Fall 2001 Calendar 
September  | October  |   November  |   December  |   

November 

7 Mondays & 1 Tuesday,                                                         September 24                                                                                  Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, 30
November 5, 12

7:30 pm -9:30 pm
The Collected Works Reading Program
Volume 5: Symbols of Transformation

Jung's Symbols of Transformation, first published in 1911-12, went to a depth and insight in its analysis of the collective psyche which forever separated Jung from Freud and created a new level of scientific discourse in depth psychology. Extensively revised in 1952, Symbols of Transformation has long been a veritable one-volume library of comparative mythology, case analysis, and exposition revealing Jung's understanding of the process of symbol formation from archetypal energies and their key role in our life. Jung's insights in this book lead to many of the central concepts and dynamic understandings in current everyday depth psychology. As such it is essential reading for anyone who wants to have an understanding of the individuation process.


In this course we will read Symbols of Transformation over the course of eight weeks, beginning with Jung's questioning of what myth means to a conscious life; the reading then focuses on logical thinking and the development of civilization from imaginative and receptive modes of being in the psyche. Utilizing the spontaneous fantasies of a young woman, Jung exposes the archetypal structure of instinctual development, its connection with the godhead, and its elaboration in psychotherapy and religion. The symbol and psychology of the hero, the god-man, and the development of modern ego consciousness reverberate throughout his development of Miss Miller's fantasies. In the process, Jung demonstrates not only his own scientific development but establishes a paradigm of the individuation process as an individual task.

J. Gordon Nelson , Ph.D.,  Jungian analyst in Santa Monica has taught the entire Collected Works Reading Program over two complete 20 volume cycles in the last several years, as well as many individual courses in Jung's works. He is past President of C. G. Jung Institute, and currently Chair of its Certifying Board for new analysts.

6 Fridays                                                                                     September 28                                                                                  Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 
November 2 

8:00 pm -10:00 pm
The Analytical Psychology Club Presents
Consciousness:  The Search for Meaning

"The need for mythic statements is satisfied when we frame a view of the world which adequately explains the meaning of human existence in the cosmos, a view which springs from our psychic wholeness, from the cooperation between conscious and unconscious. Meaninglessness inhibits fullness of life and is therefore equivalent to illness. Meaning makes a great many things endurable---perhaps everything."                    
                                                                 C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

September 28, 8-10 p.m.                                                            States of Desire and the Archetype of Meaning
Barry Miller, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst 
The psyche in erotic states brings the individual to profound and confounding images and yearnings, leaving the conscious mind little possibility of pursuing the meaning inherent in these desires. A sensation oriented culture, while offering much needed acceptance of sexuality, may also devalue the work of establishing meaning. It is with a symbolic attitude that insight is revealed into the dynamic intentions of compelling states of desire, forming a basis for an encounter with meaning.

 October 5, 8-10 p.m.                                                                  The Need for Meaning
J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst 
In the face of the ambiguity of life, the human need for meaning stands out as fundamental. This need will be addressed from several perspectives, centering finally on the problem of evil.

 
October 12, 8-10 p.m.                                                              Taking the Matter in Hand
Nancy Swift Furlotti, M.A., Jungian Analyst 
Easily overlooked, the image of the Hand is universal and archetypal in its cultural, mythological and psychological significance. In fact, it is a powerful and engaging symbol representing a bridge between the unconscious and conscious realms. To grasp the meaning of this symbol, I will lead you on a journey of amplification through its collective, worldly expressions to its inner manifestations as it appears in dreams.

October 19, 8-10 p.m.                                                                  The Fate of America
Michael Gellert, Director of Training, C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles
"The most interesting thing of all," Jung concluded in his study of the American collective unconscious, "is that this childlike, impetuous, ‘naive’ America has probably the most complicated psychology of all nations."  This talk will consist of selected readings by the author from his new book, The Fate of America: An Inquiry into National Character, and will focus on the American psyche and its influence on our history, culture and survival as a civilization.

October 26, 8-10 p.m.                                                        Menopause: A Time to Find New Meaning
Harriet Friedman, M.A., Jungian Analyst
Sandplay creations will be used to illustrate a menopausal woman’s journey, moving from a state of despair toward psychic reorganization.

November 2, 8-10 p.m.                                                           Meaning: The Experience of Daily Life
Gilda Frantz, M.A., Jungian Analyst 
In his last journal entry Thoreau was observing a tiny pebble pushed down the road by a rivulet of water. He wrote that it was in the small events that life’s larger issues are seen. Our search for meaning is often found in the 
everydayness of our lives.

Friday, November 9                                                             7:30pm-9:30 pm
The Harmony Complex:  Why Many Men Fear Women

At the dawn of the third millennium, we still suffer from patriarchal values: men are still more or less in the role of oppressors, even though women have become significantly freer compared to former centuries. Yet, at the same time, they are in a dominant position, many men are afraid of women and do not dare resist their demands. They are afraid to stand up to women because they believe they personify harmony--and who wants to fight against harmony? This presentation will explore this paradox and the irrational fear and complex underlying it.

Dr. Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig is a leading Jungian analyst, an international 
lecturer, and a former President of the C.G. Jung Institute, Zurich, and of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. He is the author of Marriage: Dead or Alive; Power in the Helping Professions; The Old Fool and the Corruption of Myth; Eros on Crutches: On the Nature of the Psychopath; and From the Wrong Side: A Paradoxical Approach to Psychology.



Friday,November16                                                                                 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

                                                                       
La Boheme:  Archetypal Romantic Love                  at the Opera

La Boheme, the opera by Giacomo Puccini, is the story of Rudolfo, a poet, who meets and falls in love with Mimi, a seamstress who is suffering from tuberculosis. Rudolfo and Mimi live together but, afraid to contribute to her death, Rudolfo leaves her only to later reconcile with her as she lies dying remembering the early days of their love.

When La Boheme  was first produced in 1896 it was scathingly reviewed. One critic wrote, "Just as La Boheme leaves slight impression in the spirit of its listeners, so it will leave a scant trace in the history of our opera, and the author would be well advised to consider it a passing error."   Since then La Boheme  has gone on to be one of the most popular operas ever written. Its popularity is no doubt due to the archetypal nature of its theme of romantic love doomed to end in tragedy and Puccini's own concept of love as tragic guilt to be atoned for by death (Mosco Carner). In this presentation, with the aid of Puccini's music and the libretto by Giacosa, we will explore the mythic nature of romantic love, separation and the question of the essential tragic ending.  

Valerie McIlroy, L.C.S.W., is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Newport Beach. She is the Vice President of the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, and Chair of the Public Programs Committee of the Orange County C.G. Jung Club.

2 Mondays, November 19 & 26                                                               7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
                                                                      
Jung, Nietzsche, and Zarathustra

Jung's fascination with Nietzsche began in his early adolescence and expressed itself in adult life in a seminar spanning five years, prematurely and ironically ending with the onset of the Second World War. The notes from the seminar are published in a massive two volume work by Jung titled Nietzsche's Zarathustra. 

In this two part seminar Dr. James L. Jarrett, the editor of the two volumes, will give a brief historical background on Nietzsche, discuss Jung's attraction to Nietzsche on a theoretical and psychological level as well as his own odyssey in producing the edited works. Most of Jung's major theoretical concepts are embedded in this material. Because of the informality of the seminar format and lack of any plan to publish the notes it generated, Jung felt free to joke, to lash out at people and events that irritated or angered him and to comment unreservedly on the political, economic and other social events of the time. 

Dr. Jarrett's lectures will focus on several major themes contained in the Zarathustra seminar including: the nature of the unconscious, the roots of creativity; the effect of archetypal "possession;" the path of individuation, especially as it manifests itself through the analytic process. The seminar is intended as a two-part lecture/discussion, but participants may attend individual sessions if space permits.                                                                                                                                          Copies of both the paperback abridged version of the seminars as well as the two volume complete seminars are available at the C.G. Jung Bookstore.

James L. Jarrett, writes, "My long formal education was designed to make me into a philosopher, but in that practice I somehow encountered a very different kind of thinker who also developed an early and lasting interest in philosophy, C.J. Jung. For the last twenty-five or so years, a very large part of my teaching, lecturing, and writing has been spent in exploring the ideas of this seminal psychologist. Both in Berkeley and more recently in Los Angeles, I have, as an emeritus professor, continued and extended these powerful interests."

Friday, November 30                                                                            7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

                                                                
From Wotan to Job:  Jung's Struggle with the God Image

To understand Jung's view of religion a close look at his involvement with the theological scene in Germany is necessary. This began during his university years and culminated with his post-World War II writings on evil. This lecture will survey the development of Jung’s perspective on the spiritual crises faced by modern Germany. Participants are encouraged to read Jung’s essay "Wotan" and Answer to Job in CW 10, and to bring their questions and comments to the discussion. 

Jay Sherry, M.A., is an educator and Jung scholar in New York. His articles and reviews have appeared in Spring, The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Quadrant, Harvest, and The Psychoanalytic Review. He is currently writing a book locating Jung in the Swiss-German conservative tradition.

September  | October  |   November  |   December  |