Research Interests

Their research interests include depth psychological reflections on spirituality, Paleolithic cave art, ceremonial magic, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Biography

Nicholas S. Literski, JD, PhD, is a Jungian scholar and professional spiritual guide, currently serving as Senior Program Manager for the School of Undergraduate Studies and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Nick has pursued their passion for the intersection of spirituality and psychology. After three years of training as a shamanic practitioner, Nick earned a MA in spiritual guidance, researching how LGBTQ+ persons from non-affirming religious backgrounds create their own sustaining, affirming spiritual practices. During PhD work in depth psychology, Nick’s dissertation engaged in a depth psychological analysis of Paleolithic cave art, through C. G. Jung’s technique of active imagination, with an eye toward what these images could reveal about the human religious instinct. Nick is a practicing ceremonial magician, and is the creator of PaleoSpirituality™, a psychospiritual practice of engaging the numinous through contemplation and creation of imagery.

Courses

Learning & Cognition; APA Style; Research Methods; Senior Project, Introduction to Transpersonal Psychology; Psychology of Image; Psychedelic Experience--Highs, Lows, and Transformation

Education

BS Sociology, Utah State University (1996); JD, Northern Illinois University College of Law (1999); MA Spiritual Guidance, Sofia University (2015); MA Depth Psychology with emphasis in Jungian and Archetypal Studies (2018); PhD Depth Psychology with emphasis in Jungian and Archetypal Studies (2022)