This lecture discusses electronic gambling machines known as “pokies” in Australia, “slot machines” in the United States of America and “fruit machines” in the United Kingdom. It explores their use of symbols, how players may be entranced by the promise of spiritual connection and let down by the lack of revelation. Regulations surrounding electronic gambling machines vary greatly around the world and continue to be the subject of fierce political and social debate in Australia ..read more

This lecture explores the alchemical union of opposites through the symbolism of bees including love and war, sweetness and bitterness, the individual and multiplicity, regeneration and death. Circumambulating the hive is linked with mandala symbolism and the archetype of inner order ..read more

Dionysus the Forgotten God discusses myths of the complex and fragile God, Dionysus - born of both parents and a third time reborn of the underworld. Both the last Olympian and the first to be cast out. Where the qualities of his brother Apollo fit more easily into a patriarchal framework, the qualities of Dionysus as, the sensuous god, are often rejected in the Western world. Music credit: https://www.purple-planet.com/tracks/passport ..read more

Illness, Symptom & Individuation approaches the process of integration and healing through experiences of illness and trauma in the life of the body. Mary shares a personal experience of serious, prolonged illness that evaded medical diagnosis for some time. This experience led to an intense period of change where symbolism of the inner world mirrored her experience in the outer world, and led to an embodiment of spirit ..read more

With a focus on the big questions of the human condition – cycles of birth and death, destiny and free will, suffering and the life journey - Maureen weaves her way through ancient rituals in honour of the earth mother and Goddesses with many names, to the rise of the patriarchal era, including the Greek tragedian plays. These plays incorporated the sacred mysteries and fundamental questions, now focused on individual man. The significance of ritual in attending to and supporting our inner struggles toward Selfhood is captured in her discussion of Jung’s essay Transformation Symbolism in the M ..read more

In today’s talk, Mary works with Zen Buddhist 10 Oxherding Pictures and accompanying poetry to establish a way of ‘being with’ the unconscious. These ancient pictures reflect stages an individual might progress to toward enlightenment and a return to the outer world to gift their insight and care back to the community. These images are accessible on the internet.  Mary notes how attention to our dreams can convey communication between our conscious everyday reality and our capital ‘S’ Self. From a Jungian perspective, the paintings and poetry can be seen as a wonderful metaphor to reflect ..read more

In today’s talk Annette takes us through a rich array of voices and works that speak to the question of the definitions, potential origins and purpose of the mystical experience and religion. Ranging from perspectives in sociology, neuropsychology, myth, Jung, art and sociobiology, we consider the marked differences between religious and mystical experiences and how surprisingly common the latter are. Annette raises the possibility of a partially physiological basis for a mystical or transliminal temperament and the survival value this possesses both for the individual and society.  ..read more

Exploring the many manifestations of mother in our psyche from the Great Mother to the personal mother, the mother complex to the inner mother, Margaret draws our attention to one of the fundamental qualities of the maternal. In this talk, a rich description is provided around the ways that Mother encapsulates a primordial oneness and mystery. The invitation is to consider how we mother the unknown in ourselves, and in our world. Do we embrace mystery with openness and love, or do we attempt to control what we don’t know and reject our individuality ..read more

Beginning and ending with personal stories of his experience with depression, Peter guides us through two very different conceptualisations: A modern psychological approach that focuses on getting through depression or depression as somewhat of a curse, and a Jungian imaginative approach that takes note of the generative qualities of ‘transformational’ depression. With authenticity, experiential and academic knowledge, Peter conveys the hard earned and positive qualities to be found in a depression that takes us on a journey toward individuation and integration ..read more

In this meaningful talk, Reverend Curran points to the way that imagination enables us to step outside of ourselves and look at ourselves fully. With imagination we can take what we have experienced directly, what resides in our memory and what we haven’t experienced, and work with these to produce not only images & possibilities but also changes in our embodied and psychological experiencing. In today’s ‘post God present’, Lesley highlights the necessity of imagination as a vehicle for understanding and working toward a relationship with the Divine whether you call that God, the universe ..read more