing this approach, my writer’s block has abated. Working on my book has felt more joyous; there is a newfound ease and playfulness. Though I’m sure I’ll face this challenge many times more, I now have a way of relating to the experience that feels more constructive and archetypally resonant.

How do you navigate writer’s block?

Join me in the comments to discuss!

Leave a comment

~ Welcome to The Oracle, a monthly divination to open the archetypal field through a blend of tarot and inner work practices. ~

The court cards of the tarot, the royal figures that preside over the Minor Arcana, are some of the trickiest in the deck. It’s curious, really. You’d think we would find them more relatable than the archetypally concentrated Major Arcana or the situational pips. And though we may feel an affinity or interest in a particular court card (a significator), the most common experience when we draw them in a reading is confusion and uncertainty.

In this approach, court cards become an active psychological force that helps us to explore inner and outer reality through their archetypal perspectives. Instead of beginning with questions like, “Who does the Knight of Swords remind me of?” or, “What relevance does my King of Pentacles-like boss have to this reading?”, we begin from a more vital place: “What is my relationship to the Page of Cups’ themes where new depths of feeling and emotional capacity are emerging? ” Or, “How can I approach this situation with the Queen of Wand’s fiery charisma, fierce devotion, and inspired movement?”

In this form, the court cards and their interpretations have many shades of potential and meanings. Sometimes, it does extend into the outer world, to individuals in our lives who embody the unique qualities of the court. More often than not, though, it turns the focus and inquiry inward, to exploring the vast landscape of our psychological inner workings.

Now, let’s turn towards The Oracle as guidance for the weeks ahead…

Building the Royal Psychic Ground

If the court cards are the royalty of the Minor Arcana, then the Empress and Emperor can be viewed as the ruling monarchs of the Majors. Where the court cards are bound into the limitations of their suit and rank, the Empress and Emperor are boundary-less, encompassing a greater totality of archetypal and psychological experience.

Read more

How has your inner work been unfolding this month?

Today, I’m opening up the discussion thread to answer your pressing inner work questions. This is your chance to ask me for guidance, interpretation support, or perspective on something emerging in life currently.

Think of it like my monthly office hours — an opportunity for direct support :)

For example:

• Interpretation help for a dream

• A tarot card or spread you’d like another perspective on

• Guidance on an inner work dynamic you’re trying to understand

• Clarification on concepts, ideas, etc from this month’s studies

• General questions on tarot, dreamwork, Jungian psychology, myth, alchemy, or related subjects

• Requests for inner work or study resources (books, classes, etc)

Leave a comment

See you in the comments!
~Alyssa

Have you watched this month’s workshop?

This month’s workshop on synchronicity is now available to stream! In it, I challenged myself to create a framework members can use to interpret and integrate synchronicity by tracing its archetypal and inner work themes. It’s a fairly simple, 4-step process.

If you try out the technique, let me know how it goes :)

What’s coming up next in the membership…

In June, we will study the court cards of the tarot, some of the trickiest cards in the deck! We’ll approach them as psychic configurations that reveal distinct modes of being and patterns of expression within the psyche. Special attention will be given to working with them in readings.

Subscribe now

Please note: Live classes will return in June. I’ll send an update with more details next week.

Synchronicity is a mind-bending concept, asking us to consider how dynamics that should be squarely internal (like a dream, thought, image, feeling) can be reflected outside of ourselves.

A synchronicity may be dramatic and striking, like dreaming of an event before it comes to pass. Or, it can be subtle and inviting, like a recurring theme we keep hearing about that seems full of meaning.

Oftentimes, we experience these synchronicities without a framework to understand, contextualize, or meaningfully work with them afterward. This workshop remedies that, providing an educational foundation of synchronicity from a Jungian perspective. We examine how synchronicity tends to appear during times of emotional intensity and deep inner work, as well as their link to archetypes and the unus mundus.

You’ll learn how to work with synchronicity practically by identifying archetypal themes, exploring symbolic meaning, and reflecting on what these moments may be revealing or asking of your development.

I hope you enjoy!
~Alyssa

Synchronicity will support you to:

• Understand synchronicity through a Jungian framework

• Identify the symbolic and archetypal themes underlying synchronicities

• Explore how synchronicity emerges during periods of transformation, emotional intensity, and inner work

• Develop practical tools for interpreting and integrating synchronicity into your psychological development and life

Read more

Support The Artemisian

“I have a hard time trusting my intuition. How do I know if it’s real guidance or just my own desires or fears?”

The struggle to connect to, trust, and harness intuition is common. The moment of intuitive insight arises most unexpectedly, perhaps as a sudden knowing, a vision of potential, or a word of caution echoing in mind. Though it may pique our curiosity and grab our attention, we are often left wondering how real the experience was or how much faith we can place in it.

From my perspective, the issue is two-fold:

This is where a Jungian approach becomes useful, grounding the concept of intuition in a psychologically informed framework that we can map onto internal and external experience.

In Jung’s model of psychological types, there are four functions of consciousness2, grouped in complementary pairs:

Rational functions — evaluating and decision making

• Thinking evaluates through logic and concepts, focusing on an objective, rational approach.

• Feeling evaluates based on personal or collective values, focusing on relatedness and a sense of like or dislike, acceptance or rejection, etc.

Irrational functions — perceiving and information gathering

• Sensation perceives through the physical senses, focusing on concrete, tangible experience and material reality as it is.

• Intuition perceives via the unconscious, focusing on possibilities, symbolic insight, and connections that go beyond the obvious.

Our psychological type is made up of all four functions, arranged in various configurations based on a natural hierarchy and preference. For example, a thinking type is someone with a highly differentiated thinking function, characterized by their use of logic, rationality, and objectivity as they navigate life. They still utilize the other three functions, but with less mastery, ease, and conscious awareness than their dominant one.

In this framework, intuition is not a rare gift; it does not arise from magical origins, nor is it exclusive to an elite few. It is a basic mode of psychological functioning, accessible to all.

With that said, intuitive types3 (those who naturally prefer intuition and have it as the most differentiated function) tend to have a special relationship to it. This is where we find the mystics, oracles, visionaries, and prophets, the philosophers, inventors, entrepreneurs, and theorists who have an uncanny ability to see into the fabric of experience and channel it with clarity and symbolic vision.

Intuition is a psyche primed for openness to the unconscious. Insights may arise in any number of ways such as symbols, images, gut feelings, a sense of things “coming together”, dreams or fantasies, the connecting of patterns, or the picking up of emergent potentials. Casting aside concrete reality (the sensation function), the intuitive type immerses themselves in a sea of possibility, drawn to what can be and the archetypal forms that energize these ideas.

Engagement with the unconscious—especially if the material is of a highly archetypal origin—can feel charged with significance and is usually difficult to trace. This is what makes intuition feel beyond us, as coming from some divine or otherworldly source. In reality, what we are meeting is the shadowed realm of the psyche, the unconscious in its many forms.

Of utmost importance, we must remember that intuition is a fundamental building block of psychological life.

Building a deeper relationship with intuition means that we have to refine our awareness of how the unconscious communicates its perceptions. Each person may experience this differently, but there are some general principles that we can keep in mind to help this process along.

Discerning Intuition & the Messages of the Unconscious

This guide sets its gaze on the tension that arises once an intuition flows into our awareness and how to navigate its discernment. If you’re interested in developing the intuitive function in general, I recommend checking out the resources listed below.

First, let’s take a look at this quote from Jung4:

“The utterances of the heart—unlike those of the discriminating intellect—always relate to the whole. The heartstrings sing like an Aeolian harp only under the gentle breath of a mood, an intuition, which does not drown the song but listens. What the heart hears are the great, all-embracing things of life, the experiences which we do not arrange ourselves but which happen to us.”

— C.G. Jung, The Symbolic Life (CW 18)

The biggest takeaways from this passage are that the movements of the deep psyche, which reverberate through intuition and into the heart of our being, happen to us and relate back to something greater and more complete. These words are, along with the theory we touched on earlier, the inspiration for the steps laid out below.

Let’s begin!

---

I. — Consider your psychological type.

Before getting caught up in evaluating an intuition, it’s important to figure out your psychological type. As we noted above, intuition is one of four functions of consciousness. Where it sits in your personality dictates how accessible or inaccessible it is.

A simple (though oversimplified) way to explore this is to consider the two axes of the functions. Along each axis, you will have a natural preference for one function over another. This creates a general orientation, such as a preference for perceiving via sensation and evaluating through feeling (a sensate feeling type), etc.

When answering these questions, consider the psychological energy that motivates these actions, rather than the manifest behavior itself.

Rational Functions — Thinking or Feeling?

• Which do you rely most on: logic, rational analysis, and objective or conceptual reasoning (thinking), or on personal/group values, relationality, and what feels appropriate or important (feeling)?

Irrational Functions — Sensation or Intuition?

• Which do you feel naturally oriented towards: what is concrete, tangible, and directly observable (sensation), or possibility, abstract or symbolic connections, and visions of what can be (intuition)?

Keep in mind: If you have a natural preference for sensation over intuition, you might struggle to tap into, trust, or recognize intuitive insight. This doesn’t mean you can’t develop it, but there is a natural disadvantage.

Note: Though it’s not covered in this guide, each of the functions are modified by an extraverted or introverted orientation. See the resources below for more on this!

II. — Examine the quality of the intuition.

Perception via the unconscious means that, for the most part, we are unaware of the source and ways in which we receive information and insight. Rather than being situated in concrete, immediate reality, the intuitive function attunes us to the unconscious—to its images, symbols, and archetypal frameworks.

When discerning your intuitions, examine the quality of the experience. A genuine intuition will often:

• Arise suddenly, without being prompted.

• Feel difficult to locate or trace its source.

• Be emotionally neutral, though emotions likely follow afterwards.

• Have a sense of intensity and command, grabbing our attention.

• Provide insight without explanation.

• Feel profound, otherworldly, or outside of oneself.

• Carry a sense of clarity and certainty.

• Speaks to potential, possibilities, or previously unknown insights.

• Manifest as images, symbols, a knowing, a gut feeling, a clear thought, a profound dream, etc.

Things tend to get muddied because our emotional responses or thoughts get mixed into the experience. Learning to separate these will help you in trusting and identifying a true intuition.

III. — Situate the intuition within a larger context.

Now that you’ve examined the quality of the intuition, the next step is to place it within a larger context. Recall Jung’s words, that intuitions relate to the whole, to a broader pattern, or something more than the immediate situation.

Consider:

• In what context did the intuition arise? Does that seem connected to a current tension, hope, conflict, or transformation?

• Has this sort of intuition appeared before? If so, how might these situations be related?

• How might this intuition be compensating, shifting, or balancing your current way of seeing a situation?

• Do you notice patterns in how your intuitions are expressed? How might you lean into and develop this further?

• What might the intuitions be asking you to recognize, engage, or change?

• How might this intuition be tied to a broader arc of your individuation?

  ---

An example of the steps in practice…

Recommended Resources

Books

• Chapter 10, “General Description of the Types” in Psychological Types (CW 6) by C.G. Jung

• Lectures on Jung’s Typology by Marie-Louise von Franz and James Hillman

• Personality Types: Jung’s Model of Typology by Daryl Sharp

At The Artemisian

• Developing Intuition (workshop)

• Intuition and the Bridge of Perception (article)

• You’re Not Just an Extravert or Introvert (article)

  ---

Let’s chat about intuition!

What is your relationship to intuition? Is it something you readily trust or struggle to navigate? How do you recognize and work with it usually?

Leave a comment

~ Welcome to The Oracle, a monthly divination to open the archetypal field through a blend of tarot and inner work practices. ~

Synchronicity is another Jungian term that pervades the collective conscious sphere, yet continues to hang in the shadows of our understanding. It’s often spoken about as striking moments we encounter in our daily lives, such as a repeating number we can’t stop seeing or an unusual sign that we are on the right path. But the Jungian idea is much richer, much stranger, and more elusive.

Simply defined, synchronicity is a moment of meaningful connection, where an event in the outside world coincides with a psychological state of mind, with no detectable causality at play.

Synchronicity is a concept that squarely situated Jung as a metaphysician, a role he constantly denied and side-stepped throughout his lengthy career. In his later years, emboldened by his unending excavation of psychological phenomena, he put forth his theory:

“Since psyche and matter are contained in one and the same world, and moreover are in continuous contact with one another and ultimately rest on irrepresentable, transcendental factors, it is not only possible but fairly probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and the same thing. The synchronicity phenomena point, it seems to me, in this direction, for they show that the nonpsychic can behave like the psychic, and vice versa, without there being any causal connection between them...”

Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle

Synchronicity is a commentary on the nature of reality, that at some point beyond the seemingly disparate worlds of inner and outer, psyche and matter, the realms are actually one. For this reason, they can mirror each other, materializing in both our psychological conditions and in the external world at the same time, or relatively close together. The most critical aspect of the synchronicity relationship is an undeniable sense of meaning and connection.

Synchronicity arrives to break open the fabric of existence, allowing us to pierce into the veil of the unus mundus. These experiences can be astounding, challenging our notions of what we thought was real or possible (for an exceptionally striking example in my life, see the article The Hounds of Diana). But not all synchronicities arrive in this manner. Some are subtle, unfolding around us like a gentle message from the beyond.

We oft speak of synchronicity as something that happens to us, something we become aware of as it arises in our lives. But one thing we should keep in mind is that we can invoke synchronicity; we can tap into the deep layer of unified reality. One of the simplest ways to do this is to practice the art of divination.

The Oracle, this blended offering of tarot and dreamwork, is exactly that. By focusing on a charged inner aspect (in this case, our monthly inner work theme, but it can also be a question or tension in life) and then drawing cards or incubating dream material, we open ourselves to the cosmic mysteries of the unconscious, creating a portal to see it reflected in the outer world.

In the case of the tarot, it’s the random draw of the cards, a material item flush with symbols, that seems to uncannily mirror our inner state. In the case of dreamwork, we appeal to the unconscious for images and commentary on our lives that we can then trace into outer experience. The divination and the activation of synchronicity hold us in an archetypal constellation of wonder and intrigue.

But first we turn towards The Oracle, to the cards and dream images that straddle the borderlands of psyche and matter, as guidance for the weeks ahead…

Read more

Jung poetically described synchronicity as events that “fall together in time”.

It’s those near unexplainable moments of life when an inner state (like a dream, intuition, thought, fantasy, etc) is mirrored in the outer world. Their link is not through causality—i.e., cause and effect—but through meaning.

Join me in the comments and share your synchronicity or ask a question (today’s discussion is open to all)! I’ll be offering reflections, insights, and interpretation support as needed.

Leave a comment

See you in the comments!
~Alyssa

Want to study and explore synchronicity further?

When we experience synchronicity, there’s often a deep sense of significance, wonder, and mystery. Many of us stop there, not knowing how to integrate or interpret what occurred.

This month inside The Artemisian membership, you’ll learn how to uncover the deeper meaning of synchronicity. Grounding our studies in Jung’s theory, we’ll explore how these moments link back to archetypal patterns, and how to situate them within your individuation and ongoing inner work.

Our focus includes:

• Jung’s concept and theory of synchronicity

• Using synchronicity to orient and deepen the individuation process

• Recognizing when synchronicities are occurring in your life and what they are reflecting about the current moment in time

• How to interpret synchronicities symbolically and practically for insight and guidance

Join the membership

Hello members, how has your inner work been unfolding this month?

Today, I’m opening up the discussion thread to answer your pressing inner work questions. This is your chance to ask me for guidance, interpretation support, or perspective on something emerging in life currently.

Think of it like my …

Read more

One of my goals is to get back into teaching in-person this year! There’s something special about holding space together, engaging in live discussion, and feeling the energy and co-creation of all participants.

I’ll be returning to teaching at The Alembic once my maternity leave is over, but in the meantime, you can check out the recording of the tarot class below. It includes an introductory lecture on tarot fundamentals, a great taster of my style and approach to working with the cards. For deeper learning, you can check out the Tarot for Beginners and The Art of Tarot Interpretation classes here at The Artemisian.

Please forgive some of the streaming blips through out, this was a live class with slightly finicky tech :]

~Alyssa

I’m excited to bring it back this month with Hekate, the liminal goddess and key-holder of dark mysteries who leads us through the crossroads. In this workshop, we explore her archetypal expressions as Great Mother, Sorceress, Psychopomp, and Crone, considering how we can build a relationship to her in these different expressions. Meet Hekate in her many forms, dive into her rich symbols, and uncover her potency as initiator, transformer, and underworld guide.

Archetypal Encounters: Hekate will support you to:

• Understand Hekate as a figure of liminality, unconscious power, and transformation through a Jungian lens

• Recognize the psychological significance of her four archetypal forms: Great Mother, Sorceress, Psychopomp, and Crone

• Interpret the key, torch, crossroads, and dog as symbols of access, illumination, transition, and instinct within inner change

• Apply Hekate’s archetypal themes to guide you through current transitions, changes, and thresholds of life

Read more

Many of the powerful, transformative, and healing moments of my life have come from meeting the unconscious and the great archetypal energies that animate the psyche.

Perhaps the earliest example of it was when I was a small child, under 5 years old. I was plagued with night terrors, dreams of being stalked by a vampiric figure as I raced through the backyard of my home. Then I would awake, dazed and emotionally charged, to a scene of horror…spiders crawling all over my bed. Was it a hallucination? A continuation of the dream itself? It was viscerally real, overwhelming, stretching for what felt like hours in a timeless state. Eventually, they’d disappear, no trace of them left except for the imprint of fear I felt deep in my bones.

One day I went to my grandmother, a Sicilian immigrant whose old-world ways always shimmered with a kind of magic and awe. She was a devout Catholic who practiced ancestral folk healing, an intuitive with the kind of clairvoyant sight that shocked any who witnessed it; a liminal, reality-shifting individual in herself. She listened intently and instructed me to say the Lord’s Prayer when I awoke, to seek a higher power when I felt I had nowhere to turn.

And so I did, signing the cross, whispering the words, even as the spiders raced around me. In that contemplative space, I felt that I entered a different reality. Prayer was the vehicle but I was the conduit, an act that allowed me to touch into the otherworldly realm of the beyond. The night terrors and visions faded but my curiosity grew deeper. From that moment on, I’ve strived to maintain that connection. Not to a God I read about in religious texts, but to the numinous energy found within, the mystery of the inner landscape.

I continued to find it in all sorts of surprising ways. Deep in meditation, I was visited by mythic figures — howling wolves and mystical sorceresses — who gave me advice and helped ground me in times of overwhelm. A series of dreams kept urging me to leave behind my Jungian analysis and begin therapeutic somatic work, a decision I never anticipated that brought profound healing. Striking synchronicities and intuitive realizations appeared at the most sudden of moments, telling me to leave a job, move away, look where I didn’t think to look, and there I found a part of myself that was in need.

Each time the underworld of psyche opened up, through its images, symbols, and liminal states, I felt that same sort of awe. A presence that is always there, just below the surface; awesome in its ability to move, inspire, frighten and cure. It has been the baptismal waters, drawing me in to tend to my wounds and initiate me to a new way of being. It has been the cave of shadows I fear to enter, the haunting voices calling out, and though I resist, I know I must go forward. It has been my greatest teacher, instructing me on how to be more present, giving me new eyes to see.

In this quote, von Franz says, echoing Jung, that all their efforts in therapy are to help clients open to an archetypal experience, the only true healing factor, which cannot be forced. I agree to an extent, that by the grace of the Fates we may receive such an experience when we are most in need.

But what I have learned throughout my life is that the veil between psychic realities can always be engaged.

All my earliest and formative meetings with the unconscious happened naturally, spontaneously. But as I grew older, I began to experiment with reaching out, with cultivating a receptive inner state. Different practices and modalities proved to be fruitful; a bridge could be built to the depths if I did so with intention, if I sharpened my ability to read its messages and notice its influences.

This aligns me with the traditions of the ancient diviners, oracles, mystics and seers, those who traversed the borderlands of psyche, meeting godly presences and bringing their words of mystery, command and wisdom forth. Although we cannot will the gods, just as we cannot will the unconscious, we can appeal to it.

It begins with tending the link to the deep psyche and touching into the archetypal realm.

What do we mean when we say archetypal?

The word archetype brings to mind common motifs and characters found in myth and fiction, gods of the pantheon, tricksters, heroines, cycles of death and birth. But these are not archetypes, they are the products, cultural artifacts that point back to the psychic forms which they rest upon.

Archetypes are the dynamic forces of the psyche, foundational structures that reveal themselves through image, symbol, and patterns of experience. They are the vessels of creation that energize life, timeless and eternal. To be in relationship with them is to meet the generative field of the soul.

Archetypal perspectives give us a way to see into the fabric of experience, where symbolic threads weave through seemingly disparate moments, coalescing into a world rich with depth, meaning, and insight. In this stratum of the psyche, we encounter metaphors and images that awaken the imagination, that expand our sense of being.

This builds the vital link between conscious and unconscious, making us a being of the liminal worlds — the seen and unseen, the literal and the symbolic, within and without. No longer do we feel alone, rather, we are held in an archetypal constellation. It is here that integration becomes possible, where individuation unfolds and a steady center of the personality is formed.

For example, what at first appears as sudden depression, listlessness, and emotional overwhelm might, through an archetypal lens, be understood as a descent to the underworld (aka, the unconscious). The individual is at first gripped by the experience — clouded by its intensity, unable to find direction or meaning. So they turn toward the tarot and draw The High Priestess. Sitting at the veil between worlds, she counsels us to venture into the mystery, that a threshold is present. They notice pomegranates upon the veil, a symbol that recalls Persephone’s underworld journey into shadow and sovereignty.

The experience begins to take new shape. With the High Priestess as guide and Persephone as the mirror, the individual starts to understand that the descent (and its accompanying symptoms) are essential. If met consciously, the seeds of transformation could take root as they interact with the unconscious in its many forms. The experience becomes imbued with mythic meaning, the archetypal patterns help them feel supported while offering keys for action and deeper seeing. What was once unbearable is now recognized as purposeful, an important step in the growth and development of self.

How will you reach out?

Following the path of the diviners, I have found two necessary requisites for this work.

1. Lowering the field of conscious awareness: Reflective, meditative, and liminal states that relax the grip of the ego create the proper conditions to access unconscious material. This includes deep meditation or engaging in active imagination, drifting between sleep and waking (or being fully asleep), trance or flow states, noticing intuitive insights and sitting with the information/symbols that arise, etc.

2. Utilizing symbolic or archetypal tools/systems: The psyche naturally “speaks” in a symbolic language. Anywhere we find concentrations of symbol and image, a portal to the unconscious opens. Divinatory systems such as tarot, runes, and the I Ching, along with archetypal frameworks like astrology and myth, help us enter into meaningful dialogue with the deeper layers of psyche.

There are countless combinations and ways to do this work. After all, the art of divination can be practiced with just about anything. This is exciting because it means you can shape the path as best fits your psychic landscape. Methods you feel drawn to (or maybe even resistant to) are great places to start.

Here at The Artemisian, you see a weaving of my cherished archetypal systems, those with the strongest voice that have called me to their altar. They include:

• Mythology and Fairy tales: Stories arising from the collective unconscious, where archetypes are expressed in symbolic and narrative form. Fairy tales often remain closer to the raw expressions of the unconscious, while myths, having been elevated to cultural or national status, can lose some of their original psychic purity (and strangeness).

• Tarot: A symbolic set of 78 cards, where each one reflects universal patterns of experience, from the deeply concentrated archetypal energies of the Major Arcana to the more personal and situational themes of the Minor Arcana.

• Alchemy: A tradition that sought to explore the mysteries and transmutations of nature. The alchemist’s efforts (which were both concrete and psychological) activated the collective unconscious, giving alchemy a double face: its materials, procedures, and images express both the transformations of matter and the archetypal dynamics of the psyche.

• Dreams: Direct expressions of the unconscious that arise when the ego is dimmed in sleep. Dreams reveal the unique images, symbols and patterns of our inner world, while also tapping into deeper archetypal frameworks.

You can also try out practices that lean more into lowering the conscious field and less so on working with image and symbol. Reading palms, utilizing a pendulum, scrying, ecstatic dance or free writing/drawing can move one into a liminal state. This opens the same divinatory portals, where unconscious material flows higher towards the ego.

The Artemisian is a home for archetypal inner work

In my writings and teachings, I strive to make the path of archetypal inner work accessible, showing that the potential to see archetypally and meet the unconscious is latent within each of us. We do not need to outsource this work to another; we are the living channel through which psyche’s images and expressions move.

Finding that path alone, however, can be disorienting. Where do we begin? What resources should we turn to? How do we make sense of the flood of images, symbols and experiences that flow from the unconscious?

The Artemisian stands at the threshold of the psyche and these mysteries. My hope is that the offerings here will help you to explore the influences shaping your inner and outer life, learn the symbolic language of the unconscious, and deepen your journey of growth and becoming.

The membership is where we do the most powerful form of this work — monthly classes, a wealth of educational resources, and a community of thoughtful fellow seekers walking the path of individuation together.

Join the membership today

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections on these ideas…

Do you practice any forms of divination or related modalities? Are you interested in building a relationship to the unconscious? Have you had similar experiences to the ones mentioned here? Join me in the comments to discuss!

Leave a comment

Support The Artemisian

What unconscious insights can we uncover during heightened emotional experiences?

There is no one path to discovering unconscious material within. Insights and perceptions can be gleaned in a variety of ways, from the images in our dreams to patterns of impulsive behavior or mysterious somatic symptoms. We can also inquire into our shifting emotional states, especially ones that came upon us suddenly: “Where did this intense rage come from? Why am I in tears and feeling so sadly? What brings forth this rush of joy and connection?”

Something deeper brews within the psyche during these times. The temptation to minimize the experience, to sweep it under the rug, or rationalize it away is strong. What if we instead saw these moments as messages emanating from the unconscious?

The main takeaways from Jung are:

• Heightened emotions cause altered states of consciousness (where ego dims).

• The contents of the unconscious intensify and break through the surface.

• This reveals structures of the psyche, like complexes, and more deeply, the archetypal foundations they sit upon.

Let’s take a look at this further…

Consider this Jungian diagram2 that depicts the strata of the psyche. On the left side, we see the typical mode of psychic organization. The bright outer ring is the conscious sphere, all the psychic contents that are explicit, obvious, and accessible. It includes the thoughts, memories, images, emotions, and sensations we’re aware of (or can become aware of) in the moment. It also contains the ego, the autobiographical “I,” which provides a sense of identity and continuity.

Beneath this lies the personal unconscious, where complexes, repressed material, and emerging aspects of self reside. Deeper still is the collective unconscious: the universal, inborn layer of the psyche that contains archetypal frameworks, primordial symbols, and psychic drives shared by all of humanity.

During times of psychic disruption, the lower unconscious layers flood into consciousness (see the expansion of the dark unconscious rings in the diagram). As the levee fails, as material from the personal and collective unconscious spills in, we experience a profound sense of disorientation—an altered state of consciousness.

This is a remarkable moment, a piercing into the psychic veil, something that often takes an incredible amount of effort and focus to achieve. Jung tells us that the process is being driven by complexes. Loosely, we can define a complex as clusters of related images, ideas, and experiences held together by a common emotional tone and an archetypal core. They form the basic elements of the personal unconscious, acting as fundamental building blocks of the personality. They are not inherently negative or positive, but range in quality depending on their genesis.

Complexes are sometimes referred to as “splinter psyches3,” which speaks to their semi-autonomous nature and the quality of personhood they carry. They are not a mere emotion or memory exiled away into psychic shadow, they are rich and dynamic, with thoughts, feelings, yearnings, and drives unto themself. Reclamation of a complex strengthens and fleshes out our psychological makeup. It is an essential task of individuation, one that supports a deepening sense of selfhood and wholeness.

This guide is designed to help you meet a complex during times of emotional activation. Doing so illuminates the unconscious in new light, allowing you to access the personal unconscious threads of your inner world, and, perhaps most importantly, the archetypal center that shapes it.

Exploring and Integrating a Complex

Many of the intractable patterns of behavior, thought, and orientation we find most frustrating are rooted in our complexes. Their autonomy, their capacity to overwhelm consciousness, to subtly or explicitly drive our actions, speaks to their incredible power and influence.

Intention to engage a complex is not enough. Understanding the psychic landscape, all of the surrounding associations, its origins, the role it plays within the psyche, the archetype at its heart — this is what gives us the best chance to truly meet and integrate complex material.

Below are 3 steps and guidelines to support you through this process.

I. — Choose a Situation

Consider a recent time of emotionality. It may encompass a spectrum of possibility such as:

• A fit of jealousy that overcame you

• An overreaction to being let down that you can’t make sense of

• Feeling infatuated by a new individual for reasons you cannot place

• A pattern of behavior you find frustrating but cannot seem to overcome

• A rigid belief such as, “I’m not good enough”

• Anytime you come out of an experience and think, “I was not myself”

Write about the situation briefly.

II. — Elements of the Complex

The next step in the process is to discern the elements of the complex. Try to place yourself back into that state, to recall what it felt like inwardly and outwardly as you explore the landscape of the complex.

The elements of the complex are:

• Emotions (the array of feelings present)

• Images (mental pictures, symbols, or visual representations)

• Thoughts (beliefs, judgements, and ideas)

• Memories (recollections of past events)

• Physical sensations (noticeable bodily impressions)

Step two often needs to be repeated many times over, especially around compulsive reactions and behaviors we cannot seem to change. Each time we engage in the exercise, we gain more insight. It may take several repetitions to fill out the list completely. With consistency, the general patterns start to reveal itself.

If you use the guide often enough, you can try to do step two when a complex is activated (meaning you are doing so in the moment). This is a task, however, that requires considerable ego stability and nervous system resilience, so you may struggle with the process. The more often you try, the easier it becomes! If you’re not able to catch much during the moment, record as much as you can immediately afterward, when you have come back to yourself.

III. — Reflection and Integration

Once you’ve fleshed out the web of the complex, it’s time to engage in reflection and sketch paths towards integration. Here are some prompts and considerations to help you do so:

• Which elements from step two have the most energy and intensity? Try ranking them from most to least activating or intense.

  • Why do you think one element (such as a feeling of abandonment or an image of a crashing plane) is more powerful than the others?

• Can you make any connections back to past events? If so, what happened during that time of your life that may be unresolved?

• If the complex were to tell its life story, what would it say?

• What purpose or role does this complex serve? How is it trying to support you or compensate for something?

• Are there certain qualities, experiences, or aspects of self the complex wants you to claim, acknowledge, or attend to?

• What might the complex need to feel resolved, heard, and welcomed?

• Based on your reflections, which archetype would you guess sits at the center of this complex?

Lastly, what is 1 - 3 practical actions you can implement based on the insight you’ve gained from the complex?

Here’s an example of this process at work in my life.

I. — Choose a Situation:

A mixup with my scheduling system at work led to a double booking for my clients, with one individual missing their session completely. It wasn’t clear till well after the session concluded what had happened. When I realized it, I felt deeply upset, to a clearly overblown extent. My distress was confusing—sure, it’s important to recognize and learn from my mistakes, but the anguish and guilt I felt seemed to indicate a deeper isue.

II. — Elements of the complex:

• Emotions: Remorse, disappointment, guilt, frustration, anger at myself.

• Images: Wandering through a dark and chaotic storm.

• Thoughts: “I should have caught this.” “It’s my job to foresee these events.” “I failed."

• Memories: Times in school when I was unprepared for a group project. Working as a waitress and forgetting orders. Feeling like I letdown someone in my family.

• Physical sensations: Tightness in the chest and my body feeling on high alert.

III. — Reflection and Integration

The memories I uncovered in step two really stuck out to me. I was surprised to find myself moving back in time, to past events that seem unrelated, yet clearly have a connection. At the center of these memories is a driving emotional current: a high level of conscientiousness that quickly becomes persecutory. I am not giving myself any grace, no room for mistakes, or to account for factors out of my control. I wonder, “Why do I hold myself to such unrealistic standards?”

I believe the complex is presenting me with an opportunity to develop more compassion, grace, and understanding. I readily offer this to others, often without question. My inability to do so for myself, the resistance I feel, clearly speaks to a tension within.

What role does this persecutor play? On the one hand, it helps me attend to others with incredible attention and care. My ability to anticipate needs, to give freely, and naturally attune to others is one of the gifts of my personality. But it clearly goes too far, my own well being or self-compassion is sacrificed.

The main archetypal pattern that came up for me is The Caretaker. The sense of failure is less about perfectionism and more so about letting other people down. When someone else is involved, there is a heightened need to handle a situation correctly, so that things go smoothly and the needs of others are met. The archetype clearly drives a lot of meaning, but its lacking nuance and balance. I believe this is tied to a learned behavior that began at a very young age.

Practical actions:

• When the complex is activated, try to say “this is The Caretaker” to slow down my reactions and build more awareness.

• Practice more self-compassion and grace at all times, not just when situations like this come up.

• Do a tarot reading with “The Caretaker” as the focus to explore its desires and needs further.

Recommended Resources

Books

• “A Review of the Complex Theory” in Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (CW 8) by C.G. Jung

• Complex, Archetype, Symbol in the Psychology of C.G. Jung by Jolande Jacobi

• Chapter 2, “The Populated Interior” in Jung’s Map of the Soul by Murray Stein

At The Artemisian

• Mythic Inner Work (workshop)

• The Inner Fire: Erupting Forces of Psychological Renewal (article)

Join the conversation

Do you have any thoughts or questions on complexes? Have you used other techniques to navigate and work with complexes in your life? What main complex are you grappling with currently?

Leave a comment