Digital Jung

Jason E. Smith

Living a Symbolic Life in a Technological Age. Our digital age presents unique challenges for the practice of the inner life. What can the insights of Jungian Psychology offer for dealing with these challenges? In this series, we explore Carl Jung's idea of "the symbolic life" through the lenses of depth psychology, mythology, fairy tales, poetry, religion, and more. We focus on three core questions: 1. What is the symbolic life? 2. Why do we need a symbolic life? and 3. How can we cultivate and live a symbolic life? This is a companion podcast to the book 'Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life' by Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith.

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Top 10 Digital Jung Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Digital Jung episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Digital Jung for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Digital Jung episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The Art of Reflection

Digital Jung

05/06/21 • 25 min

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In this episode:
We explore Jung's thoughts about the capacity for reflection and why he sees it as an essential component of our humanity.

Sources for quotes and more:

"'Reflection' should be understood not simply as an act of thought, but rather as an attitude. It is a privilege born of human freedom in contradistinction to the compulsion of natural law...." ~ C.G. Jung from A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity (footnote, par. 235) in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
"It cannot be denied that our current age is a distracted one." ~ 'Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.'
Episode 27: Working With Your Dreams
Discussion of bios and zoê in The Experience of God: Icons of the Mystery by Raimon Panikkar.
Discussion of events and experiences in Healing Fiction by James Hillman.
The Psychology of the Transference by C.G. Jung, 'Collected Works, vol. 16.' *
"[It is] indeed wonderful to see how human beings, besides their life in the concrete, always live a second life in the abstract...." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer in 'The World as Will and Representation.' *
'Concerning the Inner Life.' by Evelyn Underhill
Adaptation, Individuation, Collectivity by C.G. Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 18.' *
'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.' by C.G. Jung
'The Rhythm of Being.' by Raimon Panikkar*

*Some quotes have been adapted to reflect gender neutral language. There has been no change made to the essential meaning of those quotes.

Music:
"Dreaming Days," "Slow Vibing," and "The Return" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites:
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Connect with me:
Instagram (@digital.jung)
Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst)
Bluesky (@digitaljung.bsky.social)
Subscribe to the Digital Jung Newsletter (https://digitaljung.substack.com/)
For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.

Being What We Are

Digital Jung

11/19/20 • 25 min

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In this episode:
We discuss how we can know and express what Carl Jung calls “the unique and unrepeatable experience” that we are.
Sources for quotes and more:

"The whole of yourself is certainly an irrational entity, but this is just precisely yourself..." ~ C.G. Jung from 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
Each person “represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way, and never again.” ~ Hermann Hesse from 'Demian.'
"The mystery of the psyche is that we are haunted not by what we want out of life, but by what life wants out of us." ~ D. Stephenson Bond from 'Living Myth: Personal Meaning as a Way of Life.'
The Three Feathers from 'Grimm's Tales.'
"If one doesn't understand a person one tends to regard him as a fool." ~ C.G. Jung from 'Collected Works, vol. 14.'
"Very often we look God-knows-where for the solution of our problem and do not see that it is right in front of our noses. We are not humble enough to look downward but stick our noses up in the air." ~ Marie-Louise von Franz from 'The Interpretation of Fairy Tales.'
"The quiet eminence of our being." ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel from 'Man is Not Alone.'
"I am not a spare part which can be exchanged. If I do not enact what I am, no one else will." ~ Raimon Panikkar from 'A Dwelling Place for Wisdom.'

Music:
"Dreaming Days" and "Slow Vibing" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Like this podcast?
Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Or, if you are able, support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee:

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Taking Dreams Seriously

Digital Jung

02/18/21 • 19 min

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In this episode:
We confront the dismissive attitudes that many people have about dreams and explore recent research that confirms the meaning and value of dreams.

Sources for quotes and more:

“The dream is often occupied with apparently very silly details, thus producing an impression of absurdity..." ~ C.G. Jung in On the Psychology of the Unconscious from 'Collected Works, vol. 7.'
Episode 19: Dreaming and Reality
Francis Crick's "garbage dump theory of dreams" discussed in 'The Committee of Sleep' by Deirdre Barrett.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Dreams That Warn of Breast Cancer
Robert Bosnak's work on the post-surgical dreams of heart transplant patients discussed in 'The Committee of Sleep.'
“Wakefulness may be described as a dreamlike state modulated by sensory experience.” ~ Llinas and Pare, quoted in 'The Neurobiology of the Gods' by Erik Goodwyn.
“What proof could you give if anyone should ask us now, at the present moment, whether we are asleep and our thoughts are a dream, or whether we are awake and talking to each other in a waking condition?” ~ Socrates in Plato's 'Theaetetus.'
“In waking life, too, we continue to dream beneath the threshold of consciousness.” ~ C.G. Jung in Problems of Modern Psychotherapy from 'Collected Works, vol. 16.'
"Who Says Words With My Mouth?" ~ poem by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks.
“All dreams reveal spiritual experiences.” ~ C.G. Jung in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'

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The Life of the Spirit

Digital Jung

06/01/23 • 27 min

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In this episode:
I begin an exploration of the fairytale 'The Iron Stove' and explore what it means to be called beyond the limitations of the ego to an experience of the spirit.

Let's make this a conversation:
Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook(facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith)
Or: Subscribe to the Digital Jung Newsletter (https://digitaljung.substack.com/)
For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life, available from Chiron Publications.
Sources for quotes and more:

Spirit and Life in ‘Collected Works, vol. 8’ by C.G. Jung
The Iron Stove, Grimm's Fairy Tales
'Rites and Symbols of Initiation' by Mircea Eliade
'Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life' by Jason E. Smith
'The Grail Legend' by Emma Jung & Marie-Louise von Franz
Circles in ‘Essays: First Series’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Song of a Man Who Has Come Through, poem by D. H. Lawrence

For text and narration of The Iron Stove, visit: https://digitaljung.substack.com/p/the-iron-stove
Enjoy the birdsong in the background!

Like this podcast?
Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Podchaser
Or, if you are able, support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)

Music:
"Dreaming Days," "Slow Vibing," and "

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The Stages of the Alchemical Opus

Digital Jung

02/09/23 • 29 min

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In this episode:
I continue with the third part of a four-part series on alchemy, this time looking at the stages of the alchemical opus and their meaning for the work of the symbolic life.

Psychology and Alchemy in 'Collected Works, vol. 12' by C.G. Jung
'Alchemy' by Marie-Louise von Franz
Aion in 'Collected Works, vol. 9ii' by C.G. Jung
S3, Ep. 8: Alchemy: Mirror of the Soul
'C.G. Jung Speaking' edited by William McGuire & R.F.C. Hull
The Psychology of the Transference in 'Collected Works, vol. 16' by C.G. Jung

Music:
"Dreaming Days," "Slow Vibing," and "The Return" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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Invoking the Imagination

Digital Jung

10/07/22 • 27 min

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In this episode:
We look at the question of how to begin -- that is, what preparations are needed to begin the work of the symbolic life?

Let's make this a conversation:
Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
Or: Subscribe to the Digital Jung Newsletter (https://digitaljung.substack.com/)
For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life, available from Chiron Publications.
Sources for quotes and more:

Individual Dream Symbolism in Relation to Alchemy from 'Collected Works, vol. 12' by C.G. Jung
'The Gods of the Greeks' by Karl Kerényi
The Swan, poem by Mary Oliver from 'House of Light'
'Biographia Literaria' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
'Hymn to Delos' by Callimachus
The Aims of Psychotherapy from 'Collected Works, vol. 16' by C.G. Jung

Music:
"Dreaming Days," "Slow Vibing," and "The Return" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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Religious but Not Religious (Highlights)

Digital Jung

04/15/21 • 27 min

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In this episode:
I present some highlights and excerpts from a recording of a recent talk that I gave on my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.

Sources for quotes and more:

“Now, we have no symbolic life, and we are all badly in need of the symbolic life. Only the symbolic life can express the need of the soul — the daily need of the soul..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Symbolic Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 18.'
"Do we ever understand what we think? We only understand that kind of thinking which is a mere equation, from which nothing comes out but what we have put in..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Stages of Life in 'Collected Works, vol. 8.'
"All teems with symbol; the wise man is the man who in any one thing can read another." ~ Plotinus
"The religious symbol is used against the perils of the soul. The symbol functions as a sort of machine, one could say, by which the libido is transformed...." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Seminar on Nietzsche's Zarathurstra.'
“The individual, who hitherto has been caught in his personal entanglements, is then confronted with a problem which no longer represents solely his personal conflict but gives expression to a conflict that it has been incumbent on man to suffer and solve from time immemorial." ~ Jolande Jacobi in 'Complex/Archetype/Symbol.'
"Among all my patients in the second half of life -- that is to say, over thirty-five -- there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life...." ~ C.G. Jung from Psychotherapists or the Clergy in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.' by C.G. Jung

Music:
"Dreaming Days," and "Slow Vibing" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Like this podcast?
Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Or, if you are able, support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee:

Support the show

Dreaming and Reality

Digital Jung

02/11/21 • 22 min

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In this episode:
We explore how paying attention to our dreams can help us to expand our experience of the depth and meaningfulness of life.

Sources for quotes and more:

Harriet Tubman and Paul McCartney dream stories found in 'The Secret History of Dreaming' by Robert Moss.
Abraham Lincoln dream story as told in 'Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865' by Ward Hill Lamon.
"There is a dream dreaming us," from Laurens van der Post from 'Where Will All the Stories Go?' in Parabola Magazine, vol. 7, no. 2.
"When dreaming I'm guided to another world" ~ Creed, from the song 'Higher.'
"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." ~ Edgar Allan Poe from the poem 'A Dream Within a Dream.'
"Aha, so he is the one who is meditating me. He has a dream, and I am it." ~ C.G. Jung in 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections.'
Butterfly Dream from Chuang-Tzu.
“What proof could you give if anyone should ask us now, at the present moment, whether we are asleep and our thoughts are a dream, or whether we are awake and talking to each other in a waking condition?” ~ Socrates in Plato's 'Theaetetus.'
'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare
'The Letters of D.H. Lawrence, vol. 1.'
The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man by C.G. Jung in 'Collected Works, vol. 10'
'The Way of the Dream' by Marie-Louise von Franz
“All consciousness separates, but in dreams we put on the likeness of that more universal, truer, more eternal self dwelling in the darkness of primordial night.” ~ C.G. Jung from The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man in 'Collected Works, vol. 10.'

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Moby-Dick: An American Myth, Part 1

Digital Jung

04/13/25 • 29 min

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In this episode:
I explore the creative process, the nature of art, and the psychological depths of the human experience through the lens of Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick.'

Sources for quotes and more:

'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville (Chapter 1: Loomings; Chapter 87: The Grand Armada; Chapter 104: The Fossil Whale)
'Melville's Moby-Dick: A Jungian Commentary' by Edward Edinger
'Psychology and Literature' by C.G. Jung (CW15)
'On the Relation of Analytical Psychology and Poetry' by C.G. Jung (CW15)
'Mysterium Coniunctionis' by C.G. Jung (CW14)
'Is Life Worth Living?' by William James
The Gospel of Thomas
'A Dwelling Place For Wisdom' by Raimon Panikkar
'Two Essays on Analytical Psychology' by C.G. Jung (CW7)
'The Holy Longing,' poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (R. Bly, Translator)

Music:
"Dreaming Days" and "Slow Vibing" by Ketsa are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Like this podcast?
Please consider leaving a review:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Or, if you are able, support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)

Support the show

The Paradox of Happiness

Digital Jung

01/06/22 • 25 min

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In this episode:
We talk about happiness, and discover why Jung believed it was better for us not to pursue it.

Let's make this a conversation:
Do you have a comment or question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Instagram (@digital.jung), Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst), or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).
For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life, available from Chiron Publications.
Sources for quotes and more:

Except where otherwise noted, all quotes from Jung are taken from The Art of Living in 'C.G. Jung Speaking.'
'Tao Te Ching,' Translated by Red Pine.
'A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeleine L’Engle.
'A Room of One's Own' by Virginia Woolf.
“The challenge I face is how to actualize the quiet eminence of our being.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, 'I Asked For Wonder.'
Letter to Harriet Hardy from C.G. Jung ("Carl Jung on Happiness")
“...a civilization that has forgotten that man’s life should be sacrificial, that is, offered up to an idea greater than himself.” ~ C.G. Jung, in 'Collected Works, vol. 11.'
“Again and again I therefore admonish my students both in Europe and in America: ‘Don't aim at success..." ~ Viktor Frankl in 'Man's Search For Meaning.'

Like this podcast?
Please consider leaving a review at one of the following sites:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Podchaser
...or support the show with a donation at Buy Me a Coffee (link below)

Music:
"Dreaming Days," "Slow Vibing," and "

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FAQ

How many episodes does Digital Jung have?

Digital Jung currently has 84 episodes available.

What topics does Digital Jung cover?

The podcast is about Mythology, Health & Fitness, Psychology, Mental Health, Religion & Spirituality, Podcasts, Religion and Jungian.

What is the most popular episode on Digital Jung?

The episode title 'The Fact of Fantasy' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Digital Jung?

The average episode length on Digital Jung is 26 minutes.

How often are episodes of Digital Jung released?

Episodes of Digital Jung are typically released every 13 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Digital Jung?

The first episode of Digital Jung was released on Sep 29, 2020.

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Digital Jung

Jason E. Smith

Top 10 Digital Jung Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Digital Jung have?

What topics does Digital Jung cover?

What is the most popular episode on Digital Jung?

What is the average episode length on Digital Jung?

How often are episodes of Digital Jung released?

When was the first episode of Digital Jung?

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