March 3, 2006
SUFFERING WELL – by Nicholas Nossaman
Suffering comes daily, in many forms and with varying intensities. None of us are free from the spectrum of suffering, which extends from the tension involved in making an important decision to the pain of chronic or terminal illness, death of a loved one, psychic and/or physical trauma. Such suffering, as experienced by the afflicted individual or by the caregiver or the grieving, can lead into a deep cavern of despair and meaninglessness from which we never recover or can be experienced as an important and ultimately redeeming way-station on the individuation path. This evening will be devoted to a practical synthesis of Jungian principles in the exploration of psyche and the archetypes of suffering, and our potential for transformation.
Nicholas Nossaman, MD, has been a practicing homeopathic physician in the Denver community for the past 32 years and has studied, employed and been a client of the Jungian paradigm for 30 of those years. He has presented papers to congresses of colleagues regarding Jungian principles and their compatibility with those of homeopathic medicine.
April 22, 2006
EROS RULES! LET DESIRE REIGN! – by Lyn Cowan
In a world where the erotic imagination has been largely relegated to mostly bad adult movies and believed to do more harm than good, some defense must be made of the stubborn fact of desire, appearing in the psychological imagination as the god, Eros. As much as Eros is associated with sexual appetite and spiritual longing, he is also associated with moral vices, such as lust and greed. But perhaps we would find his erotic style of imagination less threatening if we learned how to judge the god less and enjoy him more.
This “fairest and first-born of the gods,” as the Greeks knew him, is a complicated, powerful force in the psyche. His comings and goings take us on roller-coaster rides of strong emotions, but his way is also the way of self-knowledge, and individuation.
The Jung Society of Colorado is proud to present this lecture jointly with the newly formed Boulder Friends of Jung.Lyn Cowan, Ph.D., has been a practicing Jungian analyst since 1980, Director of Training for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts for six years and past president of the Society, held a Professorship for ten years in the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at Argosy University (Minneapolis), and recently concluded two years of teaching and lecturing at the C.G. Jung Center of Houston, Texas. She is the author of three books: Portrait of the Blue Lady: The Character of Melancholy; Tracking the White Rabbit: A Subversive View of Modern Culture; and Masochism: A Jungian View.
May 19 , 2006
ASHERAH: THE LAST NATURE GODDESS – by Laurel Howe
Old Testament kings and prophets tried over and over to abolish the Canaanite goddess Asherah and her cohorts from the hearts and temples of the “common people” who stubbornly worshipped her instead of Yahweh. Josiah in 2 Kings, for example, “brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook of Kidron, and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.”
Who is this goddess, Asherah? Why was it so important for Yahweh to abolish her? We will look at Asherah from within the Canaanite pantheon. We will explore the meaning of the nature goddess in the context of the incredible psychological transition from nature- to spirit-worship occurring in Canaan before and during the writing of the Old Testament. And finally we will investigate the indelible connection between the nature goddess and the common people whose graves her ashes fertilize.
Laurel Howe, M.A. is a diploma candidate at the Centre for Depth Psychology in Zürich. She has a private practice in Denver, teaches at Naropa University, and is the mother of two dazzling children. She has a few poems published here and there and is a member of the C.G. Jung Society of Colorado Board.
June 2, 2006
TO WHOM DO YOU PRAY? ZULU CULTURE IN TRANSITION – by Margaret P. Johnson
Dr. Johnson writes: “This research combines the two great intellectual interests in my life, cultural anthropology, and Jungian psychology. The first interest broadened my mind and turned me into an intense observer. The second made it possible for my world to be complete because it recognized the reality of the psyche. In the late 80’s and 90’s I spent five summers in South Africa, traveling out into Zulu Land and the black townships around Durban, to interview, film, find out the life stories of the indigenous healers in the Zulu culture, called Isangomas. I found out more than I had expected, that there was a new and evolving kind of a ‘modern’ healer being produced in the culture, called Prophets.
“In my research I interviewed both kinds of healers, the old and the new, as a way to look at the effects of cross cultural change. I drew on Jungian psychology and principles that understand that changing and evolving images of God (or the Self) can reflect a psychological change in individuals and in the collective (Jung, Aion, vol. 9 ii). I found that the most interesting question that I asked my informants was, ‘To whom do you pray?’ I will be sharing with you how they answered this question and much more that I learned from them about cross cultural change and the religious function of the psyche.”
Margaret Johnson, Ph.D. was raised in Florida and educated in New England schools before traveling west to study clinical psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating in 1971, she worked as a clinical psychologist for 10 years, at Camarillo State Hospital, Children’s Treatment Center, and then entered private practice. She trained as a Jungian Psychologist at the C.G. Jung Institute, Los Angeles, was certified in 1978, and was active in the Los Angeles Institute for many years, serving in many offices and training capacities. She is now semiretired, living in the Four Corners area of Colorado, riding horses and enjoying the beauty of our state. She is a member of three Jungian institutes, the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, the C. G Jung Study Center in Los Angeles, and the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts.
Jung Society of Colorado 