In a letter to Paul Schmidt, C. G. Jung acknowledged Faust the alchemist to be his own myth. Elsewhere, he describes himself as carrying the burden of Faust, and of being responsible somehow for Faust’s repentance. What did Jung mean? Is a personal myth something we come in with? A story at work behind our biography?
Join us for a presentation and discussion about exploring your myth and the archetype expressing it. We will explore the recurrence and significance of myth, look at the personal myths of several public figures, dip into the etymologies of our names for mythic clues, and go through several tools for tracing the presence of our myth in our birth story, childhood, relationships, choice of work, and major life transitions. We will also reimagine the myth as a psychical being who needs us for its own creative elaboration.
About our speaker, CRAIG CHALQUIST, PhD
Author, Deep Educator, Speaker, Loreologist
Dr. Craig Chalquist is a professor, author, and consultant who writes and teaches at the intersection of psyche, story, and imagination, with one foot in the academy and the other in the world. As a loreologist, he provides resources for exploring the limits and possibilities of the personal and collective stories we navigate by in order to deepen, expand, or replace them so we move from being confined by them to authoring them.
Dr. Chalquist coined the term “terrapsychology” to describe the study of how our natural surroundings can manifest intimately in human psychology. He also coined “enchantivism,” a form of storytelling that moves from human injustice to a vision of how we most desire to live as a global community.
A former Associate Provost at Pacifica Graduate Institute and former full professor in the Department of East-West Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, he has designed and launched more than forty psychology, philosophy, mythology, and ecotherapy courses for graduate students and undergrads. He earned his Ph.D. in depth psychology, and his master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy, which he practiced for nine years. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS.
Founder of the world’s first ecotherapy certificate program, Dr. Chalquist is on the board of Holos Institute and the editorial board of the journal Ecopsychology. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Association and an ambassador to Jung Platform. His books include Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind (edited with Linda Buzzell; Counterpoint, 2008), Myths Among Us: When Timeless Tales Return to Life (World Soul Books, 2018), and Terrapsychological Inquiry: Restorying Our Relationship with Nature, Place, and Planet (Routledge, 2020).
Dr. Chalquist’s work in the world is in service to creating and supporting the sustainable, just, and delightful communities of belonging he knows we are capable of scaling up.
Craig Chalquist’s book Storied Lives: Discovering and Deepening Your Personal Myth discusses the material in this program and will enhance your experience of Dr. Chalquist’s presentation..