The Quest: Vision in an Age of Crisis. Jungian Psychotherapy

Episode

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  S2 Ep123. Hubris and Nemesis. Part 2. Napoleon Bonaparte 01.08.2026 36mnt

  From 1789 onward, French history became a breathtaking cycle of hubris and nemesis. Nowhere was this more striking than in the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Rising rapidly through the revolutionary ranks to govern and pacify France, he ultimately crowned himself Emperor and crushed coalition after coalition in legendary battles. By 1812, his self-belief was god-like, his army worshipped him, and his hubris reached its absolute peak. Then came the fateful error: invading Russia. Underestimating his enemy, the vast distances, and the brutal winter—a mistake Hitler would famously repeat over a century later—he lost over half a million men in a campaign he never needed to fight. Though he clawed his way back once more, his nemesis was absolute. His final years were spent exiled on the windswept Atlantic island of St. Helena, where the man who once ruled Europe died broken, isolated, and miserable.
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  S2 Ep 122 Hubris and Nemesis. Part 1. "Remember that you are only a man." 01.07.2026 29mnt

  "Remember that you are only a man." From the victory chariots of Ancient Rome to the underground bunkers of Berlin, absolute power has a habit of shattering a leader's connection to reality. But is hubris simply arrogance—or is it a clinical condition? In this episode: • The Anatomy of a Dictator: How Ian Kershaw’s "working towards the Führer" thesis explains the collective surrender of a civilized nation. • The 14 Symptoms of Power Intoxication: Dr. David Owen’s psychological diagnostic for leaders like Bush, Blair, Thatcher, and Lloyd George. • Sickness in High Office: The hidden medical impairments, botched surgeries, and heavy drug regimens that secretly shaped 20th-century history (JFK, FDR, and Eden). • The Jungian Archetype: Why the human ego inflates, why collective mass hubris occurs, and how Nemesis always arrives to restore the balance
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  S2 Ep 121. The conditions for the rise of Hitler and Nazism 01.06.2026 38mnt

  What were the social, political, and psychological conditions for the rise of Nazism and the emergence of Adolph Hitler, a misfit, so as to have total control of one of most powerful industrial states in the world and to lead it to destruction? What is it in such a disturbed psyche – a borderline malignant narcissist - that is capable of leading a country, almost a civilization, to the apocalypse?  This episode examines Ian Kershaw’s social and political understanding of the rise of Hitler and Nazism, and also explores the thinking of six psychoanalysts who lived during this period and wrote on this phenomena.
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  S2 Ep120. The Archetypes. Part 17. Nazism and the apocalypse 01.05.2026 37mnt

  The National Socialist movement functioned not only as a political party and military machine but also  as a "dark religion" that sought to possess the German psyche.  Its apocalyptic vision was rooted in the esoteric mysticism. When the promised victory failed, the regime’s narcissistic core pivoted to a final, nihilistic sacrifice. Hitler’s Nero Decree and the ritualistic suicides in the Führerbunker revealed the ultimate end of the apocalyptic narcissist: a desire to see the entire nation perish rather than survive a failure of the "Master Race."   Podcast Segment Highlights: Joseph Goebbels: The "High Priest" of propaganda who managed the cult of personality and the 1943 call for "Total War."The Scale of Evil: An estimated 50 million deaths and a "continent of wreckage" that left half of Europe killed, wounded, or traumatized.The Industrialization of Death: The shift from the "Holocaust by Bullets" to the managerial, bureaucratic efficiency of the gas chambers.The Final Götterdämmerung: Hitler’s rejection of diplomacy in favor of a fiery, ritualistic end for the German people.
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  S2 Ep119. the Archetypes. Part 16. Apocalyptic traditions - The Americas, Siberia, Celts, the Wasteland of Arthurian legends 01.04.2026 35mnt

  This episode covers the apocalyptic traditions of some of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Siberia, and also the Celts, including their influence on medieval Christianity and even modern poetry. It finishes with more information on the two comets approaching earth vision this month, the best times for viewing, and some further reflections upon their significance. The view of the comets: Comet 'MAPS' between April 8th - April 22nd. one hour before dawn look low toward the southeast. In the Northern Hemisphere preferably on the coast or hill with clear view and low light pollution. In the Southern Hemisphere it will be higher. Binoculars required. Comet PanSTARRS. Northern Hemisphere: look very low in the East in the 'Great Square of Pegasus' around April 17th before dawn. Binoculars required. Ideal night: April 17th: new moon, dark sky. Southern Hemisphere: In mid-April, it is in the East before sunrise. But by late April and into May, it flips to very low in the West just after sunset. In early May it climbs higher in the evening sky as it moves away from the sun. Binoculars required to see its detail.
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  S2 Ep118. The Archetypes. Part 15. Apocalyptic traditions - India, Indigenous Australia, Africa, and Indonesia 01.03.2026 32mnt

  We continue our world tour of the apocalyptic traditions briefly describing those of India, Indigenous Australia, Africa, and Indonesia. We finish the episode mentioning two incoming comets due to arrive within earth vision in April of this year, 2026. We contemplate the creative and destructive powers of these cosmic messengers. 
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  S2 Ep117. The Archetypes. Part 14. Apocalyptic traditions - Islam, Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, Maya, Inca, China, and Japan 01.02.2026 28mnt

  This episode and the following are a tour of some of the world’s apocalyptic traditions outside of the Judaic, Gnostic, Christian, and Millenarian which have been explored already. This episode includes those of Islam, Norse, Egypt, Aztec, Maya, Inca, China, and Japan. By this means we can appreciate one of the features of the archetype – its widespread occurrence across the world’s civilizations.
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  S2 Ep116. The Archetypes. Part 13. The dark God and the apocalypse. An exploration of Jung's Answer to Job. Part B 01.01.2026 30mnt

  The last five chapters of Answer to Job clearly show that Jung believed that the shadow in our psyche and the technological means at our disposal leave us in a most precarious apocalyptic situation .... “For the dark God has slipped the atom bomb and chemical weapons into his [humanity’s] hands and given him the power to empty out the apocalyptic vials of wrath on his fellow creatures.” Jung was by no means clear that humanity could rise to the level required. Neither is it clear how this realisation may have affected his moods towards the end of his life but what is well known is that he spent his final days dictating his last visions to his daughter and Marie-Louise von Franz. These were often very somber (including images of global devastation), but he reportedly faced them with a sense of "objective" calm rather than despair.
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  S2 Ep115. The Archetypes. Part 12. The dark God and the apocalypse: an exploration of Jung's Answer to Job. Part A 01.12.2025 34mnt

  The book Answer to Job was the one work Jung said he would never change. In it he “psychoanalyses” Yahweh, challenges the Christian God, insists that God, across our evolution, has been entering into humanity as a unconscious complex of opposites requiring integration through the human psyche. This is the purpose of human consciousness and this book was Jung’s bible. Like the Christian bible it ends with an apocalypse – an unveiling.
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  S2 Ep114. The Archetypes. Part 11. The Gnostic apocalypse and visionaries of our own times 01.11.2025 35j

  This episode explores the Gnostic worldview, flourishing in the first centuries of the Common Era, which offers one of religious history's most radical apocalyptic visions. It is founded on a profoundly dualistic  understanding of reality: the material cosmos is a prison, and humanity is a tragic hybrid—a divine spark of light trapped in corrupt flesh and matter. The influences of Gnostic thought are traced in a succession of artists and visionaries from William Blake to D.H. Lawrence. For those who want more information on booking for the Archetypal Constellations workshop "Resourcing Our Future", led by Richard Olivier, here is the link:  https://www.wholepartnership.com/booking/resourcing-our-future-a-masterclass-on-archetypal-constellations-with-richard-olivier/  
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  S2 Ep113. The Archetypes. Part 10. The millenarian movements of the Middle Ages 01.10.2025 29mnt

  The apocalypse isn’t just an ancient myth, but an archetype, a pattern that still shapes our world. The same emotional and psychological forces that drove medieval peasants to embark on doomed crusades or to whip themselves in public, are the very forces driving political movements today. The archetypal forces that drove these millenarian movements are very much present in the politics of the Western world at this moment.
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  S2 Ep112. The Archetypes. Part 9. The Book of Revelation and its impact across millennia 01.09.2025 27mnt

  The Christian apocalyptic tradition is explored, focusing on the prophecies and warnings of the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. These texts contain a dramatic narrative of cataclysmic events: the end days, the Second Coming, the Rapture, the chosen few, the final judgment, Armageddon, the defeat of Satan, and the reign of Christ’s kingdom. This tradition has provided a reference point for Western civilization across the millennia and is still active today. Its archetypal content is emphasized, as well as its psychological roots.
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  S2 Ep111. The Archetypes. Part 8. The archetype of the apocalypse 01.08.2025 29mnt

  The deepest archetypes are symbolic narratives, like dreams, that reveal the nature of the psyche itself—its origins, for instance, or even its potential ending. The Book of Genesis serves as an example of the former, while this episode explores the latter—the theme of the apocalypse—through various writings in the Jewish tradition, including the Books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah, and Enoch. This is not simply ancient history, but is highly relevant to our contemporary world, for we live in an Age of the Apocalypse.  
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  S2 Ep110. Archetypes. Part 7. The archetype of the Self 01.07.2025 30mnt

  The archetype of the Self is Jung's answer to the crisis of civilization in our age. In a world grappling with the relativism and indeterminacy of post-modernism, where grand narratives have collapsed and meaning seems fluid, with a host of other modern philosophical ailments that breed anxiety and nihilism, the Self offers an inner, inherent source of meaning and direction. It suggests that beyond the shifting sands of external opinions and cultural trends, there is an enduring core, a guiding principle within each individual. It is an antidote to the spiritual rootlessness of our age and a light for those seeking an authentic and meaningful life beyond superficial materialism or ideological extremism.
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  S2 Ep109. The Archetypes. Part 6. Earliest archetypes of humanity and contemporary significance 01.06.2025 31mnt

  The earliest archetypal images with an implicit mythological narrative are presented: The Venus of Laussel – the earliest great mother archetype with an age of around 24,000 years; and the Fallen Shaman in the Paleolithic Cave of Lascaux at 16,000 years ago. The former is feminine-coded (nurture, nature, reproduction, love) and the latter is male-coded (gnosis or higher knowledge obtained through the individual quest, sacrifice and transcendence). These two great archetypes, synthesized, are needed now more than ever for our crisis -ridden age.
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  S2 Ep108. The Archetypes. Part 5. The fallen shaman and the wounded bison 01.05.2025 34mnt

  An account of a healing séance ceremony from a Siberian tribe opens the episode. Evidence of the shamans on the cave walls is given especially for the French caves of Lascaux, Trois Fréres, Gabillou, and Chauvet. The images in the “shaft” at the end of the Lascaux cave are highly enigmatic but a mythological interpretation is hinted at as it is one of the earliest archetypal representations of humanity and underlies many religions, spiritual movements, and also Jungian archetypal psychology.
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  S2 Ep107. The Archetypes. Part 4. Shamanism, the Great Mother, burial rites, cave paintings 01.04.2025 34mnt

  The Upper Paleolithic, that is the period  dated from around 50-11 thousand years ago, reflects a period of cultural, behavioral and technological change that distinguishes modern humans from earlier homo species. Four examples of the earliest archetypal images, beliefs, and practices are given and for which we have hard evidence taking us back many tens of thousands years deep into the last ice age. These are 1. burial practices; 2. images of the Great Mother; 3. cave paintings, rock-art, figurines, and statues;  4. shamanism. Their relevance to the contemporary world is indicated - a theme of great importance and to be taken up as this mini-series progresses.
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  S2 Ep106. The Archetypes. Part 3. The earliest archetypal images of humanity 01.03.2025 30mnt

  This episode explores: The first archetypal images of humanity for which we have evidence. The areas of the world where this evidence is found: South Africa, Indonesia, India, Australia, the Americas, Siberia. We leave the famous cave paintings of France and Spain until next episode. The dates of the cave painting and rock art that have survived and recently been discovered. These stretch back into pre-history for tens of thousands of years. What are the links between these early images and shamanism?  
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  S2 Ep 105. The Archetypes. Part 2. Archetypal Psychology. An interview with Laurence Hillman 01.02.2025 53mnt

  The ten archetypes underlying the book "Archetypes at Work" have an astrological basis in the ten heavenly bodies (including sun and moon) in our solar system - each with their archetypal nature and their influence upon human character and destiny ... "the planets are around us and in us".Dr Laurence Hillman explains how at birth a unique blueprint forms the basis of human character and this is laid out in the astrological map - the configuration of the planets at this unique point in time. Also explained are planetary conjunctions, oppositions and the like. Further explained are personal and world transits in which planetary configurations at later points in one's life or in the history of civilizations are shown to have deep influence. Aligning oneself to one's true nature is vital. A deeply informative and enriching interview.
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  S2 Ep104. The Archetypes. Part 1. Archetypes at Work. An interview with Richard Olivier 01.01.2025 50mnt

  Join Alan Mulhern as he interviews Richard Olivier, founder of Olivier Mythodrama and co-author with Laurence Hillman of Archetypes at Work (2019). Exploring how archetypes—rooted in mythology and Shakespearean drama—can revolutionize leadership, organizational culture, and personal growth. Key highlights include: The Power of Shakespearean Drama: Uncover how mythological and archetypal elements in Shakespeare’s plays illuminate leadership dynamics and human potential. Peak Performance and Inner Essence: Learn how embracing archetypes allows acting in to unlock authentic leadership. The Ten Archetypes Framework: Discover a transformative tool for understanding and developing leadership capacities and individual transformation. Identify your dominant archetypes, awaken dormant ones, and address shadow elements that may hinder growth. A Path to Growth and Resilience: Explore how balancing archetypes fosters personal development, strengthens organizations, and offers a lens for navigating the crises of our time. This is a rare opportunity to delve into the intersection of myth, leadership, and psychology, with insights that resonate across industries and individual development alike. Whether you’re a leader, psychotherapist, coach, or simply curious about the stories shaping our lives, this conversation promises to be both profound, unique, and practical.