C.G. Jung Society, Seattle

Ralph Metzner, Ph.D.

C. G. Jung, Albert Hofmann and the Philosophers’ Stone

Lecture: Friday, March 7, 2014, 7 to 9 p.m.
Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave. NE, Seattle (see directions) NEW LOCATION
$15 members, $25 nonmembers

Shamanism, yoga and alchemy are historically the three great traditions of transformation – physical, psychological and spiritual – with shamanism, yoga and alchemy the Eastern and Western extensions. In all three traditions there is recognition of the reality of living yet immaterial “spirits,” “essences” or “souls,” intrinsic to all living beings and even inanimate matter.

The concepts and worldview of the alchemical philosophers were suppressed first by the medieval church and then by the rise of scientific materialism. It is the great merit of Jung’s work to have rehabilitated the alchemical wisdom tradition from the cultural unconscious of medieval Europe – re-interpreting it as the secret symbolic language of the psyche.

It remained for another Swiss scientist of the 20th century chemist Albert Hofmann, with his unexpected discovery of material substances that profoundly expand perception and consciousness, to reconnect with the material element of the alchemical tradition. This was the secret of the lapis – the precious “wisdom stone” – that could bring about a profound new way of “seeing.”

Workshop: Saturday, March 8, 2014, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. North, Seattle  98103
$50 members, $70 nonmembers

Advance registration for workshops is encouraged. You can mail your registration and payment to our office using this registration form or buy tickets in advance at brownpapertickets.com.

In the workshop we will practice alchemical divinations – methods of structured intuitive inquiry, using yogic light-fire methods for a mildly expanded state of consciousness. We work in the spirit of the Roman deity Janus, god of doorways, passages and transitions, whose two faces look in a balanced way into the past and the future, remembering significant aspects of our history and envisioning probable and possible futures in creativity and spiritual growth.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand Jung’s contribution in rehabilitating the alchemical wisdom tradition after its suppression by the medieval church and scientific materialism.
2. Examine Albert Hofmann’s role in disclosing the relationship between material substances that expand consciousness and the impact in alchemical tradition.
3. Explore the secret of the lapis and its value in new ways of “seeing.”
4. Explore alchemical divinations using yogic techniques, which gently stimulates mind expansion.

New to Dr. Ralph Metzner’s Work?
Consider reading The Unfolding Self or other selections by Ralph Metzner (order from Amazon.com through this link to benefit the Society).

Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., is a recognized pioneer in psychological and cross-cultural studies of consciousness and its transformations. He is a psychotherapist and Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His books include The Unfolding Self, The Well of Remembrance, Green Psychology, The Expansion of Consciousness, Alchemical Divination and Mind Space and Time Stream. He is the editor of two collections of essays on Ayahuasca and of Psilocybin Mushrooms.

Updated: 22 December 2013

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