David Fincher’s 1997 thriller The Game isn’t just a suspenseful mind-bender—it’s also a hidden blueprint for radical transformation. At first glance, the film seems like a high-stakes mystery. But peel back the layers, and it begins to resemble something closer to a Psychomagic ritual, the kind that Alejandro Jodorowsky might orchestrate: theatrical, symbolic, and designed to shatter the ego.

The story follows Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), a wealthy but emotionally frozen financier. When he’s enrolled in a mysterious “game” by his estranged brother as a birthday gift, his carefully curated life begins to unravel. Bit by bit, he loses his money, status, and sense of control—until he’s forced to confront the very things he’s spent his life avoiding. His fall (literal and figurative) becomes the ultimate ego death. It’s the Tower card from the Tarot made manifest: a violent collapse that clears the way for rebirth.

What Is Psychomagic?

Psychomagic is a therapeutic practice developed by filmmaker and mystic Alejandro Jodorowsky. It’s based on the idea that the unconscious mind responds more to symbolic actions than to rational explanations. Jodorowsky would prescribe rituals tailored to a person’s inner wounds—actions that bypass the intellect and speak directly to the subconscious.

A Psychomagic act is so effective because it works through metaphor—the only language the subconscious mind truly understands. And, ironically, it’s often within those metaphors that the deepest healing can be found. The subconscious doesn’t respond to analysis or logic; it responds to images, sensations, archetypes—symbolic experiences that mirror the emotional truth beneath the surface.

For example, someone grappling with guilt might be told to carry a heavy object through a public place to physically “bear the weight” of their emotion. These acts are strange, visceral, and deeply symbolic. But they work—not because they’re logical, but because they’re emotionally real.

In The Game, every twist Nicholas endures feels orchestrated with this same purpose: to dismantle his emotional defenses and force a confrontation with his buried fears. The game is a ritual—an immersive psychodrama meant to provoke transformation.

Crafting Your Own Psychomagic

We often wait for life to disrupt us—through heartbreak, illness, loss—before we grow. But what if, like Nicholas Van Orton, we could consciously design our own “game”? A controlled symbolic crisis that helps us break through fear, grief, or stagnation?

Here’s how to create a personal psychomagic ritual for healing and self-transformation:

1. Identify Your Core Psychological Block

What fear or belief is keeping you stuck?
Is it the fear of failure? Abandonment? Vulnerability?
For Van Orton, it was his obsession with control and his fear of becoming emotionally exposed—especially in the shadow of his father’s suicide.

2. Create a Symbolic, Ritualistic Act

Design an experience that mirrors the emotional terrain you want to move through. Some examples:

  • Fear of loss? Voluntarily give something up.

  • Fear of public judgment? Do something mildly embarrassing in public, like singing on a street corner.

  • Low self-worth? Write yourself a love letter and mail it.

  • Fear of poverty? Spend a day with no money, relying solely on kindness.

Jodorowsky often went to extremes—he might suggest walking naked in the woods if you hate your body—but even small, meaningful acts can disrupt the inner narrative.

3. Commit Fully—No Half-Measures

The ritual only works if you believe in it.
The Game succeeded because Nicholas believed everything was real. Your symbolic act must feel emotionally convincing.
Immerse yourself as if your life depends on it.

4. Reflect & Reinvent

Transformation isn’t in the act alone—it’s in what comes after. Ask yourself:

  • How did it feel?

  • What came up emotionally?

  • What new choices feel available to you now?

Like Nicholas after his symbolic death and rebirth, we too can emerge changed—more open, more present, more alive.

What’s Your “Game”?
If you could design your own personal Psychomagic ritual… what would it be?
What part of yourself are you ready to let go of, symbolically destroy, or radically confront?

Transformation doesn’t always need to come through chaos.
Sometimes, the most powerful changes come from the rituals we dare to create ourselves.

Until we meet again,

Be well