Speaker
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Ian Charter
In Dreams Begins Responsibility: Individuation and the Autochthonous Self
This program centers on a key passage from The Collected Works of C. G. Jung (CW 8, para. 739), which posits Analytical Psychology as a response to the excessive rationalization of modern consciousness and its resulting estrangement from the deeper psychic foundations of nature, myth, ancestry, and the collective unconscious.
Integrating theoretical reflection with personal experience, this presentation examines the role of dreams, particularly the first analytic dream, as expressions of the psyche’s movement toward individuation. Central to this inquiry is the concept of the autochthonous self, understood as the dimension of psyche rooted in ancestry, landscape, and mythic imagination. Drawing on long-term experience working with First Nations Australians, we will consider psychogeographical resonances between Jungian concepts of the collective unconscious and individuation, and First Nations understandings of the Dreaming and Songlines. We will explore archetypal narrative expressions of the symbolic union of the rational and archaic that lies at the heart of individuation, through texts such as Moby Dick and the film Storm Boy and other timeless tales.
Finally, the analytic relationship will be considered as a “thin place” in which conscious and unconscious realms may encounter one another through symbolically driven transformations. Reconnection with such archetypal and chthonic dimensions of psyche can help restore meaning and vitality to modern consciousness, thus supporting the always ongoing process of individuation.
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Number of hours credit
Use the CE Registration page to pay $15.00 and register to be awarded 2 CE hours for this program.
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