Nekyias EP 7: The Other (Part 1)

Or, Encountering The Other Beyond Our Projections.

This episode begins our multi-part exploration of the fantastic (and sometimes, terrifying) world beyond the horizons of the self. We take up the problem of The Other—an often nebulous concept that can refer to a range of experiences, from our romantic partners, to extraterrestrial life, to the imaginary versions of people we converse with in our heads. Here, we are specifically interested in the Jungian perspective on The Other... a primary goal of this discussion is to define, and redefine, classic Jungian concepts (the persona, ego, shadow, and anima/animus) so that we can better determine how they are impacting our relationships as well as our direct experience of the world. We also tackle how to differentiate a shadow projection from an anima/animus projection, what it actually means to encounter The Other, and what creates attraction. Finally, I introduce a model of "sympathies" to help us all get a more intuitive grasp on how we relate to the others around us.

In Part 2 (which will be up very soon!), we'll discuss how The Other impacts us. Both of these episodes are meant to lay the groundwork for a more nuanced discussion of the Jungian soul, as well as the second part of this series, which will tackle "The Object."

A note for those of you who have been (very patiently!) waiting for new content... my goal is to have the second half of this discussion up by the end of the month. These two scripts combined clock in at just over 22k words, and I sincerely hope both the quantity and quality of what I'm releasing this month will make up for the relative silence on my end. This summer has been a perfect storm of: A. Comparatively difficult content that requires a tremendous amount of attention and focus to be able to articulate properly, and B. Living situations that have created a lack of access to absolute quiet (which is, of course, necessary in order to record, research, and create). Thankfully, the theory for the next few episodes is finally hammered out, AND I once again have access to a quiet office space, so the pacing of content should pick up a great deal in the coming months. A thousand thanks for your continued patience and support!!