The Language of Soul: Taking One’s Seat in the Cosmos

Introduction

Dominant culture leads individuals to believe that their lives, and the choices they make, are guided by an image of success that the individuals themselves did not design. This creates a seemingly convincing story for some, but for most others, they are left impoverished, starving for a life of meaning that they cannot locate in any particular identity, career, or relationship. What they are seeking is a connection with soul, and I suggest that soul is also seeking them. This paper will explore the notion of soul through a depth psychological lens. I will elaborate and expand on C.G. Jung’s interpretation of soul to point to the necessity of the revival of soul in the modern world. I will incorporate eco-depth psychologist, Bill Plotkin’s, definition of soul as well as discuss the practices he suggests we can engage in to more fully integrate soul into our lives. This will incorporate a personal element as well. Lastly, I will weave in the collective implications and the cosmological significance of individuals creating a relationship with soul.

It is common to think of the soul as something outside of ourselves. We hear phrases such as ‘finding our soul purpose,’ “soul mate,’ or “what is my soul’s truth.” Thanks to mainstream spirituality and pop culture, soul has become a convoluted word and it frequently errs on the side of individualism and narcissism. Finding one’s soul purpose has become another way of describing the desire to be happy and successful. In this paper, I posit that the purpose of soul is to connect individuals with their context, the larger whole in which they exist. It is less about the individual and more about the individual’s role in the entire cosmos. Jung (2009) stated “the spirit of the depths forced me to speak to my soul, to call upon her as a living and self-existing being” (pp. 128–129). I will explain that soul is a living pattern to interact with, get to know, and eventually inhabit. During his Red Book years, which I will elaborate on, Jung realized, viscerally, that soul was a living being and this meant she should be treated as such. Though he had much hesitation, he eventually was able to crack himself open to this truth. However, what that looked like, was to be revealed throughout his journey. The intention of this paper is to provide both the theoretical basis and understanding of soul as well as the practical ways to develop a deeper relationship with soul.

Jung and Depth Psychology on Soul

From what we know of Jung’s life, he felt deeply guided, stalked, and involved with something other than himself from a young age. This something sometimes terrified him and other times delighted him. He experienced soul in a profound way, though he did not refer to it as soul until later in his life. We see this most explicitly as it is documented in The Red Book. This manuscript contains Jung’s experience of a confrontation with his unconscious, and with soul, through experiences of active imagination, dreams, and visual art, though the text itself reads something like a novel. Throughout, Jung spoke with his soul, leading to a conversation that consistently shattered everything he knew to be true about himself and the world around him. He felt a growing tension between wanting to trust his soul, yet being utterly confused and horrified by what he was being told and shown. “The spirit of the depths [soul] took my understanding and all my knowledge and placed them at the service of the inexplicable and paradoxical” (Jung, 2009, p. 120). He recognized that he was being brought into a world that his day-to-day self was not familiar with. Jung would continue to come face to face with this truth as he confronted figures, beings, and situations that he could not make sense of in any way that he was used to. It required another way.

Jung discovered that the language of soul was far different than than language that were the norm for him. And, beyond language, the way of understanding soul was other than rational. His soul said to him “scholarliness belongs to the spirit of this time, but this spirit in no way grasps the dream, since the soul is everywhere that scholarly knowledge is not” (Jung, 2009, p. 133). Up until this point, Jung was completely immersed in the scientific, rational, scholarly, and medical paradigm that had shaped his career and his work with Freud. Jung’s Red Book phase began very soon after his break from Freud — a point I will return to later. Jung (2009) wrote:

I must learn that the dregs of my thought, my dreams, are the speech of my soul. I must carry them in my heart, and go back and forth over them in my mind, like the words of the person dearest to me. Dreams are the guiding words of the soul. (Jung, p. 133)

Here, we see him begin to realize and accept that his soul was interacting with him in these particular ways. He was starting to create more associations between the image of his dream world and his soul. This period of Jung’s life was not an easy one, and yet he shared that it was as though there was no other choice but to embark on this journey. Ultimately, it happened to him, rather than him inducing it on his own. The above passage also exposes his process of understanding that what was happening to him was coming from soul as well as from his unconscious. Ultimately, this encounter with soul supported him to synthesize the psychology we are studying today. He had to undergo the initiation himself.

Theoretically, Jung’s understanding of soul is a bit more complex than his personal experience and it requires knowledge of the theory of his map of the psyche. To add to the complexity, Jung used the word soul in two different ways. In one sense, he used it synonymously with psyche. In another sense, we see him use it synonymously with anima. The anima, Jung believed, was something like an “inner personality” which is “the way one behaves in relation to one’s inner psychic processes; it is the inner attitude, the characteristic face, that is turned toward the unconscious” (Jung, 1971, CW6, ¶ 803). He differentiated this with the “outer personality, outer attitude, and outward face” or the “persona” (Jung, 1971, CW6, ¶803). Though there is much to elaborate on between soul as psyche and soul as anima, I will mainly focus on soul as anima in this essay. So, how does this soul (anima) interact with our lives?

To speak of soul, we must also address and define the word spirit. These two words are referred to frequently, yet there are many definitions depending on which field or school of thought you are coming from. Unfortunately, these words are also often used synonymously which adds more confusion to this. However related they may be, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Because of this, it is crucial to define these words each time we use them. Spirit can be considered an ordering system in the psyche, and in life. Corbett (1996) stated:

The objective psyche is itself ordered and it is also the deepest source of order, value, motivation and purpose within the personality. Our perception of meaningful design in the psyche is gained from attention to regularities seen in dreams, complexes and synchronicities. ‘Spirit’ is our name for the psyche’s underlying design principle. (p. 113)

Spirit is similar to what one might refer to as a God, higher power, or source. As we will continue to explore, soul helps individuals create a path to spirit.

It is important that we continue to make soul a pragmatic, functional, and phenomenological aspect of our lives. Corbett elaborated on his interpretation of Jung’s understanding of soul, its function, and its relationship to the rest of the psyche. He said:

Soul as applied to people refers to the deepest subjectivity of the individual, that quality in us which produces a sense of fullness, interiority and meaning. Jung also defines soul as the function of relationship to the unconscious, which may be personified in dreams as a particular figure. (Corbett, 1996, p. 115)

Through this, we can begin to understand that soul is something unique to individuals, and serves to build a bridge with the unconscious. I would also add that this includes the collective unconscious, the storehouse of universal human memory and experience in the form of archetypes. This is relevant as my aim will be to highlight the collective reverberations of individuals engaging with and feeling the significance of soul. It is also appropriate to differentiate between the common colloquialism ‘finding one’s soul purpose’ and the way this essay speaks of soul. This will continue to become clearer.

Corbett (1996) continued by explaining that

Soul is understood as allowing the ability to consciously grasp the experience of spirit. In as much as we experience the divine via our psychic depths, the soul allows this awareness to occur, partly by means of its capacity to symbolize or form an image of the experience… Soul is also the ‘organ’ by which spirit is experienced, releasing both meaning and psychopathology in the process. (p. 116)

As far as the relationship between soul and spirit, we can put together that soul is like individual streams of spirit which manifest in a particular way through each being. What we can conclude from this is that the particularity of the individual has a purpose. We are tasked with discovering this purpose and living into it. Spirit shows up by means of affect. This can happen through the body or psyche. Corbett (1996) said that “affect is felt as spirit embodies to become soul” (p. 114). This affect can lead in various directions, either positive or negative. It can be challenging for people to integrate this into their lives without proper guidance and support, or there can be psychological imbalances that impact one’s ability to allow this force to come into their lives without causing harm. It is not uncommon that experiences of spiritual emergencies, or even minor psychoses, etc., manifest as a result of not properly integrating soul. “But when spirit as affect is able to embody without causing fragmentation, producing manageable complexes, the resulting experience becomes personal, and this is referred to as soul” (Corbett, 1996, p. 115). This highlights the critical role of guides, mentors, and healers when engaging with soul, as it involves a significant amount of work on the psyche. It also indicates, all the more, what a powerful force of potential soul actually is.

Bill Plotkin on Soul

Thus far, we have been primarily investigating soul within the realm of psychology. For Bill Plotkin, however, soul is not a psychological function, but an ecological function. Though Jung did not focus heavily on such a perspective, there is reason to believe that he felt similarly. In his famous 1957 BBC interview, Jung stated “the world hangs on a thin thread, and that is the psyche of man” (Youtube, 2012). Although this quote uses the word ‘psyche’ and not ‘soul’, and we know that Jung used these interchangeably at times, it implies that what the human individual makes of themselves matters to the world, and in fact, determines the fate of the world. Plotkin (2003) himself addressed this by stating that “acceptance of the soul dimension of the natural world was begun in the studies of C. G. Jung. He saw the need for restoring the human soul in its integral presence with the vital powers of the earth” (p. xiii).

Plotkin (2003) stated that “soul is a fundamentally biological concept, defined as the primary organizing, sustaining, and guiding principle of a living being” (p. xiii). However, Plotkin’s definition of soul is “a person or thing’s unique ecological niche in the Earth community” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 15). In this sense, soul is not a thing to find, it is a place to inhabit. Once you inhabit this place, the ecosystem of which you are a part can function better. Similar to the distinctions above, Plotkin emphasized the importance of discerning spirit from soul, and the relationship between the two. He stated:

By soul I mean the vital, mysterious, and wild core of our individual selves, an essence unique to each person, qualities found in layers of the self much deeper than our personalities. By spirit I mean the single, great, and eternal mystery that permeates and animates everything in the universe and yet transcends all. Ultimately, each soul exists as an agent for spirit. (Plotkin, 2003, p. 25).

This is a valuable contribution to the understanding of soul and how we can relate with it as a real force in our lives. And, as I mentioned earlier, we must know what these terms mean, and how they relate to one another, given the highly prevalent use of these terms in mainstream spirituality and pop psychology we see today.

Plotkin’s work guides people to embark on what he refers to as The Journey of Soul Initiation (also the title of his 2021 book). This process is elaborate and complex, with multiple maps and models. This paper will not discuss these maps in detail, rather it will explore what this journey is, along with how to navigate. For Plotkin, in order to become fully soul-initiated, there is a massive ceremony one must undertake with the five phases that he has mapped out. Though he made a significant distinction between the journey of soul initiation (JOSI) and a more well-known journey of a rite of passage, the arc of the process is not dissimilar. He expressed that his framework of JOSI is most similar to what Jung referred to when he used the term ‘personal myth’ (Plotkin, 2021, p. 113). Plotkin’s framework emphasizes becoming a true, mature adult through healing and wholing (becoming whole) work, which the rite of passage does not. He adamantly stated that “without sufficient success with the developmental tasks of childhood and adolescence, and without a successful navigation of the journey of soul initiation, no rite of passage can bring about true adulthood” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 14). This perspective forces us to realize that simply turning a certain age does not make one an adult. True adulthood involves arduous developmental work. Part of this work, for Plotkin, means knowing what your true place is in the world, and then inhabiting it. He elaborated that “the individual human Soul is, by this definition, the particular ecological niche a person is born to occupy whether or not that niche is ever consciously discovered or embodied” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 16). Sadly, it is apparent that the majority of humans today do not discover or embody their ‘ecological niche,’ often to no fault of their own, but rather the fault of their culture and systemic flaws within it. The majority of humans get caught in what Plotkin (2003) called “patho-adolescence” (p. 43).

The journey of soul initiation involves the descent to soul (what Plotkin refers to as the underworld), dissolution, soul encounter, metamorphosis, and enactment. (Plotkin, 2021). Having personally undergone (and still undergoing) this journey with Plotkin as a guide, I can attest to the intensity and full-life energy necessary to embark on this transformative adventure. It is not a straightforward or linear path. There are no time frames, and it is incredibly unique for every person. The relationship with soul becomes something like a courtship, a beckoning, a longing, and the conversation must be kept up. Plotkin often uses the word ‘mystery’ when offering ways to communicate with soul, and he believes that metaphor is a crucial skill in cultivating a soulful identity, what he called one’s “mythopoetic identity” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 17).

Soulcraft

Plotkin coined the term Soulcraft (also the title of his 2003 book). There are practices that one can engage in so as to deepen into relationship with soul, and to be in conversation with it. These practices are what he calls soulcraft, or “the skill needed in shaping the human soul toward its fulfillment in its unity with the entire universe” (Plotkin, 2003, p. xiii). To explain this more psychologically, “soulcraft practices prepare the ego to abandon its social stability and psychological composure and to be reassigned as an active, adult agent for soul” (Plotkin, 2003, p. 36). Soulcraft does not just involve simple activities that one can check off a to-do list, but it has an enormous psychological impact as well as forces one to make different choices in life.

What are some of these practices? How can one create a relationship with soul that feels real and practical? How can we treat soul as a tangible force in our lives, rather than a nebulous concept that we throw around wistfully, hoping to, one day, feel satisfied? Through soulcraft, there are different ways to approach this courtship — some involve transforming your day-to-day life, and others are invitations to step into a ceremonial conversation, outside of the usual routines of space and time. Soulcraft is a very nature-connected praxis and involves fostering a deeper relationship with the land, the elements, and natural cycles. A big aspect of this work is what is referred to as wandering. Your guide will offer many invitations for you to take with you to a wild place, and “wander” with the openness to receive guidance, clues, symbols, or synchronicities from the natural world. These clues are not necessarily magical and obvious. Perhaps you might be very struck by happening to witness a hawk hunt, kill, and eat some prey, and this reflects something to you about who you are, what you are holding, how you feel, or what you must enact. For myself, recurring experiences of being visited by or coming across big black birds, often dead, accompanied me along my journey of soul. The ceremony of the vision quest — an extended period of time fasting from food, alone, in the wild — is an important part of soulcraft, yet not always the center of one’s journey nor is it mandatory for everyone. Plotkin’s work has a heavy Jungian influence, so many of the practices involve activities such as active imagination and dreamwork. It is believed that soul speaks through dreams, and offers us images, characters, and scenarios that serve as important allies on our journey to soul. One might take dream content out with them outdoors on a wander, into some writing, visual art, or deep imagery work (Plotkin’s version of active imagination). Some practices involve enacting ceremonies which communicate to soul that you are willing to allow certain aspects of your identity to die or to be let go. One such ceremony is what Plotkin refers to as ‘the death lodge’ (Plotkin, 2003, p. 105). This involves setting up a literal or metaphorical altar for the life or identity that is dying in an individual. There, one can have any conversations that they need, or enact any ceremonial and/or metaphorical acts in order to allow this identity dissolution to take place. The main intention is to continue to court soul, and to do everything you can to say “yes” to the guidance you are receiving. Often, this can be extremely challenging, and involves digging deep into one’s unconscious.

There are other practices that are far more developmental and psychological. These involve the framework that is outlined in Plotkin’s book Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche. It involves relating and dialoguing with wounded aspects of ourselves, often repressed or neglected parts, and engaging with them in a way that will “cultivate wholeness” (Plotkin, 2013). This is done so that we prepare ourselves to be more available for and ready to hear soul, and make the changes required for us to inhabit soul. In other words, this work is about completing unfinished developmental work and ripening into mature human beings. This work is similar to what we in the Jungian fields would refer to as engaging the shadow on the path of individuation. For instance, I experienced a shadow-specific program with Animas Valley Institute (Plotkin’s organization) that is called Sweet Darkness where the entire aim of the week was to engage in practices that reveal one’s shadow material. Perhaps the most harrowing and potent aspect of the week was the practice of a shadow council. It is similar to a classic Way of Council style circle of individuals sharing, but we were to enact a personal shadow character that we had connected to throughout the week. We were invited to dress up, have props, and fully embody the identity of this character when we enterted into the center of the circle. Our time in the center was bookended by stepping in and out of the room, to allow ourselves to get into and out of character. Afterward, we were asked to take our seat in the circle again as our usual selves, and move on to the next person. Of the dozen programs and hundreds of practices/ceremonies that I have done with AVI, this was perhaps one of the most potent, memorable, and impactful.

Returning briefly to The Red Book, Plotkin devoted a section of his book to discuss the years of Jung’s life when he was engaged in the creation of this work. Plotkin posited that these were the years of Jung’s soul initiation; that is, the soul could no longer stay beneath the threshold of Jung’s consciousness, and became a very real presence(s) in his life. Jung’s break with Freud catalyzed an enormous identity shift for Jung, and thus, destabilized his ego such that he was throttled into the underworld where he met his soul. It is very common for a crisis to be the door to an underworld journey. By way of dream, Jung experienced the call to soul get louder and he was gripped by the desire to understand, figure out, and rationalize what was happening to him and what the dreams were saying. He was led to the following realization:

Finally I had to give it up. All I knew with any certainty was that the dream indicated an unusual activation of the unconscious. But I knew no technique whereby I might get to the bottom of my inner processes, and so there remained nothing for me to do but wait, go on with my life, and pay close attention to my fantasies. (Jung, 1965, p. 172).

This act of surrender is what Jung had to thank for the terrifying and miraculous journey that ensued. At that stage, Jung was not aware that the ‘lack of technique’ he was referencing would later become a crux in his psychology (active imagination). There is not adequate space in this essay to properly describe, analyze, and marvel at Jung’s underworld journey, but it is imperative to, at least, illuminate his process as it relates to JOSI.

Why Does Soul Matter?

“Soul as ecological niche serves as the missing link between ecology and psychology and can support culturally exiled humans to return to Earth” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 16).

So, why does any of this matter? Why engage with soul? Let us explore that question. Plotkin (2003) expressed that “your soul is both of you and of the world. The world cannot be full until you become fully yourself” (p. 42). Humanity is in the midst of a massive shift that has already been in process for centuries. Today, in 2022, one can look back even solely at the course of the last several years and see the transformations that have been taking place — both for better and for worse. In a time where there is endless damage being done, people are looking for solutions. Unfortunately, that search is mostly focused externally; social justice movements, activism, technological advances, and political upheaval. Many of these outlets for change may lead people to feel like they are doing something, making a difference, and feel empowered, yet more often than not, these methods perpetuate divisiveness and war mentality. Because of this external quest, Jung expressed, “soul is evidently of little worth for the Western man” and “people who put nothing into their souls have all God outside” (Jung, 1968, CW12, ¶10). The pathway to the solution, then, must be turned inward. I hesitate to be mistaken for suggesting transcendence is the solution to our cultural issues because that is far off from the truth. The inward shift I am suggesting is this path of soul: to become so deeply rooted in oneself and in one’s true place in this world.

Throughout the rise of modernity, the focus has been most prominently on the individual. My sense is that bringing soul, as I’ve defined it here, back into collective conscious awareness, is a possible catalyst for a turning point in our civilization as well as for the planet. As Plotkin (2003) reminded us, “when we become alienated from soul — our inner nature — we lose respect for outer nature, resulting in pollution and degradation of the environment” (p. 44). Sadly, there are countless other consequences that can be added to that list. Further, a disconnect from soul leaves us “not knowing what was are good for” (Plotkin, 2003, p. 44). If humanity actually lived with the belief that “the world hangs on a thin thread, and that is the psyche of man” as Jung stated, then I do believe we would be making very different choices in our lives (Youtube, 2012). We would also live with a more expanded awareness and sense of self — that is, we are inextricably interwoven with our entire planetary and cosmic community. In my own life, having the privilege to utilize Plotkin’s maps, and adopt this perspective of soul as critical and utterly human, has been and continues to be one of the most remarkable guiding principles of my life. For myself, it serves as a portal into the sacred, as well as connects me with a larger story than the myopic narrative of individualism that I was indoctrinated into.

Corbett (1996) restated Jung saying “soul can be understood as the ‘psychic phenomenon that mediates between consciousness and the physiological functions of the body’” (p. 116). This is a critical element to keep in mind when considering why soul is critical in our lives and in the world. If soul is the bridge between consciousness and body, then we have a constant and intimate personal compass, guiding us toward soul as we walk through our lives. From my personal experience, my soul journey has been extremely entangled with my body, with both my physical and psychological health continually alerting me of where soul is to be found.

Spirit of the Depths and Spirit of the Times

There are many ways to step back and fit these ideas into the greater whole of Jungian psychology. One idea, specifically, feels pertinent to the question of why soul matters. Jung spoke of the ‘spirit of the depths’ and the ‘spirit of the times’ (Jung, 2009). The spirit of the depths is akin to soul. The spirit of the times is something like the cultural zeitgeist of a particular moment in history. The relationship between these two is a poignant addition to my thesis here: that soul is not purely psychological and is critical for the collective, not just the individual. The spirit of the depths is always present, but how it manifests depends directly on the spirit of the times. Archetypes are universal dynamic patterns that exist in the collective unconscious, yet they take endless shapes, forms, and textures. For example, two people may feel connected with the same archetypal figure, yet through entirely different literal reasons.

In the field of Jungian psychology there is an ongoing question about whether the archetypes evolve or not. As soul is connected to the unconscious and to the archetypal realm, it connects us with that which is ancient and universal, yet one’s specific manifestation of any given archetype or archetypal experience is particular to their life as well as the many contexts in which one exists. Therefore, soul needs the story and circumstances of the current context in order to take form. As I stated earlier, particularity has a purpose, and it is our task to investigate what that purpose is, remembering that this investigation is not for our personal entertainment. Rather, it is our form of service to the whole. The spirit of the depths needs the spirit of the times so that soul may continue to evolve and come to life in a way that matters specifically for the current moment. If Plotkin’s belief that the world needs us to be “fully ourselves” so that it becomes full is true, then it is consistent with this relationship between the spirit of the tines and the spirit of the depths that I am presenting (Plotkin, 2003, p. 43).

Conclusion

“The universe and the human soul find their fulfillment in each other… The entire universe is shaped and sustained in all its vast interwoven patterns by the mysterious powers of soul” (Plotkin, 2003, p. xiii).

What happens when a culture loses connection to soul? What happens when the conversation is dropped? The calls get louder, but no one answers the phone, or even acknowledges that it is ringing. I do not believe that this is due to a lack of interest in soul, but because in modern, industrial, and technologically-obsessed culture there is a lack of education, collectively, on how soul communicates and why we should cultivate the relationship. There is a lack of education on how to listen and how to participate. Jung’s “personal myth is what he found, and this encounter [with soul] is what transformed him into someone capable of creating a new psychology” (Plotkin, 2021, p. 114). Soul is what helps us write our story, a story that makes sense, and has meaning, not just for us, but for the world. In a time when so many individuals are struggling to find a story that they can relate to, soul offers us a way to shape ourselves into the story we are meant to live.

In The Red Book, Jung (2009) shared this realization: “hence I had to speak to my soul as to something far off and unknown, which did not exist through me, but through whom I existed” (p. 129). This quote speaks to the heart of what I have aimed to convey and that is that the life of every individual is a unique manifestation of soul, and it is our task and responsibility to live into that shape, for it is not only we that depend on it, but the entire planet, and maybe even the entire cosmos. There is a unique conversation taking place all around us, and we must learn how to listen, communicate, and offer ourselves to it. To inhabit our soul is to find our place in the cosmos, and to help carry life forward. As Jung (2009) reminded us, “my friends, it is wise to nourish the soul, otherwise you will breed dragons and devils in your heart” (Jung, p. 130).

References

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Dreamlion. (2012, December 11). Carl Jung: The world hangs on a thin thread… [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppFlVouq-Mc
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Jung, C. G. (1968). Introduction to the religious and psychological problems of alchemy (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 12. Psychology and alchemy (2nd ed., pp. 1–37). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1943) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850877.1

Jung, C. G. (1971). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 6. Psychological types (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (H. Read et al., Eds.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1921) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850860

Jung, C. G., Shamdasani, S., Hoerni, U., Kyburz, M., & Peck, J. (2009). The red book. Liber novus: A readers edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Plotkin, B. (2003). Soulcraft: Crossing into the mysteries of nature and psyche. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Plotkin, B. (2021). The journey of soul initiation: A field guide for visionaries, evolutionaries, and revolutionaries. Novato, CA: New World Library.