THE MYSTIC Mythology and Poetry of the Sacred Marriage: Hierosgamos and the Marriage Archetype, Bonnie Damron

5 Tuesdays

Course

Bonnie Damron

Carl Jung called this archetype Mysterium Coniunctionis. Joseph Campbell called it “an ordeal,” as in a spiritual test. Penelope and Odysseus’ marriage, with its twenty years of struggle, suffering, and hardship, is the embodiment of this great ordeal. Song of Songs celebrates its mystery. For the people of Sumer, the heirosgamos was the central ritual and symbol of their religion. Human beings have celebrated the mystical union of opposites since our memory runneth not to the contrary, and always in the great poems and songs of the world. Beyond that, I am curious regarding where we find the Sacred Marriage in life as we live it today. Join me as we explore some of the best-loved myths and poems about the hierosgamos and the marriage archetype. I conceive of this course as a workshop. Let’s dig in and create it together, using a “beginner’s mind,” as my exploration into the hierosgamos is by no means a finished work. As Jung writes, much of what we can know is provisional, there is so much to learn.