Latest Past Events
Dionysus and Aphrodite: Desire and the Search for Beauty
First United Methodist Church, Fireside Room 1838 SW Jefferson Street, PortlandFrom Socrates or Euripides to the Inquisition to Jim Morrison or the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the irresistible power of Dionysus plays essentially the same role. Arousing erotic desires, fomenting revolt, conjuring visionary experience, Dionysus unveils religious dimensions of sexuality and the body that normative institutions invariably condemn. While the cosmos of Dionysus includes an ... Read more
Aphrodite’s Shadow in Beverly Hills and Hollywood
First United Methodist Church, Sanctuary 1838 SW Jefferson Street, PortlandNo mere sculpted image or poetic fragment from ancient time, Aphrodite lives mightily today in the lilt, glance, style, indeed — in the Fate of countless women and the bedazzled admirers who pursue her. Whatever Aphrodite’s claim to Beauty and the ‘erotic moment,’ hers is a shifting image whose nocturnal associations may have as much ... Read more
Symbolic Images and Energies of Inner Transformation
First United Methodist Church, Fireside Room 1838 SW Jefferson Street, PortlandOn Saturday, we will look at an all-encompassing "circumambulatory" transformation, as depicted in an important set of Renaissance alchemical illustrations. All three of these image systems function much like dream images which can facilitate a dialogue in depth between consciousness and the unconscious. These systems belong to psychological and spiritual lineages, which promote practical ways ... Read more
