Hi Everyone,
My name is Kathy Stanley and I live in Portland, Oregon. I teach in the undergraduate program at Sofia University (classes in Ecopsychology, Spiritual Ecology and Social & Cultural Eco-Perspectives.) I am also a Spiritual Life Coach in private practice here in Portland. I am very interested in myth and in my recently completed masters program in women's spirituality, we studied women's psycho-spiritual journeys as reflected through the lens of such myths as the Descent of Inanna.
One myth that I have been very aware of in the past few months is that of the abduction of Persephone by Hades into the underworld. I see this playing out in the abduction of the girls in Nigeria some months ago and again now in northern Iraq with the taking of women from a minority tribe by the ISIS terrorist group.
I look forward to meeting all of you and to this great class!
Replies
Hi Kathy. Great to have you in the course. The Descent of Inanna also played an important role for me when I studied it at Sonoma State University in the Depth Program. I learned a great deal about myself by identifying certain "nodes" of the myth and then using depth techniques (writing, art, active imagination) to unpack them. Very powerful stuff!
I am also sobered by your contemporary examples of the abduction of Persephone. It's a very difficult topic, but one that needs to be regarded and honored by those who are doing this work. Thanks for bringing in the images.
Hey Kathy!
I just graduated from ITP/Sofia this last June. I was in the residential MACP program.
In regards to your posting about the myth of Persephone's descent into Hades, another part of that myth that I've been working through is with her ascent back up to the surface world, guided by the goddess Hecate. Hecate lights the way out of Hades with a crown of stars. In my own life journey right now, I've felt a strong resonance with this myth, as I've found myself in a "dark night of the soul", largely concurrent with the ongoing drama at ITP/Sofia. Hecate has helped guide my way out of the Hadean realm of post-graduation unemployment, amidst the collapsing portal of enlightenment that was my education at ITP. I believe the myth of Hecate has parallels to our mission in this certificate course, as we become the Hecate archetype and lead the way out of this Pluto-petroleum Hadean Terrapocalypse, into the Earthrise.
Another piece of this mythology that I've been exploring fits in with your background in women's spirituality: Persephone, Demeter, and Hecate are the three aspects of the triple goddess, the maiden, mother, and crone. Anyways, good to see you here, and I'm looking forward to our certificate course together!
I just made a short film on iMovie and the first scene was a poem I wrote about Hecate followed by a letter to the goddess.
Jane
Hi Travis,
Thanks for connecting! We may have walked the stage at the same time then in June (if you attended the commencement on campus) as I also graduated then...
Ah, yes, Hecate. She was present for me from my first day and throughout my program at ITP. I like your linking of her with the mission in this certificate course. The myth that was really present for me with the drama at ITP/Sofia was the descent of Inanna. I really felt the school hanging on Ereshkigal's meathook in the underworld during that time last December.
Look forward to more as we go through the course...