The Power of Inner Work: Three Questions
“We have all experienced the destructive effects of the projections onto the feminine in Western societies. These projections trace their origins to the joining of the patriarchy with institutionalized monotheism. The patriarchy grew out of the middle ages into the Age of Reason, and this movement birthed a cultural mentality that became rational, verbal, and […]
Ego and God-Image: Part III
In the history of humankind the differentiation of man and woman belongs among the earliest and most impressive projections of opposites, and early humankind took the male and the female as the prototype of opposites in general. Erich Neumann, The Origins and History of Consciousness So far in this series I’ve written about three qualities […]
Repression of Women and the Human Brain: Part II
“Beauty will save the world.” Dostoevsky In Part I of this series about neurosurgeon Dr. Leonard Shlain’s groundbreaking book, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, I painted a bleak picture of how alphabet literacy, writing, and reading have historically reinforced left-brain values to the detriment of right-brain values, goddesses, social stability, women’s rights, and images. However, in the […]
Following the Wisdom of Dreams
“The creative process has feminine quality, and the creative work arises from the unconscious depths—we might say from the realm of the mothers.”~ C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, p. 170. The journey into wholeness is essentially an act of creation. In order to create anything, we must be willing to trust […]
Sacred Laws of the Psyche: The Third Force
“…the hermaphrodite has gradually turned into a subduer of conflicts and a bringer of healing, ….its power to unite opposites mediates between the unconscious substratum and the conscious mind. It throws a bridge between present-day consciousness, always in danger of losing its roots, and the natural, unconscious, instinctive wholeness of primeval times.” ~ Carl Jung; […]
Whispering Symbols: Dot and Circle
Both logos and mythos contribute to our spiritual development. Children use mythos thinking automatically. This is why they respond to life with spontaneity, enthusiasm, joy and wonder. But once the “masculine” phase of external striving begins, logos and the ego tend to dominate our thinking and spirituality and life begins to lose its savor.
The Evolution of God-Images Part VII: An Outer Other God
As our bodies have a mysterious imperative to grow and develop physically, so our psyche has a mysterious compulsion to evolve. We don’t know what this is, we just know it is. Carl Jung thought of the psyche’s compulsion to evolve as the archetype of Divinity. He saw it as both the core and circumference […]
The Joy of Being a Woman in Her Seventies, by Mary Pipher
We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias. –Maya Angelou
The Magic of Women in Community
So far our gatherings are very organic. At the first one we decided to meet at a different member’s home each month. It has deepened our appreciation and respect for each other’s uniqueness to experience the kind of environment each chooses to surround herself with.
Gifts From Dream Mother and the Crones
Thirty years ago I made the decision to take my inner life seriously enough to work on my dreams. The tenth dream I recorded presaged a turning point in my life that would come about because of that choice. Here is a brief summary:
