{"podcast":{"title":"Guru Viking Podcast","slug":"guru-viking-podcast-1161340","podcast_index_feed_id":1161340,"rss_url":"https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:226070020/sounds.rss","website_url":"http://www.guruviking.com/","image_url":"https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000576061611-rlmdm8-original.jpg","author":"Guru Viking","episode_count":395,"summary":"The Guru Viking Podcast specialises in in-depth i…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T00:19:04.476477+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340"},"episode":{"title":"Ep363: Mythic Descent & the Dark Side of Dharma - Duncan Barford","slug":"ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark-side-of-dharma-duncan-barford","published_at":"2026-05-29T13:00:36+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark-side-of-dharma-duncan-barford","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340","url":"https://soundcloud.com/guruviking/ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark","audio_url":"https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2326982723-guruviking-ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark.mp3","summary":"In this episode I am once again joined by Duncan Barford, occult practitioner, counsellor, and author of “Occult Experiments in the Home”. Duncan reflects on his training as a counsellor and the difficulties in sharing his occult interests in that context; his deep appreciation of Freud and Jung; and the links between psychoanalysis and mythic figures such as such as Uranus, Oedipus, and Narcissus. Duncan considers whether Buddhism is merely a useful fiction, offers advice for those interested in learning how tp use mythology to gain insight into life, and explains why the emphasis of his spiritual practice has shifted from awakening to psychological wellbeing. Duncan also talks about his new magical novel, “The Going Down”, describes its plot and messages, and reveals why he believes the practice of Pragmatic Dharma can accrue a profoundly dark karmic debt. … Video version: www.guruviking.com Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 00:59 - Duncan’s therapist hated the occult 02:58 - Misconceptions about Jungian therapy 04:19 - Psychopomp as therapist 04:25 - Freud, Jung, Skinner, Piaget, Rogers, and Carlyle 08:48 - Duncan was a fervent Freudian 09:35 - Freud vs trauma therapy 13:13 - What Freud did 15:58 - Buddhism’s useful fiction 19:47 - Where Freud went wrong 21:50 - The castration complex 26:37 - Castration myths 27:58 - Freud and Duncan’s childhood 30:40 - Universal or culturally specific? 32:15 - Oedipus, myth, and psychoanalysis 37:29 - Duncan’s novel 38:36 - Writing “The Going Down” 41:11 - Plot summary 43:07 - A life-changing ancestor working 44:22 - Duncan’s hope for the book 45:53 - Fiction and the occult 48:40 - Alan Chapman’s dismay at the novel 49:22 - The dark, karmic debt of Pragmatic…","meta_description":"In this episode I am once again joined by Duncan Barford, occult practitioner, counsellor, and author of “Occult Experiments in the Home”. Duncan reflects…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":6151,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/episodes/ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark-side-of-dharma-duncan-barford/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/ep363-mythic-descent-the-dark-side-of-dharma-duncan-barford.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}