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The Laughing Mystics: Jungian Psychology, Christian Spirituality, and Laughter
By Laura Lewis-Barr, Jungian Artist - Marci Madary DMin, Educator, Spiritual DirectorReligion & Spirituality
The Laughing Mystics: Jungian Psychology, Christian Spirituality, and Laughter episodes
- "Peek-a-Boo Jesus" - 3rd Sunday of Easter 2026
Our Question: When have I "seen God"?
We talk of Peter's public speaking style and Stephen Colbert's talks with God.
We wonder about modern spiritual metaphors and talk about the famous NASA photo "Earthrise."
We imagine how the early church experienced blood and lambs and sacrifice - symbols that are different for us now.
We recall memories of moments of revelations and clarity and how these often vanish.
The Sunday Readings
Thank you for listening! You're invited to join our FB community at https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Need more poetry in your life? Visit Marci's blog and/or subscribe to Laura's new substack and receive one of her fresh poems delivered to you periodically.
Questions? Comments? Bring your voice to the conversation. We'd like to SHARE THE MIC with you! Send an audio from your phone with a question or comment to [email protected]
We now have an easier way for you to leave a review or rating, using this link! RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Please follow us to be alerted for new episodes. We hope you'll share this passion project with others, write a review, or rate/like our podcast on your favorite platform!
pod.link/1799776273
New episodes now released on Thursday mornings!
For more on Marci Madary visit https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
For more on Laura Lewis-Barr visit https://psychescinema.com/
Want to support The Laughing Mystics? We now have MERCH! Visit https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(0ur show notes are always filled with many links. If your platform doesn't show them, visit the "episode webpage" or our Spotify page.)
Music licensed from Artlist
#jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #richardrohr #progressivechristianity #jungianwisdom #mysticalchristianity #religioustext #transpersonalpsychology
42 min - My Doubts and Separateness - 2nd Sunday of Easter
This week we go back to the basics with our question: What am I being saved from?
We mention the Corporal acts of mercy
We talk about the powerful beginnings of the early church and reflect on the Quaker tradition.
"Quaker” was originally an insulting nickname given toFriends in the 1650s, based on a widespread belief in England, where Quakerism began, that in their worship, when under the influence of the Holy Spirit (or perhaps evil spirits, depending on one‘s point of view), Friends would shakeand quake.
We explore separateness and losing our separation from each other and recall Robert Frost's opinion that, "good fences make good neighbors."
We wonder - is salvation “being saved from our seperateness?"
We wonder if Thomas' doubts are actually a very active form of seeking God.
The Sunday Readings
Thank you for listening! You're invited to join our FB community at https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Need more poetry in your life? Visit Marci's blog and/or subscribe to Laura's new substack and receive one of her fresh poems delivered to you periodically.
Questions? Comments? Bring your voice to the conversation. We'd like to SHARE THE MIC with you! Send an audio from your phone with a question or comment to [email protected]
We now have an easier way for you to leave a review or rating, using this link! RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Please follow us to be alerted for new episodes. We hope you'll share this passion project with others, write a review, or rate/like our podcast on your favorite platform!
pod.link/1799776273
New episodes now released on Thursday mornings!
For more on Marci Madary visit https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
For more on Laura Lewis-Barr visit https://psychescinema.com/
Want to support The Laughing Mystics? We now have MERCH! Visit https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(0ur show notes are always filled with many links. If your platform doesn't show them, visit the "episode webpage" or our Spotify page.)
Music licensed from Artlist
#jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #richardrohr #progressivechristianity #jungianwisdom #mysticalchristianity #religioustext #transpersonalpsychology
46 min - Only Seeing What I Expect to See? Easter 2026
An Easter episode full of sound-booth surprises. Our question: How do I experience resurrection in my life?
Marci references a famous video regarding perception.
We appreciate this quote from Thomas Merton, spoken at another difficult time in history. “We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.”
We discuss an old Chinese story: "Good Luck Bad Luck."
Marci discovers a powerful metaphor regarding our lack of "object permanence" with God.
We explore the gospel story with active imagination: I'm at the threshold to the tomb. what happens next? And where am I at in the story right now?
The Sunday Readings
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #richardrohr #progressivechristianity #jungianwisdom #mysticalchristianity #religioustext #transpersonalpsychology #EasterSunday #Resurrection #ThomasMerton
37 min - Betrayal, Dreams, and the Passion Narrative
Our challenging question: How have I betrayed the Divine?
Marci offers a pun - joke.
We explore a story from Africa from Michael Meade about "moving toward the roaring."
Laura shares her process for working with dreams and how this influences her reading of scripture. Here is the process Laura's group uses.
We also talk about narrative structure and Campbell's Monomyth.
We circle around the many betrayals in the Passion narrative.
The Sunday Readings
We won't be recording the Triduum this year. Last years episode is here.
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #richardrohr #progressivechristianity #jungianwisdom #mysticalchristianity #religioustext #transpersonalpsychology #HolyWeek #PassionSunday #MichaelMeade #JosephCampbell
42 min - Lazarus -- Paradox and the 5th Sunday of Lent
Our question: When or how have I come back from "death?"
We talk about the power of imagination as a necessary part of change.
We recall what Fr. Richard Rohr said about Paul's use of the word "flesh" and "spirit."
"Paul made a most unfortunate choice of the word sarx, translated “flesh,” as the very enemy of pneuma, Spirit (for example, Galatians 5:16-24). Now we would probably translate sarx as “ego” or “small self,” which would be much closer to Paul’s actual meaning.
Remember that Christianity is the religion that believes “the Word became flesh” (John 1:13), and Jesus even returned to the “flesh” after the Resurrection (Luke 24:40)—so flesh cannot be bad. If our spirituality is in any way anti-body.
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #richardrohr #progressivechristianity #jungianwisdom #mysticalchristianity #religioustext #transpersonalpsychology #ThomasMerton #Lazarus
#TrueSelfFalseSelf #ContemplativeSpirituality #Enneagram
39 min - The Blind See - 4th Sunday of Lent
A deep dive into some familiar readings. And many questions. Our first question (based on the readings) : What ritual(s) in my life have brought me sight or a pouring out of the "Spirit of the Lord."
We talk about the innocent "youngest one," here as David and also within ourselves as our "inferior function."
We ask: where am I asleep in my life? What darkness in myself might I be asleep to? Do I believe when I hear the voice of the Divine? Where am I in this story right now?
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your periodic poems.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#JungianPsychology #ShadowWork #InteriorLife #InferiorFunction #DepthPsychology #DreamWork #ContemplativePrayer #Mysticism
46 min - The Living Water - 3rd Sunday of Lent
Hold on to your hats as we dip into familiar "waters" and discover big surprises. We start with the questions: What is the Living Water? What is it in my life?
Laura mentions the fairy tale, The Water of Life. We also talk about how fairy tales provide a "folk" commentary on Christianity, kind of like a midrash. Others are exploring this idea too.
We talk about atonement theory and find helpful quotes from Joseph Campbell and Fr. Rohr.
We use the shorter Gospel reading with some added from the longer version.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030826.cfm
The Sunday Readings
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#JungianPsychology #FolkChristianity #RichardRohr #JosephCampbell #AtonementTheory #LivingWater #FairyTaleWisdom #DepthPsychology #MysticalChristianity #SpiritualDirection
45 min - The Transfiguration - 2nd Sunday of Lent, 2026
Our question: What is the current design of my life. If it was a landscape, what would it look like?
Marci mentions a favorite video about God and dog.
Laura continues her exploration of the fairy tale, The Girl Without Hands.
We talk about transfigurations and synchronicities as a mystical experience and the symbolism of three. as an image.
The Sunday Readings
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#JungianPsychology #LifeDesign #Synchronicities #DepthPsychology #SymbolismOfThree #FairyTaleWisdom #Transfiguration #ProgressiveChristianity #MysticalChristianity #RichardRohr #SpiritualMapping
37 min - Consciousness and Temptation - February 22, 2026
The First Sunday of Lent. We begin with several questions including: What am doing for Lent (if anything)? And what are temptations in my life?
We dive into the mythic stories of Adam and Eve and Jesus' temptations in the desert.
The Sunday Readings
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#Lent2026 #JungianPsychology #DepthPsychology #SpiritualWilderness #Mythology #AdamAndEve #Temptation #ProgressiveChristianity #MysticalChristianity #ShadowWork #RichardRohr
41 min - Choosing the Good - February 15, 2026
6th Sunday in extra-ordinary time. Our question: What is an inner stumbling block that gets in the way of making the life-giving choice.?
Since we won't be making another Ash Wednesday episode, we invite you to listen to last years episode (scroll down to episode 3)
Laura again recommends Michael Meades, The Living Myth, podcast, especially this episode on creative practices.
We talk about the mysteries of our life and the mystery genre as a way to explore this. Laura recommends the movie "Knives
Out, Wake up Dead Man."
We talk about metaphor and Joseph Campbell. "Metaphors carry us from one place to another, they enable us to cross boundaries that would otherwise be closed to us. Spiritual truths that transcend time and space can only be borne in metaphorical vessels whose meaning is found in their connotations—that is, in the cloud of witnesses to the many sides of truth that they spontaneously evoke—not in their denotations, the hard, factual, uni-dimensional casings of their historical reference."
Eugene Kennedy, Ph.D.
Campbell, Joseph. Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor
[A]s Jung put it in terms that chill me always, “What is denied inwardly will come to us in the outer world, and we call it fate.”~ James Hollis, Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times.
A very challenging gospel reading!
The Sunday Readings
Join the community: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/laughingmystics/
Daily Poetry: Visit Marci’s Blog and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for your daily dose of verse.
Share the mic: Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Rate/review easily: RateThisPodcast.com/thelaughingmystics
Follow + listen: https://pod.link/1799776273
New episodes drop Thursday mornings.
More from Marci Madary: https://www.insideoutspirituality.com/
More from Laura Lewis-Barr: https://psychescinema.com/
Merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/laughing_mystics/products
(If your platform hides links, visit the episode webpage or Spotify.)
Music licensed from Artlist.
#JungianPsychology #DepthPsychology #JamesHollis #JosephCampbell #ProgressiveChristianity #MysticalChristianity #MichaelMeade #ShadowWork #SpiritualDirection #KnivesOut
45 min
About The Laughing Mystics: Jungian Psychology, Christian Spirituality, and Laughter
From the publisher's feed
The Laughing Mystics: Explore Christianity and Depth Psychology through weekly scripture reflections and lively conversations between friends. Each week, Marci shares her Christian perspective and…
infectious laughter, while Laura offers insights from Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. Together, they also explore the profound ideas of Ilia Delio, Richard Rohr, and other evolutionary thinkers of psychology and theology. This happy pair offer as many questions as answers. They invite listeners to reflect on mystery, faith, doubt, spirituality, and personal growth.