'On the Doorstep of the Castle' Premiering at the IAAP Congress Copenhagen

Aug 21, 2013 - Press Release - Just published by il piccolo editions:

On the Doorstep of the Castle
by Elizabeth Clark-Stern

Our setting is 16th century Spain. The Inquisition has expelled the Jews or forced them to convert. Teresa of Avila is igniting the imagination of the country as the nun who receives messages directly from God. Alma de Leon, a young Jewish converso, appears on Teresa’s doorstep, petitioning to become a novice in her care. Their complex relationship explores the feminine archetypes of the Amazon, and the Medial Woman, in a story that unveils the foundations of psyche’s movement toward wholeness: Kabbalah, and Christian rapture, in an oppressive yet luminous time.

This play is a work of creative imagination based on the interaction of a true historical character and a fictional one. Teresa of Avila is admired to this day not only by Catholics and Christians, but by Taoists and Buddhists, psychologists and poets. Carl Jung was fascinated by her master work, The Interior Castle, for its description of the journey of the soul toward intimacy with God. The fictional character, Alma de Leon, is inspired by twentieth century Jewish philosopher, Edith Stein, who chanced to read Teresa's autobiography, and experienced a profound spiritual awakening that led her to become a Carmelite nun. "What if these two were to meet?" the playwright asked herself, crafting the character of Alma as a Jewish woman true to her time and place in history. The teaching of the ancient Jewish mystical tradition, the Kabbalah, was strictly forbidden by the Inquisition, and yet Alma is haunted by it, even as she dons the habit of a nun and struggles to find her identity in the presence of her passionate, spiritually adventurous mentor.

Mark Winborn Discusses Deep Blues on Shrink Rap Radio

Dr. Dave Van Nuys interviews Fisher King Press author Mark Winborn, PhD about his book Deep Blues: Human Soundscapes for the Archetypal Journey on his podcast show Shrink Rap Radio. Dr. Dave interviews a wide range of therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts across a broad range of subjects. The interview can be listened to here: Winborn Interview or on ITunes.

In the interview, Dr. Winborn discusses the experiences that drew him to Jungian analytic work, his interest in the blues, various themes in the book, and a brief overview of the three main schools of Analytical Psychology.

Deep Blues explores the archetypal journey of the human psyche through an examination of the blues as a musical genre. The genesis, history, and thematic patterns of the blues are examined from an archetypal perspective and various analytic theories – especially the interaction between Erich Neumann’s concept of unitary reality and the blues experience. Mythological and shamanistic parallels are used to provide a deeper understanding of the role of the bluesman, the blues performance, and the innate healing potential of the music. Universal aspects of human experience and transcendence are revealed through the creative medium of the blues. The atmosphere of Deep Blues is enhanced by the black and white photographs of Tom Smith which capture striking blues performances in the Maxwell Street section of Chicago. Jungian analysts, therapists and psychoanalytic practitioners with an interest in the interaction between creative expression and human experience should find Deep Blues satisfying.

Fisher King Press publishes an eclectic mix of worthy books including 

Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge Fiction, Poetry, 

and a growing list of alternative titles. 

www.fisherkingpress.com

Pennington & Staples on Righteousness and Guilt

Article by Nancy Carter Pennington and Lawrence H. Staples

Guilt’s necessary and important role in the creation and maintenance of consciousness is in itself a sufficient argument to demonstrate the absurdity of an exclusive pursuit of righteousness. Even if that weren’t the case, however, there would be ample reasons to be suspicious of a one-sided effort to be righteous.

The case for righteousness has many authors; the case for sin has few. Perhaps, that is how it should be. We can almost all agree that goodness is a good thing. It doesn’t take much persuasion to convince us that sensible conformity to the ethical and moral standards of the community, and attention to appropriate behavior and manners, not only contributes to one’s personal success but also to the success of the community. It also contributes to the avoidance of painful guilt; its opposite, non-conformity, produces guilt and threatens the attainment of success, as measured by fame, fortune, and other outer symbols of reward and recognition. When it comes to success, one can, at the least, argue that the appearance of goodness is usually extremely helpful.

It is likely that far fewer would openly assert that badness can also be good, both for the individual and society. Let us, therefore, try to correct this deficiency by taking the side of sin with all its ill repute. It seems that this rejected orphan deserves some respect along with acknowledgment of its valuable qualities too, if all God’s children are to be honored. We are, of course, speaking of sin in the broader definition noted earlier in this book.

It is clearly not fashionable to admit the idea that there is significant value to both sides of these antagonistic opposites, good and bad. To admit such moral relativity, one would have to bear the tension of disquieting uncertainty and ambivalence. Of course, others would say it isn’t uncertainty and ambivalence, but, rather, evil that one would have to bear, if one admits value to both sides of these opposites. Greater security may well lie in black and white certainty, where one is either for good or against it. It is simply, easier to believe that way. It helps escape the unbearable tension of ambiguity. It is much more comforting to find, and hold tenaciously to, an absolute truth, which relieves one of the burden of further thought. Or, perhaps, thinking is allowed, but only as long as it is confined to acceptable thoughts and ideas. Thinking acceptable thoughts and parroting dogma is not only perceived as virtuous and respectable; it also protects one from the anxiety that normally attends the new, the different or the sinful. READ MORE

News Release: New Title Alert - The Dream and Its Amplification

June 19, 2014

Just Published by Fisher King Press:

The Dream and Its Amplification

Erel Shalit & Nancy Swift Furlotti (eds.)

The Dream and Its Amplification is now available for shipping.

Fourteen Jungian Analysts from around the world have contributed chapters to this book on areas of special interest to them in their work with dreams. This offers the seasoned dream worker as well as the novice great insight into the meaning of the dream and its amplification.

The Dream and Its Amplification unveils the language of the psyche that speaks to us in our dreams. We all dream at least 4-6 times each night yet remember very few. Those that rise to the surface of our conscious awareness beckon to be understood, like a letter addressed to us that arrives by post. Why would we not open it? The difficulty is in understanding what the dream symbols and images mean.

Through amplification, C. G. Jung formulated a method of unveiling the deeper meaning of symbolic images. This becomes particularly important when the image does not carry a personal meaning or significance and is not part of a person's everyday life.

Contents and Contributors

• The Amplified World of Dreams - Erel Shalit and Nancy Swift Furlotti

• Pane e’ Vino: Learning to Discern the Objective, Archetypal Nature of Dreams - Michael Conforti

• Amplification: A Personal Narrative - Thomas Singer

• Redeeming the Feminine: Eros and the World Soul - Nancy Qualls-Corbett

• Wild Cats and Crowned Snakes: Archetypal Agents of Feminine Initiation - Nancy Swift Furlotti

• A Dream in Arcadia - Christian Gaillard

• Muse of the Moon: Poetry from the Dreamtime - Naomi Ruth Lowinsky

• Dreaming the Face of the Earth: Myth, Culture, and Dreams of the Mayan Shaman - Kenneth Kimmel

• Coal or Gold? The Symbolic Understanding of Alpine Legends - Gotthilf Isler

• Sophia’s Dreaming Body: The Night Sky as Alchemical Mirror - Monika Wikmam

• The Dream Always Follows the Mouth: Jewish Approaches to Dreaming - Henry Abramovitch

• Bi-Polarity, Compensation, and the Transcendent Function in Dreams and Visionary Experience: A Jungian Examination of Boehme’s Mandala - Kathryn Madden

• The Dream As Gnostic Myth - Ronald Schenk

• Four Hands in the Crossroads: Amplification in Times of Crisis - Erel Shalit

• Dreams and Sudden Death - Gilda Frantz

Attending the IAAP Congress in Copenhagen? - Don't miss the The Dream and Its Amplification book launch on August  21st at 19:00 !

The Dream and Its Amplification

Paperback: 230 pages (Large Page Format 9.25" x 7.5")

Publisher: Fisher King Press; 1st edition (June 15, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-1-926715-89-6

Fisher King Press publishes an eclectic mix of worthy books including 

Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge Fiction, Poetry, 

and a growing list of alternative titles. 

www.fisherkingpress.com

The Water of Life Flows Again

June 15, 2013

Just Published by Fisher King Press:

The Water of Life: Spiritual Renewal in the Fairy Tale

by David L. Hart

The intensive study of Jungian psychology was amplified by another subject, taught continuously while I was a student at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland: the psychology of fairy tales. The study of fairy tales was the specialty of a fairly young, single woman, Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz. She lectured to us English-speaking students in well-spoken English, and the conviction and power of her voice made me feel how deep and meaningful these stories were to her. Not only that, I, myself, was immediately, deeply affected by the convincing, spiritual reality that was being presented to me in the stories themselves. It was as if the reality of life came out here in a wholly new form, untouched by the standard accepted form of common life.

What most struck me, I think now, was the following realization: here, in this story, is a completely insoluble problem. I want to follow it all the way through and, to my surprise, finally feel that this problem has been solved. This outcome has been both essential and unbelievable to me. As one who felt that life posed just such an insoluble problem, I found the typical fairy tale both impossible and incredible. I found in fairy tales a healing presence and possibility for the terror of my own early life. This is the unexpressed feeling that kept me fastened on the totally unexpected subject of fairy tales.

About the Author
David. L. Hart studied at Williams College (B.A.), the University of Zurich (Ph.D) and the C.G. Jung Institute, Zurich, Switzerland (Diploma). As a 1955 diplomate of the Zurich Jung Institute, David knew C.G. Jung and analyzed with Emma Jung, Toni Wolff, and C.A. Meier. David’s lifelong love of fairy tales began in his years at Williams College where he majored in German. He was especially aware of the theme of spiritual renewal in fairy tales, an approach to the tales he developed in his thesis for the Jung Institute on fairy tales. Dr. Hart was a practicing Jungian Analyst in the Philadelphia area from 1955 to 1986 and in the Boston area from 1986 until 2011, when he died. He was a founding member of PAJA, a member of NESJA, of the IAAP and of NESJA’s Training Board. Dr. Hart gave many workshops on the psychological and spiritual meaning of fairy tales, enriching and deepening the lives of many.

Product Details
The Water of Life: Spiritual Renewal in the Fairy Tale
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Fisher King Press (June 14, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9781926715988

Fisher King Press publishes an eclectic mix of worthy books including 

Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge Fiction, Poetry, 

and a growing list of alternative titles. 

www.fisherkingpress.com