Exploring the self

It’s June, the sixth month of the year! 2012 is just slipping by so quickly. Where did the time go? Did I spend it at my dining room table making costume jewelry that I have now – just yesterday – managed to get on Etsy.com.   Have I spent half of it having strange dreams about being on a parked bus wearing only a chemise, an article of clothing I haven’t had or worn in years. It was an old chemise but it felt brand new. What would Carl Jung have to say about such a strange dream? That I was feeling young again?

In response to your surprising response to my column on my attending Jung’s Wild Woman seminar, I am writing about the next series of seminars.   This one, if you are a woman wanting to make a better acquaintance with your inner self, you must absolutely go to. Take four days off, Thursday and Friday, the end of two weeks. If you are handling people at your office, this seminar will be of value to you. It is better than any basic seminar you can offer your people. If you don’t begin by leading people inside themselves to get to know themselves better, how can you motivate them to go outside and get to know others better? If you can’t get them to get to know others better, how can you get them to work better?

This seminar on basic Jung called “Exploring the Self” may seem expensive. It is P10,000 for the full course. It includes materials and merienda but you have to pay for your own lunch. But you will learn a lot about yourself and on top of this knowledge, you will enjoy yourself as well. That’s what I like about the Jung seminars. A lot of laughter mixed in.

Jung has a word: individuation. It means discovering yourself as an individual. Who are you really? Since life is a journey, what part of the journey are you unconsciously in? When are you conscious and when unconscious? If you ask me, most women are unconscious, especially here in the Philippines. It’s the way we were raised, where shushing us or making us sutsot in Pilipino was the main style of reprimand.   The first day of the seminar is about the Hero’s journey, a journey that repeats through life. Come to think of it, I am starting a new journey with this costume jewelry endeavor of mine. That is probably why I am beset with minor problems these days, problems that I deal with by playing jigsaw puzzles on my computer. Avoidance, but it helps.

At the “Exploring the Self” seminar you will be introduced to the Greek gods and goddesses, used just to represent personality types. Why the Greek gods? Is this a religion? No, they are metaphors for the personality types. The Greeks invented their gods with strong human traits. Hera, the wife of Zeus, for example embodied the traits of the typical wife. She loved Zeus above all else. If he fooled around – and he always did – it was for her always the fault of the other woman whom she would pursue with the meanest tricks until she got her husband back. Did he want to return?   Who cares? Hera did not care. All she cared about was getting rid of the other woman believing this would get him back. Does that sound typical and right? Then you are a Hera. Go and find out how you can make yourself happier.

What combination of the gods and goddesses have gone into the making of you? Here you will have to take tests. Don’t worry you don’t have to pass them. They are just to give you an idea of what gods or goddesses are active in you. Me, I am a virgin goddess. Either that or I’m Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love who is in a category all her own. But really I feel like a Hestia, who you never heard of. Hestia is the fire in the hearth of a home, the one who always burns steadily in every Greek house. I am always home and happy there though I do not look the type. I am always at my dining table making costume jewelry and I am happiest alone. That’s Hestia in Greek, Vesta in Roman. You’ve heard of Vestal Virgins? Those are my handmaidens.  

Anyway, Jung’s “Exploring the Self” will be held at Ateneo Rockwell on June 14 and 15; 21 and 22. The facilitators are all outstanding Jungians – Dido Villasor-Gustilo, Rose Yenko, Sophie Sim-Bate and Bernie Nepomuceno. There will be only 16 slots so you have to rush. To reserve, call 0917-8137773 or email jungphilippines@yahoo.com. 

Carl Jung has provided me with the secret to myself, to making myself happy. You want that? Then be kind to yourself. Take this seminar. You will surely enjoy it.

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