Jung Society Melbourne Podcast

In today’s talk Annette takes us through a rich array of voices and works that speak to the question of the definitions, potential origins and purpose of the mystical experience and religion. Ranging from perspectives in sociology, neuropsychology, myth, Jung, art and sociobiology, we consider the marked differences between religious and mystical experiences and how surprisingly common the latter are. Annette raises the possibility of a partially physiological basis for a mystical or transliminal temperament and the survival value this possesses both for the individual and society. 

Exploring the many manifestations of mother in our psyche from the Great Mother to the personal mother, the mother complex to the inner mother, Margaret draws our attention to one of the fundamental qualities of the maternal. In this talk, a rich description is provided around the ways that Mother encapsulates a primordial oneness and mystery. The invitation is to consider how we mother the unknown in ourselves, and in our world. Do we embrace mystery with openness and love, or do we attempt to control what we don’t know and reject our individuality?

Beginning and ending with personal stories of his experience with depression, Peter guides us through two very different conceptualisations: A modern psychological approach that focuses on getting through depression or depression as somewhat of a curse, and a Jungian imaginative approach that takes note of the generative qualities of ‘transformational’ depression. With authenticity, experiential and academic knowledge, Peter conveys the hard earned and positive qualities to be found in a depression that takes us on a journey toward individuation and integration.

In this meaningful talk, Reverend Curran points to the way that imagination enables us to step outside of ourselves and look at ourselves fully. With imagination we can take what we have experienced directly, what resides in our memory and what we haven’t experienced, and work with these to produce not only images & possibilities but also changes in our embodied and psychological experiencing. In today’s ‘post God present’, Lesley highlights the necessity of imagination as a vehicle for understanding and working toward a relationship with the Divine whether you call that God, the universe, the infinite or the soul. She offers a strong claim that imagination is God or, in a softer version, imagination is an aspect of our human being that makes us most like God. 

In today’s talk, internationally respected author and Jungian analyst Robert A Johnson speaks about the practice of active imagination, a practice that for C. G. Jung was just as important as working with dreams. With the inclusion of evocative and practical examples, Robert describes the four steps involved in active imagination toward psychological dialogue, integration and balance.  

In today’s talk, psychiatrist and specialist child, adolescent and family psychotherapist, Dr Averil Earnshaw takes us on a journey through her innovative theory about the toxic familial waste that can plague our inner psychological space. She describes how family members can experience ‘age-linked major life events’ noting that experiences that are ‘undigested’, not spoken about or shared in the lives of adult parents, have a tendency of emerging in unexpected crises at the same age for their children. With examples ranging from Mozart to Jung to Alan Turing as well as patient cases, Averil convincingly conveys the psychological work that needs to be done in order to spare our children from unanticipated and unearned struggles.  

Jungian analyst Helen Phillips presents us with an understanding of envy from a powerful perspective, diving deep into the creative as well as destructive possibilities of envy. Drawing on a Jungian conceptualisation of the development of consciousness toward individuation, we encounter the constellation of a new archetype, coined by Brazilian psychoanalyst Carlos Byington. This Alterity Archetype seeks to open a dialogue between consciousness and the Shadow, both our own Shadow and the Shadow as experienced in others. Helen asks us to consider the ways in which envy, once relegated to the Shadow, can inform what lies at the heart of our unlived Self. 

In this enlightening discussion, Robert A. Johnson, a renowned Jungian analyst and author, delves into the complexities of consciousness and the healing of our wounded feeling function. He uses the Grail myth as a powerful metaphor for understanding how Western culture often sidelines emotional awareness. Johnson reflects on the joy found in simplicity during his travels to India, the implications of the mother complex, and the profound journeys of characters like Parsifal, highlighting the need for balance between rationality and feelings for deeper connections.

Dr Peter O’Connor, a retired psychologist with an abiding interest in Jungian Depth Psychology, speaks about the “human fragility and human failure” experienced at the heart of the mid-life crisis. He describes how the first half of life involves a pursuit of the qualities traditionally associated with the sex of one’s birth but that in mid-life, those qualities of wholeness that were sacrificed, in order to pursue seemingly masculine or feminine attributes, demand to be recognised and integrated. The appearance of the Anima in men and the Animus in women heralds an opportunity for either a mid-life projection onto the external world (the affair, the career change, the pursuit of intellectual or spiritual fulfillment) and/or the integration of these once abandoned qualities into the Self.  

Joan Harcourt discusses the powerful image of the Crone, drawing from the wisdom of experts and her own experience. They explore embracing wisdom of the elder, challenges of aging in a changing world, and the importance of valuing the wisdom and experience of older individuals. They also delve into the significance of our bodies and the impact it has on our consciousness and destiny.