Tag: Liminal

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Mythologium 2022 welcomes Dr. Mary Lounsbury

Mary’s talk is called “Invisible Weaving at the Liminal Loom”

Birds build nests. Bees make honey. What do humans do? We give form to the imaginal impulse. Yet, facing the challenges of the Anthropocene era, we must question the virtue of “human nature.” Ought we to align with it, or defy it?

A mythological awareness is helpful. Imagine mythology as an invisible weaving, and we are the weavers. The work proceeds, with or without our awareness, but awareness helps us find our way to the rhythms and patterns that shape our lives. Awareness elucidates our continuity with location, elements, and the influences of anima mundi. Awareness helps us better understand each other and ourselves.

This experiential session offers a simple method for group imaginal exploration. Coming together around the liminal loom, we become more aware of our invisible threads. What are others thinking, feeling, and noticing? Where do our threads cross, align, or diverge? We weave a sense of group mythology, to which each relates in their own way.

About Mary

Mary Lounsbury is a mythologist and creative arts facilitator, with a PhD in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and a BS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research supports the use of the creative process as means to integrate and enhance intuitive, intellectual, and experiential knowing; addresses the social importance of the mythic imagination, which emerges out of shared experience; and bridges the relationship between Self and Other.

Mary founded Mythos-Sphere in 2016 as a social context for exploring the space between real and pretend. To learn more about her work, please visit her website: https://www.mythos-sphere.com/

2022 Mythologium program
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The Mythologium welcomes Dr. Karin Zirk

Karin’s presentation is called, “Using Trickster Mythology to Create Change”

Tricksters change shape, cross boundaries, and shatter dysfunctional ideologies without intentionality. From traditional mythologies to modern characters we know and love, tricksters occupy a liminal space. However, tricksters are unique beings with their own needs and wants. Karin’s talk will dig into the subtle distinctions between specific trickster characters—past and present—from a mythographic perspective and empower trickster energy to create new paradigms both in our personal lives and our culture. A handout will be provided with trickster information and journaling prompts conference attendees can utilize to engage their inner trickster at a later date.

View Karin’s presentationDownload

About Karin:

Karin Zirk, Ph.D. completed her doctorate in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute where her dissertation focused on using mythic artifacts and journal writing to enhance well-being in family caregivers. She has taught Humanities courses in the San Diego Community College District and she facilities workshops that incorporate mythic narratives, active imagination, and journal writing to animate human connections to the natural world. She will be presenting, “We Already Have a Border Wall: The US/Mexican Border as Cultural Complex” on a panel for the Psychology, Culture and Religion panel at the American Academy of Religion conference in November 2019. Her novel, Falling From The Moon, will be released later this year from Talk Story Publishing. She lives in San Diego, California and is deeply involved in protecting and restoring her local creek.

You can connect with Karin through her website.