Purpose, Devotion and Ecstasy:
An Archetypal Perspective
When:
Mondays, 7 - 8:30 PM, February - 5, 12, 19, 26 - 2001
Who:
Dr. Mark Greene in conjunction with the Jung Association of North Texas
Tuition:
$60, payable at the first meeting
What:
I am grateful for this opportunity as it provides a much-needed venue
to clarify some of the ground I have covered in the last year and a half while
finishing my dissertation and shooting a documentary on ecstatic worship in
Brazil. Throughout this period, I
have been musing on important questions regarding one’s relationship to the
archetypes as a way of understanding purpose and ecstasy.
In a healthy flip of order, the classes will roughly follow the title in
reverse, with our first meeting dedicated to questions such as, ‘What is an
archetypal perspective?’ ‘What
can be said about archetypes in the observable world of the senses?’
‘Why an archetypal perspective on purpose, devotion and ecstasy?’
Excerpts from the writings of Jung, Freud and James Hillman, in
addition to other writers, will be used to frame these questions in the realm
of religious, psychological and mythological studies.
Phenomena of both collective and personal nature will be examined from
these perspectives.
The second class will be dedicated to an overview of Ecstasy
itself; ‘How is ecstatic worship defined by its practitioners?’ ‘How are
ecstatic worship and trance states defined and classified by
anthropologists?’ The
archetypal perspective will brought to bear upon an array of meanings,
examples and definitions of ecstasy with the objective of gathering
information about the archetype(s) which lie at its root.
References to the Mysteries of Eleusis and Dionysian worship will be
made as well as to contemporary forms of worship and altered mental states.
Devotion (from devote L. de- + vov
re, to
vow, “To
appropriate by vow; to set apart or dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate;
also, to consign over.” www.dictionary.com)
will be examined in our third meeting as a sort of middle-ground linking the
individual’s capacity to experience intense ecstatic states, on the one
hand, and having a sense of purpose in one’s life, on the other.
Further parallels using archetypal, religious and mythological motifs
will be made
Finally, Purpose, will be the theme of our
fourth meeting. Using the
perspective and ground covered in the preceding three classes, Purpose will be
examined initially as a sort of ‘mild ecstatic state’ where the experience
of an ‘outer’ reality is allowed in.
This
may be readily recognizable to anyone familiar with a ‘polytheistic’ take
on psyche - a kingdom made up of many reigning ‘deities.’
The class tuition is $60, payable at the first meeting, whether you can attend all the meetings or not. People with interest in religious, mythological and psychological studies are welcome.
Please email me at metamer(ury@hotmail.com
to reserve a spot, ask any questions and find out the meeting place address.
Class
dates are February 5, 12, 19, 26.
Looking forward to seeing you
in class!