The C.G. Jung Society of Colorado presents
Sacred Disobedience: A Jungian Analysis of the Saga of Pan and the Devil
by Sharon Coggan.
April 1st, 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Park Hill Congregational (UCC) Church,
2600 Leyden Street
Cost: $15, $10 students and seniors
This presentation traces the ancient Greek God Pan, who became distorted into the image of the Devil in early Christianity. When Pan was demonized, the powerful qualities he represented became repressed. In ancient Greek religion, Pan was worshipped as an honored deity, corresponding to an inner psycho-spiritual condition in which the primitive qualities he represented, the Shadow in Jungian parlance, were fully integrated into consciousness, and these qualities were valued and affirmed as holy. But in the era of early Christianity Pan “dies,” and the Devil is born, a twisted inflation, due to an underlying repression signifying a diseased, inflated Shadow. In the Jungian system, repressed psychic contents do not disappear, as proponents of the new order tacitly assume, but distort and grow more powerful, or “inflate,” to cripple the psyche that refuses to incorporate these split-off elements. Since the Shadow holds the primal material of the inherited self, including the savagery, violence and primal drives built into us by nature it is one of the most dangerous elements of the Psyche to repress. It is more important than ever in today’s world, where we see evidence of the diseased inflated collective Shadow all around us, to explore these themes and work to bring a healthy Shadow back into collective consciousness and into the character of the Deity.
Sharon L. Coggan, Ph.D. holds the B.A. from the University of Denver, a M.T.S (Master of Theological Studies) from Harvard Divinity School, a M.A. from Stanford University, and the Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Now retired, she was an Associate Professor Clinical Teaching Track at the University of Colorado Denver, and served as Director of the Religious Studies Program, which she created. Her areas of study include History of Religions, and Psychology of Religion. She is the author of the book, Sacred Disobedience: A Jungian Analysis of the Saga of Pan and the Devil
For further information, please contact The C.G. Jung Society of Colorado at (303) 575-1055; or go to https://jungsocietyofcolorado.wordpress.com
Jung Society of Colorado 