Divine Feminine Intensive
Monday Evening Workshops
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Sunday full-day Workshop
Cost: Members - $90 / Non-members - $130 / Concession - $110
(includes lunch plus morning and afternoon teas)
Register for ALL six Monday evenings
& receive a $30 discount. Register and Pay Online
Or Register for individual events below each event description
Monday, 9 October 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
The Great Mother
He knows that the mother carries for us that inborn image of the mater nature andmater spiritualis, of the totality of life of which we are a small and helpless part. (Jung, CW9, 172)
We come to know the Great Mother, not only through our experience of a personal mother, but also from the archetypal images carried by the collective unconscious. Our personal experience of mother and mothering is fundamental in shaping how we perceive ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we connect with the ‘real world’. Equally fundamental to our psychological and spiritual development is our response to the collective and mythical dimensions of the Great Mother archetype.
Jung defined the Great Mother archetype as an archetype of opposites. On the positive side there is “all that is benign, all that cherishes and sustains, furthers growth and fertility”. On the negative side there is all that “devours, seduces and poisons”. Erich Neumann, who was a student of Jung’s, expanded on this to chart a quaternity (mandala) that included the Good Mother opposed by the Terrible Mother, and the positive transformative feminine opposed by the negative transformative feminine.
In this workshop we will work with image to explore the many aspects of the Great Mother and as they appear in the interrelated realms of mythology, depth psychology, and your own personal experience. Each participant will have the opportunity to create a personal Great Mother mandala collage.
Juliana Kaya Prpic is a a teacher & researcher in higher education. Since 2013 she began journeying back to her homeland for formal training as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G Institute in Zurich. Her deep interest is in the symbolic life & archetypal patterns, as they are expressed in dreams, myths, folk tales and nature. Her current research includes exploration of Australian Indigenous mythology & knowledge systems from a Jungian perspective.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Register and Pay Online
Monday, 16 October 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
The Divine Feminine as a State of Consciousness
In this session we will understand the ways in which we can enter into the primal feminine realm and how it affects our bodies and our state of mind. In the Kabbalah, one of the names that is used for the upper divine female (there are two) is The world that is coming. It is not because we need to die in order to meet her, but because she is pouring her wonderful flow on us all the time – her flow is always coming down upon us, but we don’t always know how to receive and imbibe it. Aside from the Divine females of the Kabbalah, we will also meet others from different mystical traditions including: Sufism, Tantra and the visions of Hildegard of Bingen.
Merav Carmeli has a BA and MA in Bible & Jewish Studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is now working on her Phd which focuses on the Zohar (the most important work of the classical Kabbalah from the 13th Century). Merav has taught Jewish Studies and Jewish Mysticism at Monash University through the ACJC, at universities in Israel and at other institutions. For the last 12 years she has analysed the available Zohar manuscripts (from the 14th-16th centuries) as part of the Pritzker Zohar Project (a critical translation into English of the Zohar, Stanford University Press). She is now an Adjunct Research Associate at Monash University. Merav has published a few academic articles and is the co-editor of two volumes on the Zohar.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Register and Pay Online
Monday, 23 October 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
Mysticism as the Feminine Divine
All religions have an exoteric structure that is essentially masculine, framed in tenets, dogmas, beliefs and heresies. Those same religions have an esoteric aspect, based on numinous experience. Is this the feminine aspect of divinity? Exploration of mysticism as the feminine divine, through the experience of which women (and men) can discover a divinity or transcendence outside patriarchal structured frameworks. Can this experience be courted and cultivated? Or is it accidental? The terms ‘divine feminine’ (women’s spirituality) and ‘feminine divine’ (the face of God) as they relate to embodied experience and the concept of the transformation of the divine will be introduced.
Though the discussion has its foundations in the PhD thesis, “The Feminine in Body, Language and Spirituality” and will introduce serious thoughts, this exploration will be immersed in enjoyment and centred in the body.
Dr Kaye Gersch is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with a Jungian emphasis, working in private practice since the 1980s. She recently completed a PhD at the University of Queensland on the topic of The Feminine in Body, Language and Spirituality. Her work is multidisciplinary, encompassing philosophy, theology and depth psychology. Kaye is also a clinical supervisor primarily to clinicians in the medical field. She has specialist couples-therapy training and particularly enjoys meeting individuals in the crucible that is relationship.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Register and Pay Online
Monday, 30 October 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
The Process of Ritual
to Embrace the Divine Feminine
How do we move from thoughtfully embracing an idea to allowing that idea to become embodied and empowering for our lives? Where do we go to be safe for this exploration? Can it be a solitary search or does it need witness and support? Or both? What modalities and knowledge do we need? Bring your voice, your opinions and reflections for a brainstorming about ritual process and experience.
Remi Messenger For a decade during the 1990s, Remi, who is an actor, director and arts therapist, had the opportunity to explore the Divine Feminine with three other women, including Olympia Dukakis, in Voices of Earth, a professional theatre company. They worked with large groups in workshop settings throughout northeastern United States. Their focus was on the ancient myth of Inanna and her sister Ereshkigal. Yet the techniques can be applied to many stories. And the considerations are valuable for all personal work in ritual circles.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
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Monday, 6 November 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
Goddess Pilgrimage - Secrets of the Sybils
Join Kaalii on a virtual Goddess pilgrimage. Visit Italy and Greece to meet the Sibyls of Cumae and Delphi - ancient prophetesses whose clear line to wisdom and knowing arose from deep connection to the Land, the original matter - mater - mother of us all. The Sibyls teach us to fear no darkness - they know every terrain of darkness and how to move through to the other side.
Through image and guided inner process, you can bring your questions to the Sibyls, but remember - these wise women only answer questions they find meaningful. In fact they only do as they choose, in all cases. This is their way. They are self-honouring by nature, consistently true to themselves.
"When a woman raised in patriarchal culture…immerses herself in sacred space
various manifestations of the Goddess bring forth the Earthbody
from the spinning void… She will body the myth with her own totemic being.
She is the cosmic form of waxing, fullness, waning: virgin, mature creator, wise crone.
She cannot be negated ever again. Her roots are too deep – and they are everywhere."
(Charlene Spretnak, States of Grace, p.143.)
Dr Kaalii Cargill has explored The Divine Feminine for over 40 years. Her PhD explored ancient women's mysteries, and she has participated in ritual circles and Goddess conferences in Australia and the UK. Kaalii co-developed Soul Centred Psychotherapy, a therapeutic approach based on the sacred feminine. She writes fiction and non-fiction that asks "What if?"...what if "God" was a woman? All of her seven books can be found on Amazon.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Register and Pay Online
Monday, 13 November 2017
Workshop 7.30pm– 9.30pm
Richmond Library Meeting Room 415 Church St Richmond 3121
The Rise of the Gnostic Goddesses:
Sophia and Mary Magdalene
The Black Madonnas Sophia and Mary Magdalene have been relegated to secondary roles by orthodox Christianity. However as Jung asserts, whatever is repressed and hidden, has to eventually reassert itself – and so do these ancient traditions archetypes of the feminine divine. In Gnostic documents Sophia is the Divine Wisdom which we either ignore or lost. Mary Magdalene was known as the manifestation of ‘Sophia’ in Jesus' life. Both are represented as the Black Madonnas across the world.
In this workshop, we will uncover ancient meanings and myths as the lost feminine waiting for its awaking and empowerment. On a practical level we will engage in structured journaling and shared discussion on the recovery and empowerment of the feminine divine in our personal lives and globally.
This workshop is aimed at both women and men.
Dr Joanna Kujawa received a BA & MA in Medieval Philosophy & History at the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies and the Centre for Medieval Studies (University of Toronto). After her PhD at Monash Uni. she wrote the book Jerusalem Diary: Searching for the Tomb and House of Jesus (it’s now a best-selling travel guide to Jerusalem). For 12 years she was a lecturer and tutor at Monash University RMIT. Her books, stories and essays have been published in 5 countries. Joanna is immoderately passionate about her Goddess news Blog which is devoted to divine feminine in all traditions.
Cost: Members - $35 / Non-members - $45 / Concession - $40
Register and Pay Online
1000 Faces of the Feminine
(Postpostoned until 2018)
This workshop is nourishment for the participants' personal relationship with the sacred feminine and feminine archetypes, through ritual and creativity. We will explore the questions - what myth are you living with, what archetype do you feel present in your life, or which would you like to evoke. You will make your own little goddess or talisman. She will be stitched and painted and adorned.
Participants are invited to bring any items they might want to include - this can be special fabric, jewellery, shells, beads, feathers, buttons, ribbon, small stones, crystals, or even secret things to be hidden inside the doll.
This workshop will be the culmination of three months exploration of female archetypes and is an opportunity to craft a personal memento of your journey. No experience is needed / all materials are provided.
Merilee Bennett is an award-winning film maker and visual artist who has had a long-standing interest in archetypes and the way in which symbols, motifs and the unconscious intersect with our everyday lives. Merilee has been exhibiting since 1980. Her 2016 exhibition continued her investigation into ancient Palaeolithic and Neolithic forms of the “Goddess”, as well as myths and fairy tales, mystical revelation, dreams and the natural world.
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Note: Registration can be completed with a 50% deposit option with the remainder to be paid by or on the day.
Registration requires a minimum 50% deposit.
Payment accepted via PayPal, cheque or Direct Deposit:
BSB 633-000 A/c 120 760 780
To register, email the Honorary Secretary info@jungsocietymelbourne.com
with your name, telephone, address, and dietary requirements, plus payment details