{"id":125618,"date":"2026-04-01T14:40:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jungian.directory\/fcxfougk\/?post_type=mec-events&#038;p=125618"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:40:39","slug":"the-union-of-opposites-creation-destruction-and-the-psyche","status":"publish","type":"mec-events","link":"https:\/\/jungian.directory\/fcxfougk\/jungian-events\/the-union-of-opposites-creation-destruction-and-the-psyche\/","title":{"rendered":"The Union of Opposites; Creation, Destruction and the Psyche"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Alan Mulhern, a Jungian analyst, presents two talks on the fundamental archetype of creation and destruction\u2014the \u201cunion of opposites\u201d that structures both the cosmos and the human psyche.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Talk 1\u00a0<\/strong>explores the ubiquity of the archetype, showing its indispensable role across human history and thought. We will trace this core tension from the great cycles of the cosmos and the structure of DNA to the \u201cgales of creative destruction\u201d in economics and the rise and fall of civilizations. The lecture will highlight its dominance in major philosophies (from Heraclitus to Nietzsche) and religions (the dualism of light\/dark, good\/evil) as well as its expression in visionary art and literature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Talk 2\u00a0<\/strong>focuses on the archetype\u2019s manifestation in the psyche, psychotherapy, and our contemporary crisis. We examine how the opposites of creation\/death are woven into our consciousness (the God archetype, the symbolic meaning of Creation Myths) and how this tension drives the theories of Depth Psychology (e.g., Freud\u2019s Eros and Thanatos, Jung\u2019s Shadow and Individuation, and Stanislav Grof\u2019s birth matrix). Finally, we will consider how our global civilization is precariously balanced on these forces, emphasizing that the potential for apocalypse or evolution ultimately resides in the individual and collective human psyche<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Alan Mulhern, a Jungian analyst, presents two talks on the fundamental archetype of creation and destruction\u2014the \u201cunion of opposites\u201d that structures both the cosmos and the human psyche. Talk 1\u00a0explores the ubiquity of the archetype, showing its indispensable role across human history and thought. We will trace this core tension from the great cycles [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":125619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"mec_category":[542],"mec_speaker":[2507],"class_list":["post-125618","mec-events","type-mec-events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mec_category-webinar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.3 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Union of Opposites; Creation, Destruction and the Psyche - JungianDirectory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Union of Opposites; Creation, Destruction and the Psyche\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Alan Mulhern, a Jungian analyst, presents two talks on the fundamental archetype of creation and destruction\u2014the \u201cunion of opposites\u201d that structures both the cosmos and the human psyche. 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