Nekyias (@CarlJungMemes)

The Reading List — Looking for a Radical Elsewhere

Thank you for 100 patrons!!!!!!

Attached below is the full, 6k+ word list of over 50 reading recommendations, including my thoughts on why each book is important + the order in which I think some of them should be tackled. I may come back and make a few edits (I'm working with limited wifi at the moment and am trying to get this uploaded while I still have service)! Sections include Depression & Disenchantment, Approaching Jung, Magic Metaphysics & Prophecy, Consciousness, Perso...

EPISODE 6 PT 2: THE HANGED MAN

In this continuation from our last episode, we move into a discussion of how the ineffable contributes to two major topics we've covered in earlier episodes: reference points and the empowered surrender. Using our "worlding" puzzle metaphor from the last episode, we explore how reference points operate, and attempt to visualize what the empowered surrender is literally doing to our lives. Finally, I move into a few pointers on how to correctly identify the lost object, as well the role of asp...

EPISODE 6 PT 1: THE HANGED MAN

In this special, intermission-style episode, we take a winding road toward a major topic in this series: the ineffable. Starting with a discussion about the role of perspective in our approach to depression, I share my personal experience with the ineffable and dissociative states (...and a bad acid trip). We also touch on Goya, trauma, desire, and derealization, and return a bit to the moth analogy.

I had to break up this episode into two parts due to the length, but if possible they a...

Intermission & Q&A

Hello friends! 

After careful consideration and a number of messages asking for clarification on some of the topics we've already discussed, I've decided to release Episode 6 (Birth of the Rebel) next month—in its place, I'd like to slow things down a bit and try a wrap-up/Q&A/synthesis episode on the first four stages we've covered so far (The Dream, Collapse of the Dream, Failed Return to the Garden, and The Empowered Surrender). Specifically, I'd like to expand a bit on th...

EPISODE 5 PART 2: THE EMPOWERED SURRENDER

Part 2 is here! 

In this continuation from our last episode, we cover a psychological theory with roots in clinical research and Terror Management Theory that helps to explain why the Empowered Surrender works for combatting depression. We discuss attachment, value hierarchies, self-esteem, self-focus, the "lost object," and a guy named Stephen. Around the 45-minute mark, we turn our discussion over to the Empowered Surrender itself and examine ways to identify what, exactly, it is...

TRANSCRIPTS (Episodes 1-4)

Below you'll find the text for our first four episodes, in case reading is a bit easier for you than audio, you'd like to read along, or would just like to revisit the content visually. Obviously these were written with the podcast in mind, but I did try to clean it up a little for a better reading experience. I've also italicized and underlined key concepts so that following the argument is a little easier, which I hope is helpful if there were certain sections in the audio version that are ...

Close Friends

Hi all! 

Thank you so much for coming along with me on this journey, and I hope the content has been clear and helpful so far. As mentioned on the benefits list for your subscription, being a patron also gets you access to my Close Friends list on Instagram. Close Friends allows you to see my private story posts on my account @CarlJungMemes. I'll be posting unpolished reflections, short personal stories, ideas with which I'm currently grappling, and... really whatever seems worth s...

EPISODE 5 PART 1: THE EMPOWERED SURRENDER

In this episode*, we approach the first step of the Katabasis. Beginning with a quick clarification about the connection between imagination and depression, we introduce a major concept I'll be referring to as "reference points." Then, we move into a discussion of the three options between which someone caught in the land of depression has to choose: suspension, suicide**, and surrender. Finally, we explore the nature of the empowered surrender, and I give a couple of examples from my persona...

EPISODE 4: THE FAILED RETURN TO THE GARDEN

The last of our foundational episodes, we attempt to outline a "topography" of the land of depression under the collapsing Dream. We talk the characteristics of depression, simulations as metaphor, nostalgia, and David Lynch. As the final stage before the Katabasis can truly begin, I hope this episode also serves as a wrap-up and synthesis, particularly with regard to how our sense of reality informs our lived experience with depression. 

The Collapse of the D...

EPISODE 3: THE COLLAPSE OF THE DREAM

Welcome all Patreon subscribers! In this episode we're going to be tackling what, exactly, causes the Dream to collapse. We start with a very brief recap of the previous episodes, as well as a few clarifications. Then we move on to explore what causes depression from what we know today, as well as a continued discussion of Federico Campagna's Technic and Magic. Finally, we begin to tackle one of the fundamental concepts in this model—the capacity to imagine a "radical elsewhere."  This...

EPISODE 2: THE DREAM (old version)

In our second episode, we explore the first stage, or "starting point" of the Katabasis and journey through depression. Specifically, we are interested in defining the "Dream," in order to build a foundation for Episode 3 (The Collapse of the Dream). We talk about moths, metaphysics and meaning, as well as our modern understanding of reality. This episode utilizes philosopher Federico Campagna's ideas, particularly from his work Technic and Magic, to start to build a foundation toward a more ...

EPISODE 1: KATABASIS

The first episode of our series exploring a new model of depression. The first half is a bit of an introduction to what exactly I'm trying to do with this series—then, we get into a brief discussion of Carl Jung. Works referenced in this episode include Dante's Inferno, The Red Book (C.G. Jung), and Catafalque (Peter Kingsley). This is the first of two free episodes. 

KATABASIS//ANABASIS (Original Guide)

1. The Dream 

2. Collapse of the Dream 

3. Failed Return to the Garden 

4. Crisis

5. The Empowered Surrender

6. Birth of the Rebel

7. The Bargainer's Dream

8. The Body & The Labyrinth 

9. Reclamation of the Soul

10. The 3rd Function 

11. Collapse of the Tower

12. The Desert

13. Lucidity & Expansion