"The Leap Into the Void:
Venturing Into the Terra Incognita of the Soul"
Week 1: July 17-22, 2011
In 1913 at the age of 38, Jung experienced a “leap into the void” — a frightening
confrontation with his unconscious in which he saw visions, heard voices,
and even induced hallucinations. He recorded much of this experience in
what would become his now-famous Red Book, which forms the foundation
of his later and most significant contributions to the field of psychological
and spiritual evolution.
In our own journey towards individuation and wholeness, we may find ourselves
leaping into the void, the great terra incognita — the unknown land
— of the soul, lost and without a map. But we have inner maps we can
turn to if we pay attention to them — intuition, hunches, dreams, and, most
important, the soul’s own deep and undeniable calling.
Ann Ulanov, PhD
Craziness and Transformation: Complex as Map Through the Void
Complexes trouble us, yet within them lies the solution. Our complex sets us on a venture into an unknown and threatening void which can also mean adventure into new perceptions and new ways of consciousness. Our complex shows our path, through personal material, cultural contexts, and archetypal force of emotion, behavior and image, into creativity and new beginnings. If we dare it, “everything dead in you will come to life” (C.G. Jung, The Red Book).
Jeffrey B. Rubin PhD
Pathways Through the Abyss
Jung taught that the abyss not only contains breadcrumbs leading to the source of trauma, self-annihilation, or madness, but also offers harbingers of new life and undreamt of possibilities for healing and self-transformation when approached with compassion, creativity, and empathy. In this workshop we will draw on depth psychological and Eastern meditative insights and practices to illuminate the path of moving through the terrifying and potentially transformative land of the abyss.
Lionel Corbett, MD
Radical Acceptance: Falling Into the Void,
Falling Into the Self
Radical acceptance is an approach to healing emotional pain with roots in Buddhism. Used by Jung in his explorations of the psyche, it is also found in other spiritual traditions such as Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, the Kabbalistic Ain Sof, and Christian mysticism. Contemporary applications of this ancient wisdom can help us accept challenging situations that cannot be changed. This process involves a depth psychological approach to the traditional idea of “letting go” where we find, as Jung put it, a “descent into the unconscious suddenly becomes illumination from above.”
Sylvia Brinton Perera, MA
Surrendering to the Void
Discovering what lies beyond the ego always involves an experience of defeat. But surrendering to what Jung, in his mystical work Seven Sermons to the Dead called the “pleroma”— which contains both nothing and everything — can also offer us opportunities for creative transformation. Analytic, imaginative, and meditative practices teach us to welcome paradoxical forms of death and ecstatic renewal in our search for the Self. Combining presentation and workshop format, including examples from her analytic practice, Sylvia Perera will lead us in creative exercises to help us experience “the emptiness that is full” inherent in Jung’s “pleroma.”
Tom Kelly, MSW
Learning to Live with Not Knowing
Jung’s concept of individuation is often misconstrued as striving for a nirvana-like state of bliss. In truth, individuation — the process through which we form our own personalities apart from others — is anything but a comfortable journey into wholeness. Our psyche requires that we go beyond the familiar to confront the unknown in the world and the unknown parts of ourselves. The challenges we face are giving up the illusion of control, developing a living and vibrant relationship with our own psyche, and learning to live with not knowing.
Optional Workshop with Jeanne Bresciani, PhD
”Archetypal Movement at the Precipice”
Dr. Bresciani will help us find the courage to own our bodies’ wisdom in exploring the unknown aspects of our “Self” through Movement and experiential exercises.
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