The Breath of the Volcano: A Journey into the Rhythms of Transformation

What if I told you that volcanoes breathe—not in a mythic or metaphorical sense, but in a real, observable rhythm that mirrors our own experience of inhale and exhale, tension and release, collapse and transformation? Volcanoes, like human beings, go through cycles of contraction and expansion. And within those breath-like movements lies a powerful metaphor for spiritual awakening and inner transformation—a metaphor that sits at the heart of The Caldera Method™.

This post explores the breathing of volcanoes, not just as a geological fact, but as a symbolic key to understanding personal growth, surrender, and the sacred process of rebirth.

The Breathing Volcano

Volcanoes actually breathe in a similar way as human beings. Air is actually sucked down into the volcano after an eruption and it mixes with the hot fire beneath the surface of the earth. Volcanoes are also emitting gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) on a continual basis. Volcanoes don’t breathe like living creatures, but they do go through rhythmic patterns of gas release and pressure changes that can look like breathing. Sometimes, this happens in a pulsing or cyclic way—like exhaling. These pulses can be tied to changes in magma movement or pressure underground.

Then, before eruptions or during times of volcanic activity, the ground around a volcano can inflate and deflate as magma rises or shifts beneath the surface. This is measured with GPS and satellite radar, and some scientists describe it as the volcano "breathing."

Volcanoes can also produce low-frequency seismic waves—called harmonic tremors—that almost feel like the deep hum of a creature breathing. They're often associated with magma movement. So no lungs, no air sacs, but in the poetic sense? Yeah—volcanoes definitely have a breath of their own.

When I breathe inwards it is usually a very quick gasping because the outbreath is more pleasurable, and this is when I feel I am sharing with the world around me. As Jesus said, “It’s better to give than to receive” so my outbreaths are slow, and I can feel the kundalini energy rising up into my head as I complete the exhale.

The Volcano as Symbol of the Psyche

In this way, the volcano becomes more than a geological formation—it becomes a mirror of the psyche, particularly the spiritual psyche in transformation. As Carl Jung once said:

“Volcanoes are not just natural formations—they are also symbols. In the unconscious, the volcano is often an image of the transformation of psychic energy, the molten core of the self seeking to erupt into consciousness.”—Carl Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

This eruption and collapse, the breath in and out, reflects not only the movements of magma but the deeper shifts within the human soul. The fire below is not destructive in essence—it is creative, regenerative, and catalytic. It is the same energy that erupts in spiritual awakening, a force that can tear down false identities and give birth to a more integrated, whole self.

Dr. David R. Hawkins, who deeply explored the spiritual dimension of human consciousness, described a similar phenomenon in the process of awakening:

“The ego is like a volcano of suppressed energy. As we release these inner pressures through spiritual work, we begin to feel lighter, more expansive. This is the emergence of the Self from the ashes of the ego.”—David R. Hawkins, Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender

This is precisely what The Caldera Method™ symbolizes: the personal volcano that erupts, collapses, and becomes a sacred space—a caldera—where rebirth begins. The fiery collapse is not an ending, but an invitation. A new island rises within the flooded crater of the soul. A place where transformation occurs not by force, but through surrender.

As Bill Wilson put it in his reflections on spiritual awakening:

“Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things—but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.”—Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 55

The Breath Within

Breathing, then, becomes a sacrament. The inhale invites Spirit in—the magma of divine potential. The exhale releases what no longer serves—the toxic gases of ego, fear, and illusion. This is the breath of the volcano, the breath of the soul. And within it lies the rhythm of all true transformation.

The Caldera Method™ invites you into that sacred rhythm. Into the fiery collapse and the rising new land. Into the breath of the volcano that lives within you.