Nekyias (@CarlJungMemes)

EPISODE 4: THE FAILED RETURN TO THE GARDEN

Added 2022-09-29 16:21:33 +0000 UTC

The last of our foundational episodes, we attempt to outline a "topography" of the land of depression under the collapsing Dream. We talk the characteristics of depression, simulations as metaphor, nostalgia, and David Lynch. As the final stage before the Katabasis can truly begin, I hope this episode also serves as a wrap-up and synthesis, particularly with regard to how our sense of reality informs our lived experience with depression.

The Collapse of the Dream/The Failed Return to the Garden (text from the original guide):

"A collapsing dream brings with it a sense of paradox—the dreamer may feel both a deep detachment and an inability to fully let go. This stage is characterized by nostalgia, hedonism, loss of interest and/or rumination… as the dream collapses, the psychological world of the dreamer literally grows smaller. Most of what we characterize as untreated depression happens at this stage. As the system of meaning-making erodes, nothing can be seen to matter in any real sense. There may be attempts to return to an earlier, happier time, or to anxiously work toward a perceived better future. This stage had no set endpoint—the collapsing Dream will never fully collapse without conscious action on the part of the dreamer. Many people never leave this stage."