Six-Week Dream Group series

Facilitated by Dorothea Wojnar

            Six Tuesdays: 18, 25 June and 2, (miss 9th), 16, 23, 30 July 2019   7:30 - 9:30 pm.

                        (in the Vercoe Room, Wesley Uniting Church, 22 National Circuit, Forrest, ACT)

"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." 
(C G Jung "The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man" (1933). In CW 10: Civilization in Transition. pg. 304)

The group will be facilitated by Dorothea Wojnar. Members of the group are encouraged to share their dreams and we will be using active imagination in working with the dreams. Please let Dorothea know if you are planning to attend.

Dorothea is a Jungian Analyst, Counsellor and Psychotherapist in private practice. Dorothea has extensive experience as a group leader and therapist across a range of people and issues and has worked 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.

Dreams are the guiding words of the soul. ~
Carl Jung, The Red Book
Dream Carl Jung, The Red Book

Cost: $10  Pay by cash at the door, or by bank transfer, or by credit card via TryBooking

We meet before 7:30 for introductions and catch-up over a cuppa and snacks, prior to working on the dreams.
Sharing your dreams is not required - You can enjoy sharing and working with everyone else's!

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Friday 5th July 2019 

Dr David Russell

"Shadow Work in Psychotherapy and the Art of Dying"

(at the MacKillop Conference Centre, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham  8-10 pm) 

I began preparing the material for this talk because the topic has been on my mind for some time.  I find that most published writings on the shadow leave me most unsatisfied. And on the matter of dying, well, it appears to be one of those occasions when our tendency is to avert the eyes.  Nothing to see here!

Jung’s notion of the shadow was that it is an archetypal force.  So, my intention is to develop some potential richness around its archetypal basis.

Psychodynamic psychology is called psycho-dynamic precisely because it emphasis the dynamic or energy aspect of the archetype. It’s an archetypal force not a neutral structure. It is a force that is constituted as a pre-existing framework ready for action in the world. Thus we can talk of a primordial predisposition.  Babies don’t come into life as a blank page. Every baby has a prescribed beginning that is then continuously shaped by experience.

The archetypal shadow

Perhaps the most difficult to grasp of all the so-called Jungian archetypes is the ‘shadow’. We humans are drawn toward the ‘light’ and toward the ‘dark’. The light is a top-of-the-mountain experience. The dark, in contrast, is a moist, misty valley. One see clearly from on the mountain peak, the view is stunning and the air is pure. One only sees the very immediate in the dark valley. Often the mist is so full-on that all that can be seen is the thick mist itself. It’s so easy to feel lost. The expected path is barely visible if at all. Dying, as a key aspect of an archetypal force, is a move toward the ‘dark’.

Out culture is very light orientated in that we crave for understanding, insight, enlightenment. But because the archetypal force lies on the dynamic spectrum, the more we move toward the light the more our daily living accentuated the dark.

Ars moriendi, the classical literature on the art of dying needs to be revisited and Jung’s shadow work is proposed as a useful vehicle for this task.

David Russell is a past president of the Sydney Jung Society. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies and research in psychology at the University of Sydney. Here he was introduced to the writings of Sigmund Freud (unusual for a Department of Psychology) and developed an ongoing enthusiasm for the history and philosophy of psychology.

After a few years in private practice he moved into an academic career, which culminated in the establishment of the Master of Analytical Psychology degree at the University of Western Sydney. David has currently returned to private practice in Sydney CBD.  

Cost: Jung Society Members (free), Guest $15, Concession $10.
         Pay by cash at the door, or by bank transfer, or by credit card via TryBooking

We meet from 7:30pm for tea and coffee and snacks, music, discussion and library. 
Dr Russell's presentation is at 8pm for an hour or so, then we break for supper,
then resume for questions and discussion, finishing at 10pm.

SPECIAL EVENT

Saturday 6th July 2019 

Dr David Russell - Workshop:

"Making the Insights of Carl Jung's 'archetypal forces' Useful in Therpeutic Work"

(at the MacKillop Conference Centre, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham  10am - 4pm) 

Cost $50 for Jung Soc. members, $60 for non-members and $45 concession.

Friday, 4th October 2019 

Dorothea Wojnar:

"Carl Jung's Alchemy (not just a matter of turning base metals into gold!)"

(at the MacKillop Conference Centre, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham  8-10 pm) 

The ancient practice of alchemy, which thrived in Europe until the seventeenth century, dealt with the phenomenon of transformation--not only of materials (ore into gold) but also of the human spirit (self into Other). Through their work in the material realm, alchemists discovered personal rebirth as well as a linking between outer and inner dimensions.

Carl Jung first turned to alchemy for personal illumination in coping with trauma brought on by his break with Freud. Alchemical symbolism eventually suggested to Jung that there was a process in the unconscious, one that had a goal beyond discharging tension and hiding pain. This process created new structures from old ones, with the self, the alchemical lapis, the philosopher’s stone, being the ultimate creation.

The Opus (work) of alchemy becomes a symbolic account of the fundamental process the human psyche undergoes as it re-orients its value system and creates meaning out of chaos. The opus beginning with the nigredo (blackening, akin to depression or nihilistic loss of value) in order to descend back into the manipulable prima materia and proceeding through a process of spiritual purification that must unite seemingly irreconcilable opposites (the coniunctio) to achieve new levels of consciousness.

This presentation will be an introduction to alchemy and respond to the question what we could gain from studying alchemical symbols.

The presentation will be followed by discussion and work in small groups, where each person is encouraged to share some of their own journey.

Dorothea is a Jungian Analyst, Counsellor and Psychotherapist in private practice. Dorothea has extensive experience as a group leader and therapist across a range of people and issues and has worked in both a public health facility as well as in private practice.

Cost: Jung Society Members (free), Guest $15, Concession $10.
         Pay by cash at the door, or by bank transfer, or by credit card via TryBooking

We meet from 7:30pm for tea and coffee and snacks, music, discussion and library. 
Dorothea's presentation is at 8pm for an hour or so, then we break for supper,
then resume for questions and discussion, finishing at 10pm.