Lords of the Four Quarters

You are cordially invited to join us for a weekend workshop exploring the deep dimensions of the psyche through the lens of Jungian and Neo-Jungian cartography using psychoanalytic theory, mythic imagination, historical references and experiential work.

C.G.Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, theorist and early pioneer of analytical psychology, was fascinated with the “quarternio” or the quadrated universe. Through his vast scholarship he observed over and over again that humans tend to split the world into fours- the four directions, the four seasons, the four winds, the four cardinal points in astrology and the tendency of humans to express this quadration in our religions, our rituals, our art and even in our architecture where the most frequently used pattern is a four sided room or building.

Jung concluded that the deepest structure of the unconscious or archetypal Self was four sided and that this largely unconscious but highly influential pattern was then projected onto the world. He struggled with what these four sides were exactly and never really solved the puzzle although his colleague Toni Wolff apparently did in a non-published paper on the archetypal feminine but that work was only presented once at the Psychological Club and, thus, fell into obscurity.

It was left to later theorists to work this out and the one who was finally successful in this endeavor was the Jungian analyst and professor of comparative psychoanalytic theory, Dr. Robert Moore. The genius of Dr. Moore’s work can hardly be overstated. He, in essence, has provided us with one the most brilliant and practical maps of the deepest psyche ever discovered. I have had the great good fortune of studying his work for over twenty years and his influence on my life and practice has been incalculable. This workshop is chance to explore his model and its profound implications for individuals, family systems, communities and even global issues that we are seemingly incapable of acknowledging and addressing, especially in modernity.

Every psychology has it own cartography of the psyche (or in many schools the “mind” ). Some pay little or no attention to the unconscious psyche, despite that fact that this discovery of the unconscious dimension of the psyche is, perhaps, one of the most important discoveries made in modern times. Other schools may have limited models of the unconscious but it is, in my opinion, its emphasis on the deepest levels of this dimension that makes Jungian psychology the once and future psychology, as Victor Turner remarked. Jungian psychology may be the only psychology whose map is large enough to contain all that it is the be a human.

In this workshop we will be exploring this map of soul. The work of Dr. Moore and other theorist will be explored and compared against the backdrop of not only human history but also the way in which this model leads to greater understanding of the dynamics of the unconscious as well as it relations to ego and healthy and dysfunctional behavioral patterns. We will use mythic imagination to help us locate and understand these powerful and influential patterns of libidinal energy that shapes and informs as well as energies our conscious life.

The goal will be to throughly explore these maps in other to bring greater understanding on the process of individuation. We will also be seeking greater understanding in order to develop methods of assessing, manifesting and regulating these powerful forces of our deepest Self. Through examining ritual process, patterns of initiation, religious manifestations and such human endeavors as art and mythic story we will seek to bring greater awareness of the deepest dimensions of the human soul.

One of the links in this linage is the Jungian psychiatrist Dr. John Weir Perry. Dr. Perry’s work on Kingship patterns in the psyche and the role of the alchemical hieros gamous or sacred marriage, was an critical piece to the success of Dr. Moore’s efforts. This workshop title is taken from Dr. Perry’s book of the same name so as to honor his contribution.

I do hope you will choose to join us on this adventure of Self discovery.

James Frazier