C.G. Jung Society, Seattle

Silvia Behrend, D.Min., M.Div.

The Hidden Feminine

“Since I will be dealing with numinous factors, my feeling is challenged as much as my intellect. I cannot, therefore, write in a coolly objective manner, but must allow my emotional subjectivity to speak if I want to describe what I feel when I read certain books of the Bible, or when I remember the impressions I have received from the doctrines of our faith.” (Jung, C.W. vol 11 1975, ¶ 559)

The Hidden Feminine: Recovery and Redemption in Sacred Texts

Lecture: Friday, April 10, 2015, 7 to 9 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. North, Seattle  98103 (driving directions)
$15 members, $25 nonmembers

Jung understood that while we may no longer believe in the dogmas of our religious traditions, there is an affective connection that opens the way to both our experience and understanding of the numinous. One of the casualties of the loss of this connection is the deposing of the feminine aspect, the soul dimension which leads us into relationship with the Totality, the Numinosum, the Whole. It is possible to return to the roots of human experience with the numinous as encoded in sacred texts and find there what was hidden and veiled and which still contains vitality, numinosity and energy.

On Friday night, I will discuss Jung’s understanding of the purpose of religion as that which connects us to the supreme transcendent value which has been dis-membered, partly through rigid interpretations and partly through the expulsion of the feminine from the Totality. It is possible to reconnect to the vitality of the lost connection through a re-membering of the feminine who can found in the sacred texts of our religious traditions.

Workshop: Saturday, April 11, 2015, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202
$50 members, $70 nonmembers

Advance registration for workshops is encouraged. You can mail your registration and payment to our office using this registration form or buy tickets in advance at brownpapertickets.com.

On Saturday morning, I will lead us through an exegesis of the notions of Covenant, the reality of Wisdom and the role of the Shekina as well as on the Book of Judith to elucidate that the very hiddenness of the feminine reveals the totality of the transcendent. On Saturday afternoon, I will lead the group in their own exploration of the sacred and secular texts of their particular upbringing to find there a way to see what has been hidden from both thought and experience.

Lecture Learning Objectives:
1. Understand Jung’s exposition of the moral, ethical and spiritual mandates of engaging with the suprapersonal to find meaning and purpose.
2. Understand the objective reality of the numinous and how it expresses in the totality of Psyche.
3. Understand the archetypal unity of reality as mediated through the polarization of the masculine and feminine poles and how that polarization

Workshop Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the paradox of hiddenness and revelation of the Totality as expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. Understand the exegetical approach to the Hidden Feminine through the exploration of Covenant, Wisdom (Sophia) and the Shekina.
3. Understand the Book of Judith as the template of how the feminine is hidden and revealed in the sacred text.
4. Explore and engage with stories from one’s own religious/secular life that offer renewal and redemption.
5. Become familiar with other sacred texts, myths and secular stories that provide a template for re-membering and redeeming what has been lost as a source of power and authenticity.
6. Understand how the connection between the affective and the intellectual functions can create a new synthesis of what has been discarded and what is possible.

Silvia Behrend, D.Min., M.Div., is a Certified Archetypal Pattern Analyst in private practice in Olympia, WA. Experience in teaching and developing doctoral level classes, programs that bridge cultural, sociological, political and interfaith communities, demonstrated the transformational power of art on individuals and community. Adjunct faculty at Seattle University School of Ministry and Theology, the Assisi Institute, she lectures nationally and internationally on leadership, creativity, and Jungian psychology. Recently published in the Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche: The Hidden Feminine: Jung, Judaism and Judith.

Programs presented by the C. G. Jung Society, Seattle (unless otherwise noted) have approved CEUs by the Washington Chapter National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists and Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Provider number is #1975- 157.

Updated: 3 January 2015

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