Archetypal Mythology Craig Chalquist, MS PhD

CNS 5020.H1JFK U: Consciousness Studies

Winter Quarter, '07Tuesdays7:15 – 9:45 pm1/9 – 3/20

Course Overview

This course will explore the role, weight, and significance of the mythic dimension in cultural life. Freud, Jung, Hillman, Campbell, Downing, and a host of theorists and thinkers and writers have claimed that such presences are not dead or extinct, but alive and addressing us continually. We will explore this claim through discussions, dreamwork, film, and other media that disclose these deep layers of the psyche. We will also survey what various schools of psychology have said about archetypal modes of being and consider what parts they play in the refinement of consciousness.

Course Objectives

  • To gain an overview of world mythology in terms of creation stories, the divine feminine, the divine masculine, and other universal dimensions.
  • To detect mythic themes, figures, and stories at work in dreams, daily interactions, unusual situations, and current events.
  • To discuss myth from several perspectives (euhemerism, depth psychology, Joseph Campbell, etc.).
  • To explore the psychological idea that myth is the primal material from which psyche is woven together.
  • To distinguish between image, myth, archetype, and archetypal image.
  • To identify the guiding myths of various public figures and explain how such myths operate much like more familiar unconscious forces pushing for recognition.

Required Reading

Leonard, Scott, and McClure, Michael. Myth and Knowing: An Introduction to World Mythology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Grading

  • Class participation (all activities): 50%. Although discussion, dreams, work in groups, and daily examples of mythic manifestations are all invited into every session, the most important quality in “participation” is presentness.
  • Midterm reaction paper: 20%. Very informal, no citations or references; the intent is to show me how you are working psychologically with mythological material.
  • Final paper, 8-10 pages (see below): 30%. APA format. The paper should be well-organized and free of obvious spelling and grammatical errors.

“A” grade: superior participation and insightful written working of course material and ideas, with clarity in handling the complexities of the topic. “B” grade: above-average, thoughtful, clear work. “C” grade: satisfactorily meets all course requirements and demonstrates a basic knowledge of the topics covered.

You are allowed to miss up to 2 classes for this 3-unit course.

Final Paper

Select one of the following options (we will discuss these in class):

  1. Explore a myth that speaks to you in light of what you learned in the course. Give concrete examples of how this myth has impacted you at various levels: your past and present, your goals, your outlook, health, family life, etc. Take that myth and turn it over in the paper as though you were inspecting a jewel from various angles. The aim of this paper is revelatory.
  2. Take a mythic figure, story, or theme discussed in class and explain how it shows up politically, culturally, or ecologically in contemporary events. Give specific examples of how it does this and discuss the possibilities for applying more consciousness to it (e.g., would Mars be so destructive on the battlefield if more of us probed archetypal levels of human aggression reflectively? What might he look like then?). The aim of this paper is interpretive.
  3. Using a reflective consciousness, “dream into” a mythic figure and, inviting it to co-write your paper, imagine into and explain how this figure might see itself through the lenses of various psychological perspectives. This paper's aim is exploratory.

If you wish to avoid the end-of-term paper rush, talk to me about turning in your paper early.

Class Schedule

Note: students will be expected to read at their own pace, using the topics below as signposts.

1/9:

Topic: What is myth?

1/16:

Topic: Myth, dream, creation, consciousness.

1/23:

Topic: Myths and archetypes.

1/30:

Topic: The divine feminine.

2/6:

Topic: Pagan images.

2/13:

Topic: The divine masculine. Midterm paper due.

2/20:

Topic: Tricksters and other threshold deities.

2/27:

Topic: Prometheus; ideologies and technologies as backdoor mythologies.

3/6:

Topic: Exploring your personal myth.

3/13:

Topic: Transgressivity: myth everywhere.

3/20:

Topic: Storied places. Final paper due.

Suggested Reading

Borges, J. (1964). Labyrinths: Selected stories and other writings. New York: New Directions.

Campbell, J. (1972). The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Bollingen.

Downing, C. (1996). The goddess: Mythological images of the feminine. London, New York: Continuum.

Endo, S. (1980). Silence. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.

Hesse, H. (1999). Demain. New York: Perennial.

Hillman, J. (1997). The soul’s code: In search of character and calling. New York: Random House.

Jung, C. (1973). Answer to Job. Princeton: Bollingen.

Jung, C. (1989). Memories, dreams, reflections. New York: Vintage.

Meade, M. (1993). Men and the water of life: Initiation and the tempering of men. New York: HarperCollins.

Silko, L. (1988). Ceremony. New York: Penguin.