Guild for Psychological Studies

Looking Toward the Future

Harry Henderson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:02:09 +0000

(a statement from the Guild Board)

During the past several years the Board and leaders of the Guild have had to struggle with a number of difficult issues. An increasing number of seminars have had to be canceled because of insufficient sign-ups. Several senior leaders and mentors have found that is was time for them to stop actively leading seminars or to reduce their participation in other Guild activities. Because of the limited number of seminars and other events, the Guild did not issue a program brochure for 2011-2012.

At the same time it is important to recognize that there has been significant activity in the Guild during the past year. Longstanding seminars such as Nourishing the Soul and More Fire for Life continue to have strong support. Despite last minute changes in leadership and venue (due to illness and the Four Springs fire), Basic Records had a full sign-up. In December, two separate Advent seminars together had nearly 40 participants and staff. We see these events as evidence that there is still a desire for what the Guild has to offer, and an ability to continue the work. Further, the financial situation of the Guild is quite stable, with significant resources available for new initiatives.

One of the strongest signs of new life has been the ongoing work of the training program, Casting Seeds. This year leaders and members of this class are engaged in an intensive study of some of the most advanced work in depth psychology. Several leaders will be attending the inaugural conference of the International Society for Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority (ISPDI) in Berlin, July 23-25, 2012. (See www.ispdi.org for more details.)

During the past few years a small but active and committed group of new leaders have experimented with new forms of seminars and events (including one day seminars and excursion-based seminars). There is also the possibility of exploring the offering of online courses and discussion groups. Casting Seeds is committed to working together to design and lead seminars, a process that began with December's Advent seminar in San Francisco and will continue with a seminar in April.

Meanwhile, your Board has been working hard to determine the form of organization that would best enable the Guild to continue its work and to use the available resources and energy most effectively. In the next few months the Board will be soliciting proposals from Guild leaders for seminars and other projects to be funded by the Guild, with appropriate procedures and guidelines. Instead of using traditional program brochures, new seminars and projects will be publicized individually, using the web site, email, the Threshing Floor, fliers, and so on.

Like virtually all institutions in our world today, the Guild must adapt to new realities and embrace emerging opportunities. We believe that the work that brought each of us to the Guild over the past decades will continue in the years to come, and we are committed to helping to sustain it even as we reach out in new ways.

soul-in-the-world

Harry Henderson — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:38:35 +0000

C. G. Jung diagnosed the modern condition as the absence of myth and the loss of meaning. Religion, especially Christianity, is no longer the cultural force it once was. Jung spoke of a new myth of meaning for modern people in terms of psyche, consciousness and personal individuation.

But the general tenor of Jung’s thought casts the psyche as primarily an inner human phenomenon. The outer realm of modern scientific and technological culture is seen as lacking soul, and even endangering our world.

If we take the transpersonal nature of the soul, or psyche, seriously, we can ask the following questions:

Is religion still relevant or has technology taken its place as the prime location for the energy that drives human culture?
What if the soul is an evolving force manifesting as history and culture with an unknown purpose?
If we step back and take a long view can we discern the soul in the very technology and media that humanism finds so abhorrent?
What if, as examples, the nuclear bomb, television, media, and the World Wide Web are where the objective nature of the soul is manifesting in our contemporary world?

This workshop will explore the work of the Jungian thinker Wolfgang Giegerich, introducing his provocative ideas about soul-in-the-world, seeking both to think through the implications of his thought and to provide space for an experiential encounter with modern culture and ourselves. April 13, Friday, 7 – 9pm and April 14, Saturday, 9am – 4:30pm Easton Hall, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2401 Ridge Road Berkeley,CA

A presentation by the Casting Seeds Group of the Guild for Psychological Studies.

Date:

Fri, 04/13/2012 - 7:00pm - Sat, 04/14/2012 - 4:30pm

Place:

Easton Hall, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2401 Ridge Road, Berkeley CA

Leaders:

Hal Childs, PhD, MFT; Harry Henderson; Susanna Singer, MDiv, PhD; and others

Harry Henderson

Fee:

$50-$90 (sliding scale) plus $10 non-refundable registration fee.

Nourishing the Soul 2012

Nils Peterson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:02:39 +0000

In this Nourishing the Soul, we will explore the rooms, real and imaginary, of our childhoods, remembering rhymes, songs, and stories. We will try to keep what we’ve recalled in collages, drawings, poems. Mary Oliver, particularly her Blue Pasture, may be helpful here.
And we will explore, grown up now, ways of making the world better, using as our text the highly provocative, talky play, Major Barbara, by George Bernard Shaw. It is still able, almost a hundred years after it was first produced, to make us wonder about how the world we live in really works.

Date:

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 5:00pm - Fri, 03/30/2012 - 1:00pm

Place:

Bishop's Ranch.

Leaders:

Nils Peterson, Sue Renfrew, and Maureen Draper.

Nils Peterson

Fee:

$445 plus $45 nonrefundable registration fee.

Four Springs: The Fire and Beyond

halchilds — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:59:21 +0000

The Lodge at Four Springs burned to the ground on the evening of Memorial Day, May 30. We are struggling with shock and disbelief, as well as possible multiple levels of meaning. What could this mean for Four Springs? What could this mean for the Guild?

We are including here some photos, as well as statements from Tim Locke, the Executive Director of Four Springs Seminars.

Living with Soul: Interview with Charles Pfeifer

Harry Henderson — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:59:15 +0000

Charles Pfeifer, a Guild member who leads Records seminars in Madison, Wisconsin, was recently interviewed by Jean Feraca on the Wisconsin Public Radio program Here on Earth. Chuck talks about his work with Walter Wink and his use of the Records material.

Here is a link where you can listen to the interview, "Living with Soul," as well as a link to Chuck's blog.

Growing the Guild in Washington DC

Barbara Black — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:17:43 +0000

Greetings from the Nation’s Capital, where for
almost 20 years the transformational work of the Guild
for Psychological Studies has been setting roots. Many of
you are aware that April Barrett introduced the Guild’s
work to East Coasters in the1990s at the Jung Society of
Washington, through workshops and seminars led by Bill
Dols, Rudy Marcus and others. This article is to
introduce another seedling that has been developing in a
grassroots way -- the DC Home Guild and the newly
named DC Guild for Transformational Studies.

The Tao of Sound: Tutorial on the uses of music

Richard Naegle — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:05:04 +0000

Archetypes are presences beyond just word and image. In good

music we experience their power and beauty, and are drawn deeper
into the reality of psyche/world. The presences in music take us
beyond the limits of our narrow understanding and put us in harmony
with those forces that flow through, sustain, and animate life.
Over the years, Guild seminars have very effectively used music—
as well as story, text, and image, to pursue Soul work.

In this tutorial, geared for seminar leaders and/or those who wish
to broaden their engagement with music, we will explore the nuts and
bolts of how to use music in a seminar—when to use it, what to use,
how to work with what is evoked, and how to relate it to other forms
of knowing/experience, such as graphic art, thought, reflection, and
movement. The direction of the class will be highly responsive to the
questions and needs of the participants.

Date:

Sun, 03/27/2011 - 10:30am - 3:30pm

Place:

San Francisco, CA

Leaders:

Maureen McCarthy Draper, MA, Sue Renfrew, MA, and Richard Naegle, PhD

Richard Naegle

Fee:

$40 plus $10 nonrefundable registration fee. Free for Guild leaders and leaders-in-training.

More Fire For Life: A study of the life and teachings of Jesus

Harry Henderson — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:58:48 +0000

"More Fire for Life" is a group of South Bay Guild members who for many years have had an ongoing series of seminars.

We will explore creative suffering, including the suffering experienced when we engage with the powerful energies in the Shadow. Our textual material will come from Carl Jung, poetry, and the teachings of Jesus.

Our discussions will be complemented by meditation, movement, music, art, and journal writing.

The group meets on Tuesday evenings from 7:00-9:00 at the home of Judith and Nils Peterson, with each series consisting of six meetings.

The fee is on a sliding scale from $90 to $60 per series. For more information, contact Linda Davidge at LindaPD215@aol.com or phone 408-371-5535

Caves and the Black Madonna: A pilgrimage trip to explore Cro-Magnon cave art and black madonnas in France ... with good cheese and bread along the way...

Janet Thompson Petroni — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:27:35 +0000

A two-week trip to the Dordogne and Auvergne regions of southwest France is in the planning stage. Leaders are Janet Thompson Petroni and Gail Priestley. Dates have been tentatively set for September 24–October 9, 2011.

Participants will make their own arrival and departure travel plans, meeting in a city in southwest France. We will stay in two hotels, one each of the two weeks. We will take day trips from our base hotel, traveling by van. Trip expenses will be basically at cost.
This pilgrimage is not being professionally arranged, so the “unexpected” will be part of the picture, and there will be opportunity for spontaneous adventure. The two leaders have made several pilgrimage trips studying cave art and black madonnas in France.
The number of participants is limited.

Date:

Sat, 09/24/2011 (All day) - Sun, 10/09/2011 (All day)

Place:

Dordogne and Auvergne regions, France.

Leaders:

Janet Thompson Petroni, MA and Gail Priestley, Certified Feldenkrais (c) Practitioner.

Janet Thompson ...

Fee:

TBA

The Dark Lady: Beautiful, terrible, mysterious

Janet Thompson Petroni — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:53:27 +0000

“The Great Mother…is the center of the mystery of existence.”

–Neumann

The Dark Feminine gives and takes; rescues, tends and restores; rends
devours and destroys. By understanding psychologically these forces
within ourselves, we integrate them and recognize the meaning of our
own life.

Our exploration will include reflection on texts, art work, music
and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement*

Date:

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 9:30am - 4:30pm

Place:

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Marin City, CA

Leaders:

Janet Thompson Petroni, MA, and Gail Priestley, Certified Feldenkrais(c) Practitioner

Janet Thompson ...

Fee:

$25-$50 sliding scale plus $10 nonrefundable registration fee.