The Cry of Gaia: Death Into Life

For men and women in modern America, Mother’s Day can conjure up a mixture of feelings: sadness, resentment, contempt, grief as well as warmth, happiness, nostalgia, longing, and genuine appreciation and love. The emotional experience each individual has of “mother” is far reaching and complex. In view of Jung’s discovery of the deeper archetypal unconscious, we have much to reflect upon as we seek to be more aware of and to honor the reality of the mother. The longstanding neglect and rejection of the full feminine principle in our culture has shaped the nature of mothering and the consciousness we do or do not have of the Great Mother, the archetypal feminine.

In Friday evening’s lecture, “The Cry of Gaia, Death into Life”, Dr. Wagner will focus on the often neglected spiritual dimension of the personal mother and of the archetypal mother. Material from Jung’s own life will be presented. Particular emphasis will be placed on the experience of the death of the mother and on the role the Great Mother plays in experiences of death. Considerations on the nature of the return into modern consciousness of the Great Mother will be given.