The epic novel Moby Dick will be the topic of exploration in this 9 month journey with author and magnificent teacher of mythology Dennis Patrick Slattery.
Slattery will lead this ‘psychological book club’: a series of 9 live webinar classes. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is more than just a story about a white whale. It is an adventure, a philosophical and mythical quest. In this bookclub we are invited to explore the human spirit in search of meaning as well as our own personal myths. Each class (1.5 hrs) will be followed by a break-out group of 30 minutes in which participants get the opportunity to connect and reflect together. As usual the live class will be recorded and will be added to your Jung Platform account for later (re)viewing.
Moby Dick is Herman Melville’s epic white whale tale that relates the story of Ishmael, an isolato. He discovers on board the Pequod his own identity and his membership in the world community. But the whales themselves are also the prime movers in this saga, which evokes in us readers the fragile nature of our earthly world and the need not to exhaust it but to nurture it. And, at the heart of the story is one white whale that weaves and binds the story into a cohesive whole.
Herman Melville’s epic fiction reveals to all of us what a mythless life can look and feel like. How it can leave one feeling hollow, empty, and yes, even suicidal. Pursuing the contours of one’s personal myth is a task that all of us should undertake to enjoy a life of meaning and purpose.
Each of us needs a myth to live by. It includes both personal and collective values, assumptions, opinions and beliefs. Myths are organizing principles that offer our lives coherence, purpose and meaning. Without a living, organic myth, which is always subject to editing and renewal, our lives would contain little or no meaning.
In this psychological book club, Dennis Patrick Slattery explores the human spirit in search of meaning. In addition he will help us recognize the contours and particulars of our own myth and the meaning it affords our life.
Required reading:
Dennis Patrick Slattery, Our Daily Breach: Exploring Your Personal Myth Through Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (Fisher King Press, 2015).
Reading the entire epic is not required. Although if you would like to, the Norton Third Edition of Moby-Dick is a good one to choose.
Course Schedule:
January 10, 2024
February 7, 2024
March 13, 2024
April 3, 2024
May 8, 2024
June 5, 2024
July 10, 2024
August 7, 2024
September 11, 2024
Time:
3-4:30pm PT / 6-7:30pm ET