19th September 2014

7.00pm-7.45pm      Discussion

Prerequisite reading:  "The New God Image"   by Edward F Edinger
Chapter SIX

How does psyche shape and guide Vocation? For Jung, vocation was "an irrational factor that destines a man to emancipate himself from the herd and its well-worn paths" (CW17, para 299). This presentation considers what Jung and others in the depth psychological tradition, such as James Hillman and Joseph Campbell, had to say about the nature of vocation and calling. 

Susanne shows how a depth psychological approach, which values the creative unconscious or autonomous psyche as a source of wisdom and knowledge, may inform and deepen contemporary approaches to career development. These are now shifting from the hegemony of positivist, logos-centred approaches, toward more metaphoric, imaginal and narrative methods, encouraging individuals to connect with their "personal myths".

Suzanne looks at the New Zealand film WHALE RIDER (2002) to illustrate how vocational calls from soul (psyché) may arise, including via ancestral patterns, amor fati (love of one's fate) and attunement to synchronicity. This lecture extends the field and scope of contemporary Jungian Research by showing how engagement with film at the Jungian level of symbol can support the reimagining of work in a post-modern framework that includes collaboration with the deep psyche.  The nexus between Jung's concept of individuation and the call to Vocation (both individual and collective) is developed: both conceived as a response to the anima mundi (world soul), with radical implications for work, environment and sustainability.

Susanne Cremen Davidson

Having worked as a lawyer, conference producer, screenwriter, publisher and career counselor for adults in midlife, Suzanne's doctoral research at La Trobe University analyses films to explore Jungian and imaginal approaches to vocation and career development. Suzanne holds two Masters Degrees from Pacifica Graduate Institute (USA) in Engaged Humanities (depth psychology and mythology) and Jungian & Archival Studies, plus Degrees in Arts and Law from the University of New South Wales.  She is the Immediate Past President of the C.G. Jung Society of Queensland, and co-founder and director of scholarly publishing house eContent Management (www.e-contentmanagement.com).  Suzanne also serves on the Board of Directors for Pacifica's International Alumni Association.  Recently she has co-edited a special issue of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches (vol 13/2, 2013) on "Depth Psychological Research Methods: Multiple and Engaged Approaches."