Seminars, Lectures, and Training for Organizations:

I am available to present lectures, seminars and workshops on dream patterning, mythology, fairy tales, and the writings of C. G. Jung for your organization or working group. During the last several years I have presented programs for the Jung Society of Washington, D. C., the Jung Society of Sarasota, Florida, the Washington Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology, and the Assisi Institute in Mystic, Connecticut. It would be my pleasure to offer a workshop, lecture or seminar for your organization. Please contact me to learn more about my work.

 

Workshops and Seminars Through My Private Practice

Winter and Spring Seminars:

(These seminars meet monthly from October through May.)

Readings In Jung 2018-19: Answer to Job and the Forgotten Goddess of the Original Testament

This year we return to C. G. Jung’s Answer to Job where we will focus on Jung’s and our work with respect to the uncovering of the Great Goddess as a spiritual presence and as the Goddess Archetype in The Book of Job, and in our world today.  As we circumambulate Jung’s thoughts about Sophia, Virgin Mary, the Woman Clothed in the Sun, and other sacred images of Feminine Consciousness, we will move more deeply into our own observations.  We are already seeing how Jung validates and recognizes that evil has substance and presence in empirical reality.  Additionally, in Answer to Job, he validates, recognizes, and acknowledges the Goddess is a being with substance, stature, presence, and meaning—even though she may go unacknowledged or marginalized within the dominant culture.  My reading also leads me to think that Jung is doing his best to connect Yahweh’s “forgetting” of Sophia to the activity of Satan.  For myself, I want to continue to discover ways to validate her Presence in today’s world, and then see what happens to the activities of Satan and evil.  This, I believe, is my work in our seminar.  I am curious to know what your work is.  Meanwhile, I encourage each of you to continue with your individual inner work, dreams, visions, research and exploration.  I also want to remind us of our past readings in C. G. Jung’s Aion, his introduction to Children’s Dreams, Marie Louise von-Franz’s Visions of Perpetua, and Yoram Kauffman’s The Way of the Dream.  Let’s keep the books we have already explored as references for this year’s work.  In addition, each of you has been doing her own reading, as we can see as our “Good Reading List” grows.

Our Text is Jung, C. G.  Answer to Job, transl. R. F. C. Hull.  Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978, paperback edition extracted from Vol. 11 of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung.

The Men’s Myth Seminar.  In the “Men’s Myth Seminar” we work with ancient mythology and wisdom stories that help us explore patterns of manhood. Our studies often take us into rich and lively discussions about what is means to be a man into today’s world. We are currently working with Perceval, or the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes and Robert Bly’s Iron John: a Book About Men. Before we started our story of the Grail, we worked with legends from Native American tradition.

The Women’s Myth Seminar.  In the “Women’s Myth Seminar” we work with ancient myths and wisdom stories that help us understand patterns of womanhood.  We are currently working with Perceval, or the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes.  Our discussions are rich and reflect the struggles and joys women encounter in everyday life, such as “What is the Grail for me?” We are also discovering the many ways the Goddess of the Grail appears in the Grail legend. Before we began our work with the Grail, we studied the Sumerian mythology of the Goddess Inanna.

 

Summer Seminars:

Summer Fairy Tale Seminar 2017. The Summer Fairy Tale Seminar has met every summer since 1986.  We have explored many stories, such as The Frog King, The Goose Girl at the Well, Little Snow White, and Iron Hans. We have also studied Shakespeare’s plays, and ancient Greek Drama.

“Odysseus and the Night Sea Journey “

A Story About War and Its Aftermath

Homer’s Odyssey begins with these words:
“Speak Memory…
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, that many-minded man…struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions…longing for his wife and his home.”

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are the oldest living narratives in our Western cultural heritage. The Iliad is the first story to confront us with the details of the field of battle, its heroes, victims, glories, crushing horrors, and its pitiful endings. The Odyssey is the first story to confront us with fundamental questions about the devastating costs of war for individual lives, and especially about those psycho-spiritual wounds we call post-traumatic stress, which men and women suffer from as a direct consequence of war.

What does it take to heal those wounds, visible and invisible, after years in the killing fields? Can a man like Odysseus ever become whole, able to embrace a woman fully, lovingly, and as an equal? Can he ever open himself to his sons and daughters, and teach them how to live fully, as a father ought? What powerful medicine holds the potential to heal the soul of a warrior be he king, or an “ordinary guy”? For Homer the answer is yes, and he shows us the pathway.

My father, and many of our fathers and mothers, served, or currently serve, in the armed forces in a times of war. He served as an infantry lieutenant on the front line in Germany during the Second World War. He never spoke much about his war experiences. Dad just came home, where he and my mother wove their future together.

In 1986 I made a pilgrimage to the town of Muden, located on the Mosel River, about an hour’s train ride from Koblenz. On a hill across the river from the town, my father told me, there is a large granite outcropping—dark with a white streak, like lightening. While defending that hill my father nearly lost his life, and saved the lives of his men through his heroic action for which he received both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Homer’s words took on new meaning for me, once I went to this place where my father descended into the night-sea journey, the dark night of the soul, and his nostos—his return home. Time and life have also taught me that many who never literally go to war fight different kinds of battles on different fronts in everyday life, and on psychic levels, just as Odysseus did on the wine-dark sea of the Netherworld.

During our Summer Fairy Tale Seminar we will make Odysseus’ story a place to begin. We will look for the stories of our father-warriors, and in our own interior lives as well. With the help of Homer and Odysseus we will enter the deeper meaning of the dark night, the nekyia, the night sea-journey, and the journey home.

Our text is, of course, Homer’s Odyssey. There are many good translations. My favorite is by Richmond Lattimore (HarperPerennial, 2007). Please find your favorite to use. It is always fun to see how different translators interpret the original.

If you are interested in attending, please contact me for the details.

 

Travel Seminars:

ON THE WINGS OF THE GODDESS A STUDY TOUR:  October 3—15, 2018

Athens Akropolis / Eleusis / Ancient Delphi / Peloponnese

with Bonnie L. Damron, PhD, LCSW, and Marilina R. Paters, Official Licensed Tourist Guide

Birdsong, a flashing wing in forest light and shadow, a mother duck followed by her flock of ducklings, doves cooing, the night bird’s call—epiphanies all of the Great Mother Goddess, marking her incarnation in our inhabited world.  Since ancient times, bird images have symbolized the Divine Woman.  Dove, goose, swan, duck, swallow, owl, crow, raven, vulture, eagle, ibis, crane, pelican—each and all reminding us that she is present.  Holy Spirit, Divine Companion, Protector, Maid of the Air, Mother of the Waters, Bringer of Life and of Swift and Gentle Death.  Of all the many and varied ways humankind has imagined the Divine, birds are among the oldest.

Come ride on the Wings of the Goddess, walk well-worn paths, along rocky cliffs, through forest and fields, and follow in her wake along waterways traveled by our ancestors since prehistoric times. As we dance the Sacred Way, we will hear the Great Goddess myths and legends treasured up for us since the Ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron.  Discover the Goddess in her many epiphanies, as Serpent, as Bear, as Lion, as Woman, and as Sacred Bird.  Discover her many epiphanies for yourself and find these magical energies still alive in stories, in culture, and in our dreams.

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY TOUR

Since 2005 we have conducted study tours in Crete and the Greek mainland.  Bonnie like to share how, on that first tour in 2005, she had the great good fortune to meet Marilina Paters, Licensed Professional Tourist Guide of Greece.  Since that time, we became good friends and partners, and have frequently conducted Goddess-based study tours into the landscapes, sacred precincts, and mythologies of the goddess-based cultures of ancient, pre-Hellenic Greece.  In 2015, Christine Paters, a talented photojournalist, jointed the team.

This time we will travel for 12 days on the Greek mainland where we will explore the pre-Olympian Great Goddess Mysteries at the Athens Acropolis, Eleusis, Delphi, and the Peloponnese.

 

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATIONS

We will begin and end our journey in Athens.  During our time in Athens we will stay at the Acropolis Boutique Hotel, an easy walk to the Acropolis.  All totaled, we will stay at the Phidias for six nights. Acropolis Museum Boutique Hotel – Hotel in Athens

From Athens we will travel to Delphi, the seat of the Pythia, the oracular priestess of Apollo, and before him, Gaia—Mother Earth herself.  Delphi is situated on Mount Parnassos, and overlooks the Gulf of Corinth.  We will be in Delphi for three nights, where we will stay at the Fedriades Delphi Hotel. Fedriades Delphi Hotel | City Hotel in the Heart of Delphi : fedriades.com

From Delphi we will head for Nafplio (Naplion).  This beautiful seaport town, where we will stay for three nights, is located on the Gulf of Argolis.  Nafplio has a long history all of its own, and is within an easy drive of our destinations, Mycenae, Epidauros, and quiet, out of the way, ancient villages along the Gulf.

Finally, we return to the Phidias Hotel, our home base in Athens.  Nafplio hotels – Dafni Pension Nafplio | Accommodation in Nafplio

 

TRANSPORTATION and TRAVEL

We will travel in a comfortable, fully air conditioned, mid-sized van, driven by an experienced professional driver.  Our four-star boutiques hotels are centrally located along pedestrian walkways, with easy access to shopping, coffee shops, and restaurants.

When you arrive at Athens International Airport, you may  take a taxi into Athens, or take the Metro.  Taxis are easily available curbside at the airport.  Taxi fees into Athens are set by law at around €35.00 during the day, and €50.00 at night.  Taxi drivers are friendly and helpful.  Although tips are not expected anywhere in Greece, taxi drivers, restaurant wait staff, and hotel staff greatly appreciate your kindness.

In addition, there is excellent Metro service into Athens.  There is a Metro stop located at the airport, and the Thission Metro stop is located just 100 meters from the Phidias Hotel in Athens.  The cost is less than €10.00.

 

DINING, FOOD SERVICE, and GREEK HOSPITALITY

The Greek word for “hospitality” is philoxenia, which translates into English as “care for, or love of, the stranger.”  You will find this to be true as you travel throughout Greece.

Our first meeting is the evening of October 3, at our Welcome Dinner.  We will meet in the lobby of our Athens hotel around 7 PM, and walk along the Acropolis pedestrian walkway to a near-by restaurant.  We will have a chance to get acquainted, and discuss the overview for our study tour.  As we stroll back to our hotel, we might take a few minutes to admire the Parthenon, and the south side of the Sacred Rock, the Acropolis.  If we are lucky, the moon will lend her beauty to this moment.

Each day we will enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner together at a local restaurant.  Throughout Greece the emphasis is on local food, local dining, and ancient recipes.  When we are on the road, we will make rest stops for coffee and refreshments.  People who have traveled with us in the past, joke with us.  They say, “This is not an archaeology tour!  This is a food tour with a little archaeology thrown into the mix!” And, as always, breakfast is included with your rooms.

 

THE PROGRAM INCLUDES

OCTOBER 3 is Arrival Day, and October 15 is Departure Day.

We plan to limit the size of the group to 12 persons.  The program includes:

• Twelve Days of travel associated with the ancient archeology on the Greek mainland.
• Twelve nights of hotel accommodations in Four Star Boutique Hotels.
• Substantial Breakfast daily at our hotels.
• Twelve Dinners or Lunches together, and coffee stops. We promise you, the cuisine of Greece is the best the world has to offer!
• Bonnie Damron, PhD, LCSW, Study Tour Coordinator, Cultural Anthropologist, Mythologist, and Storyteller.
• Marilina Paters, Licensed Professional Tourist Guide, Mythologist, Artist, Dancer, and Storyteller.
• Christine Paters, Professional Photo-journalist.
• Private, well-appointed mid-size bus and professional driver.
• Entrance to museums and archaeology sites.

 

THE PROGRAM DOES NOT INCLUDE

 Airfare is not included.  You will need to make your own arrangements.

Additional hotel reservations:  If you are thinking about arriving in Athens a day or two early, or wish to stay a few days after our travel seminar, let know by mid-May.  We will contact the Phidias Hotel to help you with these arrangements.   October is a busy time in Greece, and Athens hotels will fill up quickly.  When you check in, just let the desk staff know you are with our group, and that you have booked extra days.  When you check out at the end of the tour, these extra rooms will be charged to your account.

 

LET US HEAR FROM YOU!

Now that you have had a chance to review the general plan for On the Wings of the Goddess, and you would like further details, such as costs and a detailed day-by-day itinerary, please contact Bonnie or Marilina with any question you may have.  After we have had a chance to talk, we hope you will decide to join us.

drbonniedamron@gmail.com or 703-538-6620

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