Over the autumn equinox weekend, September 19–21, the East West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies will be co-hosting a hybrid online/in-person conference with the San Francisco Jung Institute entitled, Forever Jung? C.G. Jung’s Continued Relevance During Challenging Times.
The keynote speakers of the event will be John Beebe and Richard Tarnas, and many other CIIS faculty will be offering presentations. My own graduate program at CIIS, the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program, is well-represented with Sean Kelly, Matthew Segall, and myself all offering presentations.
The Red Book of C.G. Jung is a personal record of one man’s experiential encounter with the great mystery of the unconscious. And yet, The Red Book also documents powerful visions and fantasies with collective import pertaining, in some ways, to the whole of humanity. This presentation posits the idea that the fantasies Jung encountered through the practice of active imagination can be understood not just as a subjective experience, nor as an objective spiritual disclosure, but as a participatory co-creation between the human faculty of the imagination and the archetypes of the collective unconscious.
Please visit the Conference Website for more information and to register!
My course on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings begins in just two weeks and enrollment is still open!
Here is a short video in which I discuss one of the numerous themes we will explore in the course. Come join us on an epic imaginal journey through Middle-earth!
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Have you always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings but never got around to it? Or have you been longing to return to Middle-earth, but perhaps have been waiting for the right occasion to do so? If the answer is yes, the moment could be ripe to take a journey through this great myth for our time—alongside a fellowship of student travelers and with a guide who has been exploring this world for nearly twenty-nine years.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien has been a beloved story to several generations since its publication in the mid-1950s. The story has a timeless quality to it, and engages with a complex struggle between good and evil, death and immortality, power and freedom. The Lord of the Rings blends otherworldly romance with the high rhetoric of epic mythology, at times interwoven with the internal depths of the nineteenth century novel and the political climate of the twentieth century. As Tolkien’s close friend and colleague C.S. Lewis once said: “Nothing quite like it has been done before. This book is like lightning from a clear sky . . . here are beauties which pierce like swords and burn like cold iron.”
The Lord of the Rings is a text treated by many as a sacred text, one to be returned to year after year, or read aloud with loved ones. The Lord of the Rings has become a myth for our time. This course offers a journey through Tolkien’s magnum opus in a community of learning, guided by a scholar who has spent more than two decades engaging Tolkien’s writings and artwork. This course is designed both for newcomers to Tolkien’s narrative, and for veteran travelers through Middle-earth’s many realms. Together we will explore the grand themes and hidden nuances of Tolkien’s epic story, connecting The Lord of the Rings to the larger mythology of Middle-earth, and situating Tolkien’s process of writing within his own powerful experiences of the imaginal realm.
If any of you have been curious what I’ve been up to since I closed down my astrological counseling practice in 2022, come to the (R)Evolution Rising Astrology Summit on August 8–10 to find out!
For the last few years, I’ve been researching and writing the biography of Dr. Stanislav Grof, one of the world’s foremost pioneering researchers into the healing and heuristic potentials of LSD psychotherapy.
As the (R)Evolution Rising Astrology Summit, I will be bringing together two of my primary areas of research into one keynote lecture: astrology and psychedelics.
Here is a description of my keynote presentation: Is there a connection between astrology and psychedelics? At Esalen Institute in the mid-1970s, Stanislav Grof and his doctoral student Richard Tarnas were trying to solve the mystery of the inter- and intra-individual variability of LSD sessions. The radical suggestion that astrology might be the answer opened up a vast new domain of research. As the biographer of Grof, archetypal astrologer Becca Tarnas is uniquely positioned to present on this topic of the mutually illuminating relationship between psychedelics and astrology.
There will be numerous other extraordinary astrology presentations at this summit, offered by my fellow astrologers and even two of my former students! Attendance is free, with the option to purchase recordings and bonus materials offered by each presenter. It would be wonderful to see many of you there!
It is my joy to announce that I’ll be offering a keynote presentation for the online summit (R)Evolution Rising: Astrology for the Zeitgeist, taking place this August 8–10! The summit’s host and creator, Christina Caudill, has crafted this free online event to give participants the astrological insight to help navigate the transformative and challenging era in which we find ourselves with greater awareness and purpose.
I am honored to be part of the group of gifted astrologers speaking at this conference, and am truly delighted that two of my archetypal astrology students from the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness graduate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies will also be speaking: Somya Desai and Kate Kettelkamp. Both of these women are extraordinary astrologers whose work and research I highly recommend. Please come to the summit to hear their brilliant ideas and to learn from the rest of the panelists!
The three “classical” modern planets—Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, discovered by telescope in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, respectively—are each associated with archetypal principles and powers of fundamental importance for understanding human life. They are especially essential for understanding both the underlying dynamics of the collective psyche, as visible in cultural and historical events and trends, and the deeper psychological and spiritual dimensions of our individual lives. Join father and daughter archetypal astrologers, Richard and Becca Tarnas, as they share their insights into these great cosmic energies and consider the outlook for 2025 within the context of recent history.
Since my son was born earlier this year, I have cut significantly back on offering public lectures and events, so this will be my only workshop this year—and I’m eagerly looking forward to facilitating it! The workshop provides an introduction to the basic framework and techniques of archetypal astrology, particularly adapted to suit the needs and perspective of Jungian therapists and scholars, or anyone with an interest in depth psychology. The workshop will be recorded, and I hope to see many of you there!
In recent years, new scholarship has been emerging demonstrating the essential role the discipline of astrology played in the development and practice of C. G. Jung’s analytical psychology. In 1911, Jung wrote a letter to Freud in which he said that his nights were occupied with the study of astrology, to which Freud responded that Jung would be “accused of mysticism.” Jung kept his practice of astrology relatively concealed, but based upon evidence in his own writings, as well as statements he made late in his life, Jung was drawing on astrological wisdom regularly for both personal use and with his patients.
This workshop will demonstrate the role astrology played in Jung’s analytic practice, as well as the significant ways in which he drew on astrological symbolism in the transformative process of creating The Red Book. By understanding how astrology influenced the development of Jungian psychology—and how depth psychology has subsequently shaped modern astrology—we can see how the astrological discipline can complement, enhance, and deepen the psychotherapy practiced today.
Depth psychology and archetypal astrology are complementary disciplines. This workshop offers a basic foundation in astrological techniques which can be applied to psychological practice, whether as a clinician or for personal inquiry. A brief history archetypes, the symbolism of the planets, and planetary aspects will all be taught, along with examples from art, culture, and history. This workshop may be a gateway to astrology for some, while it can also be a deepening of the archetypal perspective for those already with an astrological practice.
The season has already been off to a rich start full of travels, beginning with a research trip to Prague and the Rhine Valley, a constellation of inspiring astrological stars at NORWAC in Seattle, the enchanting Jung by the Sea conference in Cornwall, England, and attendance at the world’s largest psychedelic conference, with a total of 12,000 participants, at Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver, Colorado.
Polhawn Fort, Cornwall
Recordings of the presentations I gave at NORWAC and Jung by the Sea are available for those who were unable to attend these events in person. At NORWAC, I gave two talks: “Permutations of Venus” and “Psychedelics and Astrology: A Symbiotic Relationship.” The latter talk offers a glimpse into some of the material I’ve been working with during this last year of research, for those who might be curious what I’ve been up to! At Jung by the Sea, I presented once again on “The Synchronicity of the Two Red Books: Jung, Tolkien, and the Imaginal Realm,” although there were some new elements of the talk particularly related to the exquisite setting on the cliffs of the Cornish coast, and I feel this was my best presentation of the work thus far. It was an extraordinary honor to present this material not only to this insightful Jungian audience, but especially to my fellow presenters, several of whom were major inspirations during my research into the two Red Books: Liz Greene, Tom Cheetham, and—the editor of Jung’s Red Book himself—Sonu Shamdasani.
As the summer progresses, I’ll be focusing almost entirely on writing—albeit with the delightful exception of three new talks I’ll be presenting to the astrological community. On Sunday, July 2, I’m returning to Adam Elenbaas’s Nightlight Astrology speaker series to present on “Jupiter-Uranus: The Creative Genius” in anticipation of the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction that is just beginning and will enliven our collective zeitgeist for the next 14 months.
A few weeks later on Saturday, July 22, I’ll be offering a presentation for NCGR San Francisco titled “The Compassionate Astrologer,” exploring practical guidance on how to create an ethical and therapeutic container in which the astrology client is empathically mirrored, while also being empowered to fall in love with their own birth chart. Although this presentation description refers to working with clients, the material is applicable for anyone who practices astrology, whether the seasoned professional or the novice astrology student.
Finally, on Saturday, August 5, I’ll be giving a class at Nadiya Shah’s Synchronicity University on “Creating a Thriving Transit Practice.” In the class, I’ll be giving step-by-step instructions on how to calculate your own transits using just your birth chart and an ephemeris. This is an extremely empowering and liberating skill to have for all astrology enthusiasts and will allow you to deepen your practice and enhance your relationship to the starry sky above you and its archetypal dynamics within you. This is one of the more practical classes I have offered, and I’m excited to enter into the technical details with a new group of astrology students. If you sign up before June 30, you can choose your own tuition rate for the entire summer series that Synchronicity University is offering—a rare opportunity to learn from five different female teachers over the course of a month.
Whether you decide to attend one talk or all of them, or go back to catch the recordings of those already past, I would be so delighted to know this material is reaching those who need to hear it at this time. May your summer months be resplendent with new adventures, wild awakenings, and timely insights!
This is the first workshop I have offered in person since 2019, so I’m inordinately excited about it! We’ll actually be able to hear one another laugh, sigh, and all the other wonderful sounds a live audience makes, and hopefully clap together at the end (if you like what you hear!). And in the workshop, I’ll be leading a guided practice of active imagination, and you’ll have the opportunity to make drawings of your experiences, discuss them in small groups, and share your reflections in a large circle all sitting together. Many things we used to take for granted, we can now celebrate in this workshop in a shared space.
For those who are in the area, I will be offering a lecture on Friday, November 11 at 7:00-9:00 pm on The Synchronicity of the Two Red Books: Jung, Tolkien, and the Imaginal Realm. The following day, on Saturday, November 12, I will be offering the workshop Jung’s Red Book and Active Imagination from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
To register for the lecture and/or workshop, please visit: https://ofj.org/shop/. I hope to see some of you there!
Becca Tarnas 