by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Feb 9, 2025 | Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology for Therapy
Is the Mal’ta-Buret culture the prototyp for world religion? In the remote reaches of Siberia, archaeologists uncovered a fascinating window into the deep prehistory of human symbolic thought: the Mal’ta-Buret’ culture. Dating back some 20,000-25,000...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Nov 24, 2024 | Comparative Religion for Therapy, Jungian Therapy and Depth Psychology, Mythology and Therapy
How Literally Did Ancient People Take Their Mythology? The nature of gods and deities in ancient civilizations has long been a subject of fascination and debate. Did the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Norse, and followers of Vedic religions literally believe their gods to...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Sep 17, 2024 | Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology for Therapy, Jungian Therapy and Depth Psychology, Psychotherapy Biographies: Historical Figures in the History of Psychology
Who was James George Frazer? James George Frazer (1854-1941) was a groundbreaking Scottish anthropologist, folklorist, and classical scholar whose work laid the foundations for modern anthropology, psychology, and comparative religious studies. Best known for his...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Jul 17, 2024 | Phenomenology and Existential Psychology, Psychology of Buildings and Architecture, Psychology of Mystics, Gurus, and Spiritual Philosophers
What Can the Origins of Religion Teach Us? The origins and evolution of human religious like thought have long fascinated scholars, but they may also hold the keys to therapy and religion. . By examining the archaeological record, mythological narratives, and the...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Jul 12, 2024 | History of Psychotherapy, Phenomenology and Existential Psychology, Psychology of Buildings and Architecture, Psychology of Mystics, Gurus, and Spiritual Philosophers, Psychotherapy Biographies: Historical Figures in the History of Psychology
The Philosopher of the Angel In the modern West, we tend to divide the world into two: the “real” (matter, science, atoms) and the “imaginary” (fantasy, dreams, nothing). Henry Corbin (1903–1978) shattered this binary. A French philosopher and...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Jul 5, 2024 | Christian Mysticism in Therapy, Jungian Therapy and Depth Psychology, Psychology of Mystics, Gurus, and Spiritual Philosophers, Psychotherapy Biographies: Historical Figures in the History of Psychology
The Mysterious Monk of Divine Darkness In the history of Western thought, few figures are as enigmatic or as influential as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Writing under the pseudonym of a convert of St. Paul mentioned in Acts 17:34, this mysterious 5th or...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Jul 5, 2024 | Depth Psychology Approaches and Techniques, Psychology of Mystics, Gurus, and Spiritual Philosophers
I. Introduction: The Bishop Who Calculated the Light In the modern world, we operate under a convenient fiction: that science and spirituality are non-overlapping magisteria. We are told that one deals with facts, the other with meaning, and never the twain shall...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Apr 14, 2024 | Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology for Therapy, Comparative Religion for Therapy, Jungian Therapy and Depth Psychology, Symbolism and Meaning in Psychotherapy
“My point, once again, is not that those ancient people told literal stories and we are now smart enough to take them symbolically, but that they told them symbolically and we are now dumb enough to take them literally.” ― John Dominic Crossan, Who Is Jesus?...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Apr 6, 2024 | Depth Psychology Approaches and Techniques, Phenomenology and Existential Psychology, Psychology of Mystics, Gurus, and Spiritual Philosophers, Psychotherapy Biographies: Historical Figures in the History of Psychology, Ritual and Initiation
Mircea Eliade’s Insights into the Sacred “A religious symbol conveys its message even if it is no longer consciously understood in every part. For a symbol speaks to the whole human being and not only to the intelligence.” ― Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the...
by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Apr 5, 2024 | Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology for Therapy, Depth Psychology Approaches and Techniques
What part of the brain is responsible for religion? “The Self is the ordering and unifying center of the total psyche (conscious and unconscious) just as the ego is the center of the conscious personality. Or, put in other words, the ego is the seat of subjective...
