Making the Unconscious Conscious: Archetypes, Shadow Work & Astrology

Sarah and I share a love of Jung, and in this episode of our Big Shifts series on Out of the Trance, we explore something that connects my work in hypnotherapy with hers in astrology: archetypes. How do the patterns we meet in myths, symbols and stories show up in our own lives? And how can recognising them help us make sense of the changes we’re moving through, individually and collectively?

We explore archetypes, including Jungian archetypes, from the Wise Old Man to the Mother, the shadow and the adversary. I share how I work with symbols, metaphors and archetypal figures in hypnotherapy, including calling on qualities we may not have had access to growing up.

Sarah brings the astrological lens, exploring the 12th house, Pluto, Saturn and Lilith as ways of reflecting on what’s hidden, what needs our attention and where we might be holding ourselves back.

We get into fear, responsibility, the dark night of the soul, and the difference between being caught in an unconscious pattern and beginning to work with it. Sarah also shares a deeply personal story about losing her father, and how something she had feared for years became an experience of love and initiation.

We follow these threads into the collective, exploring power, authority and the re-emergence of feminine figures such as Lilith and Mary Magdalene. What might reclaiming our voice, our anger and our creative fire make possible, both personally and collectively?

We close with a few places to begin: exploring your own chart, reading Jung’s Man and His Symbols, and getting curious about the fears we haven’t yet been able to name.

Timestamps

00:00 Archetypes, Jung & Astrology
00:53 The Patterns We Live Through
03:35 Symbols, Myths & How the Subconscious Learns
06:06 The Parts of Ourselves We Hide
07:22 Exploring the 12th House
10:29 Lilith: Shame, Power & Speaking Your Truth
12:57 What’s in Your 12th House?
16:57 Saturn, Pluto & the Work of Transformation
20:27 Collective Change: Conjunctions & Oppositions
22:22 Naming Our Fears
26:28 The Adversary Across Myths & Modern Life
27:40 Mary Magdalene & Reclaiming the Feminine
30:43 Where to Begin: Your Chart, Your Fears & Jung