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This workshop focuses on the healing and soothing impulses from the psyche that some people receive after they have experienced suffering. The emphasis of the day’s material is on the felt experiences of people in and out of analysis. Dr. Asper presents historical sketches and examples, including the dreams of two young students who resisted Nazi terror; the legend of St. Martha, who tamed the dragon instead of killing him; the Feminine Super-Ego; the Ego Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the Trinitarian Aspect of the Numinous; the journal of Opal Whiteley, and the symbol of the Labyrinth. A symbol becomes a symbol only after it touches us emotionally. Dr. Asper discusses how she came to choose the different themes of the workshop and what each symbol touched in her.

While working extensively with patients suffering from depression, Dr. David Rosen uncovered helpful clues to understanding these widespread malady. When people feel grief and despair or suffer from suicidal thoughts, they may feel like they are dying inside. In order to regain the will to live, Rosen believes, only a part of them — the false self — needs to die. When the false self is permitted to die symbolically (egocide) through dying, pottery, writing, or other forms of creative expression, a kind of mourning process is set in motion. When the cycle comes to an end, the person is transformed and experiences new life, a rebirth of purpose and meaning.These workshop tapes focus on understanding depression and the quest for meaning, discerning the creative potential of suicide, and recognizing and treating depression and suicidal people. Crisis points such as adolescence, mid-life, divorce, and loss of a loved one are discussed. Drawing from actual case material, Dr. Rosen presents the egocide and transformation model, explains how it is applied and how it works, and explores its creative potential.

Using Jung’s theory of contra sexuality (that we each have an opposite

World mythological traditions present many images of a Great Self that dwells within each human individual. This course examines a number of these images from mythological and spiritual traditions and then turns to a discussion of the psychological basis for this phenomenon. Special attention is given to the implications for our experience of both pathological grandiosity and creative visioning.

According to Jung, myth making is a natural and impersonal potential present in the collective unconscious of all peoples throughout all times. Drawing on the contributions of Jung, Campbell, and Eliade, this course explores the role of myth in human life. Five of the major mythological themes prominent in world mythology are examined in terms of their contemporary psychological and cultural significance. This tape discusses mythology of the Shaman.