Canberra Jung Society Inc.

and our next event ... Friday 2 October, 2020

"Rev. Dr. Sarah Agnew Tells Stories"

^{(at MacKillop House, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham, ACT., and on-line)}

Sarah says ...

What I do as a storyteller:
* compose, perform and publish stories that lead humans from fear to love,
* equip readers of the Bible to engage with and make meaning of the Sacred Stories as human beings,
* encourage people to tell their own story as a way of nurturing the healing and wholeness of us all.

Why I tell stories:
* because humans tell stories – to make meaning of our experiences of living,
* I believe in the dignity of all human beings,
* I believe that we are fully human – healed and whole – together, and stories bring us together

*** * ***
Here's one of Sarah's poems:

Choking - A Lament for Australia - Summer 2020

Where do we begin
with this great wall of fire
or that fire storm
or the hungry angry monster?
Where do we begin?

How do we enfold them all
into our love,
the dozens of humans dead,
the hundreds of homes razed,
the thousands of folk displaced,
the millions of acres burned,
the billions of creatures dead -
how can our embrace include them all?

What is the starting point
for our care, now, this task
now to rebuild: which lives
to prop up, which towns to
reconstruct, which roads to open,
what first? what next? what do we do ?

We need You.
We need You here with us,
and with us all. We need
courage and wisdom, love
and compassion; we need
safety, we need care, we
need healing, we need hope -
O, Holy One, we need You.

Draw us in, fill us up,
send us and go with us as we reach
out from where we are, one step, one
act, help us remember we are
one, and to find that somehow, thus,
we have begun.

(c) Sarah Agnew

Rev Dr Sarah Agnew is a storyteller, poet, and ordained minister in placement with Wesley Uniting Church, Canberra. Sarah has published three volumes of poetry, as well as liturgy, prayer, and story in books, audio albums, and internationally edited compilations.

As a storyteller, Sarah performs the compositions of the biblical tradition and her own creation, leads workshops to encourage others to tell stories, and is a scholar in the field of Biblical Performance Criticism, exploring how oral storytelling helps us to understand the Bible in its fullness as works transmitted through the body, on the voice.

Her forthcoming book, Embodied Performance. Mutuality, Embrace, and the Letter to Rome, presents the research of her PhD (2017) into the Bible and performance (or oral storytelling). Sarah was the keynote speaker for the 2020 International gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers.

For more detail of Sarah's writings, see her website: https://sarahagnew.com.au

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

Cost:
In Person event at MacKillop Centre, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham
* Jung Society members free, Guests $15, Seniors/Concession $10.
* Pay by cash at the door or
* or by bank transfer (Reference your name!),
* by credit card or PayPal via TryBooking.

On-line Event, via Zoom:
* Jung Society members free, Guests $10,
* or by bank transfer (Reference your name and email, so we can send you the link!),
* by credit card or PayPal via TryBooking.

Six-Week "Fairy-Tale Group"

Facilitated by Dorothea Wojnar

Six Tuesdays 20, 27 October and 3,10, 17 and 24th November 2020

7:00 - 9:30 pm

Venue: Wesley Uniting Church 22 National Circuit, Forrest ACT

Beginning with the fathers of the field, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, psychoanalysts have turned to fairy-tales in an effort to understand the human mind. Fairy-tales are inextricably linked to the work of Carl Jung. The “collective unconscious” that lies at the core of his work, and which is shared by all human beings, is revealed through archetypes, forms and symbols found in fairy-tales.

Fairy-tales are oral forms of folk tales with moral and ethical aspects, which teach us how to behave and how to deal with others in the community. Marie-Louise von Franz considers fairy-tales as the purest and simplest expression of the collective unconscious of psychic processes. Fairy-tales represent the contents of the collective unconscious, the archetypes. Fairy-tales offer an understanding of the basic patterns of the human psyche and can guide us through the individuation process.

Working with your favourite fairytale

Participants are asked to bring their favourite tale either one they have heard and love or a fairy-tale they have written. We will be experiencing the fairy-tales through enacting the fairy-tales. Participants will have the opportunity to become archetypal characters in the fairy-tale. This can be a powerful experience as you become for a short time the witch or the evil king or the divine child. Participants will be asked to bring various props that will help them to become the characters in the tale. After de-roling, each participant has an opportunity to share within the closed group about what it felt like to be in that role and how they experienced the other characters.

The group is confidential, and participants are asked not to discuss personal material from the group outside the group. Acting ability is not important, because we will focus on developing an ability to experience your own and other’s psyche. Most of us acted out stories and tales as children - this is similar to that with two major differences - we become archetypal characters with intention, and we have an opportunity to discuss the experience.

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 (0413) 245 835.

Cost: $60 for the series (Try to attend all six sessions!).
Pay by cash at the door,
or by bank transfer,
or by credit card via TryBooking

Friday 6 November, 2020

Eve Warren:

"A Dream in a Teacup"

^{(at MacKillop House, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham, ACT)}

Eve will present the following hypothesis for our consideration:

Could …being totally consumed in the writing of a fictional novel for more than three years, while at the same time, journaling, attending to one’s night time dreams and day-time active imaginations… possibly be akin to spending a comparative amount of time engaged in a dialectical relationship with a Jungian, Dream Work Analyst?

Probably not - you say? Well, all I know is that: during the writing process, on a conscious level, I mostly had no idea where the next chapter was coming from nor where it would take me. Images began to take on a life of their own, as did the characters. To me the story-lines were akin to dream images and I often wondered, if in fact I had developed, deep within my psyche, my own nurturing analyst.

I also believe the writing of my novel A Dream in a Teacup became my redemption, my coming out of darkness, and provided me with not only momentary glimpses of self-actualization, but also a number of what I would call, peak experiences.

Jung on Dreams:
* Dreams are a spontaneous self-portrayal, in symbolic forms.
* Dream images are the best possible expression of still unconscious facts.

Jung on Active Imagination:
* This is where the unconscious content might be exposed in the waking state.
And where the drama that is enacted appears to want to compel the viewer’s participation.

As I see it, first and foremost, A Dream in a Teacup is a self-portrayal of me and my life. But it is also very much a social commentary of a time and place. What you might call ‘a glimpse into Canberra’s psyche during the 1940’s.’ The microcosm population consisting of politicians, public servants, a few journalists, Duntroon military personal, and other than that…it was mostly working-class people like my parents.

Eve Warren has been a member of Canberra Jung Society for thirty years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare from Charles Sturt University and a Masters in Theology, Ageing and Pastoral Care from the Australian Catholic University.

For a long time, Eve worked with people who were ageing. People with dementia and their carers. Eve is a highly skilled, Carer Support Group Facilitator. It was within this role, that she deemed her primary role was to instil into her carers, a sense of selfishness. Likening the primary and fundamental rule of First aid to their role of carer: firstly, make sure you secure your own safety before attempting to minister to others.

Tapping into mediums such as the labyrinth, music, dance, drawing, clay work and dreams, Eve designed reflection days for her Carers. Eve’s primary purpose for these workshops being to provide a space where her carers might explore and find that place within, the place where wisdom, intuition and inner strength resides. A place where they might draw strength and consolation.

See Eve's website: www.adreaminateacup.com,
where you can read chapter one of her novel!

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

Cost: Jung Society members free, Guests $15, Seniors/Concession $10.
Pay by cash at the door or bank transfer or by credit card via TryBooking.

Saturday 5 December, 2020

~~~ Christmas Party ~~~

^{at MacKillop House, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham, ACT.}

^{(Watch this space)}