Receiving One's True Name

Digital Jung Podcast: S3, Ep. 3

Nov 03, 2022

The latest episode of Digital Jung is now available. Listen here:

The idea of the individual is not one to which we generally give very much thought. Most of us, I would imagine, would not even think of it as an idea. We tend to use the word ‘individual’ as a description for a separate and particular person. However, as Edward Edinger states in his book Ego and Archetype:

“The experience of individuality is a mystery of being which transcends descriptive power. Each person has his own unique version of this experience which is incommunicable as such.”

In the latest episode of Digital Jung I explore the mystery of individuality as it is expressed in the symbol of “one’s true name.” In doing so, I draw on the writings of George MacDonald (you can learn more about him in the episode) and his interpretation of a passage taken from the Book of Revelation.

Here is a quote from MacDonald that I use in the episode:

“The true name is one which expresses the character, the nature, the being, the meaning of the person who bears it. It is the person’s own symbol, — their soul’s picture, in a word, — the sign which belongs to that person and to no one else.”

In the course of this exploration of “the true name,” I discuss several different experiences that the encounter with one’s individuality constellates in our life. I turn to a scene from The Odyssey that offers a perfect illustration of one of these experiences — the connection between our “name” and the scars we bear from our dealings with life.

I hope you enjoy this latest episode of Digital Jung. You can find it wherever you listen to your podcasts or simply by clicking this link : Receiving One's True Name

Remainders

I always have more great material than I can use for each episode. Every time out I am left with great quotes or poems or images that I wish I could share with you but, for one reason or another, I just can’t include in the podcast. So, I’ve decided to share some of them with you here.

Here is a wonderful quote from Marie-Louise von Franz that I had hoped to use this week but that, in the end, didn’t make the cut:

“We are just a particle of dust, somewhere living on a particle of dust, somewhere in the cosmic universe. If we look with scientific and collective standards at our life, it is completely transient and meaningless. But if we look within and we look at the stars, then we come to realize that within that cosmic infinity, we have a unique task to fulfill, which we generally experience as what we call the meaning of our life.” ~ The Way of the Dream

Upcoming Events

Circumambulating the Self: An in-depth exploration of Jung’s concept of the Self on Saturday, November 12th through the C.G. Jung Institute of New England. For more information visit: www.cgjungne.com/circumambulating-the-self-with-jason-e-smith/