Current Events

Speaking of Jung Podcast | COVID-19: Interview with Dennis Merritt

April 20, 2020

Speaking of Jung, a podcast by Laura London, is a wonderful series of interviews with Jungian Analysts. In a recent episode, she interviewed Dennis Merritt, member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, about his recent blog post, “Covid-19: Inflection Point in the Anthropocene Era and the Paradigm Shift of Jung’s New Age“. More information about the episode is available HERE.

Dennis Merritt, Ph.D., LCSW has an MA in Humanistic Psychology, a PhD in Insect Pathology from UC-Berkeley, and is a graduate of the Zurich Jung Institute.  He practices as a Jungian analyst, sandplay therapist, and ecopsychologist in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. He authored four volumes of The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe – Jung, Hermes, and Ecopsychology. His influences include D. W. Winnicott, complexity theory, the I Ching, and Native American ceremonies, in which he has participated for over 30 years.

https://youtu.be/Q4iV_CgAS88

Speaking of Jung is available through a variety of podcasting platforms and apps, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. Just search for “Speaking of Jung” in your favorite podcasts app to subscribe on your mobile device. You can also listen on YouTube.

Links: The Speaking of Jung Podcast Website | This Episode of Speaking of Jung | The Speaking of Jung YouTube Channel | Dennis Merritt’s Website | Dennis Merritt’s Page on the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago Website

Stefano Carpani | Covid-19 & the Suspension of Certainties: Conversation with Susan Rowland

April 20, 2020

In this interview, Susan Rowland and Stefano Carpani look at Susan’s peculiar approach to C.G. Jung, at her attitude toward “translation” and “meaning”, as well as at her latest research interests (art-based research) and at Covid-19.

Susan Rowland, PhD is associate Chair of two hybrid programs at Pacifica Graduate Institute: MA Engaged Humanities and the Creative Life MA. Author of seven books on Jung, literary theory, gender and ecology, her latest work is The Ecocritical Psyche (Routledge 2012), which argues for a symbol embodying a reciprocal relationship with non-human nature. Previously Professor of Jungian Studies at the University of Greenwich, London, she was founding Chair of the International Association of Jungian Studies 2003-6.

Links: Stefano’s YouTube Channel | Stefano’s Website | Susan Rownland’s page and recorded lectures on the C. G, Jung Institute of Chicago Website | Susan Rowland’s Website | All COVID-19 related posts

Stefano Carpani | Covid-19: Psychosocial Perspectives: Conversation with Andrew Samuels

April 17, 2020

Making no claim for psychology as a solution to anything, Prof. Andrew Samuels and Stefano Carpani discussed a wide range of psychosocial (and more personal) questions. They spoke about the struggle that is to come when some of us refuse to countenance a return to normality. The grim possibility was raised that many people are attracted to apocalypse – and that there can be little hope without acceptance and embrace of risk.

Andrew Samuels is a Jungian analyst, university professor, author, activist and political consultant. He is well known for his work at the interface of psychotherapy and politics. His work on sexuality, relationships, spirituality, men and fathers has been widely appreciated. He is a former Chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy, co-founder of Psychotherapists and Counselors for Social Responsibility and of the Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy. His many books have been translated into 19 languages.

Links: Stefano’s YouTube Channel | Stefano’s Website | Andrew Samuels’s page and recorded lectures on the C. G, Jung Institute of Chicago Website | Andrew Samuels’s Website | All COVID-19 related posts

Research Study | Share Your Dreams

April 17, 2020

Ronnie Landau, MA, LPC, Jungian Psychoanalyst, is collecting dreams and participants may gain from sharing and reflecting. She writes:

Our mission is to assemble a worldwide database of dreams in order to thoughtfully engage with the images and themes collected. The thrust of the study is to better understand the unconscious during these highly stressful and unique times.

All dreams are welcome. And specifically, if you have had dreams that seem related to the current pandemic, and or dreams that may reflect the chaos and turmoil in the current ethos, please contribute them to the survey. It is completely anonymous.

Please share the survey link with friends, family, other colleagues, and even patients (when appropriate) in an effort to assemble a large and diverse sampling of dreams.

Thank you for participating in this meaningful project. Feel free to email us if you have any further questions (contact information in the survey). Be safe and well.

Survey

ARAS | Art in a Time of Global Crisis: Interconnection and Companionship

April 15, 2020

The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism has launched a free virtual exhibition in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From their press release:

ARAS and the Art and Psyche Working Group, in collaboration, have developed a new project, “Art in a Time of Global Crisis: Interconnection and Companionship,” as an international outreach through art. Our goal is to create a network of mutual support through art during this difficult time. Colleagues and friends from around the world, representing various cultures, geographical locations and life-styles, have been invited to contribute artistic images with commentaries that represent companionship, resilience and hope in the face of threat, fear and struggle. We plan to post one new offering each day (Monday-Friday) in our curated “virtual gallery.” With a consistent presence of art that expands with each new contribution, we hope to weave a web of interconnectedness during this current time of global upheaval.

View the Gallery

Adina Davidson | Two Jungians’ Thoughts from the Quarantine

April 15, 2020

These are some notes from a conversation with Lisa Maechling Debbeler, JD, MA, LPCC about the nature of being a therapist/analyst in a time of quarantine. We began talking on Saturday March 21, 2020 at the beginning of the shut down and are continuing to talk weekly. We were both continuing to work and trying to see as many of our clients/analysands as possible through Zoom or other virtual methods. We were both finding this both unexpectedly and expectedly difficult and wanted to share our experiences with colleagues and friends that we respect.

First, we both were finding that conducting therapy/analysis virtually was shockingly exhausting and so were almost all of our colleagues. We had certain expectations of our ability to be productive between clients and found that both of us were staring vaguely into space or aimlessly snacking rather than taking a note, making a phone call, doing some writing, eating lunch etc.  We were interested in whether there might be a Jungian perspective that might help inform our understanding if not help rectify it.

My initial stab was that we were missing the “field” that exists between analyst and analysand and is the container for much of the therapy. Not only in the sense of the quasi-mystical field of collective unconscious and synchronicity but in the simple physiological data that we gather about each other unconsciously. The micro shifts in facial expression, the half-heard sighs or in breaths, the subtle changes in body language. All of this is missing or limited when we view each other through a computer screen. Our conscious egoic self must carry all the burden of the communication with no help from our instinctive or intuitive understanding of what the person is communicating non-verbally.

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Freddie Taborda | A Symbolic Meaning of Corona Virus: An Opinion (English/Español)

April 13, 2020

(English)
What could be a psychological meaning of the corona virus?
Upon reflection, and without denying the frightening, tragic, and devastating effects that this virus is bringing to individuals, families, groups, and countries from around the world, some of the interpersonal isolating measures may help us find some value in solitude, silence, and introspection.
These three human experiences have a positive aspect in terms of connecting with our inner lives and the mystery of life. However, for some people, these experiences may be unbearable.
Now that you will be spending more time at home, consider the possibility of cultivating those three experiences. Solitude may open up the opportunity to be with your Self, with the images, feelings, and thoughts that come to your mind. A befriending of them may contribute to the processes of self-understanding and self-realization, if you chose to. Furthermore, silence may help to quiet down the racing thoughts of the civilized mind. Finally, a willing attitude towards introspection may open up the door to the hidden treasures that are within.
Let us not be surprised if, during these health-related and world-wide crisis, solitude, silence, and introspection awaken, every night, vivid dreams that seek a more meaningful and balanced life from us. Perhaps Nature may be forcing us, through this virus, to a greater connection to our inner lives and to the divine mystery of life.

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Vladislav Šolc | Ode to COVID-19

April 11, 2020

Sit Covid bonus aut malus: quaestiō

Oh, you mighty and yet invisible, you weightless and yet so powerful.
You oh came to gently remind us all that there’s no one who can control your will.
Your gentle yet deathly stroke became the mankind’s school,
Teaching us all how to feel, how to love, and also how to chill.

You slowed the time and made us be with those whom we always felt most free,
You showed us “now,” you showed us “here,” all we always craved
Unconsciously…
Gratitude, humility, what matters and how our souls are to be saved!

Perhaps by showing you know no borders, have no race nor gender,
By your mortal tap making rich and poor even,
You could take more, but you’re generous and tender…
Our pride took the Earth for granted, we asked no “what” but only “when!”

We thought the health insurance was a privilege that protects us from those who cannot have it,
We thought some of us had special right just due to a special religion,
You’ve gently shown us how silly it was to think that some of us are immune from your hit.
Now, when powerless and in your prison, we acknowledge yours is timing, the scope and region!

You teach us that nature is us indeed; no, we are not her masters, but tiny children… that all we are just dust in the wind.
Your mighty wisdom has conveyed that truth matters because there’s no talking out the losses away.
Waking up this way… remembering the lessons… seeing connections… and inevitably getting your hint.
Now we see we lost the respect for animals and waters, and plants. The power of action rather than that of prayer.

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Dennis Merritt | Covid-19: Inflection Point in the Anthropocene Era and the Paradigm Shift of Jung’s New Age

April 8, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a unique moment in the history of our species. Something so small it takes an electron microscope to see is disrupting millions of lives and threatening the world’s economy. Frontline workers risk their lives trying to save patients who may die alone without friends or family at their sides. A virus, a strand of nucleic acid that highjacks the functioning of a cell to reproduce its unique viral form, is bringing our species to a near standstill. Despite the wonders of science, technology, and economic systems we can still be humbled by nature, indeed, by a strand of nucleic acid. It is crucial how we respond to the situation. What can we learn from it and how do we go forward?

We start with an adequate framing of the issue. This is a matter of life and death, which means it is in the most fundamental archetypal realm and requires an archetypal perspective. The fear of death from the pandemic is bringing a sense of immediacy and urgency on a planet-wide scale. Death cannot be separated from life, death makes us aware of the preciousness of life, and death confronts us with questions about the meaning of existence and our place in the bigger scheme of things. Death can bring an end to systems and beliefs that no longer support life and a healthy existence, and that could be the most important outcome of the present crisis.

The virus is demonstrating to what degree we are interconnected and how much we need each other. The forced social isolation and six-foot distancing has cut us off from intimate contacts and group experiences making us aware by absence how important we are to each other. The ghostly empty streets in otherwise bustling cities are eerie reminders that our systems are in shock at all levels. Like a nightmare that wakes us in the middle of the night, this shock is meant to shock us into a new awareness.

Our species needed to be shocked into an awareness that we have been barreling towards the edge of a cliff for many decades while showing no signs of being able to halt our “progress”. Well before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 and the first Earth Day in 1970, environmentalists have been warning us about overpopulation, destruction of natural habitats, loss of biodiversity, mining our lands with modern agricultural practices, collapsing ocean fisheries, etc. Greta Thunberg rallied millions of young people to demand action on climate change but powerful oil lobbies and vested political interests have been unmoved. The long term consequences of climate change will make any losses from a virus seem inconsequential, making this a moment for us to re-examine our fundamental relationships with each other and with the environment.

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Ashok Bedi & Robert BJ Jakala | In the Eye of the Storm: An Individual Response to the Crisis

April 5, 2020

The following post is the first in a series of daily reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic by Jungian Psychoanalyst Ashok Bedi, MD & Jungian Psychotherapist Robert BJ Jakala, PhD. Dr. BJ Jakala is a photographer and Dr. Bedi and Dr. Jakala jointly amplify the image. The ongoing series is available on pathtothesoul.com.

Minding Our Nest – Our Vulnerable Humanity on a Fragile Planet

Often this work is wearisome and difficult, because it cannot be accomplished by intellectual shortcuts or moral recipes, but only by careful observation of the inner and outer conditions.

– C. G. Jung, The Symbolic Life : Miscellaneous Writings (1976, p. 617)

I woke up uncertain of what condition the world would be in and how I would face it. Before finding out what the outside would want, I sat quietly to check in with my internal world. I notice I am scared and need some courage. I remember a teacher long ago who said, “Fear is the embryo of courage. Courage is not born unless fear is present.”

I decide I need to act on tasks, familiar tasks, so I will feel a sense of influence and accomplishment rather than fear. I do some work out in the yard and notice how spring is here. None of the plants, butterflies, fruits, grasses or birds know about the Covid-19 virus. I begin to align with the natural feeling of spring. The work to care for my small piece of the planet helps me be more self-assured.

When my work is done, I go for a long walk and find a few people doing the same. Today when we made eye contact and said hello, there seems to be a deeper connection; a connection of “we are all in this together.” It occurred to me how the threat of climate crises has brought some nations together to save the planet. It is during this time that nations might work together to save humanity. Perhaps the threat of a common enemy will help all of us see we are in this together.

When I came home from my walk, the memory of this photo came to mind. It demonstrates action to make things better. What do I bring home? How do I contribute to my nest? It reminds me that I can collect memories and bring them to the moment, memories that are useful to my internal and external home. I carry the smiles and acknowledgement while on my walk with me now. They are here in my house with me.

It is via Community that we will save our humanity. In the Buddhist tradition, there are three legs of the spiritual tradition: Buddha (Image of Self), Sangha (Community) and Dharma (Spiritual Purposefulness). When these three are aligned, we come into our Soul. When all of us honor our Spiritual purposefulness and support the Community effort, we become One World, UNUS Mundus. Then the effort of each one of us will collectively support ALL of us. In the Alchemic tradition, one plus one = 11. That is the Way.

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