Depth Psychology

Depth Psychology related topics

Why Work with Myths?

Tina Azaria

“Myths are not part of the past; but a way to see universal truths playing out in the present. Myths are the inside story that make meaning of the outside world.” ~Michael Meade

I love working with mythology in my personal healing work and in my work with others. They provide a “universal map” of the human psyche and can help us navigate difficult internal terrain. Part of the power of working with myths lies in the fact that they provide a model for life experiences common to all people and exploring them can create real-time restorative experiences for individuals and groups.

baba yagaMyths can reveal an overlap of individual experience with the universal experiences of all humankind, and in so doing, provide comfort and a sense of direction and meaning during times of duress, confusion, and suffering. Mythology not only serves to explain mysteries of the outer world, it also gives form and structure to the inner world of psyche. C.G. Jung believed that one of the best ways to learn about the human psyche is to study myths.

Jung viewed mythology as the symbolic language of the collective unconscious, the part of psyche belonging to all people across times and cultures. The relationship of myths to the collective unconscious is simple: the collective unconscious is made up of archetypes and mythology, with its plots, characters, and motifs is founded on archetypes.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell  spent his career relating world mythology to the human experience. He explains that myths indeed serve to illuminate the human condition, but more importantly, they elicit emotions and actions in the audience by conveying dramatic, archetypal situations which everyone can relate to.

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Art (&Life) on its Own Time

Tina Azaria

Instruct MaskOne of the things I find mysterious and fascinating about creative work (of any kind) is the way it seems to take on a life of its own, during the creative process (and certainly, after it’s completed as well.) I recently completed a mask that I had started a few years ago, then set aside. Sometimes my life moves at such a pace that it’s hard to keep up with my creative work. I’m sure many of you can relate.

I get inspired; I begin working with the inspiration; I get interrupted; (kids, pets, life…) and my attention is demanded in another area. Life keeps moving. Fast. Times passes. Inspiration comes; I begin…you get the idea.

Sometimes I hit a mysterious point where I suddenly need to complete all open projects, or release them (into the ethers with fire, or into the earth for decomposition) in a decisive, yet ceremonial way. I’m in that phase again.

Yet, at the same time, it often seems that a piece of art is a mysteriously living thing that has its own timeline. Such was the case with this mask.

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Sweet Synchronicity

Tina Azaria

HappyI love synchronicities. They give me chills. They make me giggle. They make me scratch my head in wonder. They create a feeling that everything is connected and give me a sense that my life, and all it’s made up of, has depth, richness, and meaning.

Carl Jung first introduced the idea of synchronicity. Basically, it’s a significant “coincidence” where an external, physical phenomenon has a meaningful connection to a person’s internal psychology. There is an acausal connection that, when probed, can yield deep insights into the workings of a particular psyche. Sounds kind of abstract, I know. Here’s an example of a synchronicity that occurred for me today.

Today marked 13 years of love, partnership, and the creative interweaving of two souls on separate yet connected journeys through this world. My sweetie and I spent the day together in Berkeley, brunching, strolling, and enjoying one another’s company as we celebrated the birth of our 13 year partnership.

20141207_151702We were blessed with a simple, yet sweet synchronicity that held so much meaning for us. It felt like an external affirmation of our romantic and creative union, custom fit to our sensibilities. We love to sit and talk and philosophize about the world, culture, the earth, ourselves. We love art, and especially street art, including simple self-expressive graffiti (yes, I know it’s often done illegally, but hey, I see the beauty in it).

We sat for a long time on an enclosed bench on the Berkeley pier, looking out at the bay, watching the white sailed boats, the grey winged birds, the misty green hills as we talked about Life, and specifically, our life together as a creative husband and wife duo.

20141207_144839I glanced at the wall next to him and suddenly saw a spray painted engagement ring that I hadn’t noticed. Then, I turned and looked behind me and saw the word “wife” painted. And here we were celebrating our anniversary. Hee hee. We could’ve sat on any one of 30 enclosed benches along the pier, but we chose this one, the one with street art about the archetypal phenomena we were marking and celebrating at that moment – love, romance, union, marriage, and the archetype of the wife (and by association, the husband), and it showed up in a way that connected us back to our relational beginnings as 2 artists coming together in an inner city art space, 13 years ago. It was a perfect anniversary gift for us.

20141207_145810I’m grateful for my incredibly supportive, creatively inspired and talented husband (check out his music here) and the years of partnership we’ve shared. I know I’m blessed. And I love the reflections and affirmations I see in the world around me, reminding me of my blessings.

Have you noticed any synchronicities in your life lately? I encourage you to begin noticing and tracking them (I do it in my journal) to see what insights you can glean about the patterns woven into your individual, unique soul.

13 years of love :)

13 years of love 🙂

 

Honoring the Dead with Altars

Tina Azaria

This time of year I like to build altars (sometimes elaborate, sometimes simple) to remember and honor those who have gone before as well as my contemporaries whose journeys, in this lifetime, came to an end. Honoring the dead is an age-old, universal custom that has real value.

It’s super easy to make an altar, and it can be a very rewarding experience. It can be as simple as lighting a candle, placing pictures, flowers, objects, basically, whatever you’re “called” gather together on a space (that I recommend you set aside, in your own way, as being sacred).

For inspiration, here’s a few examples. The first is a more elaborate altar I put together a few years ago, that I later made into a permanent ancestor altar box, pictured below. The last image is this year’s super simple altar. Let your imagination and intuition guide you to create a thing of beauty and deep meaning. It’s so worth the time investment.

It feels good to remember and pay respects to our loved ones who have left this world through our own thoughtful, creative acts of love. It’s a great healing activity for anyone, (especially children) who has recently suffered loss. Creative acts are known to be highly beneficial for working through grief. In time, building an altar (and perhaps doing some type of ceremony) can become quite a beautiful and joyous event.

I highly recommend you try it for yourself!

Ancestor Altar Altar Box TA Ancestor Altar

Metanoia – Huh?

Tina Azaria

Wishing WellI was recently at a Michale Meade retreat in Vashon, WA (amazing!) The retreat opened with participants being asked to choose from descriptions (and altars) of 3 elements – Water, Earth, Fire. My comfort zone, the places I know best are Earth and Fire (I’m a Capricorn, Aries, Leo for those who care). But every bone in my body said “choose water.” So I did.

Next step was picking a stick from bowls placed on the altars of the respective elements. There were words (relating to the element, in my case, water) written on the back of the sticks, hidden from view. It was reaching into the mystery and seeing what came. I picked the METANOIA stick. Meta-what? I’d seen and heard the word before, but had no idea what it meant.

Michael said the ritual represents “choosing” (the element) and then “being chosen…” and added “beyond one’s ability to choose.” Nice. So I chose water, then metanoia chose me. (This process ultimately divided us into meal groups – shout out to my fellow metanoians.) So what the heck is metanoia? He wouldn’t tell us, and told us not to look it up and let it unfold. (Someone looked it up any way, and found definitions such as radical change and a complete reversal of direction.)

When I got home I read about it and extrapolated this from what I learned:

So What is Metatnoia?

Breakdown leading to rebuilding or healing. (Ah, the alchemical negredo. I know this energy.)

From the ancient Greek – meta meaning beyond or after and noeo, meaning perception, understanding or mind. Whoa.

It goes on from there…”a change of mind, a change in the trend and action of the whole inner nature, intellectual, effectual, and moral.” “Transmutation of consciousness.” “To express that mighty change in mind, heart and life wrought by the spirit of god.” “A cosmic shift in mind and heart.” “Change in character and purpose.” “Profound, usually spiritual transformation.”  That sounds deep. And mysterious. I’m intrigued to see how this unfolds and shows up in the coming months.

I saw another definition connecting it back to water: “baptized to show they were changing their hearts and their lives.” More watery initiation Hmmm….

Pipe Ceremony

Photo by Debra Goldman

I did have a watery (emotional) opening at the retreat that was surprising and very deep for my psyche.  It came again from the body. I twisted my ankle on slippery wet rocks, and the physical pain brought vulnerability that cracked me wide open. It did feel like another step in my soul’s initiation.

I shared deep stuff, I cried, I spoke a commitment (into a large room of mostly strangers) to dedicate myself to my creative work, and specifically, getting that book of poems (that’s been forming for over a decade OMG!) published and out into the world. This is the year. OK.

We’ll see how this unfolds…