Technophilia
and the search for a centre
The
talk will examine various aspects of technology, and its effect on the psyche.
In particular, the addictive use of computers by a young male client will be
explored, through clinical and dream material. The decentring effect of
computer use will be looked at, together with the compensating development
within analysis of a centring and grounding process. The archetypal
underpinning of technology will also be explored. Although general conclusions
are not drawn, the purpose of the lecture is to raise these for subsequent
discussion.
3b. Technology
and the Soul
Computer
technology has become the inescapable mass medium for everyone who wishes to
participate in contemporary culture, but its effect on the life of the soul is
for many a cause for concern. This talk will consider the radical ideas of the
pioneers of computer technology, trace the origins of the computer and the
rapid development of so-called “artificial intelligence”, and indicate the
direction in which this seems to be heading. How can we as individuals
accommodate the tidal wave of new technology in our lives and at the same time
protect and nurture our relationship to the delicate life of the psyche? With
the increasing pervasiveness of “intelligent machines” in our culture,
what archetypal and mythical resources can we bring to bear on the gods, or
demons, driving the digital revolution?
4. Jung
and Gender: the Sublime Limits of Knowledge
Jung
is nowhere more the dualist than in his thinking about gender. His ideas about
femininity and masculinity are polarized between an emotional erotic feminine
and a rational masculinity. Yet this apparent slicing of psychic reality into
oppositions is belied by the spectres haunting gender in Jungian writings.
These troubling beings include the “anima”, that which shadows the
boundary of the masculine self, and the “animus”, a repository of
masculine fantasy “about” the feminine. Most striking of all is the way
gender becomes implicated in a psychic politics of space, history and
knowledge. This evening with Susan Rowland will enable the group to explore
these issues by examining Jung’s writings and sublimely gendered limits.
5. The
Symbolism of the Eye in Jungian Psychology
On Friday
evening Carmen Reynal will consider the fairy tale in Grimm "One
Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes". On Saturday morning Julian David
will follow the theme of the eye through folk tale and myth, with a good
look at King Lear in which the theme is prominent. Saturday
afternoon will be for a general discussion of the Eye, its relation
to the Ego (the Ich), that of the right eye (sun) and the left eye
(moon); the relation to intentionality (the gentle eye or the evil one);
to the way we interpret the world, etc.
6. The
Idea of the Lumen Naturae and the Process of Psychological Realisation
Pedro
Kujawski writes : “What interests me here is how the psyche produces its own
light, the natural light of the psyche, which is the psyche realizing itself,
and the conscious realization which follows from it, if the favourable
conditions are present.”
7. Drinking
the Bitter cup: Trauma, Pain and Addiction
Psyche
responds to great adversity in archetypal ways. Trauma, pain, and addiction
are closely interlinked patterns with complex causalities. Trauma can
‘cause’ pain, which is in itself traumatizing. In the attempt to avoid the
severity of pain we can paradoxically experience more suffering, and move into
a cycle of addiction. Furthermore the theories which the therapist holds of
the ‘pathology’ of their patient have a powerful effect on the course of
the therapy. These are often unexplored, and can have unhelpful consequences.
Ideas of causality are often unhelpful, and Jung’s concept of the psychoid
can transcend these difficulties.
In
exploring this emotionally heavy and complex area Dr. Stevenson plans to use,
in addition to case vignettes, scenes from Peter Pan, as well as Pinocchio.
He will also make reference to a range of theories, diagnostic
categories, and formalized therapies. Emphasis will be put on practical tips
which can help in working with traditionally hard-to-treat patients.
8. Personality
Disorder
In
this talk Dr. Denman will consider the diagnostic category known as
personality disorder. She will present a theory of their aetiology which
combines Jungian, biological and cognitive elements.
Recent evidence in relation to treatment shows that this group can be
managed with accurate psychotherapeutic input and she will describe the key
features of the therapies now known to be effective. More worryingly there is
also evidence that poor management and certain therapeutic manoeuvres are
positively harmful. The potential ill effects of ill judged therapeutic
interventions will also be discussed.
9.
The Psychology of Conception as
Imaged in Lorenzo Lotto’s Annunciation of the
Virgin of 1535
In
this talk Lotto’s archetypal image of Annunciation will be “read” like a
dream image. As does a dream,
Lotto’s image reveals itself to the attentive viewer and brings insights
into the natural process of the objective psyche, which is the spontaneous
creation of “image”. The
transforming potential of the psychic image can only materialize in the human
individual and it carries an enormous potential for imagination and
creativity. Lotto’s painting tells us that virginity is a vital
pre-condition for psychic conception to occur, but uniquely, he relates a
sense of emotional tension and conflict, along with the highly enigmatic
quality of that feminine virgin state, which is both the vessel of creativity
and the medium of its inception into the material world of human
consciousness. Participants are asked to read C.G. Jung, “On
the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry,” CW, 15, para. 97-132.
10.
What Shakespeare Saw
The
purpose of this talk is to look at man through the eyes of
Shakespeare. The man that Shakespeare saw was the divided man that came down
from Antiquity. He may have split in two somewhere between The
Aeneid and The Divine Comedy.
11. a)
Individuation and the Jewish Liturgical Year – 6th February
Within
the rhythms and texts and holy days of the Jewish year the individual is taken
on a journey through a series of existential themes. The theological-spiritual
categories of “creation”, “revelation” and “redemption” underpin
the liturgical-festive year. During this seminar, we will engage together with
a number of short texts from Judaic tradition - Biblical, rabbinic, mystical
and contemporary – in order to explore how these large collective themes can
be made personal and integrated into an individual’s own
spiritual-psychological development.
11.
b) Sacred Time, the Bible and the Jewish Mythic Imagination – 27th
February
The
Hebrew Bible is the “dream work” of the Jewish people, a polyphonic
compendium of myth, poetry, “history”, legend, legislation and argument.
During this seminar we will engage together with a series of short texts
focusing on one of the key mythic categories of Judaic consciousness: the
Sabbath, which celebrates the intersection of time with timelessness.
12. a)
Sacrifice and the Different Paths of Individuation.
This
talk will explore the question of whether there is a single
path or many paths of individuation. It will consider the link between sacrifice and
the process of individuation, focusing on the archetype of the cross. Jung
says" Archetypes are like river-beds which dry up when the water
deserts them, but which it can find again at any time".
He gives this definition in his analysis of Wotan, whom Jung
considers like a God, and whose reappearance in the German psyche
led to “spiritual catastrophe”. The seminar will focus on the power
of the archetype of the cross seen as the necessary response to the
"spiritual catastrophe", any time it occurs.
12. b)
Another Look at Wotan
These three
sessions will encompass the following
a. Wotan –the Myth
b. Relevance of Wotan today.
Read Jung’s essay in CW vol 10
c. Wotan in the consulting room.
13. Study Seminars on
CG Jung’s Collected Works vol. VII paras 202-406
“I feel it is the duty of one who goes his own way
to inform society of what he finds on his voyage of discovery, be it cooling
water for the thirsty or the sandy wastes of unfruitful error. The one helps,
the other warns. Not the criticism of individual contemporaries will decide
the truth or falsity of his discoveries, but future generations. There are
things that are not yet true to-day, perhaps we dare not find them true, but
tomorrow they may be. So every man whose fate it is to go his individual way
must proceed with hopefulness and watchfulness, ever conscious of his
loneliness and its dangers. . . .
Whether we will or no, philosophy keeps breaking
through, because the psyche seeks an expression that will embrace its total
nature.” Jung, CW VII. Para
201
During
this week-end, we will be focusing on selected material from Jung's paper, The
Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious, (CW VII. para. 202–406,
Bollingen) Additional information will be sent to participants when
registration is known.
14. Archetypes at Work: Themis and a dream of justice
This weekend will be
approached in three parts:
a. Themis and Jung’s concept of the self
b. Yearning for justice
c. Restoring Themis energy.
The
first will introduce Themis, her nature and her stories and link them to the
idea of the Self. The second will trace what happened to “Justice” and the
longing for her return, from Greek times onwards. The third will look at
restorative justice, especially the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in
South Africa, and will embody what Themis seems to be about.
15. The
Dynamics of Identity in the Constellation of the Self throughout Analysis
We
shall aim to follow the identity and self awareness, as experienced in the
progressive and regressive dialectics of analysis, where at different stages,
we may find ourselves both more and less, than at any one time we may feel
ourselves to be. We shall examine the argument, that at least the 'sense' of
identity, is continuously evolving in the realisation of the whole personality
in the 'Self'.
16. Antigone
Antigone
accompanies her blind father Oedipus into exile and leads him to the place of
his death. She then performs the funeral rites for her brother Polynices in
defiance of the orders of Creon, her uncle and the King of Thebes. Creon is
deaf to the prophesies of Tiresias and Antigone is sentenced to death, but
forestalls him by committing suicide. There is, however, no final redemption
for her.
Her
story has been the subject of drama, poetry, art ballet, philosophy and
political discourse, but has been surprisingly neglected by depth
psychologists. In these seminars we shall explore the many opposites inherent
in the conflict between Creon and Antigone – between the collective and the
individual, fate and destiny, man and woman, young and old, pragmatism and
idealism and the rival claims of the living and the dead. We shall also
reflect on the burden of becoming individual and the question of personal
integrity. Participants are advised to read Sophocles’ “Antigone” and
“Oedipus at Colonus”
17. Mr Punch and the British
Psyche
The
hook-nosed, hunch-backed, truculent and tricky Mr Punch was for several
centuries a feature of British popular culture in the Punch and Judy puppet
play. On Sunday 11 May "Mr Punch's birthday" will be
celebrated at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden. In the morning the
"professors" (puppet masters) will take their dolls to a special
church service to be blessed, and in the afternoon they will give performances
- now rare - in the churchyard, where Samuel Pepys once watched them.
It is hoped that students will be able to take advantage of this opportunity
to participate in a very British experience.
18. Jung’s Fundamental Concepts of Alchemy seen through Chinese Alchemical
texts
By
reading the images of these texts we can come to a psychological understanding
of vital aspects of alchemy and how they amplify the basic concepts of the
Psychology of C G Jung. Some concepts of Chinese alchemy will be explored with
the Tao as centre.
Recommended
reading: “Commentary on the Secret of
the Golden Flower” by CG Jung, and Tao-te Ching.
19. An
Introduction to the Religions of the Ancient World
The
religions of the ancient world come down to us in myth, poetry, and art, and
constitute a rich storehouse of images, which in the modern psyche still live.
They are part of the expression of the human spirit, and as such, a testament
to mankind's undying search for a meaning in human destiny.
These
seminars will explore such topics as ancient matriarchy, sacred kingship, and
the myth of Osiris. They will
also introduce the two pre-eminent goddesses of the preclassical world:
Ishtar of Mesopotamia and Isis of Egypt.
20.
Autonomy, Authority and Authenticity: “each
thing goes itself …”
