“The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego-consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our ego-consciousness extends.”
– C.G. Jung –
About the Lecture Series
It is the simplicity of the dream, communicating to us in a language derived from the natural world that moves us so deeply.
Similar to the apparent simplicity of French composer Eric Satie’s music, we are mesmerised and taken to a realm far beyond everyday life into something that may be the domain of the Numinous. Just listening to the opening stanza of Satie’s Gymnopedie we sense that he was already transfixed, and needed to create music expressive of this world existing beyond the veil. Like the image, these sounds and rhythms convey the movement of the Self as it transports us into relationship with the sacred.
In the dream, patterns of life, of growth, and of endings are revealed through a rich tapestry of collective images and language. So too, the dream allows us to see that something in our life – perhaps a relationship, a job, or an attitude – is outdated, and that the Self, the soul is in need of renewal.
C.G. Jung was once asked why the dream speaks through symbols and not in the language of everyday life. To this question Jung responded by saying that such a direct communication would fall on deaf ears, and that the Self speaks through an iconographic, pictorial voice of the ages, the language of the “Antique Soul”. So too he reminds us that from time eternal, humanity has been moved by images, by sounds, parables, and symbols.
Could the majesty and utter beauty of Satie and Debussy’s music or DaVinci and Michelangelo’s art ever be conveyed in words?
Offering a glimpse into the world of the archetypal, this seminar series offers an approach to the image closely aligned to how Jung, von Franz, and the early sages and dreamers understood these visions of the night.
Our hope is that participation in this seminar will enhance your appreciation and understanding of archetypal images and the relationship between the personal and archetypal meaning of images.
Lecture Series Schedule
Session 1: 11 September 2024
Archetypal Symbolism and Meaning
Session 2: 18 September 2024
The Relationship Between Personal and Archetypal Meaning of our Dream Images
Session 3: 25 September 2024
Learning to Recognize the Presence of Complexes in Dreams
Session 4: 2 October 2024
Translating the Meaning of Dream Images