Jennifer’s talk is called “Return to Turtle Island: Imagination, Nature, and Myth Woven into an Ecopsychological Story and Process: Seeds of Renewal for the Future”
Healing for ourselves and our planet will only evolve if we have the symbols and images embedded in myth that evoke energies of renewal, reciprocity, and ecological belonging. I have created an ecopsychological mythopoesis based on a dream of two flying brachiosauruses carrying Mother Turtle to our small farm in Michigan. This story is a journey of renewal and remembering of primal images from the Iroquois Great Lakes creation myth of Skywoman. How does this new story help us reimagine and connect to our ecological selves? What is missing in modern culture that has closed our perceptions to our ecological birthing as an individual, community, and the larger culture? I hope you will join me in learning about this story and the images that have journeyed to reconnect us to our souls and our purpose in the natural world.
About Jennifer
Jennifer L. Kautz, MA, is a Doctoral Candidate in Ecopsychology and Environmental Humanities at Viridis Graduate Institute in Ojai, CA. Her doctoral project is a mythopoetic story and ritual of renewal and remembering, evoking primal imagery in modern times. Jennifer’s own journey began at General Motors, with a 20-year career in engineering design and process. In 2000, she began working with Jean Houston and Peggy Rubin, engaging with the realm of myth, archetype, and ritual. Jennifer left corporate life and began her educational path in community counseling and ecopsychology. Her work is influenced by her research experience in Detroit urban farming and the 16-acre farm she owns with her husband. Jennifer is interested in connecting modern culture with the power of myth and ritual as tools for accessing the mythic self.
Jennifer is a certified Master Gardener and Yoga Teacher. Spirit Garden is her first published work of poetry. Her email is: jennifer.kautz@viridis.edu.