The Earth Has a Soul: C.G. Jung on Nature, Technology & Modern Life

What does it mean to live cut off from the earth that nourishes us—and to which we’re inherently, inextricably connected?

In this powerful exploration of Jung’s writings on nature, we’re invited to rediscover the beauty, connection, wonder, and awe that we’ve lost in a world of machines, haste, and spiritual severings.

From his childhood reverence of mountains and rivers, to time spent at his retreat at Bollingen chopping wood and fetching water by hand, Jung embraced the same wilds he taught, embodying the wisdom that the human soul draws strength from its rootedness in nature, our connection to ancestors, and together with the more-than-human world.

Included are excerpts from Memories, Dreams, Reflections, among other, lesser-known works. Across these pages, Jung warns of the costs of our so-called “conquest” of nature: environmental devastation, psychic epidemics, and the breathless exhaustion of modern life. He challenges the illusion that humans are here to dominate the earth, revealing instead that we’ve become possessed by unconscious and unexamined drives.

Yet, these essays offer hope, too—and insights on finding our way back to the old paths. By listening to the wisdom of our dreams; respecting the ancient ways; and relearning to see nature as both matter and spirit, we can reclaim our vitality—and access the interdependence with the earth that is our birthright. He shows how our task isn’t to produce, consume, and set ourselves apart from earth, but to reintegrate with it—and to bring our consciousness back into harmony with its deep, instinctual rhythms.