C.G. Jung Society, Seattle

Charles Zeltzer, Ph.D.

The Wisdom of the Body in Kundalini, Alchemy, and Individuation

The symbolism of the chakras of Kundalini Yoga addresses the movement of psychic energy from primal levels of survival to the most developed and at the same time simplest aspects of the religious function of the psyche. Jung saw in these images one of the deepest and most extensive symbolic expressions of the entire individuation process.

Lecture: Friday, February 6, 2015, 7 to 9 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. North, Seattle  98103 (driving directions)
$15 members, $25 nonmembers

On Friday evening we will embark on a journey through the symbolism of the chakras as they manifest in the seven bodily locations. The symbolism connected with these energy centers will be compared to that of the alchemical process. How this same imagery manifests in the psychological and spiritual experience of modern individuals will be illustrated and discussed.

Workshop: Saturday, February 7, 2015, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center, Room 202
$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.

On Saturday, using my own experience as an example, we will look more closely at how Tantric and Kundalini imagery manifests in the individuation of a westerner. While undergoing intense regimens of bodywork, early traumatic experience was reactivated and assimilated in a new and deeper way, leading to transformation in my relationship to the life of the darker affects. In this night-sea journey into the liminal, non-verbal spaces where body and psyche meet, the unconscious utilized the imagery of alchemy and the chakras to express its experience of re-integration. These experiences will be presented in the hopes of deepening our understanding of the phenomenology of the individuation process. After presenting my own experience, participants are invited to briefly relate any image, experience, or dream of the body that had a psychological impact. I will then connect this experience to the material we have been discussing.

Learning Objectives
1. Describe the relationship between the goal of the alchemical process and the goal of the movement through the chakras.
2. Explain the psychological significance of the lower three chakras.
3. Describe the psychological significance of the fourth chakra.
4. Explain the psychological significance of the upper three chakras.

Charles T. Zeltzer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and has been a certified Jungian analyst since 1992. He is currently in private practice, with offices in Ventura and Santa Monica, California. Charles was the Director of Training at the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. For twenty years he was a member of the editorial board of the Jungian journal, Psychological Perspectives, and has been the guest editor for special issues on Jung and the East, and fairy tales. He has spoken throughout the United States and Europe on the body in relation to the inner journey of encountering early trauma. He has also spoken on many aspects of the religious dimension of the psyche. These include alchemy, Kundalini Yoga, the Roman Catholic Mass as an alchemical process, and the role of the alchemical god Mercurius in our everyday lives. Charles has specialized in leading seminars on Jung’s alchemical works, and since 2003 he has conducted a line-by-line discussion of Jung’s magnum opus, Mysterium Coniunctionis.

Programs presented by the C. G. Jung Society, Seattle (unless otherwise noted) have approved 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.

Updated: 22 December 2014

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