Tracking the Gods
The Movement of Archetypal Powers in Our Time
BY JAMES HOLLIS, Ph.D.
When Jung asked the question, “Where did the gods go when they left Olympus,” he answered, they left Olympus and entered the unconscious of the modern and became “disturbances.” When Jung talks of “the gods” he sees them as the personification of archetypal energies. Those forces are timeless and course through all of us, so when a god “dies” it means the energy has left the concept, practice, ritual, dogma, gone underground, and, incognito, appears elsewhere. How do we, then, track those energies, and where do they reappear in such contemporary forms as consumerism, seduction by electronics, sociopathies, and personal symptoms?
This online course will explore how today’s culture copes with, or finds surrogates for the primal powers of nature, however disguised they are in contemporary cultural expressions.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
You will learn new ways of thinking about history, eras, change, and loss of meaning
How meaning systems evolve at both the personal and societal levels
Twin Tasks - Living One's Journey and Serving the Mystery
Your Instructor
James Hollis, Ph. D. is a Zurich-trained Jungian analyst in practice in Washington, D. C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and as Executive Director of the Washington Jung Society.
Dr. Hollis was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally, he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University.
He has written a total of sixteen books and over fifty articles. His books have been translated into eighteen languages. He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three children and eight grand-children.
WHO IS IT FOR?
This program is for anyone who is thoughtful around the relationship of one's personal psychology with the age in which they find themselves
Therapists, counselors, coaches, and caregivers who want to enrich their work with their clients
Everybody who wants to lay claim to their personal journey
Anyone who wishes to restore a sense of mystery and challenge to their life
Those who find their life blocked and wish to consider other ways of seeing their choices
Program Curriculum
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Start01. The Definition of Gods and Myth (7:27)
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Start02. Four Cultural Functions of Myth (4:07)
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Start03. Mythic Dissonance (7:54)
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Start04. What is the Modern and Post-Modern Dilemma? (9:05)
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Start05. The Role of Mythological Connections. Illustration from the Kiowa Nation (9:29)
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Start06. The Cosmic Drama (18:58)
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Start07. Where Did the Gods Go? (21:56)
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Start08. The Loss of "the Ladder." (Yeats) (4:42)
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Start09. Four Stages Evolved in the Western Civilization (4:29)
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Start10. Dante’s The Divine Comedy, 1320 (5:50)
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Start11. Other Psycho-mythic Signal Dates: Giordano Bruno, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei (5:53)
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Start12. Hamlet by Shakespeare – "I’m my own problem" (2:34)
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Start13. Big Shifts of the 18th and 19th Centuries and "Invention" of Psychology (3:50)
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Start14. Definition and Manifestations of Modernism (4:00)
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Start15. Consumerism and a Profound Need for Connection to the Numinous (10:19)
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Start16. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as a Portrait of the Modern Paradox (9:26)
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Start17. The Democratization of Evil (5:19)
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Start18. Transition to the Modern: Immanuel Kant, David Hume, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Meliorism (10:01)
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Start19. A Country Doctor by Franz Kafka, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter (11:34)
WHAT DO STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY
"In Tracking the Gods, Jim Hollis engaged us in a world of greater breadth and depth. In this way, it became possible to see our present tensions as a small, although important, part of a larger picture. Feelings of impending doom were lifted!"
- Program Participant
"My experience with Dr. Hollis and his professional expertise and knowledge of Jung psychology has been a beacon of light in my personal day-to-day journey through life. His teachings challenge me to "show up" in life and bring the best that I have to offer to the situations and circumstances surrounding me. I now have a question that I carry with me every day: "What wants to enter the world through me?" From that question, I stand in a more conscious space of awareness. Becoming a member of the Jung Society had been arguably the best decision I made this year."
- Gregory, Program Participant
"Dr. Hollis’s command of the body of knowledge, his engaging delivery of it, and his openness to engage with ideas from the audience made for a riveting lecture experience."
- Anne, Program Participant
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT YOU WILL GET
- Video recording of each lecture so you'll have the information easily accessible
- Audio recording of each lecture to download on your digital devices and listen at your convenience
- Discussion Group where you can connect with other participants and share your comments
- Transcripts of all classes; We’ve designed your transcripts with clear formatting, space for you to take notes and helpful highlighted quotes so you’ll have the information easily accessible
- The transcript makes it easier to integrate new concepts. You can also go back and double check citations and names that are mentioned
- Having the transcripts allows you to jot your notes on how you’re going to use the ideas rather than transcribing the class
- Some people simply learn better by reading than by listening or watching
"Dr. Hollis is a gem: a brilliant thinker and writer. It is a treasure to have any interaction with him, and a valuable experience to have him share his vast knowledge and great expertise."
- Rick, Program Participant
"Dr. Hollis' great background with Jung's work and literature makes him a wonderful instructor."
- Mary Christie, Program Participant