Jungian scholar Erich Neumann, wrestling with the loss of Jewish identity during the rise of Nazism, recognized that accessing the cultural collective unconscious of Judaism constellated depth psychological experiences for many who had become alienated from their own ancestral roots. In this workshop we explore the central story of Judaism, the Exodus from Egypt, as an archetypal map of healing from exile and reconnecting with the sacred in the wake of catastrophic loss. In the wake of the Shoah, the shattering of faith left many unable to trust the ground of being. The Exodus story provides powerful guidance in helping us heal from trans-generational trauma.
We will draw on kabbalistic and midrashic texts, postmodern Jewish mysticism, Jungian and other approaches to healing trauma, to guide our understanding of the Exodus story. The role of the Shekhinah (the Divine Feminine) in kabbalah is central in restoring our capacities for feeling and embodiment, both of which are profoundly injured when we experience trauma. We also draw from Jungian theory on healing personal and collective trauma. The wider cross-cultural mythic implications of the Exodus story as both a personal and collective story about healing the relationship with the Self will also be explored.
CAROLYN SHOSHANA FERSHTMAN, JD, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in northern California, and an analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. She has served as core faculty at Sonoma State University’s Masters’ Program in Depth Psychology and at Meridian University’s psychology graduate program. She has spent many years studying Jewish mysticism with teachers and rabbis in the Jewish Renewal and Reconstructing Judaism movements.
Date: May 15, 2021 10:00 AM – May 16, 2021 05:00 PM
Fee
$200.00
CE Hours
12.00
Registration closes on May 15, 2021 01:00 AM