Alcoholism, like any other disease, has four major aspects: the physical, the psychological, the sociological, and the spiritual. This lecture will address these four pillars upon which the disease of alcoholism rests, emphasizing alcoholism as a disease of the spirit, and will discuss Jung’s understanding of this aspect of the disease. Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA, considered Jung to be a major guiding influence in the foundation of the AA fellowship. Their correspondence and its significance for the future of AA will be discussed. We will ask the question: What role does religious experience play in the recovering process of the alcoholic?
Season: Spring 1986
Spiritus contra Spiritum: The Depth Psychology of Alcoholism:The Alcoholic Seen Through the Prism of the Eternal Adolescent Complex
It has been proven clinically that most alcoholics have what C.G. Jung called the Eternal Adolescent or Puer Aeturnus complex. This workshop will begin by reviewing Jung’s complex theory, and how it relates to the natural history of alcoholism. The Puer Aeternus complex will be explained as a means to a deeper understanding of the psychological causes and patterns of alcoholism. Finally, the positive use of the Puer Aeternus complex will be viewed as a major path to recovery.
Spiritus contra Spiritum: The Depth Psychology of Alcoholism: Flying High Again: Steps to Remaining a Grateful Recovering Alcoholic
It is not enough for the alcoholic to just stop drinking. The alcoholic, like Dionysios, Icarus, and Hermes, has a moral obligation to get high again, to get his/her spirit back, to become in-spired, and to celebrate what it means to be free of chemical dependency and its negative psychological consequences. This lecture will concentrate on some of the insights from Jung’s complex psychology which can help the alcoholic develop a more positive Self-Image. The same Puer complex which was a mill-stone for the drinking alcoholic can become a stepping stone for the recovering alcoholic. Jung’s typology will be shown to be a means of understanding the “dry drunk” and getting beyond it. Finally, we will clown around with laughter and meditate on gratitude, the two essential companions on the road to recovery.
Hags and Heroes
Material presented will include the use of Jung’s ideas and methods as applicable in interpersonal contexts; assessing and handling problems of the ‘mid-life’ crisis; assessing and coping with problems in basic trust and communications (especially non-rational communication) in relationships of couples who live or work together.
Included will be a dramatic representation of the 15th Century story, “The Wedding of Gawain and the Lady Ragnell” as introduction to discussion of a special transition in couple relations: from the loss of basic trust to the revitalization of the relationship.
Hags and Heroes
Material presented will include the use of Jung’s ideas and methods as applicable in interpersonal contexts; assessing and handling problems of the ‘mid-life’ crisis; assessing and coping with problems in basic trust and communications (especially non-rational communication) in relationships of couples who live or work together.
Included will be a dramatic representation of the 15th Century story, “The Wedding of Gawain and the Lady Ragnell” as introduction to discussion of a special transition in couple relations: from the loss of basic trust to the revitalization of the relationship.
Genesis and Exodus-History and Myth
(need description)
Metaphor as Myth and Religion
This will be an all day seminar, commencing with a lecture and continuing with open discussions of specific metaphors: The Promised Land, Virgin Birth, Resurrection, End of the World, Second Coming, Heaven, Hell, Reincarnation, God, Brahman, Nirvana, etc. Examples from differing traditions will be recognized and compared, the intention being to disengage, in every case, the message from the messenger, the connotation from the denotation of the symbol. In other words, we will make our way toward a clearer understanding of the difference between symbolic and literal meanings of mythic and religious image.
The Analytical Psychology of War
Analytical Psychology is not just a technique for individuation or the treatment of psychic dis-ease; it is the study of human nature. the archetypes crucial to the survival of our species are those which govern the relations between groups of human beings, yet politicians and generals are as ignorant of these as are the great mass of the world’s populations. What are the primordial principles determining the warlike and peaceful intentions of human communities? And how may consciousness of them contribute to the salvation of our planet?
The Archetypes of Conflict
Life without conflict is inconceivable. The strident clash of opposites goes resounding down the passages of time. Conflict between species, conflict between nations, conflict between generations, conflict between the political left and right, and conflict within the individual psyche-soma: all are subject to the same principles of dynamic opposition, homeostasis and enantiodromia.
The material used Friday and Saturday will examine conflict in the light of biology (Darwin), depth psychology (Freud and Jung), modern neurology and ancient Chinese philosophy. Special consideration will be given to the development of techniques of conflict resolution.
The Cry of Gaia: Death Into Life
For men and women in modern America, Mother’s Day can conjure up a mixture of feelings: sadness, resentment, contempt, grief as well as warmth, happiness, nostalgia, longing, and genuine appreciation and love. The emotional experience each individual has of “mother” is far reaching and complex. In view of Jung’s discovery of the deeper archetypal unconscious, we have much to reflect upon as we seek to be more aware of and to honor the reality of the mother. The longstanding neglect and rejection of the full feminine principle in our culture has shaped the nature of mothering and the consciousness we do or do not have of the Great Mother, the archetypal feminine.
In Friday evening’s lecture, “The Cry of Gaia, Death into Life”, Dr. Wagner will focus on the often neglected spiritual dimension of the personal mother and of the archetypal mother. Material from Jung’s own life will be presented. Particular emphasis will be placed on the experience of the death of the mother and on the role the Great Mother plays in experiences of death. Considerations on the nature of the return into modern consciousness of the Great Mother will be given.
Experiencing the Mother: Her Light/Her Darkness
This time will be spent in a more free flowing interchange between Dr. Wagner and participants. Dr. Wagner will present material to further amplify the nature of the archetypal mother in her light and dark nature as she manifests in the lives of modern individuals. Time for questions, discussion, and comments from others will be taken. Individuals are invited to bring brief versions of dreams, personal anecdotes, poems, comments, and questions to share with the group.
To close the session on Saturday, Dr. Wagner will invite participants in meditative exercises aimed at deepening awareness of the suffering and grief, as well as the joy and compassionate love inherent in the nature of the mother.
The purpose of Saturday’s work will be to deepen our awareness and strengthen our ability to connect to the deeper unconscious in a living, ongoing way. This brings us to wholeness in our own individual natures and it also helps us to meet the critical challenge to the survival of all live on planet earth which we now face.