Mythologium 2021 welcomes Patricia von Papstein and Kristina Dryža

Patricia and Kristina’s talk is called “Trickster Energy as a Healing Force?”

The Trickster is a beautifully iridescent archetypal character in mythology. In contrast to its liberating behavior qualities, it’s been much maligned and demonized throughout history. By decrypting the Trickster archetype in its multi-dimensional ability to peek behind the curtains, the two presenters will discuss how those in the business world can engage mythology and psychology to ensure that their products and services are ‘Trickster worthy.’

Drawing on the archetypes of the goddess queens Aphrodite and Persephone, Patricia and Kristina will illustrate how both, facing growing and decaying are essential for meeting the Trickster at the threshold. We live in a time where we experience ourselves and the world as fragmented – outside perhaps solid, but on the inside atomising. Travelling between the upper world and the under world like a trickster, not like a charlatan, is a fresh approach to healing.

About Patricia and Kristina

Patricia von Papstein is a business woman, a clinical and organizational psychologist and a lover of technology and the arts. Following through to her credo “Bliss to Business!” she challenges business and capital owners to refine their unconventional talents and to market products that keep a secret, spread self-irony and celebrate the spirit of contradiction. Currently she has accepted to become a jury member of the Berlin science fiction festival. You can visit her website at www.blisstobusiness.com.

Kristina Dryža is recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists and is also an archetypal consultant and author. She has always been fascinated by patterns and feels we are patterned beings in a patterned universe. Her work focuses on archetypal and mythic patterns and the patterning of nature’s rhythms and their influence on creativity, innovation and leadership.

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.

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.