As interest in the notion of the midlife crisis has grown, so too has attention to how it is symbolically represented in traditional narratives. Fairy tales within the European canon, particularly in the works of the Brothers Grimm, tend to foreground the challenges of early development, coming of age, and youth.

The experiences of middle and later life, by contrast, are more often displaced onto secondary or marginal figures. These differing emphases invite reflection on the cultural shaping of psychological experience across the lifespan. In this lecture, we will consider the distinction between so-called “tales of youth” and narratives that engage more directly with the problems of middle and later life. By drawing on a range of examples, the talk will explore how such stories may be understood not only as cultural artefacts, but also as symbolic reflections of lived psychological realities.

Flyer here

Visit Eventbrite for further Information & Booking Admission: €22.42 / Students: €17.07 Booking is via Eventbrite only

Dear friends and colleagues, 

 In these troubled times where many of us are suffering the unbearable silently, the Stand By The Mother series of lectures rises from the roots of hope, to bring solace to the heartbroken and the grieving. 

 It seems particularly timely to take hold of what Beatrice Hinkle (1874-1953) had intuited about Jung’s contribution, in that “humanity is seeking a new message, a new light upon the meaning of life, and something tangible, as it were, with which it can work towards a larger understanding of itself, and its relation to the universe”  (1916).

Mothers, an “absolute experience of our species”, represent a fundamental and organic truth. Dedicated to supporting Palestinian mothers in their striving to retain human dignity under the harshest realities, this fundraising series invites inspiring speakers to lead us into the “mystery of mothers” and the mystery of life itself. Both essential unknowns, they are “critical to the vitality of the psyche” inasmuch as individuals take their lives “into their own hands, faithful to their own essence and their own love”.

Please find attached your invitation to join George Bright’s lecture on 7th June 2026 (5pm to 7pm UK) who will be speaking to us about: “Who is Philemon, Who is Ka?”

For any further enquiry please email standbymother@gmail.com

 I look forward to welcoming you. 

 Best wishes,

Heba Zaphiriou-Zarifi

GAP-UKCP-IAAP

Is Today’s Chaos the Beginning of a Renaissance We Can’t Yet See?

We are living through a polycrisis – a time when multiple global and psychological crises interact and amplify one another. The old world is dissolving. Yet historically, such breakdowns often precede rebirths – just as the European Renaissance emerged from the ashes of the medieval world. A polycrisis is a state where multiple crises – ecological, economic, political, technological, psychological – become interconnected and mutually reinforcing, creating conditions no single system can solve.

This webinar will be exploring the chrysalis process from an alchemical perspective as a symbol for the metamorphosis that we are undergoing collectively. The caterpillar must die to become the butterfly; so too must the world’s Piscean myth of belief dissolve to be born to the Aquarian age of consciousness to open to humanity’s re-membering of the web of life’s interconnectedness.

Details and booking HERE: Eva Rider – Global Polycrisis & the New Renaissance: Jungian Views on Crisis and Metamorphosis – Scientific and Medical Network

Eight Tuesdays from May 12th, 10 am – 12:30 pm Pacific time (May 12, 19, 26, June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30), on Zoom

Flyer here

The sixth annual Jungian Women and the Soul’s Journey series will focus on what it means to embody the conscious feminine. Along with Marion Woodman’s profound and beautiful exploration of conscious femininity, we will read the work of Jungian writers such as Helen Luke, Ann Ulanov, Jean Shinoda Bolen, June Singer, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Patricia Reis, Sylvia Brinton Perera, and others. At a time when patriarchy’s relentless abuse of power has left the world dangerously polarized, how do we live the feminine feeling values? How do we live rooted in the heart?

How do we live BodySoul? 

 What do we want from the Well?

This peer-support group is open to anyone who has attended a workshop or training in BodySoul Rhythms or BodyDreaming.  We meet for one hour, on the FOURTH Monday of the month.

 We open with the ritual of Sophia’s Bowl, which is inspired by the Dance of Three. 

We gather and ground with a guided meditation, then we listen to a short poem or verse. We take turns to speak from where we are in the Now.  All the time we are witnessed and contained by one another in the group.  

 There is time then, to express and share our experiences of living BodySoul, however we manage it, in our everyday lives.  We aim to finish punctually on the hour.

 If you would like to join us, please contact either of us:

 Ana, email:  ana.kirby2@icloud.com (phone 0044 7885 260203)

Fionnuala, email: fionnuala_bates@hotmail.com (phone 00353 86 3897277)

Body in Presence

The Art of Embodiment in the Therapeutic Relational Field

 * A two-year training course for therapists *

with Deirdre Cotter, Joan Davis, Sally Ann O’Reilly and Leanne Szkalrzewicz.

Course runs: February 2027 – May 2029

Taster day :  Saturday 25th April 2026.  9.30 – 5pm  

Taster day:  Saturday 6th June 2026.  9.30 – 5pm

Taster day:  Saturday 26th September 2026.  9.30 – 5pm

  Both the full course and the taster days are in presence, non residential.

Body In Presence Programme offers an experiential skills based practice in an embodied approach to working with clients in the therapeutic relational field.

It is designed for professionals whose practice has a one-to-one therapeutic relationship at its core, such as psychotherapy, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, play therapy, art therapy, occupational therapy.

Cost:  Taster days each €120.

Two-year course €3,800.

Taster Day Flyer here:

Full Programme details here:

Sally Ann O’Reilly is an Assistant on Marian Dunlea’s BodyDreaming Training.

THE ALCHEMICAL IMAGINATION - Exploring The Alchemical Imagination for our Times

The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung dedicated much of the final three decades of his life to alchemical research. In his words “only after I had familiarized myself with alchemy did I realize that the unconscious is a process, and that the psyche is transformed or developed by the relationship of the ego to the contents of the unconscious” (1963, p. ). In a further excerpt, we read:

“Alchemy is rather like an undercurrent to the Christianity that ruled on the surface. It is to this surface as the dream is to consciousness, and just as the dream compensates the conflicts of the conscious mind, so alchemy endeavours to fill in the gaps left open by the Christian tension of opposites” (1944, p. 23).

During this event, our 11th annual Art and Psyche symposium, we explore the relevance of an alchemical sensibility for our times, and of what it means to ‘live alchemically.’ We invite you to a close listening and engagement with our presenters on the topic of The Alchemical Imagination in relation to the challenges of our times.

Speakers:  Jeffrey Kiehl, Louise Austin, Monika Wikman, Ryan Nielsen and Holly Parson Nielsen.

Saturday 18th April, 9.30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

In Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick, Ireland

Schedule and Tickets HERE

The Alchemical Imagination - 11th Annual Art and Psyche Symposium Tickets, Saturday, Apr 18 from 9:30 am to 5 pm | Eventbrite

Dates: Nov. 1st, Dec. 13th, Jan 3rd, Feb. 14th, March 7th, April 4th, May 2nd

Time: 9am-10am MST (US)

Who: Everyone! Please do not let your belief that you “can’t sing” or are not a singer stop you. This isn’t about “singing well”. This is about our intimate relationships with our own voices. About how singing feels in our bodies. About how feeling the sounds of our own voice can bring us closer to ourselves.

Where: ZOOM

Cost: 40$ per class or $200 for the whole series

To sign up, please email: www.lucien.julian.embodied@gmail.com

Your voice is yours. It rumbles through the most intimate parts of you, vibrating the darkest corners and bringing them into the hearth of your own breath.

Please join me from Samhain to Beltane as we spend some time exploring our breath and voice through embodied meditation, sounding, authentic voicing and singing. No experience necessary.  

Each class will follow a similar format. We will settle into ourselves through gentle movement and then find our way to the floor. Here we will explore the sensation of breathing throughout our bodies and continuing with this focus on sensation, slowly begin to experiment with sound. We will finish each class with a simple call and response song. Each participant will be on mute, so you will hear yourself and you will hear me, but you don’t need to worry about the group hearing you. You are safe and at the same time, witnessed and held in our compassionate container.

This BodySoul Rhythms group follows Marion Woodman’s BodySoul Method and blends it with Marian Dunlea’s BodyDreaming work.

Sessions include deep relaxation , working with dream images in the body , movement, and bringing movement to image / art.

Fee €55 per session
Contact Abigail abigailwhyte776@gmail.com

6.15 pm - 9 pm Venue Margaret Aylward Community Centre Glasnevin Dublin www.margaretaylwardcentre.ie

How do we live BodySoul? 

 What do we want from the Well?

This peer-support group is open to anyone who has attended a workshop or training in BodySoul Rhythms or BodyDreaming.  We meet for one hour, on the FOURTH Monday of the month.

 We open with the ritual of Sophia’s Bowl, which is inspired by the Dance of Three. 

We gather and ground with a guided meditation, then we listen to a short poem or verse. We take turns to speak from where we are in the Now.  All the time we are witnessed and contained by one another in the group.  

 There is time then, to express and share our experiences of living BodySoul, however we manage it, in our everyday lives.  We aim to finish punctually on the hour.

 If you would like to join us, please contact either of us:

 Ana, email:  ana.kirby2@icloud.com (phone 0044 7885 260203)

Fionnuala, email: fionnuala_bates@hotmail.com (phone 00353 86 3897277)

Dates: Nov. 1st, Dec. 13th, Jan 3rd, Feb. 14th, March 7th, April 4th, May 2nd

Time: 9am-10am MST (US)

Who: Everyone! Please do not let your belief that you “can’t sing” or are not a singer stop you. This isn’t about “singing well”. This is about our intimate relationships with our own voices. About how singing feels in our bodies. About how feeling the sounds of our own voice can bring us closer to ourselves.

Where: ZOOM

Cost: 40$ per class or $200 for the whole series

To sign up, please email: www.lucien.julian.embodied@gmail.com

Your voice is yours. It rumbles through the most intimate parts of you, vibrating the darkest corners and bringing them into the hearth of your own breath.

Please join me from Samhain to Beltane as we spend some time exploring our breath and voice through embodied meditation, sounding, authentic voicing and singing. No experience necessary.  

Each class will follow a similar format. We will settle into ourselves through gentle movement and then find our way to the floor. Here we will explore the sensation of breathing throughout our bodies and continuing with this focus on sensation, slowly begin to experiment with sound. We will finish each class with a simple call and response song. Each participant will be on mute, so you will hear yourself and you will hear me, but you don’t need to worry about the group hearing you. You are safe and at the same time, witnessed and held in our compassionate container.

This BodySoul Rhythms group follows Marion Woodman’s BodySoul Method and blends it with Marian Dunlea’s BodyDreaming work.

Sessions include deep relaxation , working with dream images in the body , movement, and bringing movement to image / art.

Fee €55 per session
Contact Abigail abigailwhyte776@gmail.com

6.15 pm - 9 pm Venue Margaret Aylward Community Centre Glasnevin Dublin www.margaretaylwardcentre.ie

How do we live BodySoul? 

 What do we want from the Well?

This peer-support group is open to anyone who has attended a workshop or training in BodySoul Rhythms or BodyDreaming.  We meet for one hour, on the FOURTH Monday of the month.

 We open with the ritual of Sophia’s Bowl, which is inspired by the Dance of Three. 

We gather and ground with a guided meditation, then we listen to a short poem or verse. We take turns to speak from where we are in the Now.  All the time we are witnessed and contained by one another in the group.  

 There is time then, to express and share our experiences of living BodySoul, however we manage it, in our everyday lives.  We aim to finish punctually on the hour.

 If you would like to join us, please contact either of us:

 Ana, email:  ana.kirby2@icloud.com (phone 0044 7885 260203)

Fionnuala, email: fionnuala_bates@hotmail.com (phone 00353 86 3897277)

Dear All,

IN PLACE OF WORDS, INCANTATIONS   

Online presentation by Heba Zaphiriou-Zarifi

on Thursday, 19th February (19:30-21:00 GMT) (11.30 PST) (14:30 EST)

Words and their silencing have shaped both our personal and collective experience of the genocide in Gaza. As Jung writes, the “paltriest and the mightiest” (2009) of words can forge profound connections or enact epistemic violence by negating existence itself.

Shrouded in duplicity, language has fragmented Palestinian life against the hard rock of erasure, fallacy, and indifference. This event reflects on the shattering of childhood. Asking, what does it mean to assault futurity, one of the “essential features of the child motif” (Jung, 1969)? The methodical policy of “un-childing” (Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 2020) has rendered the murder of thousands of children disturbingly normalised.

How, then, do we comprehend this “apocalyptic epoch,” and how might we discern seeds of a “different, unprecedented, and still inconceivable future” (Jung, 1955)? Does despair bring us closer to the essence of things, or does it collapse the very conditions of meaning? Songs of mourning and symbols of transformative work will be shared in communitas, releasing the dead into life beyond death.

You'll find further details in the attached flyer, and booking is now open on Eventbrite. Tickets from E17 (student rate).

Please note, ticket sales end on Wednesday, the 18th of February at 18:00 GMT.

 Heba Zaphiriou-Zarifi GAP, UKCP, IAAP is a training Jungian analyst, supervisor and seminar leader. She has delivered talks at IAAP-sponsored conferences, including the Jungian Odyssey, and at the C.G. Jung Club–London, where she recently played ‘Soul’ in Jung’s Seven Sermons to the Dead. Leadership Trained in BodySoul Rhythms © at the Marion Woodman Foundation, she integrates depth psychology with embodied active imagination, voice, and dream work as well as energy-based therapies. Heba founded the Central London Authentic Movement Group. She is a published author in many academic journals and recently conceived and developed the Stand By The Mother lecture series.

If you are unable to attend on the night, the recording is included with registration, and the link will be available for two weeks from the date it is released. 

Dates: Nov. 1st, Dec. 13th, Jan 3rd, Feb. 14th, March 7th, April 4th, May 2nd

Time: 9am-10am MST (US)

Who: Everyone! Please do not let your belief that you “can’t sing” or are not a singer stop you. This isn’t about “singing well”. This is about our intimate relationships with our own voices. About how singing feels in our bodies. About how feeling the sounds of our own voice can bring us closer to ourselves.

Where: ZOOM

Cost: 40$ per class or $200 for the whole series

To sign up, please email: www.lucien.julian.embodied@gmail.com

Your voice is yours. It rumbles through the most intimate parts of you, vibrating the darkest corners and bringing them into the hearth of your own breath.

Please join me from Samhain to Beltane as we spend some time exploring our breath and voice through embodied meditation, sounding, authentic voicing and singing. No experience necessary.  

Each class will follow a similar format. We will settle into ourselves through gentle movement and then find our way to the floor. Here we will explore the sensation of breathing throughout our bodies and continuing with this focus on sensation, slowly begin to experiment with sound. We will finish each class with a simple call and response song. Each participant will be on mute, so you will hear yourself and you will hear me, but you don’t need to worry about the group hearing you. You are safe and at the same time, witnessed and held in our compassionate container.