Fall 2022 Archives - Oregon Friends of Jung

Our Promethean Debt

“… our progressiveness, though it may result in a great many delightful wish-fulfillments, piles up an equally gigantic Promethean debt which has to be paid off from time to time in the form of hideous catastrophes.” – C.G. Jung, (CW 9i, par. 276)

The past few years full of ‘hideous catastrophes’ have brought on overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, and deep suffering. In times like these, hope is a word that fades from our imagination. How do we find meaning in our fragmented world? Is hope even possible? The story of Prometheus provides a rich, complex narrative that has captured the imagination of poets and artists for millennia. Its origins date back to a time of difficult struggles within ancient Greece. Using this Greek myth, we will delve into the archetypal themes of trickery, theft, fire and hope to better understand psychologically our current world of catastrophes. Reflecting on the Promethean myth sheds light on how a semblance of order may arise from our current state of chaos.

Working with the Promethean Complex

In this workshop we will dig deep into the myth of Prometheus to better understand how our increasing focus on progress and technology has led to our chaotic world. Using stories and images we will explore ways to work with and through our Promethean complex. The Promethean complex leads to rich creativity, but also catastrophic destruction. As such, it is imperative we consciously engage with this complex to learn how trickery, thievery, and hubris influence us. We also consider how technology affects our daily lives and the psychological debt we accrue due to our increasing involvement with technology. Finally, we will explore the mythic motif of the superhero in its varied modern forms and how this motif influences our personal and collective lives.

Finding the Self in Relationship: Intrapsychic and Interpersonal Paths to Psychic Development

The Self is one of Jung’s most important and original ideas. It represents the divine within every individual, and also serves as the primary driver of the individuation process. It invites, nudges, and challenges us to become more. The Self is a somewhat elusive concept, and elusive as a psychological presence as well. As a concept, the Self is an idea, a theory. In a lived life, it is an encounter, an encounter with energies that may be large or small, penetrating or soft, beckoning us to the edge of the known and the unknown. It is on that edge of the known and the unknown that psychic development occurs. In short, the Self appears in the relationship between ego and ‘other’.

For Jung, that ‘other’ includes relationships in the world, with people we love and struggle with in everyday life, and with other kindred spirits, as well as relationships with one’s inner life, with the unconscious. This seminar will explore ways in which the developmental energies of the Self arise in both forms of relationship. We will consider the ego’s possible tasks and stance in these encounters, that is, how we might participate creatively with the ‘other’ in becoming more of who we are.

Dates and Times

Sundays from 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Schedule

October 2, 2022 – Dunbar Carpenter
October 9 – Dunbar Carpenter
October 16 – Dunbar Carpenter
October 30 – Maribeth Kallemeyn
November 6 – Maribeth Kallemeyn
November 20 – Maribeth Kallemeyn

Cost

12 hours of instruction: $205 (OFJ members: $195)
Sorry, we are unable to offer refunds.
Continuing Education Credits are available, with one hour of CE credit for each hour of attendance. CEUs will be available for purchase, at a cost of $15, which will cover all CEUs earned over the six-session seminar.

Reading

Reading assignments and material will be sent to participants well in advance of the start of the seminar, and may be supplemented during the seminar.

Seminar Size

Attendance is limited to 15 people
If seminar fills, and you would like to be added to our wait-list, please write us at [email protected]. If you have any questions, please call 503-223-3080.

Seminar Leaders

Dunbar Carpenter, Psy. D., is a Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist in private practice in Portland. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Society of Jungian Analysts and is the Society’s Director of Training. He has been a practicing analyst, teacher, and individual and group supervisor for the past twenty-five years and has lectured and taught in both the United States and Zurich. Dunbar received his analytical training at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.

Maribeth Kallemeyn, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist in private practice in Salem, Oregon. She has been in clinical practice since 2001. She completed her analytic training with the C.G. Jung Institute Pacific Northwest in 2018, and she is a member of the Pacific Northwest Society of Jungian Analysts.

The Muses of Truth and Transformation: Timeless Tales for Troubled Times

A timeless tale sums up our contemporary conflicts: two women claimed the same newborn baby, so the sage declared, “Cut the baby in two and give each woman half.” The first woman nodded, while the other cried out, “No! Spare the baby, give him to her.” Although most familiar from the Bible, the story is a folktale found in different cultures and offering relevant archetypal insights. Partisans today may act like the first woman, insisting on their position even if it means killing innocent people – think jihadists and lone mass murderers. Politicians are willing to “kill” legislation that does not fit their ideology, even if it splits the body politic. When faced with unyielding opponents, earlier cultures reflected on deadly conflicts and put their insights into metaphorical stories – folktales – and passed them on. Only stories that rang true to people in many cultures survived, leaving us time-tested archetypal wisdom for resolving conflicts.

This lecture recounts such folktales and shows how they help us identify distinct types of truth – factual, mythic, oath-taking, pragmatic and home types of stories.

The Muses of Truth and Transformation: Timeless Tales for Troubled Times

Deep transformation of our basic life scripts requires experiencing all types of truth in order to settle conflicts. This workshop considers other stories and more applications to reforging personal and cultural narratives about judging truth and resolving conflicts. The process is visible in successful depth therapy, resolutions of life crises, initiation experiences, and reconciliation of difficult disputes. This workshop does not require the lecture, as the same themes will appear in new stores that address common quandaries both personally and in society today.

J.R.R. Tolkien illustration from his Book of Ishness.

The Synchronicity of the Two Red Books: Jung, Tolkien, and the Imaginal Realm

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be held live in-person at Unity of Portland (4525 SE Stark). The only way to attend the program live is to attend in person. A video recording of the event will be created and sent out after the event to all members and to all who purchase single tickets, to accommodate those not able or not comfortable to attend in person. There will be no Zoom for this program.

Beginning in the years leading up to the Great War, both C.G. Jung and J.R.R. Tolkien independently began to undergo profound imaginal experiences. Jung recorded these fantasies in a large red manuscript that he named Liber Novus, referred to simply as The Red Book. For Tolkien, this imaginal journey revealed to him the world of Middle-earth, whose stories and myths eventually led to the writing of The Lord of the Rings, a book he named within its own imaginal history The Red Book of Westmarch. This lecture explores the many synchronistic parallels between Jung’s and Tolkien’s Red Books: the style and content of their works of art, the narrative descriptions and scenes in their texts, the nature of their visions and dreams, and an underlying similarity in world view that emerged from their experiences. The two men seem to have been simultaneously treading parallel paths through the imaginal realm. Note: image is an illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien from his Book of Ishness.

Jung’s Red Book and Active Imagination

In this workshop, participants will dive deeply into exploring the meaning of certain key visions and fantasies in C.G. Jung’s Red Book, interpreting the text and images in communal dialogue. The core of the workshop will be a guided group practice of active imagination, followed by a writing and drawing exercise that will allow participants to come into an objective relationship with the images that arise during the practice.

Body as Compass: Dreams and the Soul

Our bodies and dreams may be our closest links to the unconscious, expressing the soul’s longing through image, breath, gesture, the rhythm of our step, and the music of our speech. Dreams carry treasures that enhance the meaning and depth of our life’s journey. Illuminating our inner landscape, they help us come to know disowned parts of ourselves, point to what we value, and provide guidance on our life path. This talk will introduce DreamDancing ©, an embodied approach that integrates C. G. Jung’s active imagination approach with creative, embodied methods, including a brief experience.

Body as Compass: Dreams and the Soul

In these challenging, polarizing times we are called to draw from creative, healing energies from deeper parts of the Self. Expanding our awareness of the somatic foundations in all relationships – therapeutic, educational, family, friendship, partnership, nature and more – can deepen empathy and effectiveness in being present, while providing avenues for self-care and renewal.

In this winter time as the new light begins to dawn from the darkness, we engage light in the body through working with a dream image as healing medicine. Together we will engage our dreams to connect with a deeper sense of knowing, creativity, and wholeness — in ourselves, in all our relations, and as world citizens attuning to an evolving planetary call.

This workshop will support you in nurturing body and soul through presentation, expressive movement, drawing, and writing.* No experience in dance is necessary, only curiosity and openness to engage the unknown.

In preparation, I invite you to let a healing image come to mind – something comforting, warming, or sacred that’s meaningful for you – from a dream, nature, an object on your altar, or something from your daily life. Says Jung, “My soul, where are you? Do you hear me? I speak, I call you – are you there? I have returned, I am here again.” No experience in dance is necessary, only curiosity and openness to engage the unknown.