LectureS
The Mysterious Union of Masculine and Feminine
Benedetto Morelli,
Song of Solomon
Rise up my love, my fair one,
and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past
the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth
the time of singing of birds has come.
The Song of Songs, 2:10-13
Throughout the annals of time the mysterious union of masculine and feminine has inspired creative expression of its transcendent message. Variably described as the sacred marriage, the hieros gamos, or in alchemy the coniunctio, it portrays the uniting of what C.G. Jung described as "impossible opposites" (Letters v 2, October 15, 1957), an event that finds its highest value in the embrace of the divine or royal couple. Depictions of this sacred mystery are infused with erotic sensuality and are often accompanied by images of blossoming flowers.
Behind this transcendent experience lies a dark suffering, experienced as a loss of soul. The exiled soul longs for reunion with consciousness, sometimes depicted as the Bride's anguished yearning for the return of her Bridegroom. Jung has described the excruciating process toward the union of opposites as the "suffering of becoming conscious" (C.W. 14, §456).
To describe the sacred marriage presents a challenging task, for here, we are in the realm of the gods. Words of reason fail, yet the experience is real. Assisted by creative works as expressed through the ages, we will explore the meaning of this ineffable mystery, for each of us as individuals and for today's soul-lost, polarized world.
ISAP Zurich
March, 2023
Calgary Jung Society
November, 2022
Jung Society of Victoria
November, 2021
Calgary Jung Society
November, 2022
ENCOUNTERING THE SHADOW-BRINGER OF THE LIGHT
The 'ugliest man' (Nietsche) comes up from the sewers, hunchbacked and wretched. His face mirrors the sadness of a being which has never been loved, for we have turned away from our unconscious soul. But in folklore, a hunchback is a bringer of luck; he carries a lamp a chance to bring light into the darkness of our modern world."
M-L von Franz's commentary on Peter Birkhäuser's painting, "Coming Up" in: Windows on Eternity, The Paintings of Peter Birkhäuser. Einsiedeln: Daimon Verlag, 2009. Plate 54, p. 184.
One of C.G. Jung's most foundational psychological concepts concerns the Shadow, both at the personal as well as the deeper, collective level. He held that to encounter and accept our Shadow, "the thing we have no wish to be" (CW 16, §470), is fundamental to the process of individuation, to becoming whole.
If our Shadow, personal or collective is not recognized and accepted, it then acts out behind our back, so to speak; that despised quality that we reject as our own is unconsciously, and often destructively, projected onto the other. But if we risk the encounter we may find that the Shadow is not only negative, but holds hidden creative potential for human growth.
In this lecture we will investigate the concept of the shadow as bringer of the light. We will follow the analytical journey of a woman and her encounter with a striking shadow figure that accompanied her throughout much of her two year analysis. We witness her struggle to come to terms with this figure through an exploration of her dreams, her artwork and through the containment of the analytical process itself. We witness the healing and new creative life bestowed upon her, in part through her courageous encounter with the shadow.
ISAP Zurich
March, 2023
Vancouver Jung Society
February 22, 2019
Comox Valley Jung Society
January, 2019
Calgary Jung Society
November, 2018
Jung Society of Victoria
February, 2018
M-L von Franz's commentary on Peter Birkhäuser's painting, "Coming Up" in: Windows on Eternity, The Paintings of Peter Birkhäuser. Einsiedeln: Daimon Verlag, 2009. Plate 54, p. 184.
One of C.G. Jung's most foundational psychological concepts concerns the Shadow, both at the personal as well as the deeper, collective level. He held that to encounter and accept our Shadow, "the thing we have no wish to be" (CW 16, §470), is fundamental to the process of individuation, to becoming whole.
If our Shadow, personal or collective is not recognized and accepted, it then acts out behind our back, so to speak; that despised quality that we reject as our own is unconsciously, and often destructively, projected onto the other. But if we risk the encounter we may find that the Shadow is not only negative, but holds hidden creative potential for human growth.
In this lecture we will investigate the concept of the shadow as bringer of the light. We will follow the analytical journey of a woman and her encounter with a striking shadow figure that accompanied her throughout much of her two year analysis. We witness her struggle to come to terms with this figure through an exploration of her dreams, her artwork and through the containment of the analytical process itself. We witness the healing and new creative life bestowed upon her, in part through her courageous encounter with the shadow.
ISAP Zurich
March, 2023
Vancouver Jung Society
February 22, 2019
Comox Valley Jung Society
January, 2019
Calgary Jung Society
November, 2018
Jung Society of Victoria
February, 2018
Lost Voices of the Feminine
The song of Miriam Arises
Joanne Thomson and Judith Dowling
The Song of Miriam lies buried beneath the story of the Hebrew Bible's Exodus. Miriam's Song appears fleetingly at a pinnacle moment of the Exodus story, after Moses has led the Hebrew Nation out of slavery in Egypt, through the parted waters of the Red sea and onto the new shore of freedom. Moses and the men sing a song of exaltation to YHVH for delivering them from slavery in Egypt (The Song at the Sea, Exod.15: 1-18), directly after which follows an often-missed verse, known as The Song of Miriam. Miriam leads all the people in ecstatic song, dance and drum (Exodus 15: 20-21)
To learn more about this captivating verse, we descend beneath the desert sands of Exodus. Through the agency of Midrash, Jewish legends and homilies that sprang up in the spaces between the words of biblical scripture, Miriam is revealed as a dominant figure in early biblical tradition, a prophet in her own right and leader in equal measure with her brothers. Unique to Miriam's leadership is her affiliation with song. The recovery of the lost voice of Miriam reunites feminine Eros to the masculine Logos of Exodus, bringing psychological insight into the essential role of the feminine principle for the individuation journey.
Judith's article under the above title is published in Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche. Spring 2018, Volume 12, Number 2. See "Publications" for link to article.
ISAP Zürich
March, 2017
Victoria Jung Society (Under the title:The Song of Miriam: From Death to Rebirth
Songlines of the Feminine on the Way to New Creation)
February, 2016
Comox Valley C.G. Jung Society
May, 2015
To learn more about this captivating verse, we descend beneath the desert sands of Exodus. Through the agency of Midrash, Jewish legends and homilies that sprang up in the spaces between the words of biblical scripture, Miriam is revealed as a dominant figure in early biblical tradition, a prophet in her own right and leader in equal measure with her brothers. Unique to Miriam's leadership is her affiliation with song. The recovery of the lost voice of Miriam reunites feminine Eros to the masculine Logos of Exodus, bringing psychological insight into the essential role of the feminine principle for the individuation journey.
Judith's article under the above title is published in Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche. Spring 2018, Volume 12, Number 2. See "Publications" for link to article.
ISAP Zürich
March, 2017
Victoria Jung Society (Under the title:The Song of Miriam: From Death to Rebirth
Songlines of the Feminine on the Way to New Creation)
February, 2016
Comox Valley C.G. Jung Society
May, 2015