The Call & Purpose Summit

Join Jungian Analyst James Hollis in this talk about active engagement with our personal journeys. Despite our best intentions, sooner or later, we find ourselves in an emotional swampland. Exploring these swamplands help us to identify where we need to grow up, where we might be stuck in our lives, and where we need to act on what we believe to be true.

In this talk, James Hollis describes how we can make sense of our experiences by way of discernment and resonance. We have to sort what’s going on inside us, the present voices, and we need to recognize when we are unconsciously driven by our psychological histories. We have to sit with it, pay attention to what resonates in us on a deep level, and do what is meaningful for us. Relevant questions that we can ask ourselves are ‘why am I here?’ and ‘what is wanting to enter the world through me?’

During this session you’ll discover:

• How the internal guidance system supports what is right for us,
• That our ultimate calling is to be in service to our soul, and
• Why courage, patience, and taking risks is part of our journey.

About James Hollis:

James Hollis, Ph.D., is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He is also a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform since 2016, and one of the best Jungian teachers of our age.

He was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities for 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years, was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston. He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grandchildren. He has written a total of sixteen books and over fifty articles.

Love between equals requires psychological and spiritual development in all those who are called to it. In this interview, Polly Young-Eisendrath, talks about true love as a spiritual path. The inevitable disillusionment and conflicts that one encounters in a relationship can be transformed into true intimacy. To get there, it is required to develop friendship, compassion, self-acceptance and maintain interpersonal space for two individuals to develop. Polly Young Eisendrath offers a framework enabling us to find more meaning and connection in our life. Learning about true love is a lifelong quest that is deeply meaningful as we witness the true emergence of each other, bringing a sense of purpose to both partners.

During this session you’ll discover:

• That there is a call in relationships,
• To truly emerge in authenticity,
• The enemy making factors in yourself, and
• Why it is necessary to create a mindful space between self and others.

About Polly Young-Eisendrath:

Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst, psychologist, and psychotherapist in private practice. She is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont and the founder and director of the Institute for Dialogue Therapy. She is past president of the Vermont Association for Psychoanalytic Studies and a founding member of the Vermont Institute for the Psychotherapies. She is the author, co-author, or editor of nineteen books, ranging from parenting, adult development, intimate and parental love, Buddhist theory, Jungian psychology to women’s development, couple therapy, couple development, and various paths to awakening/enlightenment from meditation to personal love. These books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her most recent works are The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance and Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path.

Dr. Young-Eisendrath is a lifelong Buddhist practitioner in Zen, Tibetan, and Vipassana lineages and brings decades of leadership in mindfulness practice within the Buddhist context as well as integrated into her clinical work.

Journey into the world of mythology with Dennis P. Slattery. The old idea is that we are all living a mythological story, and that being connected with our own myth gives a deep sense of purpose. Carl Jung famously got stuck in the middle of his life and wondered ‘what is my myth?’. Jung felt that without being connected to his myth he was adrift on the ocean of existence. Mythologies can provide templates in which we can recognize how the call manifests, such as the story of Moses and the burning bush, and the initial resistance to the call. Dennis also shares how he tried to escape a boring life and got on a ship trying to cross the Atlantic, a journey that led him to his life work. This session has a practical approach with tips to help you find your myth and respond to the call of your own mythology. Get mythed in this session!

During this session you’ll discover:

• How to reveal your personal myth,
• How to respond to the call, and
• Why knowing your myth is important.

About Dennis Slattery:

Dennis Patrick Slattery Ph.D., has been teaching for more than 50 years, the last 26 of which has been in the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, where he is currently Emeritus Faculty. He is also a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform since 2017. He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 30 volumes, including 7 volumes of poetry and one novel co-authored with Charles Asher. His most recent titles include Deep Creativity: Seven Ways to Spark Your Creative Spirit, co-authored with Deborah Ann Quibell and Jennifer Leigh Selig, and From War to Wonder: Recovering Your Personal Myth Through Homer’s Odyssey. In addition, he has written over 200 articles, book reviews and Op-Ed pieces.

He offers writing retreats on C.G. Jung’s The Red Book as well as on Writing One’s Personal Myth through the works of Joseph Campbell and other writers. He has been taking painting classes in water color and acrylics for the past 8 years as well as enjoying riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle with his sons Matt and Steve in the Texas Hill Country.

Illness is a fact of life. Whether it is a personal health crisis or a sick loved one, none of us can escape this life without encountering some form of life-threatening illness and eventually, death. A diagnosis such as cancer or coronavirus can break us open and bring us face-to-face with the truth buried in our bones. This threat to life is an opportunity to know the soul and becoming who we are meant to be. The soul is also receptive to after-death communication, says Jean Shinoda Bolen, and by facing an illness, we can uncover how it could give us our purpose. In probing and studying the health trials we face, Jean shares how our learnings often connects to what we know to be true. While there is no single key to recovery, it is even rarer to find healing without addressing the pain first. Through practicing self-compassion and empathy, and active listening and learning, we set ourselves on a path to unraveling the process of finding hope. This session is for anyone living with a life-threatening illness (or caring for a loved one who is ill).

During this session you’ll discover:

• Encouragement for facing the trials and trauma of illness,
• How we can learn to rely on the wisdom we all have within, and
• Practical tools to start finding purpose in illness and death.

About Jean Shinoda Bolen:

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, an internationally known speaker and author of thirteen influential books in over one hundred foreign editions: The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don’t Whine, The Millionth Circle, Like A Tree, Urgent Message From Mother, Moving Toward the Millionth Circle, and Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman.

She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a past Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, and a former board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, and the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is a leading advocate for the 5th World Conference on Women-India 2022. She has a private practice in Mill Valley, California.

In Everything Wants to Become Gold, Robert Bosnak introduces us to a notion in alchemy — all metals desire to become gold. Jung used alchemy as a metaphor for explaining the individuation process and how the call to become who we truly are can be compared to the process of alchemy. But how do we find our calling? To understand that, we must first develop an alchemical attitude—an attitude that makes us review what we are already doing. As this attitude develops, we begin focusing on moments where we feel most enlivened; we listen to ideas that give us a sense of vitality.

This becomes the prima materia, the starting point to discovering our life’s purpose. As we follow the lifeline that enlivens us, the material we attended to transmutes to become gold; we witness as our purpose refines itself through prominence, drawing us closer and eventually into our calling.

During this session you’ll discover:

• How the call comes from material (in alchemy),
• The nature of the call as it enlivens you, and
• Our purpose as it happens.

About Robert Bosnak:

Robert Bosnak, PsyA, is a Jungian psychoanalyst who graduated from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich in 1977. He pioneered the Embodied Imagination method, and his current interest is focused on exploring Embodied Intelligence (MQ). Robert Bosnak is a Core Faculty Member at Jung Platform.

Robert has written several books translated into a wide variety of languages, amongst which the worldwide bestseller A Little Course In Dreams and Embodiment: Creative Imagination in Medicine, Art and Travel. He’s a Past President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and founder of the Santa Barbara Healing Sanctuary. He divides his life between Santa Barbara, California and Sydney, Australia. He trains the Embodied Imagination method worldwide.

In The Genius Keeps on Calling, Michael Meade shares his ideas about the inner genius that each person has. We come into the world with gifts and a life purpose. It is up to us to awaken to our authentic journeys, while gift and purpose try to unfold from within us. The genius is our guiding spirit in this journey. It first awakens in our youth but continues to call us throughout our life. Even as the person ages, the genius itself remains youthful. It has a powerful imagination and is in connection with the inner nature of a person.

When we connect with our inner genius, we find deeper inspiration and are able to consistently renew ourselves while we develop the capacity to bring meaning to any moment. Being awakened to the genius makes us aware of our own genius, our purpose, and become more grounded in ourselves. Life begins to shift when we see the world in this unique way and a path opens before us; the path of the genius.

During this session you’ll discover:

• The calling inside you is from the genius,
• How everyone is subjected to the calling, and
• An awakened genius helps us to be resilient.

About Michael Meade:

Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology and is one of the greatest depth psychological teachers of our time. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths with a deep knowledge of cross-cultural rituals.

He has an unusual ability to distill and synthesize these disciplines, tapping into ancestral sources of wisdom and connecting them to the stories we are living today. He is the author of The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul, Why the World Doesn’t End and The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul.

Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network of artists, activists, and community builders that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.

In this session, the modern-day mystic Andrew Harvey talks about our collective call to confront humanity’s evolutionary destiny and whether we will survive on this planet. This global dark night of the soul asks from us to be courageous while facing the terror and madness, and hold the potential for emergence of an unknown light in ourselves at the same time. This is possible when we have an overall mystical understanding of what’s happening. We’re in the Kali Yuga’s dance as Andrew explains. The ancient Hindu sages have said that Kali Yuga represents the collapse and destruction of the world as we know it. We’re currently facing a massive constellation of crises: COVID, climate change, extinction of wildlife, economic disparity, and crisis of meaning. We need to rise to the many challenges, align ourselves with the deep meaning of these crises and change in profound ways (one that is divinized in heart, soul and body). All evolutions progress by devastating convulsions. This dark night is potentially the birth of a new way of being. For this, we need to take a leap into the divine and radically regenerate.

During this session you’ll discover:

• How to find meaning in the global crises of this time,
• What radical regeneration is, and
• How to co-create a new way of being and doing in communion.

About Andrew Harvey:

Andrew Harvey is Founder & Director of the Institute for Sacred Activism, an international organization focused on inviting concerned people to take up the challenge of our contemporary global crises by becoming inspired, effective, and practical agents of institutional and systemic change, in order to create peace and sustainability. Andrew was born in south India in 1952. After his pursuit of an academic career in the UK, Harvey left Oxford in 1977 and returned to India, where a series of mystical experiences initiated his spiritual journey.

Andrew has since lived in all around the world, and has continued to study a variety of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. He has written and edited over 30 books.

In this talk, Kwame Scruggs shares his way of using mythology to work with adolescents. Adolescence is known for numerous characteristics; it has often been referred to as a period of “an infinite array of possibilities”. It is a time filled with intense libido, imagination, and growth. But it is also a time of frustration for both the mentor and the mentee as it involves risk-taking, confusion, and search for acceptance, identity, rebelliousness, and an inability to listen.

These traits reappear during the middle age. During our second stage of life, we receive a second opportunity to touch the Grail, which represents the fulfillment of the highest human potentiality. In this talk ‘The Search for Meaning in Adolescence’, Kwame explores adolescence and adulthood through the telling, discussion, and analysis of mythological stories, equipping us to become the hero in our own stories.

During this session you’ll discover:

• How mythology can help to become our own hero,
• The practical application of myth, and
• How to see the world in a new way and to communicate with an open mind.

About Kwame Scruggs:

G. Kwame Scruggs has over 20 years of experience using myth in the development of urban male youth. He holds a Ph.D. and MA in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Kwame also holds a MS degree in Technical Education with an emphasis in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Akron where he also completed all the course work for a MS degree in Community Counseling. In 1993, after being formally initiated into the Akan System of Life Cycle Development (African-based rites of passage), Kwame became a Certified Facilitator of this process.

He has conducted numerous workshops on the use of myth to engage urban youth. Kwame is the founder and director of Alchemy, a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio established in 2003. Alchemy uses mythological stories to engage urban adolescent males. In 2016, Kwame was one of seven recipients awarded the National Guild’s Milestone Certificate of Appreciation and one of three to receive the University of Akron’s Black Male Summit Legacy Award. Kwame is a recently appointed board member of the Joseph Campbell Foundation and serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership.

In this session, Akke-Jeanne Klerk delves into the experience of heartbreak and how heartbreak can serve as a teacher on our personal journey. It begs us to be present to our suffering, asks that we learn about ourselves and our personal history, but also that we connect with our soul to find our path. Heartbreak raises our awareness of what it means to be human. More specifically, we learn to know ourselves intimately, while dealing with pain and grief to gradually become aware of our defenses against it.

Often, it is our fear of suffering, the unknown, and the fear of listening to the soul’s demands that keeps us from walking our unique path. When we learn to face our fears, let go and surrender, we learn to evolve. We gain strength, experience more love and learn to uncover new ways to come into being. That is the transformative potential of heartbreak; the overall invitation to love more deeply.

During this session you’ll discover:

• That one’s ability to love is related to one’s ability to deal with loss,
• How heartbreak can connect you to your calling, and
• What is necessary to access the transformative potential of heartbreak.

About Akke-Jeanne Klerk:

At Jung Platform, apart from daily management tasks, Akke-Jeanne assists in identifying and developing courses and programs. She also supports Jung Platform’s Teachers with fine-tuning their modules to ensure that our programs are always practically grounded. Akke-Jeanne lives in Amsterdam where she provides Jungian coaching and works with people that are interested in personal development. She is the author of ‘Psychology of heartbreak’ (in Dutch, not yet translated).

In addition she also delivers trainings on professional coaching for a well-known training institute in the Netherlands. In the past she has worked as a psychology lecturer at the university of applied sciences in Amsterdam. Her background consists of a Master’s in psychology, 10 years of training in Jungian Analysis and 10 years of training and coaching clients in a professional setting.

Join Ken James in this interview on synchronicity; one of Jung’s most popular and intriguing ideas. The concept of synchronicity is that the unconscious mind can express itself in dreams, thoughts or feelings as well as in actual events in the external world. When the expression of the psyche manifests in both mind and matter at the same time, those coincidences are not causally related. What connects them is meaning. Some synchronicities can even be truly powerful, life-changing forces; they evoke a strong affect, a numinous feeling in us. Learn how synchronistic events can be signposts along our journey, guiding us into the direction our soul yearns to venture.

During this session you’ll discover:

• The role synchronicity plays in the individuation process,
• Different ways to actively work with synchronicity, and
• How synchronicities can help a person to experience a meaningful personal journey.

About Ken James:

Kenneth James, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Chicago, Illinois. He received a Ph.D. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from Northwestern University, and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Along the way, he studied vocal music at the American Conservatory of Music, and learned a modality of music therapy known as The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music at the Institute for Consciousness and Music in Baltimore, Maryland. He also completed four years of post-doctoral study in theology and scripture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Dr. James holds the rank of professor emeritus after a 33 year career as a university professor. He has served on the faculty at Roosevelt University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Northwestern University. He worked for many years as the Director of Student Services at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School, and he now devotes his time to the practice of Jungian analysis as the Founder and Director of The Soulwork Center in downtown Chicago. Dr. James has led workshops around the world on the relationship between divination and synchronicity, and on the use of the Tarot as a way to explore the unconscious.

In this session, Patricia Berry ponders on her journey through life and how she equally learned from the places where she ‘fell off the road’, not connected to her sense of purpose. She argues it can also be insightful to know what is not your purpose. In the end, it is also part of the journey.

But if you want to learn about your purpose, you can start by reflecting on your soul’s wishes. People are expressing their purpose as they live. So finding out what your purpose is means that you observe yourself. You start with being true, real, and authentic. And as life unfolds, the purpose will reveal itself when you sense who you enjoy being. So you have to go by with what feels true to you. As you proceed in life, life keeps filling out and getting more layers to it.

Doing what you enjoy is crucial, and when you make sacrifices you have to feel that it is a tradeoff that is worth it. You have to seek a way that works well enough so that you can still do what you love most. The goal defines the journey, and it is different for every soul.

During this session you’ll discover:

• That the goal is the journey itself
• The goal is a life enriched with experiences
• How goal and purpose relate

About Patricia Berry:

Patricia Berry, Ph.D., is one of Depth Psychology’s best known and most innovative practioners. A founder of Archetypal Psychology with James Hillman, her career spans over fifty years during which she has taught extensively, written numerous articles, worked in private practice, led supervision groups, and lectured internationally. She is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, received an M.A. from St. John’s College, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Dallas. She was the first Scholar in Residence at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 1992. Her book, Echo’s Subtle Body: A Contribution to Archetypal Psychology, is an essential text in the practice of Archetypal Psychology.

Pat has facilitated numerous case colloquia and taught seminars in working with images and dreams. Pat has been president of the New England Society of Jungian Analysts and The Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts. She is an adjunct professor at Meridian University, California Institute of Integral Studies, and currently resides in Carpinteria, CA, where she teaches part time at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is a member of the IAAP (International Association of Analytical Psychology) and consults online.

In this session, Stephen Aizenstat argues that understanding our dreams and what they mean can help us to reconnect with our authentic selves. Dreams aid in relating with others, deepen our connection to our ancestral heritage and find true purpose and meaning in our lives. Therefore, it is helpful to cultivate our dream life. When we ‘tend’ a dream, we activate our deep imagination. Our minds open and we become more attuned to our common human and planetary journey as we discern or recognize our place in it. Aizenstat pioneered Dream Tending—a method that includes techniques for interacting with the living dream image and its hidden intelligence. Interaction with these images offers insights and new perspectives that can be applied in our daily lives. Ultimately, tending our dreams helps us to participate in life more vibrant, alive and aligned with our soul’s purpose.

During this session you’ll discover:

• How dreams and imagination can unleash your innate genius,
• How dreams can help you to become more creative in the world and contribute in a personally meaningful way, and
• How dreams help us to open to the depths of our own experiences.

About Stephen Aizenstat:

Stephen Aizenstat, Ph.D., has devoted his life to understanding the profound wisdom and healing power that exists within each of us. He is Founding President of Pacifica Graduate Institute. He has explored the power of dreams through depth psychology and his own research for more than 35 years. His Dream Tending methodologies extend traditional dream work to the vision of an animated world and his work opens creativity and the generative process. His book, Dream Tending, describes multiple new applications of dreamwork in relation to health and healing, nightmares, the World’s Dream, relationships, and the creative process.

He is affiliated with the Earth Charter International project through the United Nations, where he has spoken. Professor Aizenstat has been mentored by and collaborated with many notable masters in the field including Joseph Campbell, James Hillman, Marion Woodman and Robert Johnson. He has conducted sold-out Dream Tending seminars, workshops and “pop-up” events in the U.S., Asia and Europe.