{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Descent: A Jungian Exploration of the Underworld","description":"In every culture and every religion, we find the concept of the underworld: sometimes located underground, and usually understood as a final destination after death.   This week, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart circumambulate the notion of the underworld and what it means for us psychologically. James Hillman\u2019s Dreams and the Underworld offers a guide, linking our dreaming life to myths of the underworld.   We discuss versions of the underworld in Etruscan, Mayan, Christian, Egyptian and Greek mythology, and explore how each culture envisions the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the extent to which it is possible to enter an underworld and return.   Psychologically, the underworld can represent a descent into the world of the unconscious, where completely different values apply. Awake, we may feel concerned about our job or our house, but if we listen to our dreams, we\u2019ll often find the unconscious pointing us elsewhere, towards neglected truths or hidden desires.   A visit to the underworld can also be understood as a transformational loss of innocence, just as Kore is raped and abducted by Hades, and transforms into Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. In life, we will all experience a painful loss of innocence or an experience that feels like a descent into hell. Such descents may become important points of initiation on our life\u2019s journey.   Visit our \u2060website\u2060 to read today\u2019s dream and follow up on the resources we mention.   Connect With This Jungian Life   Take a look at This Jungian Life \u2060Dream School\u2060, our online course in Jungian dream analysis.   Send a \u2060dream\u2060 for us to analyze on the show.   Watch bonus mini-episodes on our \u2060Patreon\u2060 channel.   Follow This Jungian Life on \u2060Instagram\u2060. ","author_name":"This Jungian Life","author_url":"http:\/\/www.ThisJungianLife.com","html":"