April 5 & 6, 2013
Friday Night 7:30 -9:30 pm; Reception 6:30 pm
Saturday 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
The Riverside Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Friday Night 6:30 – 9:30pm

THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE:

FROM A DEAD STONE TO A LIVING PHILOSOPHICAL ONE

Stanton Marlan, Ph.D., ABPP, LP

From 1928 on, Jung used the mysterious language of alchemy to describe the process of psychological change, development and individuation. The language is not actually that mysterious if one thinks of the alchemists’ terms in the following, progressive and interwoven way: 

1. Nigredo or sol niger (blackness or black sun) is the original place of energy, or unconscious prima materia, from which transformation gets its energy, that is accessed through introversion and often depression that accompanies most significant life changes, and that holds the potential for new growth; 

2. Albedo (whiteness or lightening) is the onset of insight and consciousness as to what the depression within this unconscious darkness mean, and what to do about it; and 

3. Rubedo (reddening or ripening) is putting this insight into living action that integrates the unconscious with the conscious so as to arrive at the

4. Gold, Self, “the philosopher’s stone,” or Ultima materia, the transcendent place of wholeness to which the alchemists refer as “the gold.” 

Dr. Marlan will explore this language of alchemy, particularly that of one of the alchemists to whom Jung refers most often, namely, Gerhard Dorn. Dr. Marlan will describe the blackness of introversion which is consciously directed regressive depression that begins the change. He will explain Dorn’s reference to this depression or nigredo as sol niger (black sun), that which appears most dark but that holds the energy of new life’s metaphorical sunshine. One must move from this black sun through albedo to the rubedo stage that leads to the philosopher’s stone. 

In addition, Dr. Marlan will explore the paradoxical idea that the prima materia is also the ultima materia. He will discus the character Mercurius who for Jung embodies both and is, paradoxically, at the same time the process from one to the other. In Psychology and Alchemy, Jung describes Mercurius as “the world-creating spirit concealed or imprisoned in matter…. He is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison and yet healing draught – a symbol uniting all the opposites.” The journey from shore of depression or sol niger to the other one of Mercurius’s healing and the philosopher’s stone and back again will be illustrated by powerful images. James Hillman has called these  “aesthetic signatures of the soul.” Stanislas Klossowski De Rola, the 17th century alchemical historian and author of The Golden Game, has noted these "contain hieroglyphic figures and Hermetic emblems which express double meanings, natural analogies, and secrete Hermetic references that constitute an independent language" and this he calls "the Golden Game." Following these images marks the trail of the soul's self-generating activity. The presentation will explore a wide range of such signatures—from the ancient alchemists to modern patients and from the depths of the unconscious to the ultimate goal of the great work or Golden Game. (2 CEU’s for Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors and other professionals)

Learning Objectives: Following the completion of this program, participants will be able to: 

1.Demonstrate a broader understanding of the paradox of a wide range of alchemical images in symbolizing the individuation process; and

2.Describe the differences and connections between specific “aesthetic signatures of the soul” including sol niger, philosopher’s stone, prima materia, and ultima materia. 

Saturday 9:30 am – 4:30 pm 

SIGNATURE OF THE SOUL: 

THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS ITSELF

With Stanton Marlan, Ph.D., ABPP, LP

The workshop will continue our reflection on the parallels between alchemy and psychological development as expressed in images. Since the Center’s theme this our 25th season is taken from James Hillman’s challenge to “stick to the image,” this program is particularly relevant.  Dr. Marlan will discuss how the unconscious blackness that is referred to by the alchemists as the prima materia or the nigredo is often experienced as introversion that offers nothing but the darkest depression of the sol niger (black sun). However, within the depths of the dark unconscious lies the energy, the spark, of renewal and transformation. An individuating person must access this unconscious energy, then move into the albedo or lightening of insight brought on by consciousness, and then must integrate all of this and enact it in the world as a meaningful and individuated life, or ultima materia. Then the process paradoxically begins again. 

Dr. Marlan will illustrate this psychological development using impactful images that have been referred to as the “signatures of the soul.” Whereas in the Friday night lecture he focuses on hieroglyphics and Hermetic emblems, in the Saturday workshop he will present these soul signs in the form of one artist's images. These embody this artist’s transition from immersion in the deadly grips of sol niger on to an important activation of her inner life. Together, Dr. Marlan and the participants will reflect on the images and trace the process by which this artist’s soul goes more deeply into darkness to discover the shine of darkness itself. This artist’s journey is a modern day illustration of Gerhard Dorn's challenge that genuinely transforming energy can only be found in the darkest of places, the sol niger or the unconscious. (6 CEU’s for Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Mental Health Counselors and other professionals)

Learning Objectives: Following the completion of this program, participants will be able to: 

1.Demonstrate a broader understanding of the psychology and challenge of alchemist Gerhard Dorn;

2.Clarify the reasons Jung relied so heavily on Dorn’s use of alchemical imagery;

3.Identify specific images that represent manifestations of the individuation process in Dorn’s alchemy; 

4.Deepen knowledge of the autonomous language and paradoxical nature of specific alchemical images such as hieroglyphic figures and Hermetic emblems and one artist’s exploration of her inner world; 

5.Deepen understanding of how the alchemical, self-generating activity of the soul relates to our own lives and/or the lives of our clients; and 

6.Describe the process by which the psyche introverts to access the energy of these signature images of the soul so as to respond to Dorn’s alchemical challenge in our lives and/or the lives of our clients.

Stanton Marlan, Ph.D., ABPP, LP., is a clinical psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst in private practice in Pittsburgh, PA and an adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University. He is a training and supervising analyst with the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts. He is also President of the Pittsburgh Society of Jungian Analysts. He is certified and holds diplomates in both clinical psychology and psychoanalysis from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has published numerous articles on Jungian psychology and alchemy and is the editor of Archetypal Psychologies: Reflections in Honor of James Hillman (Spring Journal Books, 2008) and other books. He is the author of The Black Sun: The Alchemy and Art of Darkness (Texas A&M Press, 2005) and is currently working on a new book on the Philosophers' Stone. Dr. Marlan has lectured widely at Jungian and Archetypal conferences in the United States and abroad, including: the First International Conference on Jungian Analysis and Chinese Culture, in Guangzhou, China; the IAAP International Congresses in Cambridge and Barcelona; the first conference for The International Society for Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority, in Berlin; and the Guild of Pastoral Psychology, in Oxford, UK. He has taught at the C.G. Jung Institute of Zürich and elsewhere. He has a long term interest in Archetypal Psychology, the psychology of dreams, and alchemy.

Both: $175 (Add $24 for 8 CEUs); Student $150) (Lunch)
Friday ONLY: $50 (Add $6 for 2 CEUs); Student $40
Sat. ONLY: $125 (Add $18 for 6 CEUs); Student $110 (Lunch)

To REGISTER with a credit card, click ABOVE
Or send your check with this form to:
Patrick Parham, P.O. Box 669, Hallandale, FL 33008
Or Call our Message Phone: 954-525-4682 and leave a Message, someone will
return your call.
Or Email us: info@JungCenterSouthFloirda.org
Visit our Website: www.JungCenterSouthFlorida.org

Directions to The Riverside Hotel, 608 E. Las Olas Blvd, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301 Take I-95 to Broward Blvd. Exit, go EAST past Federal Highway for a half block to SE 8th Avenue, turn RIGHT and go one block past Las Olas Blvd., then turn RIGHT on SE 4th Street to back entrance to The Riverside where valet parking is $6 per day. We will meet on the 8th Floor in the Tower.