
A Thousand Names For God is a podcast for those who seek. Listen to lectures, interviews, and philosophical musings from Rick Alexander, as he explores the intersection of comparative mythology, spirituality, and depth psychology. Rick Alexander is an author, speaker, psychedelic practitioner, and one-on-one coach.
Episodes

4 days ago
Atheism and Spirituality
4 days ago
4 days ago
In today's wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Danielle Alexander and I circle around the question, "Do you need God to have a spiritual life?" We also discuss atheism's aim, its various facets, and its role in modern life.
To learn more about Dr. Danielle Alexander, visit https://www.drdaniellealexander.com/
For more from Rick Alexander, visit www.rickalexander.com
Today's intro and outro music can be found here: https://youtu.be/lk7M4ialPUg

Sunday Apr 06, 2025
The Cosmic Quest: Henry Corbin's Vertical Imagination
Sunday Apr 06, 2025
Sunday Apr 06, 2025
In the quest for spiritual growth, the quest for truth does not seek conclusions but rather opens the path to deeper questions. In today’s episode, I explore the vertical imagination of the French philosopher Henry Corbin. Using his book The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, I explore his understanding of what it means to be human and to walk the spiritual path.
This exploration happens through the mythology of the Exile, as seen through Sohravardī’s Recital of the Occidental Exile. The Exile represents the soul's journey trapped in a well, constrained by oppressive forces, yet seeking light and liberation through spiritual ascension. The Exile is a metaphor for the soul's struggle against the forces of conformity and forgetfulness, ultimately striving for reunion with the Divine, symbolized by the quest for the "Emerald City" or “the Cosmic North”. Corbin illustrates this as a battle of consciousness, where mystic awareness resists the secular forces that try to reduce the individual to madness or heresy. On the other hand, the Seeker is portrayed as a fragment of divine light, searching to reunite with the source of all light. This mystical journey leads to a profound cosmic salvation where the individual, transcending geographical boundaries and personal limitations, reaches a direct relationship with the divine. In this transformation, the "man of light," or the subtle body, emerges—an essential aspect of spiritual development that allows one to perceive and experience the spiritual realms. Through these narratives, Corbin emphasizes that the spiritual path is not a collective journey, but a deeply personal one, where the seeker must confront their inner darkness and strive to manifest their light. In the end, the seeker’s relationship with the divine is intimate, unique, and unshareable, a relationship defined by love, the highest expression of being.
For more information on Rick Alexander, check out wwww.rickalexander.com
You can find today's intro and outro music here: https://open.spotify.com/track/1b5jf2kJ73trBAbME4eSSq?si=b6283c50a12f47a7

Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Entering the Imaginal with Tom Cheetham
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
In today’s episode, I am joined by Tom Cheetham, an author, teacher, biologist, and poet whose work delves into the role of creative imagination in human life and culture. During our conversation, we explore Henry Corbin’s concept of the Imaginal realm, discussing its profound implications for how we perceive and engage with reality. We also examine the necessity of moving beyond consensus reality in spiritual life, as well as the limitations of both religious and scientific fundamentalism.
The best way to stay in touch with Tom's work is by subscribing to his Substack @ https://www.tomcheetham.com/blog, or you can check out his books by clicking here
To engage with Rick Alexander's work, check out www.rickalexander.com
The intro and outro music for today's show is the song Divide by Odesza featuring Kelsey Bulkin

Friday Mar 21, 2025
Tantrik Yoga & Jungian Psychology in dialogue (Full Talk + Q&A)
Friday Mar 21, 2025
Friday Mar 21, 2025
Today's episode is a talk given by Rick Alexander for the Myth Salon on September 30th 2023.
See the full description here:
In 1932, C.G. Jung first put analytical psychology in dialogue with Tantra through his lectures on Kundalini Yoga. Tantra and the Path of Individuation is an attempt to dream that conversation forward, asking essential questions about how the Tantric worldview might inform our models of psychic development and the unfolding of our personal myth. In this lecture, we will look at and contemplate the psychological and spiritual path in light of these two philosophies. As Tantra and Jungian Psychology come together, the seeker is given new images to see by and imagine their individuation. This new way of seeing includes a reorientation of one’s relationship to the body, to one’s own desire—which can be seen here as the fuel for individuation—as well as a reorientation of the ego’s relationship to the Soul.
Use this link to watch the original video version: https://youtu.be/Uth-_u4PTjo?si=Ti6t7Pxjlj6FRS8Q
Intro and Outro music is Royals by The Vitamin String Quartet

Thursday Mar 13, 2025
The Intersection of Psychedelics and Myth with Simon Yugler
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Simon Yugler, author of "Psychedelics and the Soul." As a seasoned psychedelic facilitator and therapist, Simon brings a wealth of expertise to the discussion. Together, we delve into the transformative potential of psychedelics, examining their capacity to facilitate encounters with mythic realms. We also explore how an understanding of mythology can provide valuable frameworks for navigating these experiences and fostering meaningful integration. Join us for an enlightening conversation that bridges the realms of psychedelics and myth.
For more from Simon Yugler, visit www.simonyugler.com
To work with or explore the work of Rick Alexander, check out www.rickalexander.com

Sunday Mar 09, 2025
The World as God's Erotic Ecstasy
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
In today's episode, I use the spiritual teachings of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to make a case for the fact that you, everyone you've ever met, and everything you've ever known, is in fact, an outpouring of God's Erotic Ecstasy. As Paul D’Arcy asserts, “God comes to you disguised as your life." Today's show, which falls somewhere between an academic lecture and a sermon, attempts to explain how this might be possible.
Sources:
For more information on Rick Alexander's work, check out Rickalexander.com
Today's show draws heavily from Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, which can be found anywhere books are sold.
The outro music is a song called Higher than the Mountains by Sam Garrett

Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
Psychedelic Psychotherapy with Rachael Spyker
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
In today's episode, I talk with Rachael Spyker about psychedelic psychotherapy. Toward the end of the show we specifically focus on cannabis and MDMA. We also explore religious trauma and the search to find an authentic sense of self.
Rachael is a therapist in British Columbia, Canada. Learn more about her client work at Alchemy Psychotherapy by visiting alchemycounselling.ca. She is also the host of the Deconstruction Podcast where she explores the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and society.
For more information about my work, check out rickalexander.com.
Today's intro and outro music is a song called Falling by ZenAware.

Sunday Nov 10, 2024
The Stories We Live, The Stories That Live Us
Sunday Nov 10, 2024
Sunday Nov 10, 2024
In today's episode, I speak with Danielle Alexander about the stories we live and the stories that unconsciously live through us.
To learn more about Danielle's upcoming Wild Retreat, click here

Monday Mar 18, 2024
Psychedelics and the Soul: SXSW lecture
Monday Mar 18, 2024
Monday Mar 18, 2024
In today's episode, I am releasing a recording of my talk at the 2024 South by Southwest Conference and Festival called Psychedelics and the Soul. Drawing on Jungian psychology I explore the need for a psychology that accounts for the soul as a reality when working with the psychedelic experience.
Click here for information on my upcoming workshop Jungian Psychology and the Psychedelic Experience

Saturday Aug 05, 2023
The Soul in Conflict: Polytheism & Monotheism in the Western Psyche
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
In today's episode, Rick shares a paper he wrote called The Soul in Conflict, which uses archetypal psychology to look at the pagan / Christian divide that tends to unconsciously exist in the Western psyche.
For more from Rick Alexander, visit www.rickalexander.com
To register for the upcoming psychology of Cannabis workshop, click here
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Intro Music: Royals, by Vitamin String Quartet
Outro Music: I am, by Satsang
Sources used in today's show:
Eknath, Easwaran. The Bhagavad Gita. Nilgiri Press, 2019.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, and Stanley Appelbaum. Self-Reliance, and Other Essays. DoverPublications, 2016.
Frantz, Alison. From Paganism to Christianity in the Temples of Athens.
Hillman, James. Re-Visioning Psychology. HarperCollins, 1975.
Hillman, James. Mythic Figures. Spring Publications, 2021.
History Today. “The Dream of Constantine.” History Today, Volume 69 Issue 3 March 2019
www.historytoday.com/archive/foundations/dream-constantine.
López-Pedraza, Rafael. Cultural Anxiety. Daimon Verlag, 1994.
Paris, Ginette, and Gwendolyn Moore. Pagan Meditations: The Worlds of Aphrodite, Artemis, and Hestia. Spring Publications, 1991.