Jung Club Evening Lectures
All are Welcome
- Thursday Evening lectures are held at the Essex Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RT. 7pm for 7.30pm. They are also accessible on Zoom, unless otherwise stated.
- Cost: £20. There is no charge for Club Members.
- Friday evening lectures are held online only and many form part of a Weekend Workshop – noted on the Events Calendar.
- Cost: £25 (Members £20)
Note: No recording is permitted at our Lectures and Seminars.
Booking and Payments
- Online: Prior booking online is essential to receive the Zoom link via email – click on the Book Now button for individual Events – listed below
- In-person: Cash or Card payments can be made at the door.
CPD Certificates will be emailed on request.
Note: No recording is permitted at our Lectures and Seminars.
Upcoming Event Listings
The dates given are Thursday evenings unless otherwise noted. They will all be held at the venue and online, again, unless otherwise stated.
Speaker/s: Rev Erin Clark
Who is the Black Madonna and who is she for? Representations of black- or brown-skinned Madonnas exist across Europe, with no clear agreement on their origin. Some say she is the shadow aspect of the divine feminine; others believe she has persisted within and beyond Roman Catholicism from ancient Mediterranean goddess cults. Some argue she’s just gone dusky from all the candle-smoke.
Often sidelined, frequently disfigured, occasionally an outright embarrassment to organised religion, these Madonnas retain the ability to attract numerous, passionate devotees. This talk will look at beliefs and practices associated with the Black Madonna, listen out for the radical messages that emerge, and suggest what the Black Madonna might have to say to us today.
About the Speaker/s:
Erin Clark is an American writer and priest living in London. She is the rector of St Matthew’s, Bethnal Green, and the author of Whom Sea Left Behind: a Leviathaniary, Sacred Pavement, and a coauthor of The Book of Queer Prophets: 24 Writers on Sexuality & Religion.
Speaker/s: Julian Rose
‘The truth is illusive’, some say. But that is only because we don’t give enough importance to how to be true to ourselves and to our imperative to call-out injustice in the outside world.
The psychology of being a good citizen in a globalised neoliberal society/world demands complying to the rules of the game as played by the prevailing status quo: make money, make an impression and make sure to avoid the search for truth. This is the perfect receipt for democide and ecocide – which is precisely where we are going.
The vision required to avoid Armageddon builds on another agenda, one that recognises that answers do not come from ‘above’ but from ‘within’. Those answers have their source in a Universal Truth which is omniscient and omnipotent. Only when such truths are adopted as the way forward for humanity, will we see the future as bright. Iridescent even.
About the Speaker/s:
Julian Rose is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, a writer, broadcaster, international activist and owner of the Hardwick Estate in South Oxfordshire. He is author of three books, the most recent of which is ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind’.
Speaker/s: Diane Finiello Zervas
Most Jungians are aware of the similarities between the written and musical ideas of Richard Wagner and the psychological concepts of C. G. Jung, first presented by Robert Donington in Wagner’s Ring and its Symbols (1963). What has been missing, however, is a detailed knowledge of Jung’s own views on Wagner and his operas, especially the Ring and Parsifal.
Diane’s talk will highlight the recent discovery and publication of Jung’s writings and visual works during the years around the First World War and new information about the 1920 English seminar held at Sennen Cove, Cornwall, which reveal the extent of Jung’s and Emma Jung’s personal and psychological interest in Wagner’s life and works, and subsequent influence on their professional writings.
Cost for the event: £25
Club members: no charge when booking with Access Code
About the Speaker/s:
Diane Finiello Zervas PhD is an art historian and a senior analyst with IGAP. She has written "Intimations of the Self: Jung’s Mandala Sketches, 1917" for The
Art of C. G. Jung (W. W. Norton & Company, 2019). Her book "Enchanting the Unconscious: Jung’s Reception in Great Britain, The Red Book, and his English Seminars", 1919 and 1920 will be published by Routledge in May.
Speaker/s: Bob Withers
Dissociation is a common reaction to trauma. In extreme cases the psyche dissociates from the body entirely, identifying with a disembodied mind. Experiences the psyche fears to face may be split-off and projected into parts of the body, which are then experienced as "other". Under these circumstances, reuniting mind and body - one of the aims of individuation- can give rise to powerful resistances as the psyche encounters the terrifying affects associated with the original traumatic experiences.
If these traumatic experiences happened in early infancy before the mastery of language and declarative memory, a person may feel as if they have been "born in the wrong body".
In this talk Bob Withers will use themes introduced in his previous talk "Gender dysphoria, individuation and the Shadow" to develop a way of understanding and working with, not only gender dysphoria, but a variety of other psychosomatic conditions including hypochondria, and body dysmorphia. He will use these ideas to critique Melanie Suchet’s (2011) trans-affirmative paper "crossing over".
About the Speaker/s:
Robert Withers is a training analyst and lecturer with the Society of Analytical psychology, co-founder of The Rock Clinic in Brighton, former senior lecturer on the mind body relationship in medicine at the University of Westminster, international lecturer, researcher and author of a series of articles on a variety of subjects from complementary medicine to psychoanalysis the mind body relationship and gender dysphoria.
Past Event Listings
The events shown below are previous events held by the club. They are for reference only and cannot be booked.
Speaker/s: Louise Fenton
Vodoun is an ancient religion in West Africa, misrepresented and often misunderstood. It is a powerful spiritual force that permeates every aspect of life in Benin. There is a pantheon of elemental deities whose spirits serve the people through rituals and ceremonies which connect the living with their ancestors. This talk will explore Vodoun in general, before focussing on the ceremonies that bring justice, blessings and joy to communities. Louise will then consider the history and evolution of the Zangbeto ceremony with its magic and dance by deities in straw that pulsate to the beat of the Vodoun drums, and the spinning colourful Egungun that must not be touched for fear of death.
About the Speaker/s:
Louise Fenton is a cultural historian and anthropologist specialising in West African Vodoun, Haitian Vodou and Witchcraft. After studying Fine Art she read Caribbean History at the University of Warwick. She has spent many years researching and working with Vodoun priests, priestesses and communities across Benin and Togo. She teaches at the University of Wolverhampton and lectures and consults across the UK and internationally.
Speaker/s: Maxim Ilyashenko and Olena Brante
The aim of our presentation is to explore how the practice of analytical psychology can be helpful during challenging events like war. Since the war in Ukraine started, Maksym and Olena have facilitated groups for Ukrainian colleagues, including reading groups and dream matrices within the "With Ukrainian Jungians" initiative. The symbolic life unfolding in the matrix reveals the depth and radiance of darkness as a distinct figure and powerful participant in the group process. Olena and Maksym invite you to reflect on the shadow of war and the possibility that it might be golden.
About the Speaker/s:
Maxim Ilyashenko is a Jungian psychotherapist from Ukraine (MsPsy, UKCP, ECP) in private practice in London since 2015. His special interest is in music, arts, mythology, dreams and Jung's "Red/Black Books"
Olena Brante is a Ukrainian psychologist (MA), a Jungian analyst, and an individual member of the IAAP. She has a private practice in Waterford, Ireland working online and offline with adults. She is facilitator of a Dream Matrix.
Speaker/s: Dr Cameron Dodds
An immersive journey into the compelling realm of "The Weird." Centred on unorthodox and subversive art practices, the discourse delves fervently into the transformative potential inherent in this concept. Drawing inspiration from the alchemical tradition, the emphasis is placed on "The Weird" as a dynamic force transcending conventional artistic boundaries. The exploration encourages scholars and practitioners to venture into uncharted territories of creativity, where "The Weird" emerges as a potent catalyst for profound and experimental artistic expression.
About the Speaker/s:
Dr Cameron Dodds is a research fellow at Bath Spa University and lecturer in composition at The University of West London. His research explores the “weird-as-process” and aims to uncover the complex relationship between unconventional artistic forms, fiction, and complex unconscious processes. He works under the para-academic moniker “Haunted Network Research Initiative” and lives in Godalming with his wife and his cat.
Speaker/s: Alan Mulhern
Human nature is in a state of transition. Trans-sexuality, trans-ideology, and the LGBTQ+ spectrum are part of the Zeitgeist of our time whose unfolding purpose is trans-humanism. This whole movement is deeply implicated with technological change and is only possible because of the spiritual abyss at the centre of Western culture. Will the new hybrid between humanity and Artificial Intelligence eviscerate our inner world and destroy even our capacity to introspect?
A new spiritual vision must be able to see the Faustian pact between on the one hand a highly inquisitive, knowledge thirsty, and power hungry humanity, and on the other the demonic forces it has let loose.
About the Speaker/s:
Alan Mulhern PhD is a Jungian analyst with a background in the social sciences and humanities. He is the creator and director of the Quest Lecture series. His podcast series is called The Quest, Vision in Age of Crisis. He has published numerous articles plus two books, one on Healing Intelligence, the other a metaphysical and mythological creation myth. His current book project is called The Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Speaker/s: Dr Martin Gledhill
The premise of this talk is that the role of the “outer” environment in the evolution of Jung’s sense of Self has been overlooked. That Jung dedicated an entire chapter of his “autobiography” to The Tower, indicates its pivotal role in his life and work, and yet the analysis of its evolution and interpretation found in MDR is surprisingly short. Whilst that narrative is beguiling, I contend that it is underexamined, incomplete, inaccurate, and consequently inadequate in aiding an understanding of a Jungian sense of place. In resituating the Tower, both historically and symbolically, interweaving the topography of the unconscious with the typology of place, a meaningful sense of belonging can be constructed that transcends both inner and outer worlds.
About the Speaker/s:
Dr Martin Gledhill, in parallel with practicing and teaching architecture, has been intrigued by Jung. In 2014 he completed a Masters in Jungian and Post Jungian Studies, where unsurprisingly his dissertation explored his Tower. Such is his fascination for Bollingen that he has developed the study of it into a Ph D, which he is in the process of publishing.
Speaker/s: Katerina Sarafidou
Active imagination is one of Jung’s most original contributions to the understanding of the dynamics of the psyche and to working with the contents of the unconscious and yet he only sparingly references the subject in the Collected Works. His own self-experimentation documented in the Red Book took the form of entering into waking fantasies and dialoguing with the characters that appeared. The development of this approach as a systematic way of engaging with the inner world made analytical psychology a distinct discipline of psychotherapy beyond the cure of neuroses. This seminar will explore Jung’s active imagination as this is elucidated in the Red Book and Black Books, its implications for the understanding of the psyche, and its role in individuation.
About the Speaker/s:
Katerina Sarafidou is an honorary member of the British Jungian Analytic Association and Head of Research at the MSc Psychodynamics of Human Development run by Birkbeck College and the British Psychotherapy Foundation. She teaches in several psychoanalytic and Jungian trainings and is one of three founders of The Circle of Analytical Psychology, which offers a 2-year study on Jung’s Red Book.
Speaker/s: Emily Selove
Siraj al-Din al-Sakkaki was a court magician in 13th-century Central Asia—a time and place of notorious unrest. I will read his Arabic book of magic in dialogue with Jung’s “Concerning Rebirth,” and its treatment of Faust’s bargain with the devil. Like Sakkaki, Marlowe’s Faust struck a deal with the devil in a magic circle, mastering his fear, and binding the demon with sacred oaths before signing a contract. But like Faust, Sakkaki’s shadow-work did not end well; he died in jail after losing a battle of magic in the court of a paranoid khan. Though we may read his magic as a work of failed nigredo—an alchemical experiment gone fatally awry-Sakkaki’s hands-on approach to the problem of evil provides an instructive example to our own troubled age.
About the Speaker/s:
Emily Selove is an associate professor in Medieval Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Exeter, where she convenes the Centre for Magic and Esotericism. She was the PI of a Leverhulme-funded research project, "A Sorcerer's Handbook," (2019-2022) which will create an edition and translation of Siraj al-Din al-Sakkaki's (d. 1229) magic handbook The Book of the Complete.
Speaker/s: Erica Lorentz
"The body is merely the visibility of the soul, the psyche, and the soul is the psychological experience of the body. So it is really one and the same thing." C. G. Jung
Jung states that we cannot transform without a connection to our body. His journey, as chronicled in The Black Books, was to redeem the embodied soul from exile for modern psychology. We will trace through neuroscience and history how and why our body was relegated to the shadow. Using Jung’s embodied active imagination method we can engage with our embodied soul and re-member it.
About the Speaker/s:
About the Speaker:
Erica Lorentz, MEd, LPC, Jungian Analyst (IAAP) is a training analyst at the C. G. Jung Institute of New England. Her book, Body as Shadow: Jung’s Embodied Individuation Process, addresses her embodied work. She has taught at Antioch New England Graduate School of Professional Psychology and throughout the US, Canada, and in India. The Jung Platform and YouTube feature her work.
Please see the Weekend Workshop page for details of the second part of this Workshop