Schedule of Upcoming Lectures & Workshops
- Portals to the Unconscious
The world of depth psychology places an enormous importance on the role of the unconscious in the well-being of individuals.
Jung posited the existence of two layers to the unconscious, being the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. As the unconscious is essentially unknowable in its entirety, we have to find ways to demonstrate its existence through its effects. By effects I mean spontaneous symbolic material that the unconscious produces, such as dreams. However, if the unconscious is so important, and is essentially unknowable, how can we access the contents, or the products of the unconscious in a deliberate fashion? The pathways to solving this question relate to the idea of the portals to the unconscious. These are the access gateways through which we can glimpse the unconscious, as well as retrieve, interpret, and understand it’s contents.
The portals to the unconscious include dreams, the body, altered states, psychiatric conditions, ritual, and the analysis of complexes. By altered states I mean experiences such as active imagination, trances, meditation, mediumship, channeling, or substance induced. How can we distinguish these various portals to the unconscious from each other? How is active imagination distinctly different from meditation? Why is an encounter with the numinous contents of the unconscious so significant in analytical psychology? If we view the psyche as fulfilling the core tasks of individuation in a person through the effects of the unconscious, we can see that many of these portals are also attempts at healing.
Details
Date: Friday 14th June, 2013
Location: Casas Adobes Congregational Church on Oracle Rd., Tuscon, Arizona
- The Shaman : Archetype, Persona or Gift
“From a psychological perspective, shamans can be described as community-sanctioned spiritual practitioners who claim to deliberately modify their attention in an attempt to access information not ordinarily available to members of their social group” (Krippner 2005, p. 204).
This lectures examines the archetype of the shaman. In order to make sense of the vast material associated with this construct, we need to discuss how shamans become shamans; how does an altered state of consciousness feature in the shaman; what are the theories of shamanism, ranging from psychosis to soul flight? What role does the neo-shamanistic movement of the 20th century play in our lives? How is the archetype related to the training and interactional dynamics of an analyst? The link with the Wounded-Healer archetype will be reviewed.
Details
Date: Friday, 3rd May, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
Venue: Victoria Jung Society, Hickman Building Rm 110
Date: Friday, 13th September, 2013
Venue: Calgary Jung Society
- A Jungian Interpretation of Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”
The movie is a classic example of how Jung’s model of the psyche can be seen. Each character in the movie represents an aspect of the psyche in the individuation process. In addition the movie is also an important vehicle for a discussion of morals, ethics, and good versus evil.
Details
Date: 9th March, 2013
Venue: Comox Valley C.G. Jung Society
- Active Imagination and the Transcendent Function
In this lecture, I am going to begin by presenting classical understandings of Active Imagination and the Transcendent Function. I then go on to present a different perspective on the Transcendent Function based on my analytical practice. To illustrate my thinking about this material I will review ideas about Jungian Analysis and the Transcendent Function as evidenced in online or Skype-based analyses. The technology that permits an online analysis also presents, for the first time in Analytical Psychology, a clear demonstration of the Transcendent Function to both the analyst and the analysand.
Details
Date: 1st February, 2013
Venue: Comox Valley C.G.Jung Society
- Dream Interpretation Workshop
Following from lecture on Portals to the Unconscious, presented on Friday 14th June, a dream interpretation group will occur the next day. We will work as a group to make sense of the spontaneous products of the unconscious in the form of dreams. The group can have a maximum of eight members. Please bring two recent dreams you have had, with a copy for the other group members. In a safe, confidential and respectful manner, we will work through a Jungian interpretation of your dreams. Please bring very basic art materials to help you in this process. The workshop will be run in one hour blocks, with an hour break for lunch.
Details
Saturday 15th June, 2013
Tuscon, Arizona