Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 26 minutes ago
In every culture and every religion, we find the concept of the underworld: sometimes located underground, and usually understood as a final destination after death.
This week, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart circumambulate the notion of the underworld and what it means for us psychologically. James Hillman’s Dreams and the Underworld offers a guide, linking our dreaming life to myths of the underworld.
We discuss versions of the underworld in Etruscan, Mayan, Christian, Egyptian and Greek mythology, and explore how each culture envisions the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the extent to which it is possible to enter an underworld and return.
Psychologically, the underworld can represent a descent into the world of the unconscious, where completely different values apply. Awake, we may feel concerned about our job or our house, but if we listen to our dreams, we’ll often find the unconscious pointing us elsewhere, towards neglected truths or hidden desires.
A visit to the underworld can also be understood as a transformational loss of innocence, just as Kore is raped and abducted by Hades, and transforms into Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. In life, we will all experience a painful loss of innocence or an experience that feels like a descent into hell. Such descents may become important points of initiation on our life’s journey.
Visit our website to read today’s dream and follow up on the resources we mention: thisjungianlife.com/underworld
Connect With This Jungian Life
Take a look at This Jungian Life Dream School, our online course in Jungian dream analysis: tinyurl.com/TJLdreamschool
Send a dream for us to analyze on the show: tinyurl.com/senddream
Watch bonus mini-episodes on our Patreon channel: tinyurl.com/TJLPatreon
Follow This Jungian Life on Instagram: instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast
In every culture and every religion, we find the concept of the underworld: sometimes located underground, and usually understood as a final destination after death.
This week, Jungian analysts Lisa Marchiano and Deborah Stewart circumambulate the notion of the underworld and what it means for us psychologically. James Hillman’s Dreams and the Underworld offers a guide, linking our dreaming life to myths of the underworld.
We discuss versions of the underworld in Etruscan, Mayan, Christian, Egyptian and Greek mythology, and explore how each culture envisions the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the extent to which it is possible to enter an underworld and return.
Psychologically, the underworld can represent a descent into the world of the unconscious, where completely different values apply. Awake, we may feel concerned about our job or our house, but if we listen to our dreams, we’ll often find the unconscious pointing us elsewhere, towards neglected truths or hidden desires.
A visit to the underworld can also be understood as a transformational loss of innocence, just as Kore is raped and abducted by Hades, and transforms into Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. In life, we will all experience a painful loss of innocence or an experience that feels like a descent into hell. Such descents may become important points of initiation on our life’s journey.
Visit our website to read today’s dream and follow up on the resources we mention: thisjungianlife.com/underworld
Connect With This Jungian Life
Take a look at This Jungian Life Dream School, our online course in Jungian dream analysis: tinyurl.com/TJLdreamschool
Send a dream for us to analyze on the show: tinyurl.com/senddream
Watch bonus mini-episodes on our Patreon channel: tinyurl.com/TJLPatreon
Follow This Jungian Life on Instagram: instagram.com/thisjungianlifepodcast
![[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Is My Wanderlust Related To My Mother Complex?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qvaUijNzxBU/mqdefault.jpg "[SUBSCRIBER BONUS] Is My Wanderlust Related To My Mother Complex?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber bonus content, a Patron asks:
Im wondering if you can talk about the issue of place: the ability to settle down somewhere, and how this could relate to a mother complex.
Support This Jungian Life on Patreon and ask Lisa, Deb, and Joseph your questions for a chance to have them answered on Jung Love: https://tinyurl.com/TJLPatreon")
![[SUBSCRIBER-BONUS] How do you work with Shadow?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rb6EE12nw0A/mqdefault.jpg "[SUBSCRIBER-BONUS] How do you work with Shadow?
In this free edition of Jung Love, our subscriber-bonus content, a Patron asks:
What do you do with shadow material? Is it enough to just become aware of your shadows? Or does it require a fixing of oneself? What is the process of processing it?
Im still trying to wrap my head around the shadow. What if Im aware, but still dont like the shadow? Robert Johnson talked about rituals for the shadow. Can you speak about that in more depth and perhaps provide some examples?
Support This Jungian Life on Patreon and ask Lisa, Deb, and Joseph your questions for a chance to have them answered on Jung Love: https://tinyurl.com/TJLPatreon")
