myth & story : page 3: sites articles books..........
.Talent
Development Resources --..home
page...site map
![[Image]](bluline2.gif){kind=small}
myth & story : page 3: sites articles books..........
| The
discovery of a mythical pattern that in some way one feels is connected
to one's life deepens one's self understanding. ... Appreciation of the
connection between a myth and my life seems simultaneously to make me
more
attuned to the myth's unity to help me understand how moments in my
life
which otherwise might seem accidental or fragmentary belong to the
whole.
Indeed, we may thus come to recognize the mythos, the plot, the connecting thread, the story of our life. As we come to appreciate the way in which all the variations, transformations, and elements that go to make up a myth are integral, necessary parts of it, we uncover its psycho-logic. Such attending to the psycho-logic of myth and the mytho-logic of the psyche's processes might be described as an exploration in mythopoeisis, in soul making, for it gives us some sense of how the soul, our soul, is given its shape through poetry, through images.
artwork: Pandora, 1879, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti - copied from artrenewal.org |
 |
| With
a master's in psychology, Agapi Stassinopoulos has developed a
one-woman
show about goddesses, and thinks a reason to consider them as personal
inspiration for artwork and poetry is because they "give us an
understanding
of larger-than-life emotions.
"And they are not what we would call the positive emotions," she adds. "There was jealousy, revenge and competitiveness. Identifying with the goddesses gives you tremendous freedom to express those emotions without judging or feeling guilty about them." from Goddesses and creativity - a column by Douglas Eby --Conversations
With the Goddesses: Revealing the Divine Power Within You painting: "Venus Verticordia", 1864-68, Dante Gabriel Rossetti > |
 |
| Most
of us were taught about the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus at some
time
in school and have seen statues and paintings of them.
The Romans worshipped these same deities, addressing them by their Latin names. ... I have divided these seven goddesses into three categories: the virgin goddesses, the vulnerable goddesses, and the alchemical (or transformative) goddess. Modes of consciousness, favored roles, and motivating factors are distinguishing characteristics of each group. Attitudes toward others, the need for attachment, and the importance of relationships also are distinctly different in each category. Goddesses representing all three categories need expression somewhere in a woman's life - in order for her to love deeply, work meaningfully, and be sensual and creative. |
 .. .. --Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women by Jean Shinoda Bolen, Gloria Steinem (Designer) quotes and photo from jeanshinodabolen.com Jean
Shinoda Bolen, M.D. is a psychiatrist, |
....~ ~ ~ ~
 |
Mary
Baxter St. Clair insists that "Fairies and
angels have been part of my life since I was small and have always been
very real to me."
She claims to borrow their magic in her craft, painting with such realism as to create a longing in the viewer to believe her cherubs are real, and caught unaware, on her canvases. The artist believes that fantasy is necessary and helps us to remain balanced in this all too real world. from bio on Mary Baxter St. Clair site Enchanted Island Studios painting:
"The Enchanted Flower" [detail] - |
.......~ ~ ~ ~
 |
I
think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in your
life when you most need them.
After my father died, the book that sort of saved my life was Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Because of that experience, I firmly believe there are books whose greatness actually enables you to live, to do something. And sometimes, human beings need story and narrative more than they need nourishment and food. Emma Thompson.......[O, The Oprah Magazine, November 2003] photo : Thompson in HBO series Angels in America - based on the book by Tony Kushner |
~ ~ ~ ~
 .. .. Destitute and almost friendless in an alien land, Maruf at first mentally conceived -- and then described -- an unbelievably valuable cargo on its way to him. Instead of leading to exposure and disgrace, this idea was the foundation of his eventual success. The imagined caravan took shape, became real for a time -- and arrived. |
 .. .. from the Preface of Caravan of Dreams [above image] © 1978 by The Estate of Idries Shah excerpt
posted on The Institute for the Study of Human
Caravan of Dreams - by Idries Shah The
Arabian Nights : Their Best-Known Tales -
|
...~ ~ ~ ~
...books by Idries Shah :
Learning from Stories : Caravan of Dreams
and the Adventures of Mulla NasrudinTales of the Dervishes : Teaching-Stories of the
Sufi Masters over the Past Thousand YearsWorld Tales : The Extraordinary Coincidence of
Stories Told in All Times, in All PlacesThroughout his life Idries Shah (1924-1996), recognized as the foremost authority on contemporary Sufi education, wrote more than thirty books containing such teaching stories and narratives.
..
..Though on the surface these often appear to be little more than fairy or folk tales, the Sufis hold that they enshrine -- in their characters, plots and imagery -- patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind not reachable in more conventional ways, thus increasing our understanding, flexibility and breadth of vision.
from What is Sufism? page [on Sufis.org site]
....related page:.......depth psychology.........~ ~ ~ ~
 |
By Bruno Bettelheim I read this in drama school. It's an analysis from a psychologist's perspective of the meaning and power of fairy tales. One example that sticks in my mind is the metaphor of a child going into the forest. Bettelheim makes the point that the structure of this story parallels children's experiences in life -- how you can be frightened but eventually make it through to the other side. One can feel expendable -- particularly in this day and age, and especially working in film -- and for me, this reinforces the power of storytelling and the necessity of it. Cate Blanchett.... [O, The Oprah Magazine, Oct 2003] |
 |
~ ~ ~ ~
A Mythic Life : Learning to Live our Greater Story by Jean Houston [Publishers Weekly:] Psychologist, popular author and leading figure in the human potential movement, Houston.. believes that myths and archetypes can provide keys linking our local lives to larger patterns unfolding on the planet and in the cosmos.
In that context, she discusses her identification with the goddess Athena, her mystical experiences, psychedelic trips and explorations of altered states of consciousness, her myth-reenacting workshops and her encounters with Margaret Mead, Paul Tillich, Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Martin Buber and Gestalt psychologist Fritz Perls.
It had been foretold... "Into each generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One.. with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers." For every vampire in the world, there is a Slayer. ...
Sunnydale, California was built on top of an Indian Burial Ground -- no, wait, Hellmouth: a portal to a rotted dimension that just about every slag wants to unlock and unleash hell on Earth. Coincidentally, in 1997, Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers moved to Sunnydale with her mother...
One's strength can only truly be judged by their conviction and dedication to their calling, their prophecy, their fate and their gift.
Proving that she was indeed the truest of Slayers, Buffy Anne Summers gave her life to obstruct evil's Glory for the Dawn of our world's salvation.
synopsis from UPN Buffy site
more on Buffy on
the shadow self : page 3
~ ~ ~ ~
I think that I have an interest in faeries because more than any other supernatural creature, they seem to have escaped the confines of morality. They embody contradiction; their very nature is conflicted. They are both chaotic and bound by rules, sensual and chaste, cruel and kind. I wanted to have the opportunity to show the faeries that I pictured when I read folklore--the faeries that could inspire such fear in farmers that they would not even say the word "faerie." Faerie ballads are terrifying.
Holly Black - from her site: blackholly.com
"Tithe" cover art by Greg Spalenka spalenka.com
~ ~ ~ ~
Movies and the Mythic Imagination - Using Film in Depth Psychology
This is a day on using movies to understand psychological issues. With support, people can evoke qualities enacted by characters, such as courage, tenderness, intelligence, or flexibility. Instruction shows how to reflect on films for symbols and metaphors that illustrate personal challenges.The Symbolism of Fairytales in Adult Psychotherapy
Favorite stories from childhood can have subtle influences on adult identity. This course shows how to analyze fairytales for metaphors rich in psychological insights.two of many seminars with Jonathan Young, PhD on the psychology of fairy tales, mythic stories, creativity, and movies as mythic imagination from the Center for Story and Symbol
|
related book: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell |
 |
| The
story of the Frog Prince tells of a young woman who is visited on three
consecutive nights by a frog.
On the first and second nights she is horrified, but on the third night she relents and lets the frog into her bed, and in the moment that she kisses him the frog turns into a handsome prince. For Ernest Jones (a follower and biographer of Freud) the story is an allegorical account of a young woman overcoming her fear of sex. |
For
Joseph Campbell (a follower of Jung) the frog is just another example
of
the dragons and other frightening monsters whose role in mythology is
to
guard treasure.
The frog, like them, represents the dark and frightening shadow; the treasure is the true self. The kiss symbolizes a person's acceptanace of the shadow. And the result is the manisfestation of the true nature of the shadow, as a bearer of one's true selfhood. from Myths-Dreams-Symbols site |
~ ~ ~ ~
Tolkien spoke of myths and fairy stories, rather than "fantasy." He was a lifelong practicing, and very devout, Catholic who believed that mythology was a means of conveying certain transcendent truths which are almost inexpressible within the factual confines of a "realistic" novel.
from page:Tolkien : some related creative works
| Dancing
and creating a kind of fata morgana, a fantasy world... is still
another
aspect of creating the symbolic life, which one lives by following up
one's
dreams and day fantasies and the impulses which come up from the
unconscious,
for fantasy gives life a glow and a color which the too-rational
outlook
destroys.
Fantasy
is not just whimsical ego-nonsense but comes really from the depths; it
constellates symbolic situations which give life a deeper meaning and a
deeper realization. Marie-Louise von Franz - in her book The Interpretation of Fairy Tales |
 |
~ ~ ~ ~
*sites:**
The Center for Story and Symbol
seminars on the psychology of fairy tales, mythic stories, creativity, and movies as mythic imagination; articles; extensive linksCreative Minds Mythology Ezine - "Comparative mythology and legends from around the world. Creative arts, literature, & philosophy."
Feminist Interpretation of Fairy Tales [a WMST-L site page]
Institute for Psychological Study of the Arts
Myth*ing Links
"annotated, illustrated collection of worldwide links to mythologies, fairy tales & folklore, sacred arts & sacred traditions."Pacifica Graduate Institute
"Programs in Psychology and Mythological Studies in the Tradition of Depth Psychology"Sources for the Analysis and Interpretation of Folk and Fairy Tales
The art of the fairy tale has been around for centuries. Their continuing popularity indicates that there is more to them than sheer entertainment value, that they contain a deeper meaning which touches us on some profound level, and helps us in some way to understand or cope with the world.
C. G. Jung On Symbol, Self, and Psyche
Creation Myths - by Neil Greenberg [Univ of Tennessee]
As a researcher interested in the evolutionary biology of Creativity, an interest in creation myths seems now to have been inevitable. I believe the mythic and spiritual systems of our cultures are to an extent, maps of consciousness, as Stanislav Grof would put it. These stories are not mere representations of certain phenomena of universal human interest in which discourse is limited by archaic modes of investigation and language. Nor are they the residue of of concerns not amenable to scientific investigation. They are both these things and more.Creative Mythmaking - by Adam Blatner, M.D.
Think of the meaning of life as an experience which is built up as a result of scores of component experiences. ... I use the metaphor of life as a tapestry -- a weaving together of many stories and themes. ... Tapestries can be thick, with many colors of thread and types of fabric overlapping in the weaving. Life, too, can be psychologically and socially woven as stories are told and re-told, and in the telling, connections are made and patterns emerge.Goddesses and creativity - from Creativity and Women..columns / interviews
The Goddess Within: Keeping Her Ever Before You - by Jenna Logan
The Goddess is subtle. She begins by dropping little hints here and there to get our attention. Her presence continues to grow and grow until she surrounds all aspects of our lives. Then she challenges us to discover all the wonderful things we had forgotten when we put her on the shelf. It can be a long transition. Some women spend years in search of a former self who is passionate, intelligent, joyful and rich in spirit.Warrior Women On Screen by Douglas Eby
interview: Maureen Murdock - therapist; teacher; author of "The Heroine's Journey"
.....
Nina Auerbach, U.C. Knoepflmacher. Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers
Joseph Campbell, et al. The Power of Myth
Jewell Reinhart Coburn. Angkat : The Cambodian Cinderella
Jewell Reinhart Coburn. Domitila : A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition
Erik Davis. TechGnosis: Myth, magic & mysticism In the age of information
Roland Burrage Dixon. Oceanic (Mythology of All Race, Volume IX)
Alan Dundes. Interpreting Folklore
Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Women Who Run With Wolves
Brian Fround, Alan Lee. Faeries
Brian Froud. Lady Cottington's Fairy Album
Brian Froud. Good Faeries Bad Faeries
Jane Hughes Gignoux. Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, & Beyond
"Gignoux, who has spent 12 years as a play therapist with pediatric HIV patients at Harlem Hospital, has gathered stories and folktales that attempt to reconcile the human spirit to both the inevitability and the naturalness of death. Tales are included from cultures as diverse as ancient Greece and the Hausa of West Africa as well as from time periods as varied as medieval Ireland and the Grimm Brothers' Germany of the 1800s." [Library Journal]
Grimm: The Illustrated Fairy Tales of the Brothers GrimmEdwin Sidney Hartland. English Fairy and Folk Tales
Patrick Hogan. The Mind and Its Stories : Narrative Universals and Human Emotion
"This marvelous book reconnects the study of literature to the themes that have made it eternally fascinating, and connects it for the first time to the sciences of mind and brain. It is a landmark in modern intellectual life, heralding an exciting new integration of the sciences and humanities." -- Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University,
and author of The Blank Slate, How the Mind Works and others
Jean Houston. Mystical Dogs : Animals as Guides to Our Inner LifeAwakening further requires that you take time and space out of your usual day for a practice of spiritual connection. We know that the universe is a living system of elegant design that seems intent on providing the opportunity for learning on all levels. .... This requires the sun and rain of attention, a conscious dwelling in the midst of eternal fecundity. What had been there dimly as background awareness then moves to the foreground. .... We awaken to the wealth of being and the “Aha!” experiences keep on coming. Above all, let your animals guide you. They know the way. [excerpt from Chapter One]Aldous Huxley. Brave New World"Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. [amazon.com]
Carl Gustav Jung. Man and His SymbolsVerena Kast. Folktales as Therapy
Jungian psychologist Kast (Zurich Univ.) believes that people very often identify strongly with a folktale's characters or theme and that analyzing that connection can be useful in therapy. Through descriptions of six stories and how they were employed in therapy, she illustrates three ways of working with folktales. The idea that fairy tales can be therapeutic is not new; both Freud and Bettelheim recognized their relevance to development. [Library Journal summary]
Thomas Keightley. The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little PeopleStephen Larsen, PhD. The Mythic Imagination: The Quest for Meaning Through Personal Mythology
Rollo May. The Cry for Myth
"Much of it had been published elsewhere over the years--long before Joseph Campbell's sudden popularity-- but May felt strongly about making a cohesive statement regarding the vital importance of myth and how much we need it today. Myths are how we make meaning of life--no myth, no meaning. May's therapeutic approach to myths links him closely with figures such as Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, and Carl Jung, and comprises an essential and enriching feature of May's own existential psychotherapy. In this fine collection, May analyzes the archetypal myths we are living out--or maybe better, that are being lived out through us.." from review by Dr. Stephen Diamond, author of Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity
Maureen Murdock. The Heroine's JourneyMarie Ponsot. The Golden Book of Fairy Tales
Robert D. San Souci. Sootface : An Ojibwa Cinderella Story
Robert A. Segal. Jung on Mythology
William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night's Dream
Murray Stein. Psyche's Stories: Modern Jungian Interpretations of Fairy Tales
Steve Szilagyi. Photographing Fairies
In the 1920s, a country policeman, Constable Michael Walsmear, punches his way into the London studio of Charles Castle, the world-famous American photographer, to show him some pictures. What Castle sees in Walsmear's pictures is incredible. When he goes to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for verification of the faerie images found on the negatives, Doyle tries to bribe Castle to destroy the pictures. But Castle will not be bought; he is out to discover the truth. And truth he finds in the small village of Burkinwell, a village built upon secrets, strange sexual practices, beautiful gardens, and true human nature. [amazon.com summary]
Maria M. Tatar. The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales"They may invite us to take the royal road to the unconscious," Maria Tatar writes in this expanded edition of her classic book, "but they also lead us off that now beaten track into uncharted territories." The "hard facts" include "murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide and incest," as well as "perverse forms of incest and child abuse." She shows how the tales evolved from the Grimm brothers' original, scholarly collection of oral folk stories into the household book, second only in popularity to the Bible for many years after its 1818 publication.from review Susan Salter Reynolds, LA Times, July 13, 2003],,,
,,,
----John R. Van Eenwyk. Archetypes & Strange Attractors : the Chaotic World of Symbols
,,,
,,,
Christopher Vogler. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers[At the beginning of The Writer's Journey, Christopher Vogler asserts that "all stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in myths, fairy tales, dreams, and movies." ... Vogler uses movies like the Star Wars trilogy and The Lion King to defend his mythological philosophy... there's no doubt that Vogler's notion, based on psychological writings by Carl Jung and the mythmaking philosophy of Joseph Campbell, has been profoundly influential. Many screenwriters have used Vogler's volume to understand why certain scenarios sell, and to discover a blueprint for creating mythic stories of their own. [Amazon.com:],,,
,,,
----Marie-Louise Von Franz. Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales
Marie-Louise Von Franz. Redemption Motifs in Fairytales: The Psychological Meaning
Marie-Louise Von Franz. The Feminine in Fairy Tales
Marie-Louise von Franz. The Interpretation of Fairy Tales
Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer
Marion Woodman. Dancing in the Flames : The Dark Goddess in the Transformation of Consciousness
Ella Young. Celtic Wonder-Tales
Jonathan Young. Saga - Best New Writings on Mythology
".. authors such as Carlos Castaneda, Thomas Moore, Sam Keen, James Hillman, James Redfield and others, exploring the connections between psychology, myth, religion, ritual and storytelling, including: Linda Leonard on "Spirit Animal Guides"; Michael Ventura on "Rats from a Sinking Ship"; Carolyn Myss on "The Fairy Tale Ending" and Jean Houston on "Mystic Possibilities."
Paul O. Zelinsky. RapunzelJack Zipes. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
~ ~ ~ ~
more :....myth & story : page 1........myth & story : page 2............--related pages:.........dreamwork.........intuition / instinct..........depth psychology...........the shadow self
.................spirituality...........Wicca...........psychic ability...........
**
**home page :: Talent Development Resources**-*site contents****books etc
---******** *--- Women & Talent ------Teen / Young Adult talent
