Before the separatio cut, we may live in a state of participation mystique, a fused state that blurs the distinction between me and not-me. Separatio begins when we tease the strands apart. We learn self-inquiry that helps us differentiate what happened out there from what stirred in here. This alchemical axiom can help us distinguish between the concrete facts and our idiosyncratic meaning. Many practical dilemmas hide behind this confusion. A person determined to file for divorce may need an inner parting, not a legal filing. Once we sort the outer action from the inner psychospiritual task, our next steps become obvious. With each clean distinction, room opens for choice. This happens when we recall our projection and feel our own anger, envy, or longing. We need to place our issues inside ourselves and stop hammering on other people to make us feel better. Like skilled surgery, the perfect psychological cut is in service to the healing process. The Ego stops hiding inside self-service interpretations and meets the object as an autonomous other. That clarification can bring grief, because projections carry love and hope. The mourning that follows marks the withdrawal of fantasy from its host. What remains is smaller and truer, thus enduring. In this way, separatio builds a durable relationship to people and to reality.

The devil archetype carries three qualities: it promotes bestial violence of every kind, it tries to convince us that the material world is the only reality, and it fools us into thinking we can spiritually ascend through intellect alone. On a personal level, it gathers our disowned infernal traits—envy, rage, greed, and the wish to dominate —and seduces us into believing those qualities are virtues.  Once we face our own devilishness and grant it a symbolic form, we can assume a choiceful stance. Lacking that, we try to evacuate our own evil by projecting it onto others and then punishing them. As Jungians, we understand that our inferior function will first present as an imp. Still, with kind concern and thoughtful opportunities, it can transform into an uncanny ally that rescues us from malignant innocence. In its subtle form, the demonic attitude tempts us into literalism as it attacks our capacity to reflect and hold a symbolic attitude. Join us as we circumambulate The Devil in honor of Halloween.

The Buddhabrot pattern springs from a simple algorithm: you take thousands of starting points, run each one through the same formula over and over, and chart only those whose values grow without limit—these “divergent” paths form the spectral Buddha-like silhouette. Once you recognize the pattern, you see it everywhere. It’s visible in the rosette stained glass windows of Notre-Dame de Paris and Chartres, numerous representations of the buddha, as well as in the Vāstu-Puruṣa-Maṇḍala used as blueprints for Indian temples, and in the ancient chakra symbols that are now so common—proof that numbers are universal symbols tying Psyche to the world. This is a newly identified archetype: an algorithmic icon born of computation that reveals an underlying cosmic unity that C.G. Jung called the Unus Mundus. Dr. Harry J. Shirley joins us and provides an amazing initiation into this uncanny discovery.

From depths ancient and obscure, the shark emerges, slicing effortlessly through the primal waters of Psyche. It is ancient, older than trees, a remnant from eons before humans carried consciousness. With sleek lines and unwavering purpose, it embodies life’s earliest impulse: to hunt, to feed, to survive. No morality softens its edges; no sentiment clouds its gaze. In encountering the shark, you encounter life stripped bare: existence distilled into a single, relentless will to continue, no matter the cost.

The detective archetype speaks to a universal drive for uncovering what has been concealed. This impulse emerges whenever communities sense the weight of secrets, crimes, or enigmas that destabilize ordinary life. By taking on the role of investigator, the detective strives to reestablish clarity and order, reflecting humanity’s innate desire for comprehension. Yet the archetypal detective does more than solve puzzles; he or she addresses the fundamental mystery of how darkness and truth coexist.