In this episode of Story Medicine, we explore Samudra Manthana, or "The Churning of the Ocean", from Hindu mythology... one of the great cosmological tales found in the ancient Puranas.

When the gods lose their power through carelessness, they must undertake a profound journey to recover it. But Vishnu tells them: you cannot do this alone. You must work alongside the very forces you've been in conflict with. Together, they churn the cosmic ocean for a thousand years. And it isn't only the treasure they sought that emerges.

This story reveals a perspective on what transformation actually requires: tension between opposing forces, the poison that surfaces before the treasures, the steady ground beneath the churning, and the discrimination about what deserves permanence in our lives.

This story speaks to anyone who's taken their power for granted, anyone caught between structure and possibility, or anyone facing the toxic material that surfaces when you do deep work.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three practical integration exercises to help you embody the medicine.

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Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine we explore "Baba Yaga and the Kind-Hearted Girl," from Russian oral tradition. This is a story about a young girl sent by her stepmother to face certain death in the forest, where Baba Yaga, the wild crone who shows no mercy, sets impossible tasks.

With only her aunt's wisdom and a selection of small gifts, the girl must survive through the web of relationships she weaves, choosing to walk the hero's path rather than succumb to victimhood.

This story speaks to anyone facing impossible circumstances with no good options, anyone stuck waiting for others to change before they can move forward, or anyone who needs to remember that kindness to small things is never wasted: that what we tend, tends us back.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three embodied integration practices to help you integrate the medicine.

Send a text

Support the show

Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies

In this episode of Story Medicine we explore Sedna, from Inuit tradition. This is a story about a young woman whose comfortable aloofness blocks her own evolution, leading to a devastating descent that forces her to release everything she's been clinging to, transforming her into the goddess at the bottom of the sea.

This story speaks to anyone who keeps themselves from their own becoming, anyone holding onto comfort that blocks transformation, or anyone who needs to release their grip to find authentic power.

The episode includes the complete story told in full, depth psychology analysis revealing the archetypal patterns and symbolic meaning, and three embodied integration practices to help you integrate the medicine.

Send us a text

Support the show

Learn more about Joe's therapeutic work: www.joesummerfield.co.uk

Connect on Instagram: @joe.therapies