Blue Fire (Hillman) Discussion Group

I am now favoring “If Women Rose Rooted.” This would begin with our first meeting in October 2026.

“Echo’s Subtle Body” by Patricia Berry—highly recommended and our original first choice—would certainly work in a more academic setting. The first chapter, “What’s the Matter with Mother?”, deals with the literal matter of mother, and thus seems to touch on alchemical themes. In trying to anticipate members’ reactions, however, I am concerned that it may feel a bit heavy-laden at this point in the life of our group.

At the Program Committee meeting a few days ago, it came up in passing that Film Nights and Reading Groups serve as a free and risk-free forum for any new member who has the time and inclination to explore the ideas of Jung, his adherents, and his colleagues with whom he collaborated and corresponded. Of course, this does not preclude engagement from those of us who…

The Hillman / Soul of the Post-Jungians reading group meets this Saturday, March 14, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon. We’ll be starting Chapter 9, "Mythology as Family." It is the first of four chapters under the general topic of "Eros."

We have just finished "World" after having started last year on "Soul." So there's your arc. Notice Chapter 9 is not titled "Family as Mythology."

Chapter 9 is over 40 pages, so we will have to be selective. My recommendation is: Moore's introductory summation, Family, Father, Puer, Child. Certainly Mother if time permits. The other sections will be subject to a skim or two. As always, we can be persuaded otherwise.

As a group, we haven't formally completed the readings of any chapters, including the last two, Chapters 7 and 8. Since A Blue Fire is a compendium rather than a linear argument, it lends itself to being finished individually, at one’s own pace…

A couple of things coming up:

The Hillman / Soul of the Post-Jungians reading group meets next Saturday, February 14, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon. We’ll be starting Chapter 8.

As a group, we won’t formally complete Chapter 7. Since A Blue Fire is a compendium rather than a linear argument, it lends itself to being finished individually, at one’s own pace and leisure. We can trust (or at least provisionally trust) that Hillman’s characteristic redundancy means no one will have “missed” anything essential.

Looking a bit ahead, we’re holding two intentions simultaneously:

• to complete A Blue Fire sufficiently by our June meeting (our last gathering before the summer break), and

• to begin anticipating a follow-on book to start in October.