Soul Seminars: The Dark Night of the Soul
Dear friends,
We are very happy to welcome back Jasbinder Garnermann to Soul Seminars at The Lantern Centre. Jasbinder Garnermann is Chairwoman of the C.G. Jung Society of Ireland and the Jung Centre. She will be talking about depression from a Jungian perspective followed by a discussion among the group.
About the Evening - 'The Dark Night of the Soul'
‘Whoever departs from the world without having his own inner world, to him life has been of no service; it remains unlived, like the unrecited Vedas or any other undone deed.’ (Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad 1. 4. 15)
Just as there are rhythms of ebb and flow in all of nature, in the seasons, in day and night, so also in our psychological life there is an ebb and flow of energy. When everything progresses smoothly, we feel heartened and optimistic, feeling in tune with life and its progression. But when we meet failure, disappointment or obstacles this free flow of libido is disrupted and even blocked. No longer able to invest the world with meaning, we feel purposeless and adrift. Most often, we redouble our efforts to gain meaning from the old formulae. These might work for a while but eventually the whole vehicle of our lives comes to a standstill, and we can find no way of going forward. We despair of ever finding purpose and meaning again, the old channels of expression have dried up, and the world becomes colourless and devoid of passion.
This phase in our lives is often experienced as a depression or a mid-life crisis, but in fact it is an attempt on the part of our psyche to pull back in order to go forward with renewed vigour. Because our energy can no longer flow outwards, it is forced to retreat and turn inwards so that a new adaptation can take place. This involves a regression of libido back through all the layers of the conscious as well as the unconscious. By going with this regression we can encounter all the old complexes, inhibitions and conflicts that have held us prisoner and tied us up in knots. On this inward journey we encounter our childhood fixations, our developmental crises and the whole inner world of our psychological structures. Feelings, needs and fears that have lain buried for decades are now available to us to be re-experienced, processed and laid to rest properly instead of defended against and repressed. With these buried feelings and fears are also segments of our real self which also got repressed along with the pain that we could not deal with at the time with our limited resources.
Now, as adults, if we can hold our consciousness steady and surrender ourselves to the process, we get a second chance to heal our psyches and attain the treasure of wholeness. It takes daring and supreme trust in one’s self but that too is there for the taking, because now we learn to surrender the ego and base our centre of consciousness in the Self.
ABOUT JASBINDER GARNERMANN
Jasbinder Garnermann is Chairwoman of the C.G. Jung Society of Ireland and the Jung Centre. The Jung Society and Centre run lectures, courses and workshops throughout the year. For articles, updates and more information please visit JungCentre.com
As always registration will be from 7pm-7.30pm. The talk will run then until 10pm with a break for tea and coffee and finish up with a Q&A.
We hope to see you there!
Martin Duffy