Tag: trauma

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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Julie Ciecior

Julie’s presentation is called “The Self-Care System of Helen of Troy: Dividing of a Soul”

The enigmatic heart of Helen of Troy has been the subject of our projections for thousands of years. She has lived in our minds in shame as the too-beautiful whore who caused the Trojan War. Perhaps there is more mythos waiting to unfold?

This presentation will utilize Euripides’ play, Helen, as well as Donald Kalsched’s work, “The Inner Word of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit.” I propose that traumatic experiences in Helen’s life may have caused Helen to psychologically divide into the eidolon in Euipidies’ play, Helen. This is to say that psychologically speaking, Helen retreats with Paris in eidolon form, while her physical form remains in Egypt. Kalsched notes that the term, ‘daimonic’ comes from daiomai, which means to divide.” Her eidolon appears to be what Kalsched defines as “the self-care system,’ which arises to protect the heart and soul of the traumatized person. I will explore the function of this protective system and how it may soften our own hearts towards Helen’s plight.

The presentation will end by investigating how her reunion with her love, Menelaus, supports the process of her psyche coming back together and healing the psychological divide she has endured.

About Julie

Julie Ciecior, MA, LPC, is a Colorado based depth psychotherapist, adoptee, mother, mythologist, writer, and tireless seeker of meaning making. She is currently pursuing a MA/PhD degree in Mythology with an Emphasis on Depth Psychology through Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is particularly interested in the intersection between creativity, mythology, psychology, and soul. When these elements meet in the alchemical cauldron that we call life, the real magic arises and this is where her heart leads her research.

2023 Mythologium program
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Mythologium 2022 welcomes The Reverend Doctor Pamela D. Hancock

Pamela’s talk is called “Working with Earth Allies to Heal Person and Place”

This year I am releasing the groundbreaking, choose-your-own-adventure myth game for self-analysis called Mythic Mapping. In this presentation I will explore a very specific part of Mythic Mapping: Earth Allies. Inspired by my work with the Irish mythologist, Sharon Blackie, the Earth Allies process encourages us to connect deeply with the world around us for healing both people and place.

This revolutionary process encourages us to identify the parts of our landscape or animals we are attracted to, and then determine what stories they have to share. In order to heal the planet, we need new myths—not only to reconnect us to the planet, but also to discover parts of our selves. In Mythic Mapping, Earth Allies help us do that work. Based in Jung’s theories about archetypes and the individuation process, Earth Allies are plants, animals, minerals, stones, and parts of the landscape on which a person lives. In my presentation I will explore the overall importance of Nature in Depth Psychology and how we can evolve as a result. I will also provide the specific process one can go through to identify their own Earth Allies and create new personal myths for change.

About Pamela

The Reverend Doctor Pamela D. Hancock is the Assistant Professor of Spiritual Practice and Care of the Soul as well as the Director of the Chaplaincy Program at Starr King School for the Ministry. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister, Priestess of the Sisters of Moon and Snow Coven, and holds a masters of divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry (2015). She received her PhD in Depth Psychology with a focus in Jungian and Archetypal Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in May 2022. Her dissertation focused on the creation of a self-directed program for trauma survivors to embark on an individuation journey, through the creative examination of myth. No stranger to trauma herself, Rev. Hancock is a survivor of sexual violence, as well as a life-threatening kidney disease and a forced Caesarean section that left her with terrible postpartum depression after the birth of her son. She is dedicated, wholeheartedly, to helping people heal, building bridges between communities, bringing people together to honor the sacred in all things, supporting environmental advocacy, and helping women embody all parts of their trues selves. Rev. Dr. Pamela Hancock is a published author and multi-media artist, workshop facilitator, and the Director of the virtual spiritual center, the Sacred Outpost. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her husband, John, an engineer and musician, and their young son, Hudson. Visit her website for more information: www.RevPamelaDawn.com.

2022 Mythologium program
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Mythologium 2021 welcomes Dr. Colleen Salomon

Colleen’s talk is called “Wedded to Death: Trauma and Healing within ‘The Robber Bridegroom'”

“Ach! My dear child, if I don’t rescue you, you will be lost!” cries the old woman in the Grimm Brothers’ story, “The Robber Bridegroom.” Yet the rescue does not occur until after the violence has taken place, and it is the young woman who must save herself.

The shadowy world of the fairy tale is one wherein evil fabricates traps, well hidden within societal mores and tradition. Here, the horrific happens with regularity and its victims often have little recourse but to be ensnared. This fate befalls the maiden in “The Robber Bridegroom.” Yet the occult information the tale harbors regarding trauma and its transformative powers has not been explored sufficiently by modern scholars. In this presentation, I analyze the story, employing the lens of shamanism, and shamanism clothed as witchcraft. Gathering in other German folktales, I glean clues that help explain the experience of shattering that the maiden undergoes, leading to a new kind of wholeness, one that empowers her to take a role of leadership within her clan.

About Colleen

After studying art history and languages at Purdue University, Colleen Salomon, Ph.D. continued her academic work at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Hamburg, Germany. During years of living and working in Germany, she had the privilege of hearing many stories of the trauma of World War II, told by the people who had lived through the events. She witnessed the healing that emerged through the telling of the stories. In a very concrete way, she learned about the fundamental necessity of myth to the individual. Returning to the US, and working as a curator at the Williamson Gallery of Scripps College, Colleen earned a master’s degree in psychology. Later, she was drawn to Pacifica Graduate Institute to study mythology with a particular emphasis on the role of myth in the healing of trauma. Colleen holds a doctorate in mythological studies and depth psychology. Her dissertation focuses on the ancient knowledge of trauma contained within the old stories still told in Germany.

2021 Mythologium program
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Mythologium 2021 welcomes Rev. Pamela Dawn Hancock

Pamela’s talk is called “Mythic Mapping: A New Way to Use Myth in the Individuation Journey”

Trauma affects over 50% of the population. From sexual abuse to domestic violence, a terrifying number of people will go through some sort of turning point that changes their lives forever. Being a rape survivor and having suffered debilitating postpartum depression, I know this to be true. C. G. Jung himself experienced his own life-altering experience when he split from Freud; after which he went down his own unique individuation path. In my presentation I will share my research on how a traumatic turning-point can open the gateway to a conscious individuation path. My depth psychology dissertation, entitled Mythic Mapping, combines game-design, storytelling, active imagination, and dreamwork into a life-long Self-discovery adventure. Utilizing stories of eight Goddesses of the world as mythic examples of individuation after trauma, Mythic Mapping can be used by individuals who may not have access to therapy. With this revolutionary system that includes a workbook, map, spinner, dice and more, self-discovery is at one’s fingertips. My offering will share how I developed this system, by way of my own active imagination work and paying attention to the synchronicities that have deeply connected me with Myth and Self!

About Pamela

I was raised in the Southern California Mountains (the land of the Serrano People) where I currently reside with my husband and son. I am the Assistant Professor of Spiritual Practice & Care for the Soul at Starr King School for the Ministry, and the Priestess of the Sacred Outpost in Crestline, CA. As a child I found the Divine at the lake near my parents’ cabin. The big pine trees surrounding it were my sacred space—my church. It was there that I began to understand that we are all part of the Divine Web of All Creation. At the age of twelve I sought comprehension of that Web by starting my study of the World’s Religions. While obtaining my B.A. from the University of Redlands, Johnston Center, I delved into Feminist Spirituality, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism. I moved in and out of different spiritual practices after College, weaving together the energies of all of the Archetypal-Forces with whom I entwine. In 2011 in ritual with the group I led, I heard the call: Nourish others’ understanding of their connection to the Sacred in all things! So off I went to Starr King School for the Ministry (a Unitarian Universalist Seminary) where I received my Master of Divinity, and the Chaplaincy Institute for Ordination as an Interfaith Minister. Having battled a long-time kidney illness, I almost died of an infection after completing Seminary, but found solace in finding my true path of Alchemy and Depth Psychology during this difficult ordeal. After a full recovery I began the adventure to obtain my PhD. in Depth Psychology with a specialization in Jungian & Archetypal Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where I am now dedicating my dissertation work towards designing a program for Trauma Survivors to embark on an individuation quest.

2021 Mythologium program