The ape cannot let go of the banana. What about you? Dear friend,   Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that man is a rope between beast and superman. I understand this metaphor as a bridge between an ape and a fully realised human. And that bridge I call Phi or Dynamic Balance. For sometimes we are more apelike and in other situations we are more elevated. Thus play our lives out.   One way to catch an ape (or perhaps a monkey) is supposedly to present them with a banana that is insid

Opening Up Space – Welcoming In Impulses – Allowing Creation to Happen Dear friend,   Last week I gave a philosophical concert at the legendary Café Ariman in Lund, as seen in the image above.   Ariman is one of the names of the god of disorder, contrasted with Ormuz, the god of order. And just across the street lies the cathedral, and on the other side of a grove is the university building, both of which could certainly be seen as representatives of order.   When I moved to

Surrendering the struggle – Giving way to acceptance – Relaxing into peacefulness – The void holds us – no matter what – if we let it   Dear friend,   A couple of weeks ago, I posted about going through the darkness again. If I consider my life from a certain perspective, there has been much more darkness than light.   And still, the light has been there all along. Even when I couldn't see it. Like stars shining in the night.   I can choose where to direct my attention.    I

The Servant & The Traveller – Can you be both humble and curious at the same time? Dear friend,   This is the last issue about archetypes, at least for the time being. If you are new to this newsletter and want to read up on the previous ones, here's a link .   Today we look at the Servant and the Traveller.   The Servant   Being a Servant is a very beautiful thing. However, in this hyper-individualised time and culture we live in, the Servant is often dismissed as a lowly fi

This time of years seems to exacerbate the darkness Dear friend,   I tend to experience the end of October until the beginning of November as an unusually challenging time of the year.   And now it's here again.   So, here I am, moving through the darkness. One step at at time. One breath at a time. From one moment to the next.   This time it's intense, so I will keep this newsletter short.   To learn more about how to navigate through darkness, see my book The Way of Phi, wh

The Star & The Visionary – How do they relate to Light – and to each other? Dear friend,   Today we look at the archetypes of the Star and the Visionary.   The Star   Shining in the night sky, from a stage or the silver screen, the Star radiates energy. This energy can be used to nourish others or to light up the way, however, as with any energy, coming too close might be dangerous. The Star sends out light and is therefore a Linear archetype.   People who embody the Star arc

The Songs of Phi are currently being recorded – But why do I need three guitars?   Well, the left one is a bass which often plays repeating patterns (Circular),the right one is an electric guitar to play melodies (Linear),and the one in the middle is versatile enough to have been with me for 30 years (Φ).   Dear friend,   In the Way of Phi, a number of song lyrics are included. These serve as emotional sounding boards to reflect the concepts and ideas in the book, albeit on a

The Home & The World – Where do they meet? Dear friend,   Today we will dive into two more archetypes: The Home and the World.   – Wait, what? – Aren't archetypes like a fancy word for characters?   – Well, yes – and no!   The thing about archetypes is that they are energetic. This means that they exist on a more abstract level than you or I do. In other words, we can view archetypes as a kind of influence that we are more or less affected by, whether intentionally or by happ

Armed with a Feather I Embark on my Crusade Dear friend,   There is one problem in the world that overshadows all others.   Indeed, it's more devious and dangerous than all of them combined.   More deadly than starvation or warfare, because it causes these things. More evil than human trafficking or deliberately keeping poor people subjugated, because those  are symptoms of this. Even more lethal than biodiversity loss and destruction of nature, because this is the root cause

The Child & The Sage – Who Is Wiser? Dear friend,   This week we will dive deeper into the archetypes of the Child and the Sage.  ...

Consider these two symbols. Which is more balanced? Which one attracts? Dear friend,   I was very young, perhaps four years old, and we...

The Mother & The Magician – Who Is Stronger? Dear friend,   In this second issue about archetypes we look at the Mother and the Magician....

Finding harmony in a society, that is doing all in its power to tilt things even further, without recognising the natural balance. Dear...

The Hero & The Lover – Who Is Who? Dear  friend,   My favourite psychologist, the Swiss Carl Gustaf Jung, broke new ground in the field....

Three sides to Creativity. The Linear. the Circular. Dynamic Balance. When all three are in play, with just enough space between them,...

Crop fields grounded in the Earth – Clear skies reaching into Space Dear  friend,   Looking out over the wheat fields And above them the...

Between the sea and the land, life flows back and forth. Dear  friend,   When I watched Aquaman the other night, I found myself mapping...

At the heart of real communication, we’re carried by a magic carpet. In letting go into its wisdom we rise. Dear  friend,   When we talk...

Transformation begins in the dark and becomes visible in the light – Like a seed Dear  friend,   There are moments that affect us...

Keep Your Eyes on the Road and Your Hands upon the Handlebar Dear  friend,   Surfing is one of my favourite metaphors for Dynamic Balance...