Mondays 3rd, 10th and 17th. September 2018

Dr Richard Barz

"The Basics of Hinduism: A Workshop Approach"

at MacKillop Conference Centre,
50 Archibald St, Lyneham (Canberra)

7:30 - 9:30 pm

Cost: $10
(Supper included!)

Among the world’s major religions, Hinduism has one of the longest unbroken traditions. As Carl Jung realised, it also has a sophisticated symbolism that draws upon the deepest levels of the unconscious.

We will explore the insights of the Hindu tradition and their relevance for the contemporary lives of people of any cultural background. Everyone is Welcome. The format will be in workshop style with an initial hour of presentation followed by an hour of questions and discussion.

Monday September 3, 7:30-9:30 PM:
    Hindu Roots: Sacrifice, Dharma, Karma, Samsara
    Text:
        “I in my grandeur have surpassed the heavens and all this spacious earth, have I not drunk of Soma juice?”
        Hymn to Indra, Rig Veda 10:119: 8
        Tr. R.T.H. Griffith

Monday September 10, 7:30-9:30 PM:
    Classical Hinduism: Brahman, Atman, Jiva, Krishna, Shiva, Shakti
    Text:
        “Brahman is the supreme imperishable; The over-soul is called innate nature;”
        Bhagavad Gītā 8:3
        Tr. F. Edgerton

Monday September 17, 7:30-9:30 PM:
    Hinduism in Action: Yoga, Tantra, Bhakti, Temple Worship
    Text:
        “I found a raft formed by a snake in the Ocean of Existence; If I let go, I shall drown, if I hang on, it will bite my arm.”
        The Sākhīs of Kabīr
        Tr. Charlotte Vaudeville

Dr. Richard Barz
is a retired member of the School of Culture, History and Language,
Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific.

Mystical experiences of greater or lesser extent are seen as the highest potential of human life. They are measured by a union with the godhead or nature but they are also a subjective experience in the psyche of an individual. >From a psychoanalytic perspective, the Mystical Experience is an individuation milestone and Jung calls its occurrence the “real therapy.”

Jungian Analyst Les Stein will explore the psychoanalytic theories of how such an experience occurs, how Jung understood it, and whether analysis can assist the receptivity to that event. The lecture is based on his new book: "Depth Psychology of the Mystical Experience: Receptivity to the Numinous" (2018) London: Karnac.

Les Stein is a Jungian Analyst in private practice in Sydney. He is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and a member of the New York Association for Analytical Psychology, the Australian New Zealand Society of Jungian Analysts and the International Association for Analytical Psychology. His latest forthcoming book is “Deep Psychology of the Mystical Experience” for Karnac Books, London.

Friday 5th October 2018

Dr Kaye Gersch:

"The Dark Night of the Soul:
How might this approach to suffering be relevant to contemporary life?"

There are certain passages in a lifetime, sometimes brief, sometimes extended, when all the usual frameworks of understanding the human condition prove to be inadequate.

Modern medicine, and indeed modern psychology, does not do well with Dark Nights of the Soul. The use of cognitive therapies, of anti-depressants, of “getting over” things as fast as possible, of “finding closure”, of minimizing suffering are nonsense when one is in a Dark Night.

C.G.Jung said that inevitably a spiritual dimension becomes necessary in psychological work - after all, it is soul-work, psyche work. If we follow Jung’s thoughts here, the sorrow and suffering are in the service of the soul’s journey. The Night’s Sea Journey, as Jung called it. Jung also found a paradigm that allows for this experience in the processes of alchemy, in the nigredo or blackening. The ego does not like blackening. It does not like descent into the "perilous chasm, where one falls into deep, swirling, unknowably dark waters", as the I Ching puts it. No detours are possible, the only way is through. We feel hopeless, helpless, betrayed, thwarted - and depressed. Especially depressed.

How does wrestling with despair in the darkest corners of inner and outer life evolve to create depth of character and resilience? How might the Dark Night be related to Individuation?

In this talk Kaye will draw upon diverse spiritual traditions, which give us clues how we might navigate this trackless territory. Thomas Moore in his very popular book “Dark Nights of the Soul” speaks from this potent place as one who knows it well. The Christian and Buddhist traditions, as well as the Sumerian myth of Inanna, will provide some further guidance.

Kaye Gersch PhD has been working in allied health fields since the 1970s and as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist for 25 years. She lives in Cairns, Australia. Her training is eclectic, including the Jungian and Psychoanalytic traditions. She has been Clinical Supervisor for 12 years, and in this role works as mentor to GPs, midwives and other medical specialists. She has specific training for working with couples, which is a cherished part of her practice. Her PhD is in Psychoanalytic Feminist Philosophy (University of Queensland). However, she considers her real training to be the face-to-face encounters with clients, and the deep demands of her own life.

Dorothea Wojnar's Dream Group

Six Wednesdays starting Wednesday 10th October 2018.
7:30 pm (not 8 pm)

Wesley Uniting Church,
22 National Crt, Forrest, ACT
(NOT our usual meeting place at Lyneham)

Cost: $ 10 per evening to cover costs.
Any surplus goes to the Jung Society.

The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our ego-consciousness extends. For all ego-consciousness is isolated; because it separates and discriminates, it knows only particulars, and it sees only those that can be related to the ego.

Its essence is limitation, even though it reaches to the farthest nebulae among the stars. All consciousness separates; but in dreams we put on the likeness of that more universal, truer, more eternal man dwelling in the darkness of primordial night.

There he is still the whole, and the whole is in him, indistinguishable from nature and bare of all egohood. It is from these all-uniting depths that the dream arises, be it never so childish, grotesque, and immoral.(1)

The group is facilitated by Dorothea Wojnar. Members of the group shared their dreams and used active imagination in working with the dreams.

Dorothea is a psychotherapist and she is currently training as a Jungian analyst with the C. G .Jung Institute of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Jungian Analysts. Dorothea has extensive experience as a group leader and therapist across a range of people and issues, working in both a public health facility as well as in private practice.

For further information, please contact Dorothea Wojnar on 6292 2014 or (0413) 245 835.

(1) Jung, C.G. (1933) The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man in Collected Works Vol 10 Civilization in Transition. pg. 304.

Friday 2nd November 2018

Evelynne Joffe

"Journey Throught the Archetypes of the Tarot"

“Just as for the purpose of individuation, or Self-realisation, it is essential for a man to distinguish between what he is and how he appears to himself and to others, so it is also necessary for the same purpose that he should become conscious of his invisible system of relations to the unconscious.”
("Two Essays on Analytical Psychology" by Carl Jung).

In this talk we will undertake a journey through the 22 cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Carl Jung saw all of the Tarot images as "descended from the archetypes of transformation" (Jung, 1959/1990, p. 38).

Each of these cards represents a lesson that a human soul must learn in order to individuate, to become an authentic Self.

This searching for wholeness as well as the teachings of the shadow and of archetypes can all be paralleled to the psychological journey towards wholeness on this journey.

Evelynne Joffe has been a teacher of Kabbalah and of Tarot for over 25 years. She is in a private practice as a counsellor and dream therapist in Melbourne and uses the imagery of the Tarot as a counselling tool. She is a past President of the Tarot Guild of Australia and has written and lectured widely on the subjects of Kabbalah and Tarot in many forums, in Australia and overseas.

Saturday 3rd November 2018

Evelynne Joffe

"A Workshop: Shadow Work and the Tarot"

“If it is not attended to, the shadow will appear in the world around us as fate” .. C.G. Jung

The personal shadow contains the parts of ourselves that we have disconnected from, our unresolved inner conflicts and unexpressed emotions. The shadow, if not faced, can lead to self destructive behaviour, depression and illness. The shadow also contains any undeveloped abilities, our artistic, musical, creative parts that have never been expressed.

The Tarot also has its shadow side. In this workshop we shall use the Tarot to shed light on the shadow aspect of the cards and how we can work with them to discover the shadow self and once discovered, work to integrate it.

If you have a set, please bring Tarot cards, preferably Rider Waite cards. This is not essential though.

Contact Information:
Website: www.spiritualstudies.com.au
Email: ejoffe@iprimus.com.au

We normally meet at 8pm on the first Friday of each month
at MacKillop House, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham, ACT.