C.G. Jung Society, Seattle

Phil Cousineau

Who Stole the Arms of the Venus de Milo?

The Myth of Beauty from Aphrodite to Ansel Adams

Lecture: Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, 7 to 9 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle
$15 members, $25 nonmembers

“Beauty will save the world … Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible… the battlefield is the heart of man.”
— Fyodor Dostoevski, The Idiot

What role does beauty play in our lives today? Is it an imperative, the soul of everyday life, a luxury to enjoy occasionally, or is it a distraction from the more serious matters in life? If it is vital to our happiness, our psychological health, where do we find it? How do we, as artist Mark Rothko asked, find room for beauty in our lives? This multimedia lecture will explore the profound mythological symbolism of the most famous sculpture in history, the Venus de Milo, and the myriad ways in which the traits she has represented for millennia— of beauty, love, desire, eroticism, pleasure, justice, and jealousy—continue to influence our behavior today. For that —Aphroditic smile, as the Greeks used to say, still casts its spell on us in the realms of love and romance, tourism, advertising, art, music, literature, poetry, and in our nightly dreams.

The Venus de Milo: Soulmaking and the Persistence of Beauty

Workshop: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle
$50 members, $70 nonmember

• Preregistration for workshops is encouraged.
• Tickets available at the door or at: www.brownpapertickets.com.

Along with the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo is one of the most immediately recog-nizable art works in the world. For centuries art lovers have wondered what Leonardo’s lady has been smiling about, but many have also wondered what the Venus is staring at — and why her arms are missing? Her half-mutilated state has become a kind of short-hand, so to speak, for the love and beauty and desire—Venus’s traditional attributes—that is perennially missing and longed for in life.

This workshop will explore the powerfully life-enhancing aspects of beauty as well as the void that the anti-beauty movement has created in the last two centuries, as witnessed in the degradation of architecture in our cities, the disintegration of beauty in art, architecture, music, literature, poetry, teaching, and psychology. To help us in our exploration of the many faces of beauty, we will utilize ample discussion, film clips, music, and art slides, as well as exercises in active imagination so we might feel the power of the many faces of beauty. Each student should bring a journal or sketch pad.

Learning Objectives

1. Determine the role of beauty as a value in a client’s personal life, and how it influences his or her mental health.
2. Put into context the life-enhancing versus the life-negating ways that the media and advertising world uses beauty to influence cultural behavior.
3. Promote a more deeply contemplated awareness of how different culture norms may affect an individual’s self-perception.
4. Consider the mythological and spiritual dimensions of beauty in a client’s life. 5. Enhance one’s own evaluation and use of beauty in everyday life in order to better understand how complex a client’s response to it may be.

Phil Cousineau is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, adventure travel leader, and writing consultant. He has published over 25 books, including Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Kindle Passion and Imagination, The Olympic Odyssey, Once and Future Myths, and The Art of Pilgrimage. He has earned 15 documentary film credits, including The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on his Life and Work, Ecological Design. His books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Chinese, German, and Korean. He is currently host of the nationally televised series —Global Spirit? on LINK TV. His upcoming book is the inspiration for this weekend’s presentations: Who Stole the Arms of the Venus de Milo?

• Related Web sites: www.philcousineau.net.
• See the Bulletin Board page for details about Phil's Oct. 16 event in Seattle.

This program has been approved for 5.5 CEUs by the Washington Chapter National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists and Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Provider number is #1975-157. The cost to receive a certificate is as follows: 5.5 units for lecture and workshop $15; 2.0 units for the Friday lecture $10; 3.5 units for the Saturday workshop $10.

Updated: 13 August, 2011

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