The soul longs to know itself: An interview with Dr. Troy Caldwell
C.G. Jung – Lillian Sizemore's “Mind's Eye”
Not too long ago sitting around the table at Retreat House, I said, across a few other lines of conversation happening at the table, “I would love to talk to you about that sometime.” I was referring to dreams, and the peculiar and mystical and wonderful way, that the Holy has messaged to me in dreams. I knew he had experience and knowledge in talking with people about their dreams. I was thinking I might get a response that went something like this: “Sure, email me.”
Instead, Troy said, “How about right now?”
I smiled. Okay I said.
Troy Caldwell is a Trained Spiritual Director and Psychiatrist. He’s also a covenant partner of Retreat House Spirituality Center. Soft-spoken with lots of wisdom, he has guided and cared for souls for several decades. Troy and I ended up having a conversation about dreams in the living room that day. He helped affirm some wonderings I had been having about my journey. Most recently, it was a delight to catch up with him for this quick interview regarding his knowledge and passion around Jungian Archetypes and the Enneagram and to learn even more about his faith journey. Beginning November 2 at Retreat House, Troy and his colleague and friend Doug Scott will offer a two-part class providing an overview of Archetypes as well as the Enneagram as two tools connecting individuals to a deeper understanding of themselves, God and the world around them.
Learn a bit more about his insights into the contemplative path:
Retreat House: When did you embrace the contemplative path? And why/how does it resonate with you?
Troy: My journey fits very well Three Ways of the Mystical Life:
Awakening of the soul
At age 18, I had an awakening of the soul in the form of being filled with the Holy Spirit and called to a deeper following of God.
Typically, one must complete the Purgative Way and be into the Illuminative Way before true contemplation begins. That was the case for me. Prayer started to change in my mid-30’s from an asking for things to just “hanging out with Jesus.” The felt-presence of God wooed me into deeper places of soul, and I experienced God in a more apophatic manner. This was also the same time I discovered spiritual direction.
The contemplative path resonated because I never felt prayer was very meaningful until God led me to contemplation.
“The teachings I was receiving in spiritual direction and spiritual theology were more insightful and in keeping with what I was discovering in the souls of my patients while practicing psychiatry. ”
Having my faith tradition as a framework that could help address the issues of the deep soul I was seeing both in myself and my patients was a great joy to me.
Retreat House: How have you used the enneagram/archetype in your work/practice and do you believe it makes space for transformation? If so, how/why?
Troy: When helping people discern their place on their journey, and what the urgings of the heart mean, it helps to have the language of archetypes to distinguish the numinous energetic pull of instinct from the sometimes more quiet and gentle pull of spirit and wholeness. It is often a fearful thing to feel as if our original archetype is being lost or transforming. When we realize that what will replace it will be more complete and Christlike, it is a great comfort. We can move forward with more faith and less fear.
Retreat House: How do archetypes and the Enneagram work together?
Troy: This is too big of a question for a short reply. Come to the sessions and find out.
Retreat House: The Enneagram is a buzz word right now. Also, some folks tend to use it to box and type folks in an unhealthy way. Any thoughts on this?
Troy: The soul hungers to know itself. Any system that gives names to the various psychological forces within us can help us be more appreciative of and less adversely controlled by such forces. Why the enneagram became more popular than the archetypal system of Jung is probably because authors writing about the enneagram are much more readable than Jung and his immediate followers. Jung has a big following, but the discourse in such circles tended to be erudite and not very reader friendly. Also, we are in a time of more openness to extra-Christian sources now than when Jung was being popularized. The soil of the spiritual garden was better prepared when Enneagram was being introduced than when Jung’s ideas were new.
Retreat House: Do you mind sharing your types?
I am a Sage archetype which correlates closely with an Enneagram 5.
Retreat House: How have you these tools been helpful in your own journey?
Troy: The archetypal system has helped me understand dreams much more helpfully than other appreciations I have studied. Dreams have been a very important guide on the spiritual path for me. They have shown me important overarching patterns as well as kept me abreast of the activity of my Shadow. Archetypal understandings help me appreciate my callings and giftedness.
Retreat House: The archetype image you sent me was a little more specific than the ones I found online. Can you explain some about the model you use?
Caldwell: Those wishing to study this system of understanding more can go to a book by Guzie and Guzie called About Men and Women. I discovered it at Pecos Benedictine Monastery in the 1980’s when Pecos was a hotbed of Christian/Jungian integration teaching.
Retreat House: What is your hope for this course?
Troy: The growth process of soul has been described in this way:
Know yourself.
Accept yourself.
Become One with the Creator.
For me, learning Archetypes and/or Enneagram facilitated #1& 2 greatly. As one becomes more self-knowing and self-accepting, we move closer to being one with the Creator.
Retreat House: Anything else you want folks to know?
Troy: If anyone feels a deep call from any of the materials we provide, I know Doug or I would welcome their coming to us for further integration and study.
“My sense is by understanding our own souls more deeply and more flexibly and by appreciating other souls, we can love each other better as well as love ourselves better.”
Note: technical difficulties truncated the first part of the below video. The video begins after reviewing the masculine and feminine archetype handouts and deciding which matches you most closely. Review the slides up to that point and look at the handouts before starting the video. To get those handouts and slides, go here and look under the heading "Archetypes, Heroes, and the Enneagram.”
For nearly four decades, Troy Caldwell, M.D. has been a shepherd of souls. From 1981 through August of 2016, he practiced this shepherding in the Dallas and North Texas area as a psychiatrist. While practicing, he learned much though his role as a psychotherapist and medical healer. In addition, he was privileged to study and ultimately teach the ancient traditions of soul work called Spiritual Direction.
A particular interest of Dr. Caldwell’s is the appreciation of ways Jungian and depth psychology shed light on the spiritual path. In 2015, he published a book addressing this topic titled Adventures in Soulmaking: Stories and Principles of Spiritual Formation and Depth Psychology.
This article was written by Emily Turner. Part of Emily’s ministry and desire is to facilitate spiritual and emotional healing through listening, loving presence, prayer, and writing. She is a trained spiritual director. Learn more.