SATURDAY CONFERENCES 2010-11
These groups explore a range of subjects and texts from a Jungian perspective. Admission is by prior application to the Administrator who will provide booking forms and prices on request. As a guideline, prices are typically between £15 and £45 (including tea/coffee and a light lunch where applicable), with discounts for Club members. Early application is encouraged to avoid disappointment.
Our lectures take place at The Essex Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London W8 4RT unless otherwise stated.
September 4
Images of Mercurius
11am - 4.00pm
From his historical roots in the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek Hermes, to his more current expressions in Goethe’s Faust and beyond, the morally ambiguous Mercurius is both the god of the modern age and the god of the unconscious. Both living and loving so far from consciousness, this god can, at least initially cause great apprehension. The experience of Mercurius can shake us to our core and open us to new life. In this seminar we will examine images and dreams of Mercurius in order to closely circle around this vital spirit.
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September 18
Writing Towards Wholeness
10.30am - 4.30pm
Venue: Club Library
Simona studied with Dr Ira Progoff, Jungian writer and inventor of the 'Intensive Journal'. She has adapted this therapeutic tool to our times. Simona is offering time and space where focus can be given to current life issues, active imagination and dreams, in a private and reflective way, yet within the reinforcement of a small group Those new to this process as well as those more experienced are welcome.
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October 23
The Computer and the Psyche
11am - 4.30pm
The impact of the new technologies on the psyche has become one of the pressing issues of our times. While many people welcome the digital revolution as providing new possibilities of creativity, communication and social interaction, others have noted its shadow side of addiction, psychic fragmentation, and a blunting of the life of feeling and imagination. During this day, we shall try to understand the driving force behind the digital revolution from an archetypal perspective; we shall aim to see more clearly what challenges it presents to the integrity of the psyche and to consider how best we should met these challenges.
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November 13
Angels in Rilke’s Duino Elegies
11am - 4.00pm
Venue: St Mary's Presbytery Library, 30 Bourne Street , London SW1W 8JJ
Do angels still hold meaning for us? This is an exploration of man’s mystical journey and of angel depiction in Rilke’s poetry. We shall examine the psychological and spiritual significance of angels past and present (with reference to Jung), and look at the way Rilke portrayed these heavenly agents, with special focus on the Second and Seventh Duino Elegies.
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December 11
Forests Sacred and Profane in Dante’s Divine Comedy
2.30am - 4.30pm
Venue: St Mary’s Presbytery Library at 30 Bourne Street, SW1
January 29
More Writing Towards Wholeness
10.30am - 4.30pm
Venue: Club Library
The Creative Journal is a form of active imagination devised by Ira Progoff as a result of his work with Jung, Simona has adapted this process to our times. It is always helpful to focus on current issues in our lives with the intensity and reinforcement of a small group with Simona’s guidance. Those new to this process, as well as those more experienced, are welcome.
March 12
The Limits of Art: Michelangelo in Old Age 
2.30am - 4.30pm
In his later years, Michelangelo became increasingly introspective and religious, influenced in part by his great friend Vittoria Colonna. Unable to execute large-scale works of art with the same ease as in his earlier life, he began to rely increasingly on intensely moving finished drawings of quasi-personal religious subjects, and poetry which renounced his earlier interests in art and the human body, revealing his belief about the limits of art in pursuit of religious redemption. We will study his late poetry and artistic works within the context of the individuation process in old age.
April 9
Shakespeare’s Fathers and Sons from Romeo to Ferdinand – the Pursuit of Integrity
10.30am - 5.00pm
Shakespeare’s portrayal of the conflict between paternal attitude and youthful discernment shifts as his thought matures. Looking at Romeo (1595), Prince Hal (1598) and Hamlet (1600), we will seek clarification and then consider the relationship between the young prince and his father in the final plays, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest (1610-12). A participation workshop - working in small groups, taking short scenes from individual plays, exploring the conflicts. Some sort of conclusion may emerge. No previous experience is necessary to take part in this workshop.
May 7 The World of Myth – Joseph Campbell Film Seminar
10am - 4.00pm
Myth expresses fundamental patterns of being. We will watch and discuss footage from Joseph Campbell and wonder together about myths and their relevance to our lives today. ‘All the mythologised processes of nature are in no sense allegories, rather they are symbolic expressions of the inner, unconscious drama of the psyche which becomes accessible to man’s consciousness by way of projection, that is mirrored in the events of nature.’ C G Jung CW9i para7.
Additional Conferences may be arranged during the the year and details of these will be added to the website.
Saturday Conferences
