Jung & the Environment

Description

This webinar is now available for free on YouTube and the Jungianthology Podcast

Dennis L Merritt, PhD, LCSW. 2 hours 42 minutes. Video & Audio Download.

Topics: Archetypes, the Collective Unconscious, Eastern Philosophy, Jung’s Life, Myth & Fairy Tale, Society & Culture

Jung & the Environment

Many believe we are in the Anthropocene Era, an era marked by the planet-wide influence of our species. The field of ecopsychology emerged in the early 1990s as a belated response from the psychological community to address the cascading effects of human-created environmental damage. Jungian ecopsychology offers one of the best frameworks for analyzing our dysfunctional relationship with the environment—and with each other—through an archetypal analysis of the layers of the collective unconscious. Jung was deeply connected with his native Swiss soil that was reflected in the ecological aspects of his conceptual system and his interest in alchemy as his main symbol system. Ecology begins with our relationship with “the little people” in our dreams and dreams can be used to help us connect deeply to the land using Hillman’s concept of Aphrodite as the Soul of the World. In 1940 Jung foretold a paradigm shift that he labeled a “new age” and “Aquarian Age”. The new paradigm will be based on ecological concepts and reflected in the economic system being developed by the sustainable economists. We must think in these terms as a species if there is any hope of averting a planetary nightmare.

It was recorded on October 1, 2021.

PowerPoint: The PowerPoint slides are shown in the video.

Audio: An audio mp3 of the webinar is included in the download.

Sample

Learning Objectives
At the end of this workshop the participants will be able to:
1) Describe our dysfunctional relationship with each other and the environment based on an analysis of the layers of the collective unconscious.
2) Describe how dreams can be used to attain a goal in ecopsychology of connecting us more deeply to the land.
3) Describe four elements of Jung’s “new age” and “Age of Aquarius” paradigm shift that will significantly alter our relationship with the environment.
4) Describe how Hermes as god of complexity theory provides a mythic narrative for fundamental operations in the natural world.

Bio
Dennis Merritt, PhD, LCSW grew up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin where he established a deep connection with the land as reflected in his four volumes of The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe: Jung, Hermes, and Ecopsychology. He obtained a Ph.D. from Berkeley in insect pathology, microbial control of insect pests, before training at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. He practices as a Jungian analyst and ecopsychologist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a senior analyst in the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts. More at JungianEcopsychology.com.

© 2021 Dennis Merritt.
Ⓟ 2021 CG Jung Institute of Chicago.