Eros, Love and Power

 

Presented by
Charlene M. Henry, LCSW, Diplomate Jungian Analyst

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Sunday, May 2, 2021, 4:00 - 6:00 pm PDT

This program will not be recorded.

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"Where love reigns, there is no will to power; and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking.  The one is but the shadow of the other. " (Jung CW 7, par. 78)

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In 1959, Jung spoke about the world situation in which “…humanity, as never before, is split into two irreconcilable halves.” (CW 9 ii, par 126) Of course, this process has been happening for hundreds of years. But today, as we look at and are affected by the many oppositions and the great tension in the world, we can no longer sit back and ignore these. The fate of humanity and the planet are in question.

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Rather than looking only for outer solutions or for others to rescue us, more of us must look within as individuals to find those splits and to find ways to resolve them. The outer world carries the projections of what we all carry within. In the Red Book Jung says, “Life does not come from [outer] events, but from us. Everything that happens outside has already been.” (Red Book reader’s edition, p.152)

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Jung’s own suffering from the splits within himself and his “confrontation with the unconscious” have gifted us with insights into the composition and working of the psyche.  The choice is now ours as to whether or not we learn from the wisdom of this suffering.

 

In this presentation, we will look at what is meant by the “splits in the psyche” with particular emphasis on love and power. As in other oppositions, each side has value. Can we see the value in both? What results from rejecting one side or the other? What happens to that side which we reject?  Are we taking away or adding to the great split in the world?  What is our responsibility to the well-being of ourselves and to the world? In addition, we will look at the how the feeling function and Eros can help us to find our way in dealing with these splits.

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Learning objectives:  

• Analyze and understand Jung's statement, "The opposite of love is power." 

• Give four examples of how Eros is differentiated from love in mythology, religion, and real life experiences.

• List and identify different aspects of the concept of power.

• Explain the significance of the feeling function in the development of morals and ethics.

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Charlene M Henry, LCSW, Diplomate Jungian Analyst, is in private practice in Lafayette, LA. She has been a psychotherapist and analyst for the last 50 years and was one of the founders of the C.G. Jung Society of Lafayette, serving as President for ten years. She has given lectures in the U.S. on alchemy; basic concepts in Jungian psychology; "An Alchemical Interpretation of Like Water for Chocolate"; "Searching for Evangeline, the Quest for the Acadian/Cajun Psyche"; and various other topics.  She has met with small groups in dream interpretation and study of the Red Book.