– Lecture
Reflections on Jungian Psychology   – Then and Now
J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst
    
J. Marvin Spiegelman is one of the last few practicing Jungian Analysts who studied in Zurich in the 1950’s when Jung was still alive. He met his first Analyst in Los Angeles in 1948, where he ultimately returned to practice and teach from 1959 to the present. The first part of his lecture will be focused on reflections and remembrances about the “old days” of Jungians in Zurich and Los Angeles. His recent article, which describes developments from the 1950’s to the present, is entitled “Mortificatio of Jungian Psychology” and will be available to the audience.  Marvin welcomes a lively period of questions and conversation.  The lecture will conclude with a brief introduction to Saturday’s Workshop entitled A Jungian Exploration of Spiritual Paths. Marvin will present his model of WABA (the Divine Within, Among, Between, and Around) using the following examples: The Divine Within illustrated through the Taoistic story of the Rainmaker as told by the original translator of the  I Ching, Richard Whilhelm; the Divine Among via the Muslim experience of the Hajj; the Divine Between with an alchemical model; and the Divine Around in a Hindu story of musical genius.    

– Workshop    

 In this exploration of spiritual paths, Marvin will discuss the ten Zen Buddhist Ox-Herding Pictures as a parallel for individuation. This will be followed by a presentation of Kundalini Yoga, with the Chakras illustrating spiritual development in Hinduism, using Jung’s and other commentary as aids. Later Marvin will discuss the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as an avenue of spiritual development. The seminar will culminate in a presentation of a meditative procedure from this tradition that Marvin has practiced on a daily basis for more than thirty years. The attendees will actually learn to chant this meditation, after hearing some original Kabalistic material.  
   
– Lecture
A Jungian Exploration of Spiritual Paths          
 Leota Ann Voll, M.A., M.Div., M.A.    

As early as 1912, Jung wrote to Freud about his research into Gnosticism. Jung believed that Sophia, the ancient embodiment of Wisdom, was appearing in the world again through psychoanalysis. When Jung bought the first available texts of the Gnostic Gospels and used his influence to get these precious and inflammatory works of ancient wisdom published, he set something loose in the world. The Gospels represent diverse early groups, but leading scholars in Religious Studies see clear themes emerging from these diverse texts.   In this lecture, we will explore the belief in the divine within, available through “gnosis” and reverence for the Divine Feminine, and discuss how these concepts are now emerging from centuries of repression in the West. They seem to be transforming both our understanding of the historical Jesus and our Western spiritual practices. By examining how current spiritual leaders such as Andrew Harvey, Carol Christ and Siobhan Houston teach about the archetypal/psychological potency of the Divine Feminine, we will “taste” some of the ancient and modern Sophia-inspired liturgies.  
    
– Lecture
Seabiscuit: The Little Horse That Could, And Did, And Still Does
Lyn Cowan, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst    

The word “hero” is so broadly used in our day that it begins to lose its mythic sense. But the mythic Hero – larger than life and required to accomplish impossible tasks at great risk, bringer of hope and redemption to lesser mortals – stands in an important relationship to the Self. Implied in the Hero’s grand mission are ideas of personal responsibility and vocation, two themes we meet frequently in Jung’s theory of individuation, but do not often examine. This presentation, illustrated with film clips from the feature film, Seabiscuit, will consider the collective psychological phenomenon that was a horse named Seabiscuit, a true mythic Hero, and the human partners who engaged with him in a mutual process of transformation. Their story is as much for our time as it was for theirs.    

– Lecture
The Mythic Imagination and the  Personal Life Story
Betsy Hall, Ph.D., LCSW    

The word “myth” has undergone a reversal in meaning between ancient and modern times. Whereas myths were once thought of as sacred stories that revealed essential truths about the psyche and the world, common modern language has reduced myth to signify untruths or lies. This lecture recovers an ancient sensibility about myth and asserts that a mythological re-visioning of personal life stories and events creates meaning, healing and transformation. Viewing individual experience through the aperture of mythology leads one to discover soul within moments of suffering and triumph. Through the creation of a personal mythology, the solitary self finds connection between inner and outer realities, between the deep psyche and the world.   Carl Jung argued that since the Western world is lacking a unifying cultural myth, individuals must turn to the personal myth for meaning, guidance, and a sense of belonging. Through lecture and discussion, participants will learn how relationships, events, and stories of the past can be re-visioned as mythological experiences. Historical accounts  and old fixed storylines become translated into sacred healing narratives, which reveal inner truths and provide opportunities for personal transformation. We will discover how mythic re-storying liberates personal and cultural history from the reductionism of fear, judgment and pathological explanations.  

– Workshop    
From Myth to Image: Creating a Vision through Active Imagination and Collage
Nora Swan-Foster, M.A., ATR-BC, LPC    

Jung’s idea of active imagination was a radical approach for working with the unconscious and exploring personal myth. Today’s research shows that the imagination is commonly used to link both sides of our brain, soothe our stressed nervous system, and discover choices and develop new neuropathways. By working in a “transitional space” or “energetic field” that is conceived and held by our own creative imaginative self, we are listening to our unconscious, nourishing our soul and expanding our consciousness.   In this workshop, we will briefly learn about and apply Jung’s theory of active imagination and personal myth. Then we will use our creative imaginative self to make individual “vision boards” that will illuminate not only our personal desires for the future, but our hope for the collective world and the earth. We will use collage as a medium for our unconscious.  


Jungian Concept Series:

Stephen Foster, Ph.D., M.A., LPC  Nora Swan-Foster, M.A., ATR-BC, LPC    

– “The Little Farmer”: a focus on complexes  
– “The Goose Girl”: addressing the shadow  
– “The Golden Bird”: uncovering Anima/Animus and the Self   
– “The White Snake”: a process of Individuation    

Often our complexes have an animal nature and represent archetypal patterns found in dreams, fairy tales and myth. In this series we will use four Grimm’s Fairy Tales, in which animals are central figures, to illustrate the Jungian concepts of complexes, shadow, Anima and Animus, the Self and Individuation. We will look at the complex and its transformation in the psyche, the animals as psychopomp or guide to the Self, and the fairy tale as a map for individuation. The lectures will be interactive, experiential and playful.