James Hillman is on the Huffington Post! In an interview titled “Jungian Analyst Explains the Psychology of Political Polarization”, Hillman discusses the minds polarizing movement, the either/or set up that leads to ideological thinking and Hillman says “But this isn’t how the world really is. For example, most people think that the opposite of white is black. But there are shades of black — from blackberries, to black coal or blackbirds — that have nothing to do with white. The point is to learn how to evaluate each issue on its own merits without having to bring up the opposition’s point of view. In therapy, when you have a dream of your mother, for example, you don’t necessarily have to talk about your father as a supposed opposite.”

“The most familiar goddesses are, as we are so often reminded, the mothers of patriarchy. They are the equivalent of the mothers of what Freud has taught us to call latency, the period that begins when the presence and primacy of paternal power has been acknowledged. Perhaps a reason these goddesses seem so familiar is that we can so easily recognize our own mothers (and ourselves) in them. Yet we half-know they are not adequate representations of the original mother; something has been lost. As we heed that presentiment, we discover that what has been lost is precisely: the mother” (Christine Downing, The Goddess, 133).

Head of Gaia from the Istanbul Archeological Museum

Creative Mythologies: Images of Change and Transformation
Abiquiu Workshops at Ghost Ranch presents a 5 day workshop
with instructors Evan Lansing Smith and Cheryle Van Scoy
March 28 – April 1, 2011
Tuition: $1,200
www.abiquiuworkshops.com

Ancient Stories, Personal Process and Creative Expressions. Joseph Campbell wrote that myth has the power to touch and exhilarate the deepest and most creative energies of the soul. This workshop will explore the imagery and stories of a variety of archetypal themes—such as of Alchemy, Creation, Apocalypse, the Great Goddess, the Labyrinth, and the Descent to the Underworld—with a focus on change and transformation. These offer a rich reservoir of mythologies that can help guide us to new forms of creative expression in times of radical change and breakdown of the old structures.

The workshop will include slide-illustrated presentations, imaginal experiences, explorations of the landscape (inner and outer), and creative expression in the medium of the participant’s choice (such as writing, painting, photography, dance, music, and sculpture utilizing natural materials within the Abiquiu landscape or brought from home).

To register, please contact Walter W. Nelson by phone at 505.865.0921 or by e-mail at info@abiquiuworkshops.com