Individuation in Times of Cultural Change

Course Description

The Jungian, holistic concept of individuation is of realizing the psychological fullness of who we are in our deepest sense of self.  By integrating different aspects of the unconscious psyche into our consciousness, we engage in a process of expanding, enriching and becoming who we potentially are. 

Joe Cambray, Jungian Analyst and the President/CEO of Pacifica Graduate Institute, will look at a shift in archetypal patterns that is underway in our world. In this course he eloquently combines Jung’s ideas around key concepts with practical suggestions that will help us re-vision our individuation in the time that we are living in. 

This course begins with the origins of individuation as it emerged from a set of pioneering experiences, which Carl Gustav Jung underwent beginning in 1913.  These formed the core of his Red Book, and became the basis for all of his later writing about the human soul. The conditions under which Jung made his discoveries bears many similarities to our times but with significant differences.  The past 100 years has yielded numerous advances in knowledge and experiences that we will be able to draw upon.

Once we understand what personal experiences influenced Jung’s personal development and his psychology, this course will continue to explore how we, as modern people, can re-imagine our eco-spiritual development. This reflection and re-imagining will help us open up to new and unexpected experiences of the world, and we will be able to recognize the emergence of new archetypal patterns in our lives.

This course is ideal if

• You want to find a way to deal with these times of change and the complexity of the world today.
• You long to regain a sense of connectedness to the world in times of change.
• You want to develop a relationship to what’s happening in the world around you, while staying connected to yourself.

Course Overview

Class 1. Origins and development of individuation in Jung’s thought

This class goes into Jung’s journey and why Jung’s psychology, and the concept of individuation, are still important for our lives today. Cambray considers the similarities and differences between our times and Jung’s.

Class 2. The relationship of individuation to synchronicity and cosmology

This class explores the process of psychological growth and its relationship to synchronicity. Synchronicity is more than ‘just’ simultaneity. Cambray looks at synchronistic phenomena in terms of emergence; events that are moving together and that hit us at the level of mystery. 

Class 3. Contemporary understanding of complexity, especially in its eco-spiritual applications

Organic systems aim to create forms that have more possibilities to emerge from it. What does this mean for our own individuation journeys. 

Class 4. Cultural synchronicities and re-visioning individuation 

This class includes a reconsideration of events in terms of synchronicity, cultural synchronicities, and what is emerging out of them. This helps us to re-vision our individuation processes.

By the end of this course you will

• Recognize the psychological importance of individuation for modern people
• Describe the experiential basis of individuation, starting with Jung and then applying it to one’s own life
• Reconsider synchronicity and how it can lead us to a re-enchantment of the world
• Explore the significance of the concept of synchronicity for personal, cultural, and global well-being
• Recognize and appreciate the emergence of new archetypal patterns in our lives.