Mary Antonia Wood – Art/Alchemist/Activist: Archetypal Transformers of Psyche, Matter, & Reality
December 7, 2025 at 04:18AM
The artist, the alchemist/magician, and the activist are distinct archetypal manifestations, yet their patternings merge in a powerful hybridity that blurs distinctions and challenges perceptions of the nature of creativity and its power to reveal and transform. This talk will highlight the work of contemporary creator/ theorist/activists who exhibit this type of hybridity alongside the work of C.G. Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, and James Hillman. The more esoteric writings and practices of these three depth psychological icons offer revelatory insights into psyche, matter, and creative processes; insights that hold tremendous value–not only for those who identify as creative individuals, but for anyone called to a co- creative/co-operative and activist relationship with nature, society, and the cosmos.

Mary Antonia Wood, PhD, is a visual artist, writer, and Chair of the M.A. Depth Psychology & Creativity Program with emphasis in the Arts and Humanities at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. She completed an M.A. and Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with emphasis in Depth Psychology, also at Pacifica, and an earlier BFA focused on visual art at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. She is the author of, The Archetypal Artist: Reimagining Creativity and the Call to Create. She resides in Santa Barbara, CA and mentors creative individuals via talismanmentoring.com.
View on YouTube