Workshops & Talks

Mildred Harris Lecture
Sherlocking Suffering in The Red Book and in Ourselves
John Peck

Friday, October 25, 2019, 7 to 9 pm
Curtis Library, Morrell Room, 23 Pleasant St, Brunswick
Free and Open to the Public, Funded by a generous gift from Mildred Harris

One year before WWI, his large book on mythological symbols in print, Jung realized with a shock that he “had no myth”. Soon began “my greatest experiment”, the private Liber Novus or The Red Book. In its light a century later one can wager that (a) we do not have our souls, but our souls have us; and (b) god no longer comes from above but from below, and not from outside but from inside.

We are not merely “interested in” these things—we suffer them, or we walk away. In this session, Dr. Peck will demonstrate how one might draw light from certain key passages along with some of the large paintings—page 129’s dragon, page 163’s golden castle mandala, and the earlier 17-frame egg-incubation sequence—and how they inform a second-order initiation, in Jung’s own phrase in his dictated memoir, archetypal initiation. The aims of this lecture are to stimulate perception and to meet your questions.

John Peck, PhD, of Brunswick, Maine, born 1941, PhD in English from Stanford, has taught at Princeton, Mount Holyoke, the University of Zurich, and Skidmore, has written eleven books of poetry, worked as an analyst since the early ‘90s, and since 2006 collaborated with colleagues at the Philemon Foundation, including Sonu Shamdasani and Mark Kyburz in translating The Red Book.

Myths and Tales of Brazil
Celia Mantovani

Saturday, November 2, 2019
2 to 4 pm
Maine Jung Center, 183 Park Row, Brunswick
Members $20, Non-Members $25

In this workshop we will travel to the tropical Collective Unconscious of Brazil, a land of sandy beaches, rain forest, exotic nature. Also a land where slavery has reached its most brutal aspect, where indigenous tribes were slaughtered and conquered by the arriving Europeans. What could result from this fusion of violence and prolific nature? What lies underneath our Brazilian consciousness? Would this knowledge help to understand the violence, the wealth imbalance, the typical “ready-to-party” mindset that characterizes Brazil nowadays? We will go through the Native Brazilian myths and tales, the African Brazilian religion and their deities, and the folk myths that emerged in Brazil’s process of colonization by Portugal.

Celia Mantovani, MD, PhD, lives in Portland, ME. She has worked for 23 years as a Psychiatrist and Jungian Psychotherapist in her origin country, Brazil, in the countryside of Sao Paulo State. She completed her Jungian Psychotherapy Specialization in the “Nise da Silveira”, Center of Jungian Studies of Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, an affiliate of the Brazilian Jungian Association and of the IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology).

Embodying Ancient Wisdom: The Bow… the Howl… and the Prayer
Marilyn Hardy

Sundays, November 3 & 10, 2019
2 to 4:30 pm
Maine Jung Center, 183 Park Row, Brunswick
Members $50, Non-Members $60

We’re incredibly old—we hold the history of the stars in our pockets.
– Peter Kingsley

What happens if we embody the ancient gestures of the bow, the howl, and the prayer pose? Where will the archetypal imagination take us? What significance do these ancient gestures hold for us, personally and collectively, today?

In this workshop, we will utilize the Feldenkrais Method®, the use of mindful movement and directed attention, to enter the internal sensory world. We will also draw from the work of ancient Greek scholar, Peter Kingsley, author of Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity (2018).

Marilyn Hardy, MS, GCFP, has been a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 1983. She also has a background in counseling, body-centered psychotherapy, and ecopsychology. She enjoys creating embodied learning environments, exploring the dynamic interface of self and world. She presently serves on the Board of the Maine Jung Center.

Tools of Individuation
Symbolism in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, Revisited
David Peloquin

Sunday, November 17, 2019
2 to 4 pm
Maine Jung Center, 183 Park Row, Brunswick
Members $15, Non-Members $20

The problem for [poets] is to keep [their] symbol translucent, so that it
may not block out the light it is supposed to convey.
– Martin Lings, Symbol & Archetype
(referencing Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces)

Carl Jung considered Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick to be America’s greatest novel, and Harold Bloom declared that Melville was a “knowing bearer” of “hidden traditions”. Recent research and scholarship have uncovered several new hidden symbolic chains in Melville’s epic poem. This lecture will introduce the major findings of these symbolic arcs, including:

✴ The Persian symbolic source of Ahab’s single tear, representing the “drop” that returns to the Ocean of the Soul;
✴ Lunar symbolism that is woven into the chain of associations between Ishmael, Queequeg, the coffin, and the indecipherable tattoos;
✴ Melville’s intention of giving ‘little black Pip’ the symbolic role of a shaman; and
✴ The discovery of the ship carpenter’s symbolic roles as astrological Saturn and as mythic Chronos.

A refreshed methodology originally offered by Melville scholar Merton Sealts Jr. was used to sound these depths. Hidden symbolic associations and correlations were found along a “vertical”, archetypal, and timeless axis rather than along a “horizontal” narrative that unfolds in time.

David Peloquin is a lifetime artist, sound engineer, writer, and internationally known folk musician. He teaches Insight Meditation in seminars, talks, and in private instruction. His work draws from the well of all the great wisdom traditions. Mr. Peloquin is an independent Herman Melville scholar focused on spiritual themes and symbolism in Moby-Dick. He has worked as a sea-music performer and professional historic interpreter at Mystic Seaport Museum, and has presented four symposium papers on symbolism in Moby-Dick for the Melville Society’s annual Music of the Sea symposium.

Introduction to Holotropic Breathwork
Jean Wood

Friday, November 22, 2019
7 to 9 pm
Maine Jung Center, 183 Park Row, Brunswick
Members $20, Non-Members $25

“Holotropic” is derived from the Greek holos—”whole”—and trepein—”to move towards”; thus it signifies “moving towards wholeness”. Holotropic Breathwork was developed to provide an experience in self-exploration. It is based on observations from modern consciousness research combined with the wisdom of multiple and diverse cultures that have used non-ordinary states of consciousness for healing, information-gathering, and spiritual connection. Holotropic Breathwork provides profound insights and archetypal connections.

In this class, we will discuss the background of Holotropic Breathwork and review techniques used in this practice. We will discover how supported experiences in non-ordinary states of consciousness can facilitate a deeper understanding of ourselves, our relation to others, and our place in the universe. These experiences will provide you with tools you can use daily, including levels of emotional and spiritual understanding to foster calm and optimism amidst the difficulties of the world.

Jean Wood has been participating in Holotropic Breathwork sessions since 1989, and certified as a facilitator with the Grof Transpersonal Training (GTT) in 2006. She has facilitated in large groups with Stan Grof and staff at Naropa University, Omega Institute, and Kripalu, and has assisted with smaller groups in the Pacific Northwest. She has long used this work as a primary psycho-spiritual discipline for her own personal growth and learning, and is always eager to share it with others. She lives in Maine and offers weekend workshops in the Midcoast area as well as in Boston.

The Part of Fortune in Your Individuation Process
Peggy Schick

Sundays, December 8 & 15, 2019
2 to 4 pm
Maine Jung Center, 183 Park Row, Brunswick
Members $40, Non-Members $50

Human psychological behavior and the cosmos share archetypal patterns. It is a phenomenal mystery why this is so, but by understanding these patterns we gain an amazingly helpful set of psychological tools for understanding our own individuation process.

In this astrology workshop, we’ll look specifically at the Part of Fortune, a mathematically derived point of harmony involving the Ascendant, Sun, and Moon. Its placement in the natal chart describes the place of truest expression of the soul. After a review of the archetypal qualities of the astrological signs and houses, and with guidance by the instructor, participants will take turns interpreting their own Part of Fortune placement.

In advance of class, registrants are asked to provide their place of birth, DOB, and their exact time of birth. Registrants will receive a copy of their natal chart in class.

*Some foundational knowledge of astrology is a prerequisite to this class.

Peggy Schick is a professional intuitive astrologer and Reiki practitioner in Topsham. She teaches astrology classes through several adult learning organizations in Maine. Peggy is certified in Archetypal Cosmology through the Institute of Transpersonal and Archetypal Studies, New York. She also holds a BS in biology from SUNY Geneseo and an MBA from Simmons University, Boston. Peggy enjoys sharing astrology’s insights with others who are on a quest for deeper self-knowledge, self-love, and connection with higher consciousness. She is Co-Chair of the Board of the Maine Jung Center.