In all chaos, there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order …. Only when all props and crutches are broken … does it become possible for us to experience an archetype that up till then had lain hidden … the archetype of meaning.
— C.G. Jung, CW 9i, par. 66
When nothing seems to work and we feel lost in the dark, when we are desperate, we want to focus our attention on the glimmers of hope in our everyday lives. According to C.G. Jung, chaos is compensated for by the archetype of the Self, the “archetype of order par excellence” (CW 10, par. 805).
I want to give you an experience of inner peace, soul peace, especially in hard times, personally or collectively.
All it really takes is listening in to our inner voice. By paying attention to the images that arise within us — to our emotions, to our bodily sensations, to the thoughts and ideas that emerge — we can see the workings of the Self and experience the beginnings of hope. People who help us, people who love us, a melody that reminds us, a flower by the wayside, experiences in nature, synchronicities, dreams or inner images — all reveal the power within that accompanies us in bright days and in dark times. Only in the darkness can we see the light. We see the light because of the darkness.
Please do not worry if I start with an experience of the dark. I hope to take us to an experience of the light within our souls! Seeing life and death, not as opposites but as a whole, is an ultimate experience of the presence of Self. These are numinous moments when shivers go down our spines. When we can face and embrace, voluntarily and consciously, our experience with the archetypal forces of life and death, we live a moment of transcendence. Through death to life is an ultimate experience of the archetypal Self.
During this workshop, I will illustrate the workings of the Self with examples. I will share my personal experience with premonitory dreams at a time of personal loss and offer two clinical examples of working through trauma. And I will give plenty of time for your questions and your experiences.
