Abstract Index Conference Index

ABSTRACT

Gail A. Grynbaum, RN, PhD
email: grynbaum@earthlink.net

1. Type of Presentation:
General Event (for adults)
Time requested: 1 hour

2. Title of Presentation:
The Planetary Dream of Harry Potter

3. Presenter:
Gail A. Grynbaum, R.N., Ph.D. Private practice, San Francisco and candidate in the Analytic Training program at the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco.

4. Summary:
The "Harry Potter phenomenon" signals the emergence of a new energy and consciousness around the world. Certain myths or stories have the same relationship to the collective psyche that a personal dream does to an individual. This presentation/discussion will explore the meaning of the Harry Potter dream to our culture.
5. Three learning objectives:
To understand the relationship between fairy tales and dreams.
To grasp the symbolic meaning of Harry Potter.
To gain insight into the projection of the shadow and the existence of
evil.

Three evaluation questions:
What is a relationship between fairy tales and dreams?
What is a symbolic meaning of Harry Potter?
How might the character of Voldemort be a projection of the shadow?

8. Abstract:
The advent of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books (Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Goblet of Fire) signal a major psychical and literary event that has conjured up magical new energy around the world. The tales also feed a collective hunger for an image of renewal and hope. The presenter, an analytical psychologist, interprets the Harry Potter books from a cultural and psychological perspective. Certain myths or stories have the same relationship to the collective psyche that a personal dream does to an individual. The entire story of Harry Potter is viewed as a modern fairy tale or dream series that reflects the spiritual and moral questions of our time.
The Harry Potter stories record the coming of age of an intuitive boy, in which the traditional young hero's journey is woven through an unfamiliar hermetic world. The vivid images and themes of each book are explored along with amplification of the symbolic material. The presenter delves into the Harry Potter phenomenon psychologically through the archetypes (initiation, shamanism, alchemy) that emerge out of tales. Harry Potter is seen as a contemporary healer who goes through his initiatory training via his dark encounters with the demonic Lord Voldemort at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Like a dream series with vivid images and archetypal themes, Harry Potter and his world stirs and works on us. To bring the "dream" to consciousness we need to plumb the depths of it by moving into the Hogwarts environment and experience the energy of imaginative characters like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Headmaster Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort and the Dementors. Then we will reflect on Harry's own dreams and nightmares and the significant archetypes that emerge from the stories. A focus of the discussion will be contemporary themes, known well to dreamworkers, such as scapegoating and the projection of the shadow, dissociation and embodiment, and the battle between good and evil. We will explore how might the conscious situation on the planet be compensated by the Harry Potter stories.

Join Gail Grynbaum, PhD for a presentation and focused group discussion to reflect on the many layers of meaning that Harry Potter and his friends and foe are carrying for both children and adults.

10. Additional Documentation
1. Active credentials: MFC License # 25529, Ph.D. Degree in Counseling
Psychology
2. Dream training: Dream classes at California Institute of Integral Studies as part of PhD., Dream intensives and cyberdream coach training with Robert Bosnak; Dream training and apprenticeship program with Marion Woodman; 8th year candidate at the SF Jung Institute. Ongoing clinical consultation and dreamwork with Jungian analyst.
3. Dream workshops: As part of my apprenticeship program with Marion Woodman, I have worked on peoples dreams in the workshops and work extensively with my patients dreams. I am in an on-going dreamgroup for 10 years and on the internet in a cyberdreamgroup with Robert Bosnak.
4. Orientation:
Jungian
5. Group Activities: Brief warm up: attendees will be given the opportunity to tell any dreams that refer to Harry Potter; to analyze some of Harry's dreams that are described in the books. Focus: discussion of the meaning of the cultural phenomena of Harry Potter; to share thoughts on how the conscious situation on the planet may be compensated by the Harry Potter stories.