Lecture: The Millionth Circle: Transforming Ourselves and the World
The archetype of the sacred circle, as well as feminism, Jungian psychology, and Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphic Field Theory come together in Dr. Bolen’s current book The Millionth Circle. Drawing on the story of "the hundredth monkey" which inspired anti-nuclear activists, "the millionth circle" depends upon a simple hypothesis: when a critical number of people change how they think and behave, the culture will also. In this talk, she will describe her concept of a Zen of Circle Maintenance and the Jungian analytic vessel, the connection between morphic fields and the collective unconscious, and the connection between the Grail Legend, the feminine principle, and a shift in planetary consciousness.
Workshop: Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes and Juicy Crones
Around age fifty, women pass over a threshold into the third phase of their lives. Knowing which archetypes are stirring empowers women to be authentic and self-accepting in this crone phase. Based on the work in her new book, Goddesses in Older Women, Dr. Bolen will introduce us to archetypes of wisdom, spirituality, decisive action, healing laughter and compassion that are inherent potentials in post- menopausal women. As crones, 45 million American women over fifty whose lives were changed by the women’s movement may once again transform society by tapping into many archetypal energies, such as Hestia, as well as the archetype which is a circle of wisewomen or clan mothers.
In addition to potential energies for the older woman, the crone archetypes are potential sources of wisdom and compassion in younger women and in men as well. In this workshop, through stories and a guided meditation, men and women will tap into the archetypal layer of the psyche to encounter personal symbols and inner figures.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst in private practice in San Francisco, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California Medical Center, author, advocate for women, advocate for ethics in psychiatry, and an internationally know lecturer. Dr. Bolen, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley in 1958, received her M.D. from the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco in l962. Her analytic training was done at the C. G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. Her books are used as college and university texts in gender studies, women’s psychology, mythology, spirituality, east-west philosophy, and psychology courses.
She is the author of The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Rings of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle and Goddesses in Older Women, her latest book. She is in two acclaimed documentaries: Goddesses Remembered, the first of the Canadian Trilogy on women’s spirituality, and the academy award winning anti-nuclear film, "Women- -For America, For the World."
Dr. Bolen’s web site: http://www.jeanshinodabolen.com/