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The Eleusinian Mysteries: Vision Into the Abyss of the Seed
November 9, 2001 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PST
For 2,000 years the Eleusinian mysteries, core of spiritual meaning in ancient Greece, were celebrated at the end of harvest. They were enacted for men and women who chose to undergo initiatory processes leading to personal transformation through contact with a divine source of life. Today, the archetype of initiation is often enacted through our pursuit of Jung’s “unconscious core of meaning” in depth psychology. This evening will be a kathodos (downgoing) experience into this rite. Through a slide presentation intertwining archaeological and psychological images, we will encounter facets of known material on the mysteries. As symbolic initiates, we will follow in the footsteps of the grieving Demeter, from the initial purification and sacrifice, through the processional walk from Athens to Eleusis, to the final ecstatic vision at the temple.
Related Workshop: The Eleusinian Mysteries: Vision Into the Abyss of the Seed
Virginia Beane Rutter, M.S. is a Jungian Analyst practicing in Mill Valley, California. She received her analytic training in both Zurich and San Francisco and holds M.A. degrees in Art History and Counseling Psychology. Her study of ancient myths and rites of passage through art history and archaeology is mirrored in her clinical work with men and women. She is the author of Woman Changing Woman: Feminine Psychology Re-Conceived Through Myth and Experience; and two books on parenting girls, Celebrating Girls: Nurturing and Empowering Our Daughters, and Embracing Persephone: How To Be the Mother You Want for the Daughter You Cherish. She is currently writing about Dionysian mystery initiation.