An eco-cosmological awareness of the psyche begins with an attunement to the sensuous world. It is a kind of consciousness which is receptive to the imaginal depth of things. Although depth psychology began in the therapy room as a method of treatment, its telos has always been a therapy of culture. In this course, attention is focused on the social, political, and economic contexts of psychological life and work. The body-politic in its social and economic arrangements is a place where soul reveals and conceals itself.
Literature opens up landscapes that expand our relationship with personal and collective realities.
Through selected reading in lyric, epic, comic, and tragic genres of literature, we further cultivate the imaginal domains of psychic life. This course brings special emphasis to the shaping influence of culture and society on the self. Insights from our work are used to deepen our approach to field research in the second summer of the program. Jung's interest in alchemy is examined, and an exploration is made of the archetypalist approach to alchemy, beginning with Hillman's reflections. When Jung said that all psychological problems essentially are religious problems, he was calling attention to the spiritual function of the psyche.