Photo by Warren on Unsplash Being cast out by a community is a particular kind of wound. It doesn’t only hurt socially. It can feel as if something much deeper has been disturbed — as if the circle that once held you has closed its gates, leaving you standing outside, trying to understand what has happened. In Jungian terms, this is the territory of the exile or the outcast. Although that can sound bleak, it is worth remembering that, in myth and fairy tale, the one who is sent away is rarely...

Some symbols arrive quietly, like a feather found on a path. The peacock is not one of them. The peacock enters like an opera singer in full costume, having apparently missed the memo about humility. It does not sidle into the symbolic imagination. It fans itself open. It shimmers. It says, in no uncertain terms: look at me. And that, of course, is where the trouble begins. Because many of us are deeply uneasy about being seen. We are taught, often very early, not to show off, not to take up...

Photo by Curology on Unsplash The toilet may not be the most glamorous symbol in the gallery. It does not have the majesty of a tree, the mystery of a snake, or the poetic shimmer of a river. It is unlikely to appear on a greeting card alongside the words “follow your dreams”. And yet, symbolically, the toilet has a great deal to say. In dreams and the inner life, toilets often appear when something needs to be released. Something old, unwanted, toxic, embarrassing, private, or simply no...