Myths are the building blocks of the collective unconscious. Just as dreams communicate the archetypal guidance to the individuals, myths communicate these archetypes to the culture and communities. Myths are the dreams of cultures. Myths have a unique cultural flavor and a cross cultural resonance. Generally, the “Hero Myths” may symbolize the ego complex, the “Mother Myths” may symbolize the return to the unconscious and the “Child Myths” may symbolize emerging Self and the “Creation Myths” may symbolize the process of the creation of new consciousness, restoration, renewal, and transformation. We will explore the structure and the Alchemic Hermeneutic method to analyze the myths. We will explore the myth of Goethe’s Faustian Bargain and the Sufi myth of the Rebirth mystery embedded in the 18th Surah of Quran from a Jungian lens as these guide us in the therapeutic vessel and the larger cultural theater. Join me in exploration of the timeless wisdom of our depths.
Learning Objectives
After attending this course, attendees will be able to:
- Discuss the structure of myths and a method of analyzing a myth and outline some source materials.
- Demonstrate the method of alchemic hermeneutics to explore a myth using the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a prototype.
- Analyze Goethe’s Faust and the myth of the Faustian bargain as a prototype of transition from the hero archetype to the anchorite/wise person/Philemon archetype under the auspices of the great mother archetype.
- Utilize the Faustian myth to guide the individuation process.
- Illustrate the process of rebirth of personality in the Sufi mystery.
- Apply Goethe’s Faust and the 18th Sura of Quran as a paradigm towards the transformation of the contemporary culture.