Our age is shaped by a swirl of powerful archetypal energies, but perhaps none more intensely and pervasively than that of the Pluto-Dionysus archetype in its many-sided primal expressions, both destructive and regenerative, erotic and aggressive, feminine and masculine, death and rebirth. During my visit last year, we covered many of the basic meanings and expressions of this profound archetypal principle in myth, philosophy, and psychology. This year, we will focus on its varied expression in the arts—music, film, literature, sculpture, painting, comedy—through which we will have the opportunity to more directly experience the archetype beyond just verbal exposition. As ancient poets and modern depth psychologists have long recognized, the arts represent an especially vivid revelation of the archetypal principles that inform and inspire the human psyche.

Our approach will be facilitated by the combined lenses of depth psychology and archetypal astrology that Jung found so helpful in his own thinking. This frame of reference permits an extraordinarily precise focus on the specific archetypal complexes most prominently at work in a given individual, work of art, or cultural era. Video and audio clips of brilliant performances will be played as a basis for our analyses. The aim of this workshop will be to provide a stimulating interplay of instruction and entertainment, each enhancing and illuminating the other.

NOTE: Attendance at last year’s program on the Dionysus-Pluto archetype is not a prerequisite for attending and enjoying this year’s workshop. If you would like to see the program, either as a refresher or a first-time viewing, it is available on the Teachable app on the internet. Here’s the link: https://www.jungmasterclass.com

Richard Tarnas is professor emeritus of cultural history and psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he founded the graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. He has taught courses in the history of ideas, archetypal studies, depth psychology, and religious evolution. He has also frequently lectured on archetypal studies and depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and was formerly the director of programs and education at Esalen Institute. He is the author of The Passion of the Western Mind, a history of the Western world view from the ancient Greek to the postmodern widely used in universities. His second book, Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, received the Book of the Year Prize from the Scientific and Medical Network and is the basis for the just released 10-episode documentary series "The Changing of the Gods". He is a past president of the International Transpersonal Association and long served on the Board of Governors for the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco.