This presentation is about an extraordinary relationship. A relationship that exists:
Between the experiences of a dream and the experiences of daily life
Between the inner life and the outer life
Between the below-world and the above world.
I want to emphasise the nature of this relationship. It is so basic that both elements are changed by being in relationship: The experience of the dream changes, by being consciously looked at, and the experience of daily life changes, by entering the dream.
To only value one side of this relationship is to radically devalue the human condition.
It is my argument that to engage with the dream experience, in a soulful manner, is to enhance our lived experience.
This argument will be elaborated by reference to two mythic stories. The first is the ancient Sumerian story of Inanna, queen of heaven and earth, and her journey into the underworld to witness the funeral rites of the husband of her older sister, Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld.
The second is the Greco-Roman story of Hercules. Hercules, the national hero of ancient Greece was immediately adopted by the Romans as part god, part folk hero and, above all, is loved throughout our Western culture for his particular prowess. The story of Hercules’s descent into the underworld is itself a metaphor for soul work.
The initial impetus for preparing this presentation was a re-reading of James Hillman’s 1979 book: The Dream and the Underworld.
David Russell has a psychotherapy/psychology practice in Darlinghurst (Sydney CBD). In his therapeutic work his intention is to attend to the experiential nature of desire and compulsion as experienced in everyday life. David is a past president of the Sydney Jung Society and past Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at Western Sydney University.
You can buy tickets to David’s presentation here.
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Contact Lesley at junginsydneymembers@gmail.com for all Jung Society membership inquiries.
Date: 13th May 2022 at 7.00 pm
Venue: Zoom
Cost: Members $Free Non-Members $20 Non-Member
Concession $15
*Psychotherapists and other practitioners can obtain credit for Professional Development hours recognised by PACFA and ACA for this presentation.