This discussion invites those who attended the 2012 Journey Conference to reflect on their experiences and learnings. I hope it will add some information that will help others make wise decisions related to attending events where the Journey presenters will be appearing.
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Ed- When is the next Jung in the South conference schedule and where? I so enjoyed meeting you and your wife at the 2012 Journey conference and regret that this will be put on hold for now.
Emmi Harrell, Montgomery, Al
Emmi,
Great to hear from you. Hope all is well there.
The Jung in the South Conference is on hold until I can find time to put it together.
The idea for a theme is "Jung and the Arts." Unfortunately, or fortunately,
I've been chosen to present at the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies this summer
and that just about fills up my plate along with my dissertation.
I'm also saddened to hear the Journey Conference will not be taking place this next year.
I'm hoping this is just a rest break and not a folding of the organization. If it is,
I guess Jung in the South may need to step up and fill the void.
So...how are things where you are???
Ed
I had some problems with some of the keynote speakers not being accurate or not knowing some of the material they were presenting.
For example:
Many of the pictures in the Redbook were not done by Jung. They were done by his patients. I would expect a keynote speaker presenting on the Redbook to know that.
Sacred Activism should be done from a perspective of Love, not fear.
Overall, the workshops were excellent.
Really enjoyed Doug Bennett's presentation on the Quantum Physics of Consciousness (My title not his) Can't wait to read and study his book.
Lot's of really great people attended.
Ed, please tell Mary Ann that I said hello.
Had a really bizarre coincidence where an attendee watched a little known documentary film on spiritual awakening that I am in. She watched it five days prior to attending the conference and recognized my voice from the film when were talking in the lobby. She didn't know my name and we had never met before.
Lee,
Curious that you should mention the love/fear lens used during the Sacred Activism presentation. I did not attend that pre-conference presentation but the same question can be raised related to the Sacred Marriage presentation. Yet, my question is, which emotion has the greatest chance of obtaining an initial response? Love or fear? I do not see love as easily "tapped into" as fear. Love requires a degree of reflection and perspective not needed by fear. So possibly fear can grab your attention, but love needs to be the answer to fear. That piece I did not experience in Andrew Harvey's earlier presentation until I attended his Son of Man - Consciousness and the Transformation of the World later in the conference. I would have called it a devotional experience. I mentioned to him that he has been referred to as a mystic but what I was hearing more was a prophetic voice out of the Old Testament tradition. His response was, "You can't have one without the other."
Monika Wikman did a masterful job of weaving the shared conference dreams with a bit of added interpretation for the sharer. Her focus on the crossroads of life especially invited those who were attending the conference with a sense of seeking, must have found her presentation affirming and hopeful.
I found I had to wrestle my jealousy to the floor as I listened to Phil Cousineau drop names and talk about his wide ranging experiences. His Global Spirit network video presentations are fascinating and, at times, frustratingly short. His video related to forgiveness made me wish we were more "organic" in our peacemaking.
If there was one workshop I left more than hungry for more. It was given by John Berdy, entitled What does an archetype sound like? Active imagination with musically guided imagery coupled with solid musicology and psychology. I was grateful and hungry for more.
These were the only ones I attended but I had great joy in meeting Mary Alice Long and reaffirming my friendship with Jeanne Schul.
While fear can be used to motivate, it is not a healthy way to do it. Fear is also easily open to be used in manipulating people. That is how I saw it being utilized. Many years ago I took a graduate course in "Persuasion." Basically it covered all the possible "appeals" that you could throw at a person to change their mind, including the common fallacies to logical thinking appeals. What I heard was a checklist of manipulative appeals presented.
For example: The Seven Crowns (His first 4 items)
He called it: 1. Queen of the unknown or void I heard: Fear of the unknown
2. Queen of destruction Fear of destruction
3. Queen of death & darkness Fear of death & darkness
4. Queen of the demonic shadow Fear of the demonic shadow
While the 7th item was Crown of freedom or embracing the Divine.... You find the Divine with Love, not fear. Just as perfect Love casts out fear, fear casts out perfect Love.
The thing I thought the presenters missed on the "crossroads" was that one must first know where they are on the journey of soul development in order to understand their options at the "crossroads." Lack of understanding the overall road map will cause a person to repeat the same experiences over and over rather than learning and growing. I heard one speaker talk about surrender without realizing that if a person surrenders prior to establishing a solid self identity, they surrender to a dependency relationship with another person and not the Divine. An individual cannot surrender to the Divine a "self" that they first have not gained control over by removing dependencies with others. Sorry for the wordiness.
Overall, the people attending were absolutely great and well worth the experience. I met a lot of wonderful people, renewed some friendships and established a few new ones.
I agree with you on Phil. However I spent a few hours with him and a few other people in front of the fireplace in the lobby. I found him very humble for all of the experiences he has encountered in life and felt he was sharing for educational purposes and not in any way elevating himself. I learned a lot from him, feel his motive in life is pure, and look forward to following his work.
Where I had the most difficulty was his program with Andrew on "forgiveness." I disagree with their emphasis on restitution or conditions with forgiveness. If a person forgives in this manner, they are doing it intellectually and have not healed the wounded emotion. Conditional forgiveness does not heal the wound.
I prefer Coleman Barks soft spoken translation and presentation of Rumi rather than a reading/recitation that the emotional intonations guide the listener rather than the words.
Lee,
I have espoused love and community as the primary and healthiest motivation for change for many years.This has often resonated with individuals and small groups of those in power. It has also been a powerful focus for those without any political &/or economic power to address the inequities of the powerful. I would like to hear of any movements of a group in power that made a decision to change its ways due to a message of love. I'm not asking about the conversion of powerful individuals, I'd like to hear of power groups being "converted" by a message of love and community.
I'm with you on the crossroads concern for folks who make decisions just to get away from the anxiety after recognizing they are at a crossroads. Connected to the comments above, crossroads can be manufactured by the powerful with handy directions to move the anxious down the predetermined path.
You speak of understanding the overall road map. Just how certain can anyone be that they have all the necessary information to make a "fully informed" decision? It would seem to be a matter of degree of consciousness of actual characteristics and dynamics involved along with a healthy, humble awareness that not all has been revealed, with the subsequent ability to reassess and change if need be.
We part company a bit about the forgiveness presentation. I believe the ritual performed by the tribes allowed for more than an intellectual exercise of philosophical peace. The ritual involved the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects shared by the tribes thereby touching all four functions needed for a wholeness and depth of peace. But I may have been reading my own beliefs about ritual into what was actually presented.
I have not heard the Banks reading. Thanks for the mention. Its on my wish list.
Would enjoy a continued conversation "as we go along."
Mary Ann sends her best.
Ed
Hi Ed,
Thought it was a great conference. Was a pleasure meeting you there.
Had a difficult time recognizing you as you look much better than your pic on this site!!!