Judith Slimmon - Dark Destinies
In an age of ego supremacy, where deification of causality places the ego as the potential victor over every challenge in life, how do we begin to approach the idea of destiny – the idea that a life is predetermined and cannot be changed, no matter what force of will may be brought to bear. Even if the idea of destiny is troubling, it is certainly easier to contemplate “being born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth” than it is to consider being born into “endless night”. Yet this idea of destiny has been around for thousands of years, in one form or another. And most of us have had the experience of knowing someone who seems to live a life of misery, no matter what they do. What if some life circumstances and situations cannot be changed but must be actively borne and suffered? What if aspects of life cannot be transformed but must simply be endured? What if life itself is experienced as an “endless night. These possibilities present an anathema for the ego and yet, what if….some stories do not have happy endings. And there is nothing we can do about it. Through the Greek tragedies, and other mythologies, fairy tales, poetry and stories, we will approach and explore the troubling idea of dark destiny and its ramifications in our contemporary lives. Judith Slimmon is a Jungian analyst who lives in Calgary, Alberta and has had a private practice in Analytical Psychology for the past fourteen years. Judith did her analytic training in Zurich, Switzerland and has lectured and conducted workshops across Canada, in the U.S. and in Europe. Judith has recently joined the training faculty at the newly formed Jung Institute of Colorado.