The body as a vessel of silenced truth finds a potent metaphor in the Greek myth of Cassandra, the prophetess whose true visions were condemned to disbelief. Her story mirrors the tension between inner knowing and outer invalidation, when intuitive or embodied insight is dismissed by consciousness or the collective.
Your body a source of wisdom beyond your wildest imagination. Your DNA carries the stories of all your ancestors; as well as the potential of your descendants. In your cellular memory lies the answers to all your questions. The body expresses what the psyche cannot articulate - through somatic sensations, symptoms, or affective states.
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Deeply embedded in human consciousness is the archetype of the Healer. Its expressions differ across cultures, but a common thread remains: a desire to alleviate human suffering and restore balance to the dis-eased individual.
The numinous, a term first articulated by Rudolf Otto in Das Heilige, describes the quality of direct encounter with the sacred - the wholly other, carrying awe, mystery, terror, and fascination. Carl Jung broadened Otto’s insight, locating the numinous in the archetypal depths of the psyche. For Jung, it erupts from the unconscious with a force that seizes the ego, alters consciousness, and leaves the individual irrevocably changed.
Philosopher Plato once imagined the cosmos as “a living creature truly endowed with soul and intelligence. Animistic traditions recognise that the Earth is not passive terrain, but a living being with whom we share an interconnected consciousness.
In today’s technocratic and performance-driven culture, many find themselves plagued by anxiety, depression, loneliness, and a sense of alienation. The collapse of shared mythic frameworks created a void quickly filled by consumerism and external success—stimulating but ultimately hollow substitutes that fail to nourish the soul.
In The Handless Maiden, a Brothers Grimm tale, a poor miller is approached by the devil-in-disguise who offers wealth in exchange for “what stands behind your mill.” Believing it to be an apple tree, the man agrees, only to discover that his daughter was standing there.
There is a deep and often unspoken grief in the loss of the little boy or girl inside each of us - the one who once looked at life with wide-eyed innocence, full of hopes, dreams, and pure-hearted belief in possibility. There comes a moment in the journey of individuation when we realize that the child we once were has been exiled - out of necessity.
Gaslighting - the psychological manipulation that causes individuals to doubt their own perceptions - is often linked to deception, denial, and power dynamics. In mythology, the Trickster archetype embodies this shadow aspect, distorting reality to serve its own ends. A striking example comes from Norse mythology: Loki and the death of Balder.
The process of individuation is a lifelong journey of integrating the conscious and unconscious aspects of the self, leading to the fullest, most authentic expression of being. Individuation necessitates engagement with the Shadow and the Self, both of which hold immense creative potential. Unlocking the creative psyche requires more than passive introspection - it calls for active immersion in the inner world.