CAN DREAMS CONNECT US TO THE ANCESTORS?

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Dec 28, 2023

Fanny Brewster, Jungian analyst and author, explores dreams as a bridge to ancestors in African cultures. The podcast discusses the limitations of Jung's perspective, the importance of honoring women ancestors, and the significance of community and spirituality in personal growth.

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INSIGHT

Cultural Unconscious

Jungian psychology is a psychology of discovery, uncovering the unknown.
Culture significantly shapes individuals, including their unconscious.

INSIGHT

Ancestral Wisdom in Dreams

Many Americans lack a strong sense of ancestral connection.
The Xhosa believe ancestors communicate wisdom through dreams.

ANECDOTE

Dream Calling

Fanny Brewster had a dream guiding her to become a Jungian analyst.
The dream featured a man telling her to open her intuitive center.

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Jung's concept of the collective unconscious emphasized the universal psychological substrate common to all humans. While he acknowledged the effects of the cultural unconscious, his work, at times, fell into the trap of perpetuating oversimplified and racially prejudiced stereotypes. Jung's writings that refer to Africanist peoples, in particular, suffer from offensive assumptions. Dr. Fanny Brewster, Jungian analyst and author, searches for the healing cultural elements in the dreams of the African diaspora. Dreams have always been important in traditional African cultures. In Zimbabwe, the traditional healer, or sangoma, is called to the work by a dream that features a snake. For the Xhosa, dreams were how the ancestors communicated their wisdom. Today, most of us are cut off from our ancestors, but they remain a potential source of strength and healing. Dr. Brewster has undertaken the work of renewing and widening Jungian thought to include Africanist perspectives. She addresses the importance of community as we go about the necessary work of evolving consciousness.

Fanny Brewster, Ph.D., M.F.A. is a Jungian analyst, Professor of Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and member analyst with the Philadelphia Association of Jungian Analysts. She is a multi-genre writer who has written about issues at the intersection of Jungian psychology and American culture. Her most recent book is The Racial Complex: A Jungian Perspective on Culture and Race. (Routledge, 2019).

Learn More about Fanny Brewster, Ph.D. HERE: https://fannybrewster.allyou.net/5026448

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