Myth and Meaning: Reading Lao Tzu, Carl Jung & Rollo May
The psychologist Carl Jung made his life work out of seeking an answer to the question he posed to all of us – but then, what is
your myth, the myth by which you do live? His own approach was to seek for answers in the unconscious, by working with dreams and symbols and by trying to heal the rift between the conscious and the unconscious. Jung felt this was no simple pastime since the survival of civilization depended on individual awareness of both aspects of the human psyche. In this seminar we will look at selections from Carl Jung’s Man and His Symbols plus selections from Rollo May’s The Meaning of Myth and Lao Tzu’s the Tao Te Ching and consider these questions posed by our journey inwards.
Some of these questions include: What is the nature of self-knowledge and how do we acquire it? How can a religious outlook counter social pressures? How can our dreams help us understand ourselves and our purpose? How can we heal the rift between our conscious and unconscious selves? How can myth
help us on our individual journeys?
“THE FARTHER ONE GOES,
THE LESS ONE KNOWS.
FOR THIS
REASON,
THE SAGE KNOWS WITHOUT
JOURNEYING,
UNDERSTANDS
WITHOUT LOOKING,
ACCOMPLISHES WITHOUT ACTING.”
Lao Tzu
LEADER
Béa Gonzalez is a writer and lecturer who has been studying the work of Carl Jung for over a decade. She leads a group in Toronto
devoted to the study of Jung’s work.
BOOKS
Participants are required to obtain the specified editions in order to facilitate the group’s ability to find and cite portions of the text during discussion.
Carl Jung, Man and his Symbols
Dell; Reissue edition (1968)
ISBN-10: 0440351839; ISBN-13: 9780440351832
Rollo May, Cry for Myth
W. W. Norton & Company ( 1991)
ISBN-10: 0393331776; ISBN-13: 978-0393331776
Click here for selections from Lao Tzu
DISCISSION SCHEDULE
Monday and Tuesday
Man and His Symbols -- Part One
“Approaching the Unconscious” by Carl Jung
The Cry for Myth -- Part One
Wednesday
Man and His Symbols --- Part Three
“The Process of Individuation” by Marie Louise von Franz
Thursday
The Cry for Myth by Rollo May
Parts III, IV
Friday
Wrap up of readings and a personal exploration into our own myths
We will read Lao Tzu throughout the five days.
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