This happened

Archetypes have been described as “primordial, structural elements of the human psyche… irrepresentable in themselves… especially recognizable in basic and universal experiences of life such as birth, marriage, motherhood, separation, and death…” Tonight, each of us is invited to speak of our archetypal experiences—and also to raise questions about what this term means in personal and world life today.

The Hermetic Tree of Life is a mandala and visual map offering a glimpse into alchemical processes that illuminate Jung’s individuation processes. The Tree links the worlds of astrology and alchemy incorporating above, so below, inner and outer, masculine and the feminine, force and form, involution and evolution. The 17th century alchemical diagrams of the Azoth, such as that of Basil Valentine, depicts these transmutations in alchemy via Mercury, the animating spirit hidden in matter. Joining these two systems enables a multidimensional view into its heart linking cosmos, psyche, and matter through the journey from prima materia to philosopher’s stone. This presentation will explore these correspondences via the Sephiroth on the Tree and the Azoth with an emphasis on the astrological and elemental correspondences they represent. With the aid of image and symbol, we follow the winged feet of Mercurius into the mysteries of transformation from Spirit into Matter.

Why do so many young people, mostly young men, join violent groups around the world? Is it a bad gene? Are they just plain evil? Were there clues or signs that everyone missed? Are there predictive traits or behaviors? In this talk, Dr. Dave Zuckerman presents a model he has developed over the past fifteen years that indicates heightened vulnerability to terrorist recruitment. While the model does not guarantee that someone will (or won’t) become a terrorist, it uses both established and novel social science constructs to indicate an increased chance of susceptibility to recruitment into extremist groups. 

Dave Zuckerman is a Fulbright Scholar who holds the rank of Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento. He has studied and taught about terrorism to civilian and military audiences across the USA and Europe, and has worked with the law enforcement and security community for over twenty years. Dave has published studies of terrorism in Belfast and of Al-Qaeda’s English-language recruitment in the West. Dave is a former president of the International Jean Gebser Society, has spoken to the Monterey Friends of C.G. Jung, and presented at the joint conference of the Monterey Friends of C.G. Jung and the International Jean Gebser Society in 2019. Dave has been a visiting professor in Canada, Finland, China, and Taiwan, and is currently involved in a degree completion program for students incarcerated in California’s state prisons.

In his seminal work Revisioning Psychology, James Hillman presents his Archetypal Psychology in the direction of “soul making.” Hillman is a major influence at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara where his archives are located. The Legacy Series is a seminar study. Open discussion is encouraged as we work our way through the book. All are welcome to join our ongoing discussions of Hillman’s approach to depth psychology.

The Dark Mountain Project was started in 2009 in the UK as a literary journal and soon became a movement.
“In 2009, two English writers published a manifesto. Out of that manifesto grew a cultural movement: a rooted and branching network of creative activity, centred on the Dark Mountain journal…Together, we are walking away from the stories that our societies like to tell themselves, the stories that prevent us seeing clearly the extent of the ecological, social and cultural unravelling that is now underway. We are making art that doesn’t take the centrality of humans for granted.”
In previous meetings, we discussed the origins and activities of the Dark Mountain Project. Tonight, we will share a brief description of the project and get an update from Editor Neale Inglenook on what’s going on now with their literary and art activities. We’ll hear poetry and writings from the Journal and lead a discussion on ways to participate by creating Dark Mountain themed gatherings.

From the back cover—

“In this seminal work Jung describes the psychology of the transference in terms of the symbolism of alchemy and the illustration to the ‘Rosarium philosophorum.’”

We will discuss Jung’s interpretation of the Rosarium philosophorum, a set of twenty wood block prints from the 16^th century, as well as interpretations from an alchemist’s perspective as well as others. While there are twenty prints, Jung limited his discussion to the first ten. By analyzing all twenty perhaps it is possible to discover why, to gain additional insight into alchemical processes, and perhaps have a broader understanding of the individuation process and the purpose of alchemy.

Since our last successful talk-circle on wholeness, Lisa came across highly relevant writings by Henri Bortoft (The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way of Science) and Francisco Varela (“Autopoiesis: The Organization of Living Systems, Its Characterization and a Model”). Using quotations from their work as starting points for discussion, we will further ponder what it means to be whole. Indeed, Goethe’s intuitive approach to multiplicity in unity (belonging together) contrasts with the current scientific/analytic approach of unity in multiplicity (belonging together). Familiarity with those texts is not required—just bring a curious attitude.