Psychological astrologer Dr. Laurence Hillman returns to the podcast for a rare, unfiltered conversation on desire, danger, and the archetypal forces that shape our lives beneath the surface. We dive deep into the myth of Persephone, the shadow of the lover archetype, and the cultural fear of Hades from both a literal and symbolic perspective. We also explore why we are drawn to unsafe situations even when our intuition warns us, how we mistake power for love, and what it means to become conscious of the gods we’re enacting, whether or not we realize it.

With vulnerability and precision, the episode moves through themes like female rites of passage, the erotic pull of the underworld, religious repression, motherhood, aesthetic agency, and what it takes to keep Venus alive in a domesticated world. Laurence speaks to the difference between being “done by” archetypal forces and learning to work with them intentionally. Together, we sketch a vision of spiritual adulthood that doesn’t rely on victimhood or ego, but an embodied middle way. If you’re craving a conversation that cuts through noise and speaks directly to your inner alchemist, look no further.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How female desire gets distorted in a culture that represses both eros and complexity
• The difference between Venus as beauty and Venus as a living energy that must be consciously welcomed into our lives
• How to begin working with archetypal forces as active co-creators
• Why collective fear of depth shows up as purity culture, repression, and spiritual bypassing
• What it means to bring erotic presence back into long-term love and partnership
• How unresolved desire turns into performance, numbness, or compulsive reenactment
• Why Laurence says, “You can’t domesticate Venus,” and what that truth asks of us
• The difference between trauma reenactment and a descent journey that leads to wisdom
• How archetypal astrology reveals our hidden patterns and invites us into symbolic adulthood
• What it looks like to reimagine spirituality beyond binaries of sin vs. virtue, ego vs. victim, lust vs. love

→ Connect with Laurence and dive into his work at laurencehillman.com.

→ Click here to listen to my first conversation with Laurence or search “Show Me Your Scars and I’ll Show You How Deep You Are” on your favorite podcast player to find the episode. 

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