Past Lectures

American Gun Violence 

A Jungian Depth Psychological View

Glen Slater, Ph.D.

April 12, 2024 

The intractable nature of the gun violence problem in the United States resists meaningful analysis. Even more so, the problem resists effective solutions. Perhaps this resistance itself is meaningful, pointing to the cloaking of deeper problems in the American psyche. 

Pushing beyond the usual historical background of the so-called gun culture, this presentation will examine both the psychology of homicide by firearm and the collective myths and complexes that make this violence so prevalent. These myths and complexes both heighten the propensity to target and shoot others and lower the capacity for the soul-searching necessary to effectively change this propensity.  

The presentation will conclude with a discussion of where responsibility for this violence lives, and where transformative possibilities may lie. 

Glen Slater, Ph.D. has taught for over two decades at Pacifica Graduate Institute where he currently chairs the Jungian and Archetypal Psychology Program. He has written articles and book chapters for Jungian publications, edited the third volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer, and co-edited the essay collection, Varieties of Mythic Experience. His research and writing interests concern Jung and film, the psychology of religion, and depth psychology and technology. His new book, Jung vs. Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age, will be published at the beginning of 2024.

Aaron Balick, Ph.D.

March 2, 2024 | 9:30 - 11:30 AM MST

Fee: $30 for nonmembers, free for members 

Social media can be understood as a psychological extension of the self into the digital world.This extension of self is both real and meaningful. The way in which online social platforms mediate selves has important consequences for individuals, interpersonal relationships, and for society as a whole. Drawing on his 2014 book The Psychodynamics of Social Networking, as well as research and thinking that he has developed further in the intervening years, Dr. Balick will share the highlights of what we should know about these important topics. Dr. Balick deploys theories from Relational Psychoanalysis and applies them to understanding the intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics that are activated and conveyed by different forms of social media as well as the socio-cultural contexts in which they are happening. This event will consist of a lecture covering the major themes with plenty of time for questions and discussion to follow.

Aaron Balick, PhD. is an author, speaker, consultant, podcaster, and leading voice in the public understanding of psychology. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist and academic, Aaron delivers high-quality psychological content in ways that are engaging, entertaining, and accessible to a variety of audiences.

Author of The Psychodynamics of Social Networking, Aaron is internationally recognized as an authority on the psychology of social media and technology. He is also the author of two self-help books and provides regular mental health content for the media. He is the co-host of the Time To Show Up podcast, and is an honorary senior lecturer at the Department for Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex.

Composting Human Supremacism

A Crisis of Climate & Culture

Lori Pye, Ph.D. 

February 9, 2024 | 7:00-9:00 pm MST | Via Zoom

 Fee: $30 for nonmembers, free for members 

It matters what ideas we use to think other ideas (with). – Marilyn Strathern

It matters what image we use to imagine other images (with).

Problems we face in the world today, from climate disruptions to the destruction caused by ecocide, culturecide, and genocide, are not new. These interrelated problems stem from unexamined narratives and their practices – from human psychology. Narrative entanglements such as purism-supremacism-individualism-exceptionalism form a rigidified psychic stance and their behavior and practices are deadly for the cultural ecology. This talk will focus on the narrative thread of human exceptionalism.  

My image for unexamined narratives or what Jung might consider a ‘complex’- emotionally charged group of ideas and/or images - is an assemblage of barnacles on a rock. When young, barnacles swim in the ocean, seeking a rock to cement themselves in place. One cannot pry a barnacle off the rock, so you might think that barnacles don’t move, but they can, and they do – by attaching themselves to a completely different animal. 

Barnacle behavior is like an exceptionalism narrative seeking a place in the psyche to cement itself. If left unexamined, the narrative, like a barnacle, becomes parasitic. We then take our barnacle (unexamined narrative) into the cultural waters, inducing the cultural ecosystem with our rigid, life-taking narrative, behavior, and practice. It does not take long for more barnacles to assemble and form what one might call a ‘cultural complex.’

In our time together, we will follow this eco-psychological metaphor to explore how one learns a narrative of human exceptionalism, how it becomes attached to a cultural ecosystem, how it protects and is protected by the cultural ecosystem (defense processes), and what it takes to move the barnacle off the rock or reconfigure the narrative into an altogether different animal.

Dr. Pye is a Founder and President of Viridis Graduate Institute (Ecological Psychology & Environmental Humanities - viridis.edu). As an executive director for international marine nonprofits, Dr. Pye worked with numerous NGOs to co-develop the Eastern Tropical Pacific Biological Seascape Corridor with the Ministers of the Environment from Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador.  

Dr. Pye has multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals and serves on the Editorial Board for Ecopsychology Journal. Dr. Pye lectures at Viridis Graduate Institute, and the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). She formerly taught at Pacifica Graduate Institute (clinical psychology, counseling psychology, depth psychology, and mythological studies programs), and at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital Psychiatric Residency Program. Forthcoming textbook: Fundamentals of Ecological Psychology, Routledge.    

DARK RELIGION & CONSPIRACY THEORIES

VLADO ŠOLC

Lecture: November 10, 2023 | 7:00pm-9:00pm | Workshop: November 11, 2023 | 9:30-11:30am

Are you concerned about the level of conflict in our communities and the spread of (or growing belief in) numerous conspiracy theories?  In his presentation and workshop, Vlado Šolc will explore the psychological dynamics of “dark religion”—what happens when spirituality ignores or separates itself from its own vital roots, leading to religions that by their very nature repress individuation. Groups and individuals overtaken by the unconscious energies of archetypes then are susceptible to all sorts of social ills, conflicts, terrorism, and wars. In the workshop, participants will focus on acquiring practical skills, including the basics of dream analysis and active imagination techniques. Through interactive exercises, we will experience the language of the unconscious, enhancing our understanding of the ego-Self dynamics.

Presenter: Vlado Šolc is a professional psychotherapist and Jungian Analyst practicing in Milwaukee WI. Vlado received training from C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and Charles University in Prague. Vlado is a renowned Jungian analyst whose profound insights into the human psyche have contributed to the field of analytical psychology. With a career spanning several decades, Vlado Šolc has dedicated his life to unraveling the mysteries of the unconscious mind and helping individuals achieve wholeness and self-realization. Vlado lives in constant awe about the miracle of existence. He in an author of depth psychology-oriented books published in Czech Republic: Psyche, Matrix, Reality; The Father Archetype and In The Name of God – Fanaticism from Perspective of Depth Psychology. In 2018, he and George Didier co-authored Dark Religion, Fundamentalism from The Perspective of Jungian Psychology. His most recent book is Democracy and Individuation in the Times of Conspiracy Theories.

Gender Panic! Exploring the Archetypal Roots of the Obsession with Gender Binary

Presented by Bob Bongiovanni

Friday, October 13, 2023, 7:00 PM  9:00 PM

“Gender Panic” was first coined by psychologist Kristen Schilt, meaning “a deep, cultural fear, set off when the ‘naturalness’ of a male-female gender binary is challenged.” In this interactive session, Bob Bongiovanni explored the archetypal roots of “gender panic” that has become pervasive in American culture. Topics included:

• Anima & Animus

• Archetype of the Hermaphrodite

• Dark Religion & Resistance to the Nonbinary

Bob Bongiovanni (MA, Liberal Studies, Regis University) has been lecturing on Jungian topics since 1995. From 1997 - 2017, Bob provided weekly lectures for the Jungian Circle in Denver, a group dedicated to the spiritual and religious implications of Jungian theory. For over 35 years, Bob’s main area of interest has been the application of Jungian thought to social justice and public health; his presentations, programs, and curricula have impacted thousands of people across the United States. He currently serves as Treasurer of BFJ and as a lay minister at Highlands Church Denver.

Dream Guidance

with Machiel Klerk

The Boulder Friends of Jung is delighted to present Machiel Klerk, founder of the Jung Platform, as our speaker in April. Machiel will talk about incubating dreams and his book, Dream Guidance, on Friday night, April 14, 7-9 PM.  The following day, April 15, Saturday morning from 9:30-11:30 AM, Machiel will use his techniques to work on dreams with volunteer participants. Additional details are on the attached flyer. Participation in both events is free to BFJ members; non-members are asked to contribute $50 via our website for Friday/Saturday participation.

In the Friday talk we will dive into the old tradition of dream incubation, a way of asking the dream before you go to sleep for guidance on any life challenge that we have. This can be done to ask help for relationships, creativity, and healing. This way of being with the dream is one way to engage with your individuation process. This practice comes back in almost any dream tradition around the world. In this practical talk we will through an exercise get to great dream questions to ask. We will explore ways in which you can ask the dream a question and create a ritual to trigger a strong dream response.

On Saturday we will work with the dream incubation dreams. Everyone is invited to bring in their dreams and we will explore several ways of working with dreams. Overall, the dream incubation talk and workshop is a valuable opportunity for individuals interested in exploring the fascinating world of dreams and unlocking their potential for personal growth.

Machiel Klerk is a psychotherapist who helps people connect to their healing and creative Imagination. He is also a dream expert, entrepreneur, international speaker, and published author. He has been a psychotherapist since 2006, and currently has an online private practice. Machiel is fascinated by healing traditions. In addition to obtaining a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, he extensively studied Jungian Psychology. He has traveled all over the world and has studied many cultures and their healing and dream traditions. Machiel has published a book, Dream Guidance, with the respected Hay House publishing company. Machiel has been vocationally guided by dreams when he founded the Jung Society of Utah and the organization Jung Platform as a result of a nighttime dream.

Machiel’s book is available at Amazon and other booksellers.

40 DAYS IN THE DESERT: AN ARCHETYPAL JOURNEY

MARCH 10, 2023: OPENING SESSION, INTRODUCING THE 40-DAY PROCESS, 7:00 PM VIA ZOOM

MARCH 18, 25, APRIL 1, 8, 2023: SATURDAY FOLLOW UP SESSIONS, 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM VIA ZOOM

Presenters/Facilitators: Sharon Stein & Bob Bongiovanni

Many of us wandered in the metaphorical desert with Sharon Stein and Bob Bongiovanni last year and found the experience enriching. This year the pair are willing to lead us again on a journey into ourselves. Join us via Zoom on Friday, March 10, at 7 pm for an introduction to the process. Then, if you are interested in taking the journey, register by sending an email to bfoj.membership@gmail.com ASAP and Bob will send you the 40 Day Journal by reply email.

After the presentation on March 10, Sharon and Bob will meet with participants via Zoom (same link) for four consecutive Saturday mornings 9:30-11:00 AM, March 18 through April 8. The journey is free to BFJ members; we suggest a $30 donation (total) via our website for the lecture and all follow up meetings. While it is not necessary to show up every Saturday, folks who do will find the journey most rewarding. All meetings will be recorded, so anyone who misses March 10 can get a link to it. (Saturday recordings will be available only to those who have registered.) 

Our journey together will involve five sessions over forty days, which is an archetypal number. What will we do in our forty-day journey together? In short, we will explore whatever our egos are clinging tightly to, and we will utilize Jungian strategies to loosen those bonds.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ABORTION

Facilitators: Martha Peacock and Rick Taylor

A three week book study, Tuesday evenings starting January 24, 2023 5:30-7:00 on Zoom

Ginette Paris’s book, The Psychology of Abortion, may be more pertinent today than when it was it was in 1992. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe eliminating women’s legal right to an abortion, women’s physical and mental health have been jeopardized in countless ways. Is this an unconscious aversion to the feminine? In this short book, Paris, a depth psychologist, takes us back to Ancient Greece where Artemis, the goddess of childbirth and midwifery, was invoked by women during labor. Paris makes the point that a woman’s protective power cannot function properly if she does not possess full authority over giving birth and choosing to end a pregnancy. Abortion, she argues, is a sacred act and an expression of material love and responsibility.

This book study promises to be a lively discussion as we dive into the history of abortion, the role of religion and politics, contradictions, cultural shadow, the religious function of sacrifice versus dogma, immorality versus morality, and much more.

Join Martha Peacock and Rick Taylor as they lead us through this quagmire of conflict, polarization and question why women no longer have the a right to make independent decisions about their bodies and their lives. Enrollment starts January right here on SUPPORT tab. (free to members, $30 for non-members)

A Christmas Carol

Lecture & Discussion Bob Bongiovanni 

First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

December 9th, 2022 7:00-9:00 PM

Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol has become a holiday classic since it was first published nearly 180 years ago. Its main characters – the miserly Scrooge, long-suffering Bob Cratchit, adorable Tiny Tim, and fearsome ghosts – are iconic in the English-speaking world. The plotline follows an archetypal pattern. A miserable, constricted ego is forced to confront a traumatic past, recognize the unlived potential of life, and face the pressure of life’s fast-approaching end. Using film clips and lively discussion, we will explore this tale from a Jungian viewpoint.  As Dickens wrote of the transformed Scrooge, “His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him.”

Learning From Death

Lecture & Discussion Peggy Budai

November 11th, 2022 7:00-9:00 PM on Zoom

We live in a death-denying culture where death is often viewed as a failure of the healthcare system and many seek to place blame. The pandemic has opened our eyes to the reality of death, as millions around the world died from the coronavirus. In this presentation we will explore the history of how we’ve viewed death, including views on death during the pandemic. We will review some death images, paradigms and practical resources on preparing for quality living at the end of life. We will also review some of Carl Jung’s views on death. One needs death to be able to harvest the fruit. Without death, life would be meaningless, since the long-lasting rises again and denies its own meaning. To be, and to enjoy your being, you need death, and limitation enables you to fulfill your being.

Return to in-person talks as Bob plays segments of the movie to show how Dickens reveals family dynamics.

SOULHEAL: A FILM BY JAMES HOLLIS & JOSE ENRIQUE PARDO

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 7:00 - 9:00 P.M VIA ZOOM

America is under attack from a crisis of male identity.  What will result: more flight from responsibility and a regression to macho defenses, or a step into a redefinition of manhood that integrates rather than segregates the so-called "feminine" within. Soulheal examines the psychological, sociological and anthropological conditions that have created wounded men, unable to express emotions to others in a healthy manner. Soulheal delves into the relationship between this wounding and its manifestation - causing men to either internalize their feelings and succumb to substance dependency and depression or externalize their rage with senseless acts of random violence towards others.

Join us for a viewing, panel perspectives, and discussion of the questions Soulheal addresses — How and why are men wounded? How can they heal? What is the legacy of the patriarchy?  What does it mean to be a man in America? RSVP and join us via Zoom.

Complex and Communication

February 12th, 2021 7:00-9:00 PM on Zoom

The presenter is BFJ President, Ron Benham. Ron currently works as a psychotherapist and is a retired commercial airplane pilot. He will use examples from his experiences in the cockpit to illustrate how complexes can interfere with critical communication. Join us on Zoom using this link.

Post-Election Processing: Our Historical Moment

November 13th, 2020 7:00-9:00 PM on Zoom

Come hear a panel discussion and participate in discussion to heal, reflect, share, and find meaning and new direction together. Susan Roberts will speak on an astrological perspective. Sharon Stein will share thoughts on cultural complexes. Ron Benham will present ideas on emotional maturity and magical thinking. Alan Lekan will bring in Jung’s thinking on holding the opposites and the transformative function. Join us on Zoom using this link.

Nature, Active Imagination and the Poetic Impulse by Deborah Bowman

October 9th, 2020 7:00-9:00 PM on Zoom

The poet shares a tasty plum with us and plants a healing seed in our imagination that happiness is within our grasp.  As a peripatetic, or walking philosopher, Mary Oliver speaks for the earth and brings us images to sate our hunger for the good life, both wild and sweet.  Deborah invites us to enter the poet’s verses through the contemplative practice of active imagination.

In times of suffering and separation we are drawn to symbolic words that enchant and remind us of the sacred round of nature.   Across time and culture poetic voices have connected us through the archetypes of revelation and beauty.  Today the poet may also remind us of the fragile state of our world and provide a call to action infused with the sustaining power of their art.

Drawing on poets whose spiritual wanderings provided the inspiration for their musings, Deborah integrates Jung’s reflections on nature and art as essential to spiritual wholeness. The works of the haiku poets, Richard Wright and Issa, illustrate the Black American and Japanese experience,  both expressing humor, grief and transcendence.  In a similar way, Mary Oliver and the nuns of East Asia, share a haunting vision shaped by the experience of cultural exile in their own lands.   Join on Zoom with discussion following. Join here.

The Sacred Cauldron Series

Have you ever experienced the unexplainable like hearing a voice that sets you on an unexpected path or a vision that stuns you into a reverie and the awareness of a wider existence? These phenomena are more common than many believe, writes depth psychologist Dr. Lionel Corbett in his book, The Sacred Cauldron, Psychotherapy as A Spiritual Practice. His writing, for psychotherapists and non-psychotherapists alike, weaves together Carl Jung’s idea of the numinous as manifestations of the Divine, a power in the soul, that directs the evolution of spirituality and expresses itself in imagery. We’ll discuss these personal, life-altering experiences that occur inside and outside the therapy room, often when our souls are suffering.

Book study and lecture are free to current members of Boulder Friends of Jung. For non-members, may we suggest a $25 donation for the book study; $15 for the Friday night lecture Or join BFJ for $50. Book study, lectures are free; workshops discounted To register, email RickTaylorMath@gmail.com . Join the Zoom meeting.

Dr. Lionel Corbett is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst and a professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. His many books reflect the religious function of the psyche, the way personal religious experience is relevant to individual psychology and the interface of Jungian psychology and psychoanalytic thought.

Taking A Breather Meditation Series

Join us on Zoom for a 30 minute relaxation and reflection every other Wednesday from August 19th to September 16th, 2020

We’ll use symbols of nature and the elements of Air, Water, Earth and Fire.

Is Anybody Home?  Desperately Seeking Hestia in a World Turned Inside Out

March 6, 2020 7-9 PM First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

 Lecture & Discussion by Susan C. Roberts, MS, MA, MSW Free for members/ $15 non-members  

According to Marshall McLuhan, each new advance in media technology extends our senses further from our physical bodies and our location in a particular time and place.  In this way it transforms our experience of being human.  The last decade has brought what is perhaps the most profound media revolution in history; we now carry around in our pockets digital devices that enable us to be instantly connected it virtually anyone or anything on the planet.  With the portals of consciousness flung open, the world rushes in to flood our psyches, obliterating our accustomed sense of interiority or self.  With our nervous systems overloaded by digital input, many of us find ourselves in a chronic state of disembodied dissociation and near-psychotic anxiety.

In his 2013 film “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron presents a terrifying picture of our contemporary condition:  untethered from her spacecraft, Sandra Bullock floats in a black void, nearly annihilated by overwhelming emptiness. The film won Cuaron the Oscar for Best Director and the freedom to choose whatever he wished as a follow-up project.  “Roma,” the film the director chose to make next could not have been more different from the nightmare of cosmic uprootedness presented in “Gravity”; indeed, it is an antidote to that condition.  In it, the director returns to his childhood home in Mexico City and his family’s indigenous housekeeper, Cleo, who was the beating heart at its center.  With her loving devotion to the home and her humble performance of the daily chores, Cleo creates a container for nurturing and sustaining of young life.  What is most remarkable about the film - aside from its elegiac beauty -- is its reverence for a woman whom the world at large would dismiss as one of the least important people alive.

It was with Hestia, the least heralded of all the Olympian gods, who despite her near invisibility was the first deity ancient people prayed to in beginning any ritual or major endeavor.  Hestia’s sacred fire at Delphi was the spiritual center of the ancient world, and torches lit from it were carried abroad by colonists establishing new settlements. This same sacred flame of Hestia (or Vesta in the Roman world) served as the center of every private household, keeping those who lived within its walls spiritually connected to the heart of life.

The goddess Hestia does not just live in ancient history but in the psyches of modern women and men.  James Hillman asserts that she may be regarded as the ruling deity of psychotherapy and analysis. “Hearth in Latin is focus, which can be translated into psychological language as the centering attention that warms to life all that comes within its radius,” he writes.  Hestia, is “the soul essence that inhabits anything.”

This presentation will show film clips from both “Gravity” and “Roma” to explore the condition of the human psyche in the digital age and its potential for restoration via Hestia-like attention and care.  Understanding that a sense of de-centered disembodiment is the prevailing psychopathology of our time, I will argue that the task that falls to us as therapists and as individuals is to restore for our clients and for ourselves a sense of interiority, of subjectivity…that there is somebody home.

Susan C. Roberts is a clinical social worker and Jungian analyst in private practice in Boulder, Colorado.  A longtime student of archetypal psychology, astrology, and holistic healing, she is also a lifelong devotee

Finding Hope: Longing for Rebirth in an American Cultural Complex

February 7, 2020 7-9 PM First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

 Lecture & Discussion by Kaitryn Wertz Free for members/ $15 non-members

The early American experience of rebirth in a new land has its accompanying mythology of violence, conquest and scapegoating.  Contrast that with an emerging theme of rebirth through relatedness, visible in recent children’s films and in the dreams of individuals. The image of the Indian Hunter, the European colonists’ earliest hero, contrasts with that of a girl child who melts hardened attitudes though feeling values. A Jungian perspective can trace the movement of the collective psyche in American culture through popular literature, films and dreams. Our fearful polarized culture with intense emotion and extremism demonizes others and appropriates potent mythological images, particularly what cultural historian Richard Slotkin describes as “the myth of the American frontier.”  Trump is but the current apotheosis of the Indian Hunter, a tough individualist who renews his manhood, his pioneering spirit and his cherished liberty through acts of violence that exploit the land and eliminate the ‘others’ who inhabit it.  The American psyche is in the grip of a resurgent cultural complex, rooted in a mythology of dominance, violence and scapegoating.

A different archetypal pattern is to discover, during the darkest times, new hope in an obscure and under-valued place.  Signs of a compensatory American myth are emerging in a recent stream of highly successful children’s films that tell of a courageous girl or young woman, living in a time of cultural stagnation and environmental crisis who renews people and restores the land through her ability to relate to what seems profoundly ‘other.’ Psychological themes in these children’s film suggest a possible, more hopeful direction of the collective psyche.

Holiday Celebration & Film

December 6, 2019 7-9 PM BC3 Boulder Center for Conscious Community, 1637 28th St

Music, storytelling and a short little film, The Danish Poet

Join us for refreshments, food and old-fashion simplicity to bring depth and relief from the commercial focus of the holiday season.

Heroes, Heras and Dorothy’s Epic Journey to Oz: The Path of Individuation

November 1, 2019 7-9 PM First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

Lecture & Discussion by Sharon L. Coggan, Ph.D.    Free for members/ $15 non-members  

This presentation is centered around Jung’s concept of “Individuation,” also sometimes called “Soul Evolution.” The corresponding mythic term for this process is known as “The Hero’s Journey.” We will address this concept, note the parallels to it in alchemy, the differences between the masculine and feminine models of the journey (Hero and Hera) and unpack the symbolism in some of the mythic versions of the tale. Remember that in the story of Dorothy’s journey to Oz, we find out in the end that this was all a dream! So we will be doing dream analysis of this epic, grand Big Dream as well.

Once and Future Christ: Jung and the Future of Christianity

 October 4, 2019 7-9 PM First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

Lecture & Discussion by Bob Bongiovanni    Free for members/ $15 non-members

Carl Jung was ambivalent about Christianity.  On the one hand, he recognized that, for some people, Christianity mediates a sustained and energy-giving contact with the unconscious. However, the capacity of Christianity to perform this mediation has been in decline, largely due to a long series of missteps and betrayals by Christian theologians and other church leaders. For Christianity to survive and evolve, Jung felt it needed to seek wholeness by evoking three long-repressed aspects of the godhead:  the feminine, matter, and shadow.  In the sixty years since Jung made these observations, there is some evidence that Christianity is rising to this challenge, particularly through the voices of Feminist and Queer theologians, but resistance has been fierce. It remains to be seen if this movement will be sufficient to keep Christianity alive and relevant in the 21st century and beyond.

Dark Gold: The Human Shadow and The Global Crisis

September 6, 2019 7-9 PM First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St.

Lecture & Discussion by Carolyn Baker, Ph.D.    Free for members/ $15 non-members

Shadow is a necessary first step in both individual and collective healing. It emphasizes and elaborates on the abundant emotional and spiritual treasures that invariably issue from shadow exploration and transformation. Dark Gold challenges us to become courageous enough to be accountable and compassionate enough to love ourselves and the earth community fiercely, even when we feel it will make no difference.

It's Not Trump, It's the Titans

April 5, 2019 7-9 PM Community United Church of Christ,2650 Table Mesa Dr.

Lecture & Discussion by Dr. Mitchell Peritz    Free for members/ $15 non-members

The election of Trump directs the collective's attention to the person, and the negatively polarizing figure he presents. By focusing that attention on the individual we forgo the archetypal backdrop--the myth of the Titans---that has provided the fertile ground for his ascendancy and the waters we unconsciously bathe in daily. A greater understanding of the Titans' presence and their affects clues us into today's current social climate of heightened uncertainty, trepidations, and 'normalization' of the unacceptable. And buried within the myth is a glimpse of the shifting future.

The Alchemical Yellow in Dreams & Images

Friday, March 1, 2019 7-9 PM at Community United Church of Christ,2650 Table Mesa Dr.

Lecture and Discussion by Nancy Ortenberg Free for members/ $15 non-members

An early 16th century alchemist said, “The yellow dawn is the end of night, and beginning of day, and a mother of the sun.” To these medieval alchemists, color represented the phases of the long process of making gold - a metaphor for the individuation process and the changing nature of consciousness.  The yellow, or citrinitas, is a transition or bridge, coming after the blackness of depression and chaos give way to the white of reflective consciousness and calmness.

Introduction to Alchemy

 Friday, February 1, 2019 7-9 PM at Community United Church of Christ,2650 Table Mesa Drive               Lecture & Discussion by Stephen Foster     Free for members/ $15 non-members

This presentation gives an overview of the basic psychological concepts in C.G. Jung’s approach to Alchemy. It identifies the stages of the process, the substances that react together and the transformation processes that are metaphors for the difficult changes required in therapeutic work, such as mortificatio or death (i.e., a psychological representation of ego death or letting go), putrefactio or decay and purification (i.e., a psychological representation of psychic breakdown) or coagulatio or coagulation (i.e., a psychological represent a coalescing of the ego).  Images from Jung’s alchemical writing are used as metaphors to illuminate present-day psychotherapeutic practice.

Film and Discussion $10 / $15 a couple

Saturday, January, 2019 1:15-4 PM at BC3 1637 28th St, Boulder

Documentary on the famous Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Gustav Jung, featuring interviews with those who knew him and archive footage of Jung. ... Carl Gustav Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, Barbara Hannah.

The Lumen Naturae: Let There Be Light!      

Friday, May 4th 7-9 PM at Community United Church of Christ, 2650 Table Mesa Drive               Lecture & Discussion by John Todd     Free for members/ $15 non-members    

Jung was fond of Paracelsus’ term the Lumen Naturae which means “light of nature”. This light or wisdom is revealed to us via dreams and other manifestations of the unconscious. This lecture will focus on the ego’s relationship to Nature, the unconscious, and images that reflect this relationship such as plants and animals in dreams.  The focus will be on the ego’s relationship with the unconscious, a fundamental concept in Jungian theory.

The Power of Sacred Story in the Life of the Soul

Friday, March 2nd 7-9 PM at Community United Church of Christ,2650 Table Mesa Drive               Free for members/ $15 non-members

Speakers: Betsy Hall: Story as Initiatory Rite for Therapists in Training; Nancy Ortenberg: Story Born of Psyche’s Transcendent Images in the Sandtray; Lee Voll: Story as Container, Company, and Guide for Scary Transitions

Movie viewing & discussion facilitated by Jim Palmer

Saturday, February 17th: 2-4 PM at BC3  Movies $10/ $15/pair

This sweet film showed the compassion of different cultures. The power of sisterhood and friendship help create a tone of care for this movie. In a small Danish village two young sisters grow up under the power of their father and local minister. As they age and their father dies they hire a young woman to be their servant. Her refugee status makes her agree to help these women with whatever they want. Through the film Babett cooks and cleans for the women, but they never let her explore her French culture. When Babett wins the lottery and is able to return to her home in France, she cooks one last meal for the ladies. Her fanciful French cooking is not what these women are used to and by allowing them to try a new culture, they realize how locked away they have been.

Join the Boulder Friends of Jung community for a multi-faceted alternative program with live Celtic music, meaningful ritual, a brief history of worldwide solstice celebrations, and a presentation by Boulder author and psychologist Jerry Ruhl Ph.D. featuring tips for maintaining healthy family boundaries and resisting social pressure to over-consume and compulsively spend.

“To this day, ‘God’ is the name by which I designate all things which cross my willful path violently and recklessly, all things which upset my subjective views, plans and intentions, and change the course of my life for better or for worse.” — C. G. Jung

“The great problem of our time is that we don’t understand what is happening to the world … Our values are shifting,  everything loses its certainty … Who is the awe-inspiring guest who knocks at our door portentously?”   –C.G. Jung, Letters, II, p. 590

What does it mean to be human in a chaotic world?  How are we to cope? There are times, personally and collectively, in which we fall back into chaotic states: of anger, fear, confusion, ignorance, meaninglessness. In moments of chaotic breakdown familiar and cherished positions become unraveled.  This lecture explores mythic and psychological patterns to help guide us through uncertain and anxious times.

Jerry M. Ruhl, Ph.D. is a psychologist, teacher, and author living in Longmont, CO.  He maintains a psychotherapy practice in Boulder and lectures nationally.  He served for six years as Executive Director of The Jung Center in Houston. Dr. Ruhl is the co-author with Robert A. Johnson of three books:  Living Your Unlived Life, Contentment: A Way to True Happiness, and, Balancing Heaven and Earth

Revelations from The Freud/Jung Letters 

Friday, November 3rd   7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.               Free for Members         Non-members $15.00

Community United Church of Christ, 2650 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305

 If you’ve wondered about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, here’s an opportunity to learn more about it.  The 1906-1913 correspondence between Jung and Freud highlights their personalities, revealing their blossoming friendship and its eventual disintegration. A panel of artists will read excerpts aloud from these letters that explore the relationship between these two historic figures in psychology as well as other themes, including their comments about Sabina Spielrein, who was a patient of Jung’s, then an intimate friend, and later a colleague. Come listen and draw your own conclusions.

Patti Gassaway has made creativity an important part of her life since she was a child. She has been a member of an international artists’ support group for 30 years. Patti writes and performs her own work, the most recent being “Secrets,” a two-act, one woman play performed at e-Town Hall in Boulder.  Since an artist friend introduced her to Carl Jung by loaning her Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Patti has been intrigued by Jungian psychology.