Thanks to everyone who participated this evening in our community conversation on gun violence in America. We had a rich discussion with many excellent points raised and ideas put forth. We covered a spectrum of approaches: from working on concrete legislation for change in entrenched state and federal government systems, to speculating on archetypal influences From the Greek God Apollo to ancient religious sacrifice.
I hope interested persons will continue the conversation with us here in this forum. Her are a few resources to get us started:
http://www.bradycampaign.org/key-gun-violence-statistics
http://undark.org/2016/03/14/gun-research-ban-prevents-science-on-gun-violence
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/12/the-real-cultural-explanation-for-school-shootings1.html?utm_content=opinion&utm_campaign=ajam&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow
Craig Chalquist on Gun Violence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAaKKNPGk6Q
Cycle of Abuse in Violent Acts
http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/cycle_of_abuse.html
Also: See the attachments below
All the best,
James
Replies
Good morning James - thank you for you much appreciated feedback...my last "eagle" experience was in 1990 and I did not pay attention...did not have the depth understanding to realize the importance of this experience...and now that you bring up the "bald headed eagle" image...I will pay attention [thanks for your wise insights] and continue to reflect and contemplate...the return of an eagle image at this stage of my life...
I received this 3 minute video speech by Charlie Chaplin in 2012...he was 80 years old...this seems like an appropriate place to post this link...or in Part 2 - Souls of White Folks? He addresses soldiers and dictators...
https://youtu.be/WibmcsEGLKo
Peace + Love Linda
Good morning James - I am grateful for all the great "introductory" and follow-up conversations started by the DPA Board as all [people of the world interested in diving deep] continue to work through this growth process of defining: depth itself...plus all the depth threads... inquiries added since that definition conversation...addition of racism [Souls of White Folks - the historic majority...the future minority], guns...[mass murder]...to get at the roots [core, deep, foundation...formation...the fields...the lay of the land...the dance between the masculine and the famine...who are we identifying with as the founding fathers within the field of Depth Psychology - [Jung is one, Hillman another]...and who are our identifyable founding mothers?
I will share that I started feeling uncomfortable...once again...your "title" choice of words... an oxymoron in my opinion..."Happiness is a warm gun" - NOT for me !!!
As so, we started out with this contradiction of incongruent words - "cruel" kindness...a catchy title to attract participants...get our attention...well I arrived 4 years ago to the words "Depth Alliance"...however, I did not arrive at the doorsteps of DPA...educated on Jung, Hillman...nor with a background in mythology nor knowledge of archetypes...which I have endured for the past 4 years...getting to a point where I am feeling less inclined to share my voice...
I am trying "to hang" in here...continue to participate...while I get educated on the lay of the DPA virtual space...lay of the land...learn the "mother" tongue...what is that???...but...alas...something is just not sitting right within me from last night...as evidence by my disturbed sleep...awoke in the middle of the night...so I read, meditated...went contemplative for an hour and was able to settle back into a good sleep...
A very strange image appeared to me as I awoke feeling disturbed...a bald head with one eye...this is a first and highly unusual experience for me...so I offer it to all for consideration...meaning????
Peace + Love Linda
Hi, Linda!
Wow…there is a lot going on there. I’m glad you’re “hangin’ in there” and contributing as much as you do. Sorry your sleep was disturbed, but, of course, it’s a disturbing topic. One thing I emphasize during the racism event that I failed to mention at the gun violence event was that these are huge, powerful, collective issues. There is no way any one human being can grasp, assimilate, or even process any one of these issues (i.e. racism, gun violence, etc.). That’s why I feel it’s so important to emphasize archetypes and archetypal solutions/approaches. When we say “archetypal” we are invoking the realm of the mythic, the realm of the gods. These are issues that we can address and think about, but no one person can confront collective madness without the help of the gods (i.e. the archetypal, the mythical realm). So, that is just to say that may be one reason for your disturbed sleep.
As far as your dream, my free associative response is simply that this is the archetypal realm staring back at you, asking you to hand this issue over to the mythic realm, and only attempt to deal with the small, human amount that you can personally deal with. As an aside, your description also reminded me of the bald eagle, longtime symbol of the United States.
Keep hangin’ in there!
All the best,
James