Born and raised in Hong Kong, Jaclyn Ke Yin Kalkhurst is a Chinese American scholar of comparative mythology and depth psychology. Growing up between Chinese and American cultures, with an American father who studied Chinese medicine and practiced Qi Gong and a Chinese mother, gave her an early familiarity with different cultural and spiritual traditions that would later become central to her academic work.

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At eighteen, Jaclyn moved to the United States and earned a BFA in Stage Management from the University of Southern California. After a professional 12 year career in theatrical performances as Union Stage Manager and Producer, her longstanding interest in spirituality led her to the healing arts. She became a Reiki and Sekhem-Khrem Master, as well as an EPC Life Coach. Since 2014, she has maintained her healing and teaching practice, Reiki With Jaclyn.

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Jaclyn later earned an MA in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she is currently a PhD candidate. Her doctoral research examines primordial creation myths from Zoroastrian, Bön, and Mongolian traditions, exploring how images of darkness, void, wind, water, and movement give expression to the emergence of form and consciousness from an undifferentiated beginning.

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As a Christine Downing Fellow at the OPUS Archives and Research Center, Jaclyn worked extensively with the Joseph Campbell Collection, researching Campbell’s lectures and writings on comparative mythology, archetypes, and religious traditions. She now serves as Operations Coordinator for the Joseph Campbell Foundation, supporting the Foundation’s work to preserve and share Campbell’s legacy and further the study of mythology.

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Jaclyn is also a published author and conference speaker whose work focuses on creation mythology, comparative religion, archetypal psychology, and the continuing relevance of myth in contemporary life. Through Myth & Darkness, she shares her scholarship and explores the ancient stories humanity has used to understand creation, consciousness, transformation, and our place within the cosmos.