Sunday, December 28, 2014

C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis Winter-Spring, 2015, Lectures, Workshops, Authors' Evenings, and Study Groups



The C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis has packed the coming months with interesting, informative, even compelling programs.  The first is a Shamanic Workshop with Carol Haake and Robin DeGraff on January 17.  In February, Donald Kalsched, world-renowned analyst and teacher on issues of trauma and depression, will offer a lecture, workshop, and colloquium on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 13, 14, 15.  For detailed information or to register, visit www.cgjungstl.org.  

There is also information on the website about the winning essays in the recently concluded writing contest.  And there is information about the 2015 Jung in the Heartland--The Altar of the Earth.  Early-bird registration will be available in the Spring.  The Society expects the conference to sell out so early registration not only will save you money, it will guarantee you a place at the conference.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

The Gift of Consciousness


If you are casting about for an unusual but intriguing gift for a friend or loved one, do consider the gift of consciousness.  The C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis has a number of superb programs which are available on DVD or CD.  Some of the programs are of an introductory level to Jungian Psychology; others are more nuanced and expand upon some of Jung's original ideas.  The quality of the recordings is excellent.  You can see trailers and order various ones at www.cgjungstl.org.  Order now to receive one or more in time for Christmas.

On the Topic of Wholeness



Here is the quote from Morris West's novel, Shoes of the Fisherman, that I used in my December 5 presentation for the Jung Society of St. Louis.  The audience particularly liked this quote so I am posting it here for those interested:

“Yesterday I met a whole person. It is a rare experience, but always an illuminating and ennobling one. It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment, or the courage, to pay the price… One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover, and yet demand no easy return on love. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, yet open always to the total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.”


Sunday, December 07, 2014

JUNGIAN VIEW OF WHOLENESS



In my presentation, "The Jungian View of Wholeness," for the C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis on Friday, December 5, 2014, I mentioned three books that provide a fine introduction to Jungian Psychology.  Those books are Boundaries of the Soul, by June Singer; The Tao of Psychology by Jean Shinoda Bolen; and In Midlife: A Jungian Perspective by Murray Stein.

The St. Louis Jung Society has captured many of its wonderful programs on audio and video.  CD's and DVD's are available for order on the Society's website at www.cgjungstl.org    My December 5 lecture will be available for purchase soon.  

Sunday, November 23, 2014

DONALD KALSCHED IN ST. LOUIS - February 13-15, 2015


The C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis will host Donald Kalsched, Ph.D., on February 13-15, 2015.  Dr.  Kalsched will present a full weekend focusing on the psychological effects of trauma in a lecture on Friday evening, February 13; a workshop on Saturday, February 14; and a colloquium for clinicians on Sunday, February 15. Details for this weekend of events will be available in the Society's Winter/Spring 2015 Newsletter.

Dr. Kalsched is a Clinical Psychologist and Jungian Psychoanalyst in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the author of two important works on psychological trauma, its effects, and its treatment: The Inner World of Trauma and Trauma and the Soul.

Additional information will be available on the Society's website as well as the opportunity to register in late December.  The website address is:  www.cgjungstl.org

Friday, October 03, 2014

National Depression Screening Day


National Depression Screening Day is Thursday, October 9, 2014.  I will give a short talk, "Is there Value in Depression?" and lead a discussion about the facets of depression at Meramec Community College from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.  The event is open to the public and free of charge.  For more details, visit www.cgjungstl.org  

Saturday, September 27, 2014

AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDINGS OF C. G. JUNG SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS PROGRAMS


The C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis offers many fine recordings, both audio and video, of past programs.  The quality of the recordings is excellent, as fine as you might see on network television, and the content includes superb explanations and elaborations of Jung's theories by leaders in the field.  Presenters include Jean Shinoda Bolen, Monika Wikman, Lionel Corbett, James Hollis, Mary Dougherty, Ken James, Leah Friedman, and myself.  Topics range from critical understanding of basic Jung's ideas to cutting edge theories that expand upon Jung's thinking.

For detailed information or to order, visit www.cgjungstl.org

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

JAMES HOLLIS IN ST. LOUIS - September 26 & 27, 2014



What is Myth? A Weekend with James Hollis, Ph.D.

Friday Evening Lecture
September 26, 2014 – 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 
Map it! 
Fee: Friends $20 / Full Time Students $12.50 / Others: $25 (2 CEUs)

Jung asked himself this question, “What is myth?”, and realized it was a question he could not answer. Can we answer it? In order to begin, we first have to understand what is meant by myth. Then, we need to consider what the question itself means. Why we even have to ask this question is yet another question. What is the cultural context in which we raise these questions? How do our personal journeys intersect with the climate of our time? Answers to these and other questions will be explored in Dr. Hollis’ presentation as he offers putative approaches to discovering our myth and challenges us to a more thoughtful engagement with our own personal “myth” and journey.

Saturday Workshop
September 27, 2014 – 9 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 
Map it! 

Fee: Friends $60 / Full Time Students $35.00 / Others $70 (4 CEUs)
A continental breakfast will be available at 8:45 A.M.


During the course of today’s program, Dr. Hollis will elaborate on the questions raised in his presentation on Friday evening, and provide even more questions in order to provoke participants into further personalizing the issues and answering the question, What is my myth? Please bring pad and pen on which to write and reflect.
James Hollis, PhD, is a Zurich-trained Jungian analyst in private practice in Houston, Texas. Internationally acclaimed analyst and author, Dr. Hollis is former Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center of Houston and professor of Jungian Studies at Saybrook University, San Francisco, California. Additionally, he is retired Senior Training Analyst for the InterRegional Society of Jungian Analysts, first Director of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Among his many publications are numerous
articles and fourteen books (some of which have been translated into sixteen languages) including The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other; Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life; What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life; The Middle Passage; and his most recent book, Hauntings: Dispelling the Ghosts Who Run Our Lives.

To Register, go to www.cgjungstl.org

Thursday, June 19, 2014

INVISIBLE REALITY



INVISIBLE REALITY

      Jung writes, “What is real is that which has real effects.”  In our rigid three-dimensional conscious constructs, we tend to define reality as that which is concrete and tangible, excluding anything of a spiritual nature.  Yet, the spiritual has real effects.  Even a cursory self-reflection will confirm the validity of Jung’s statement.  The spiritual is real.
     When I was growing up, it was the custom in our small Catholic community to pray the rosary as part of a funeral wake.  The effect on my young self was extreme boredom mixed with wonderment that adults behaved this way.  However, in thinking about this ritual as an adult, I can see the real effects of rote recitation and meditation on the mysteries of the rosary—the joyful, the sorrowful, and the glorious.  What human life hasn’t been touched by joy, sorrow, and glory?  What resonances are set up in the depths of the souls of the living?  What evokes the sacredness of life like those intoned prayers, drawing mourners into an unconscious unity of spirit?  Who knows what the effects were on those people around me?  On me?  Surely it had at least as much impact as an invisible wind rustling through trees.
     The psychological impact of formal prayer is that it tends to align consciousness with semi-conscious, established patterns that have served humankind well for a very long time.  For a consciousness mired in some less-than-healthy unconscious pattern, prayer can be a way of getting  “unstuck.”  The mysteries of the rosary are built on New Testament stories which recount the life story of one of the most developed personalities in human history, someone fully individuated, i.e., who completely realized both the human and the spiritual dimensions of existence.  
     For another example of invisible effects, consider gazing on a full moon.  Even thinking about the image of a full moon right now conjures up emotion, memory, awe, and mystery.  I rarely look at a full moon without wondering about peoples over millennia who saw this same sight, who relied on it to mark the passage of time, to know when to move or to harvest crops; who began to associate it with the cycle of a woman’s life and the mysterious absence of the cycle with an impending birth, to predict the movements of the tides, even eventually to know when to celebrate the Paschal Mystery itself.   What knowledge the spirit of the moon has imparted to humanity over the ages!  What knowledge does the physical world hold, awaiting a consciousness sufficiently capacious to apprehend it?
     If you haven’t seen the movie, “Moonstruck,” I urge you to rent and watch it.  It will awaken some spiritual awareness without ever touching on anything religious or dogmatic.  I would argue that we are all a bit moonstruck and it would do us well to recognize and celebrate it.
     Whenever anything intangible and haunting is evoked in us, whether it be in seeing the flag, in hearing a moving poem, in playing and replaying a song in our minds, in being visited by the memory of a deceased loved one, or in a thousand other ways in which a current experience ties us back to an old memory trace, we experience the movement of an invisible spirit. 

     A favorite poem of mine is “elegy” by W.S. Merwyn:

who would i tell it to

That simple sentence, sans capitalization or punctuation, always evokes such depth of emotion in me that I know it brings me into solidarity with every other human being who has grieved in ways beyond language or explanation.  Why is it that the Gerard Manley Hopkins’ opening line, “Margaret, are you grieving over goldengrove unleaving,” pops into my mind frequently and at odd times?  I can only conclude that there is some unseen but very real force at work in my being.  It is a force of some power, and it is arresting.
     Of course, in our romance-besotted modern life, no one among us would deny the effects of love or its life-changing, life-enhancing power.  Yet, few of us would identify love as a spirit, but in the truest sense of the word, it is spiritual.  And in the sense that Jung defines “real,” it is real.  “What I did for Love” is more than a lovely song; it is a testament to the power of love.  
     Jung was interested in the psychology of the human person and in the ways reality, seen and unseen, can call forth richness of experience and wholeness of personality.  Whether we approach the spiritual through a formal religion or through a religious, reverent attitude toward the people and the world within and around us matters little.  What is important, from a psychological point of view, is that we not neglect all of experience.  
     To live in a reality that consists only of things, one that must be explained by cause and effect is to live in a carved-out, desiccated existence.  To live in a world of things is to see and understand people and ourselves only as objects to be manipulated and managed.  To live in a strict cause-and-effect universe is to miss perhaps the largest parts of existence, the parts that respond to mythic patterns, the forces that, rather than pushing us from the past, are pulling us into the future. 
     It is a basic tenet of Analytical (Jungian) Psychology that we as conscious moderns have a responsibility to understand the spiritual forces that move us as best we can, learn to cooperate with those that are benevolent, and resist those that are not.  External authority, while important for civil living, can also lead us very much in undesirable directions if it is not reconciled with the individual spirits that inhabit all of us.     
     A careful reflection about spiritual forces leads me to conclude that there are a myriad of invisible agencies that have very real effects and that are shaping our lives, our relationships, and our actions in unknown and sometimes undesirable ways.  What our individual and collective futures become is, in no small part, of our own choosing and attitude toward the real.



Friday, June 13, 2014

JUNGIAN STUDIES OFFERED BY THE CHICAGO JUNG INSTITUTE


For people interested in formal study of Jungian Psychology, the Jung Institute of Chicago offers an excellent program.  The program, meetings on weekends over a two-year period, has drawn participants from all parts of the U.S.  Feedback from graduates of the program has been universally positive.  The experience of downtown Chicago coupled with serious study of Jung is a refreshing change of pace for many.  Serious study of Jung is a fine way to tap into creative potentials.  The Chicago Program is truly re-creational in nature.

The Jungian Psychotherapy Program (JPP) and the Jungian Studies Program (JSP) are unique and dynamic two-year programs in Analytical Psychology offered by the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. The Jungian Psychotherapy Program (JPP) offers licensed mental health and social service professionals an opportunity to enrich and deepen their work through didactic and experiential learning in Analytical Psychotherapy. The Jungian Studies Program (JSP) shares core curriculum with the JPP and offers professionals in other fields an opportunity to gain a comprehensive knowledge of analytical psychology to enrich and deepen their creative work.

These programs meet concurrently one weekend a month (October - June). A new two-year cycle begins October 2014 and the deadline for applications to the 2014 - 2016 program has been extended to July 1, 2014.

The JPP accepts psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, physicians, and nurses. The JSP accepts allied professionals such as spiritual directors, chaplains, alternative health care providers, educators and artists. JSP students and JPP students participate in all aspects of the program together except where confidential clinical material is discussed. At those times, participants are divided into separate small process groups. Continuing education credits are available for JPP students.

The Institute website has more detailed information:  www.jungchicago.org

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Comments about the May 30-31 Jung Society Program on the topic of shadow


On May 30-31, the St. Louis Jung Society featured a weekend program, "The Shadow: Constriction, Transformation and Individuation, and Active Imagination: Dialogues Between Self and Shadow," by Chicago Analyst Mary Dougherty (MFA, ATR, NCPsyA).

The program was a fine Society offering and was well attended.  Ms. Dougherty focussed on the psychological development of the four main characters in the film, "The Piano."  Her insights were profound, and the workshop exercises she offered to participants on Saturday were all oriented toward understanding shadow and working to make it more conscious.

The video and audio recordings of Ms. Dougherty's Friday lecture will soon be available at cgjungstl.org

Ms. Dougherty will be presenting for the Chicago Jung Institute in the Summer Intensive at the Institute.  For details go to jungchicago.org

The St. Louis Society will host James Hollis again in September.  Visit cgjungstl.org for more information or to register.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

PROGRAM THIS WEEKEND ON THE SHADOW



The Shadow: Constriction, Transformation and Individuation,
and Active Imagination: Dialogues Between Self and Shadow
Mary Dougherty, MFA, ATR, NCPsyA

Lecture - May 30, 2014 (Prerequisite: View “The Piano,” a film by Jane Campion)
Friday, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 Map it!

Fee: Friends $15 / Others: $20 / Students: $10 / 2 CEUs

Workshop - May 31, 2014 (Prerequisite: View “The Piano,” a film by Jane Campion)
Saturday, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 Map it!

Fee: Friends $40 / Others: $50 / Students: $25 / 4 CEUs

For additional information or to register, visit cgjungstl.org

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

David Brooks Column in Today's NYTIMES


Here is the link to David Brooks' second article about important books in his life.  It is an interesting read and cause for reflection:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/opinion/brooks-really-good-books-part-ii.html?hp&rref=opinion

C. G. Jung is my favorite author.  Two of his essays have been profoundly influential in my thinking and development.  One is his "Commentary on the Secret of the Golden Flower."  The other is his "Introduction to the I CHING."  Both have been pivotal (meaning they changed the direction) in my life.

Monday, April 28, 2014

C. G. JUNG SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS - WRITING CONTEST


Details about this year's writing contest are now available at www.cgjungstl.org  

The theme of this contest is "Altars of the Earth."  The contest is a lead-up to the Society's 2015 Conference which will have the same theme.  Final selections will be published in a book that will be available prior to the conference.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

C. G. JUNG SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS--UPCOMING PROGRAM, April 25-26, 2014




LUCK, FATE, AND HAZARD IN THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE


Lecture - April 25, 2014
Friday, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 Map it!

Fee: Friends $15 / Others: $20 / Students: $10/ 2 CEUs

Workshop - April 26, 2014
Saturday, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
First Congregational Church UCC Picture of the Church
6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, MO, 63105 Map it!

Fee: Friends $40 / Others: $50 / Students: $25/ 4 CEUs

This program will explore the dimensions of luck, fate and hazard in human experience. The work of Jung and the Jungian community will be used to elucidate these three dimensions, and an intensive consideration of the role of consciousness as a balancing dimension will also be provided. Friday’s lecture will cover the topics of luck, fate, hazard and consciousness broadly. Saturday’s workshop will involve a close reading of Jung’s ideas about these phenomena and how they relate to individuation. The workshop will involve both small and large group discussion, and participants will deepen their understanding of the importance of consciousness as an ally on the path of individuation.

Ken James, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Chicago. He is a member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, serving as an instructor in the Analyst Training Program and the Clinical Training Program, as well as offering courses through C.G. Jung Institute in Chicago, Common Ground in Deerfield, and the C.G. Jung Center in Evanston. Ken
has taught internationally on Jungian topics.

To register, go to www.cgjungstl.org

Friday, April 11, 2014

WRITING CONTEST - C. G. Jung Society of St. Louis



Our local Jung Society is about to announce the third writing contest.  The theme this year is "Altars of the Earth," the same theme as the Jung in the Heartland Conference--2015.  For information about the first two contests (and Conferences on the same themes) or to purchase the books of the winning essays, go to the Society website at cgjungstl.org.  Updated information about the 2014 contest will be available soon on the website.  I will also post it here.  

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Jung's AION

In our St. Louis Jung Society Study Group, we are reading Edward Edinger's Lectures on Jung's AION, one of Jung's most obscure and difficult works.  Edinger argues that Jung, after his serious health crisis, began writing in a very different style.  He no longer cared about making his ideas accessible.  Rather, he wrote in the way the material came to him, the way he understood it.

In THE RED BOOK Jung describes an encounter with a wisdom figure who counsels him to understand the nature of gold and to "be like gold."  Gold waits to be discovered, never changes its essential nature, remains true whatever the circumstances in which it finds itself.  Above all, gold is of the highest value and has been long sought by humankind.

There are nuggets of gold in AION.  Retrieving them takes much effort and patience, but the effort does pay off.  I come away from our study group meetings with the impression that not understanding much of our text well might actually be a good thing, for it parallels our experience of many things in our lives about which we only have hints and glimmers.  One of the lessons I am learning is that there are enough nuggets of pure gold in AION (and in my own life) to keep me digging in a reverential manner.

Friday, January 31, 2014

ADS THAT APPEAR HERE



I have no idea how ads make their way onto this blog.  However, after seeing one about Senator Ted Cruz (Republican Senator from Texas), I feel compelled to write something about my political beliefs.  First, I am a proud "tax and spend" liberal.  I find it obscene that a few people in this country and on this planet hoard riches while literally billions of people lack the basic necessities of life.  A terrible part of this imbalance is that far too few people find the imbalance just plain wrong.

The lesson of the "loaves and fishes" at one level is simple:  there is plenty for everyone IF some don't hoard.  Republicans in recent decades have aligned themselves and their party with the wealthiest among us.  Republicans have used "principles" to make their alliance with the wealthy a "principled" one.  There is another basic Christian message yet to be applied by this group of people.  Substitute principle for sabbath, and the lesson becomes simple enough that even those held to the Grover Norquist pledge of "No New Taxes, Ever!" can understand it.

Principles aligned with truth and compassion serve as a wheel that carries one into the world to live a creative and satisfying life.  Principles aligned with greed and power tie one to a spinning wheel of ups and downs.  One is dragged along by events that create winners and losers.  Staying on top becomes more and more difficult and requires greater and greater resources of power and money. The one thing absolutely unaffordable to these individuals is empathy.  These "principled" people seem not to realize they are going nowhere.  To win is to keep the wheel static; those on top remain on top; those on the bottom, cannot move.  The result:  A terribly static, sterile, lifeless situation.