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ABSTRACT

Panel Chairperson: Martha Peacock
E-mail: marpeacock@aol.com

Archetypes, The Architecture of Our Dreams

3. Bios:

Francesca Ferrentelli is a psychotherapist in St. Louis, specializing in eating disorders, chemical dependency and adolescent psychology. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Francesca has been doing serious dream work since 1987.

Marie Elliot-Gartner is a United States citizen who resides in Rosenheim, Germany, where she teaches English via theatre. Much like her doctoral dissertation work at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Marie's involvement with dream includes an archetypal performance - a type of tending and extending theatrical characters beyond their roles through image, movement and sound.

Peter Plessas holds a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and has lead groups in Boston and Santa Cruz. Currently, his doctoral dissertation work at Pacifica Graduate, entitled "A Twist of Hair," revisions the Dionysian archetype of stage. Peter is active in the queer community in San Francisco, is a published poet, visionary and healing practitioner.

Martha Peacock is a Ph.D. candidate in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. In addition to her mythological pursuits, she is a teacher and student of dream images, a freelance writer and lecturer focusing on phenomenological and archetypal patterns of the unconscious. Martha resides in Tampa, Florida.

4. Summary of Presentation

Mythological images and symbols that appear in dream often reveal collective
patterns operating unconsciously in our lives. Using theory, personal experience and
the imaginal lens of archetypal psychology, the relationship between these patterns
and mythological figures will reveal larger patterns of a collective consciousness at
work within the psyche.

5. The three learning objectives of this discussion include: 1. A deeper understanding of archetypes and their qualities within the dream; 2. Jungian and post-Jungian archetypal theories, 3. Mythology's role in archetypal psychology.

Therefore, participants who attend this discussion should gain clarification on the
following questions: "What is an archetype?" "How can archetypal images be revealed in the dream?" and "Imaginally, who is present when dreaming archetypally?"

8. Archetype. Carl Jung re-introduced this word into modern psychology and today it's almost jargon, tossed around in professional circles or casually dropped like a famous name. The use of the word has become a covert way of communicating a particular knowledge, a way of identifying with certain groups and individuals and perhaps excluding others. But if you ask ten people what the word means, you may get ten different answers for the very definition of the word implies a vast array of mythological images and symbols, some paradoxical, and all expressed through a powerful feeling. To help de-mystify this word, archetype, we are proposing an archetypal panel for the Santa Cruz ASD Conference in July 2001. Each speaker has an academic background in archetypal psychology and is working on a doctoral dissertation in Pacifica Graduate Institute's Mythological Studies program.

To begin, Marie will discuss the dream image of Aphrodite's sacred flower and the
goddess' response to an active imagination exercise that transformed the image of a
rose to bleeding roses on a cross. Aphrodite grieved at our culture's neglect of her as
the deity of Beauty and Love, except within an artificial or pornographic sense.
During this presentation, honor and respect will be paid to Aphrodite through image
that includes poetry, music and visual transparencies. Marie will work to actively
imagine the dream image of rose, invoking the archetypal presence of Aphrodite so
that participates may experience the goddess'/archetype's presence.

Hermes (Mercury) visits the dreamtime via myriad manifestations. Francesca will discuss this messenger-god who also appears as the trickster, the psychopomp who leads souls into the Underworld, and when Aphrodite appears, he is always close at hand. Though one must anticipate his trickery, his gifts are numerous. Encoded in the language of the dreamscape, the Hermes archetype transmits valuable "dream data" regarding our past, present and future. Whether this archetype appears in a "big dream" or over a series of dreams, one is wise to learn to recognize him and listen.

Peter will present the drama, drunkenness and dismemberment that symbolize a Dionysian consciousness. Whether at a party where spirits pour freely, on the stage of human drama or at the bloody hands of senseless slaughter, Dionysus is alive and present as the passionate liberator-god who reigns over our experience of excess and ecstasy. Using the theories of James Hillman, the archetype of Dionysus within the dream world will be explored as a returning to the shadowy Underworld. As we closely focus on the dream's image, the depths and mystery of Dionysian consciousness will offer a re-membered reunion with our passion and ecstatic self.

Martha will discuss the dream image of Persephone and the psychological necessity of metaphorical rape. If soul is over-identified with Mother, it can seek separation through a psychological abduction - a rape - that violently moves the Persephone soul from innocence and thrusts it into a relationship with the Other. This abduction seemingly comes from out of nowhere, grabbing us by the neck and carrying us under, as we mentally suffer the heat of transformation. Using the theories of Carl Jung and James Hillman, this presentation will weave together mythological narrative, dream images and personal story to demonstrate the correlation of dream symbol and archetype.

These archetypes, and others, are part of our personal and cultural consciousness.
Catching a glimpse of them in the dream often reveals the complexity of a larger pattern that moves beyond the personal into the collective. As we present images, theories and personal experiences through the imaginal lens of archetypal psychology, we hope to help each participant understand the connection between archetypes and the mythological figures that operate unconsciously within the psyche.