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This image with a poem by Maya Angelou is my contribution to the collaborative mosaic as part of the Tate Exchange Programme, in the Blavatnik building at Tate Modern in London from May 30th to June 3rd. The opportunity to participate in this activity was provided by the ‘Politics, Art and Resistance’ course by the University of Kent. For more information you can visit the following links:

https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/polir-news/2018/05/23/politics-art-and-resistance-tate-exchange-workshop-other-at-tate-modern/

‘Walls and fences are not the only means used to separate people and turn neighbours into strangers. Everyday life practices and routines often place people into opposing categories such as us/them, inside/outside, included/excluded, old/young, rich/poor. Join us in exploring how art can be used to reveal, explore and question the processes that make us define others in terms of how they differ from ourselves. Workshops, interactive displays and live art interventions will interrogate the many complex ways in which we relate to otherness. Can we make connections and find what we have in common?’ http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/tate-exchange/workshop/other

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On Artemis

Short extract from an interview in Jung Journal of Culture and Psyche (Routledge) retrieved on May 28th, 2018 from http://jeanshinodabolen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Into-the-Woods-Bolen-Interview.pdf

‘For decades, Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen has led us “into the woods.” She has given the world a lifetime of Artemis-inspired work, and through her example and writing, we can more fully understand and embrace the archetypal energy of Artemis within the psyche as well as its confuence with other archetypes, the analytic process, and humanitarian activism.

Helen Marlo: It is great to interview you, especially given the subject of your latest book, Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman. You have lived out and championed Artemis – an underrepresented or overlooked archetype that expresses, among many things, activism in women. Can you say a bit about the book and its central message?

Jean Shinoda Bolen: The key word in the title is “Indomitable,” which means untamed or not able to be subdued. Artemis is the archetype active in the girl who survives abuse and neglect, who can see herself as a survivor rather than a victim. Like the goddess of the hunt and moon, she aims for a target or goal of her own, and with her lunar aspect, develops the capacity for reflection and perception of mystery. Egalitarian relationships with men and sisterhood are natural. This is the archetype of the activist and feminist. This archetype was liberated by the women’s movement and is coming into its own now.

HM: What motivated you to write it now?

JSB: There was a reactivation of Artemis in my own psyche. I went to the United Nations (UN) in 2002 and have been going annually since then as an advocate for a UN World Conference on Women. I continue to be appalled at what I learn about: the trafficking of little girls, the use of rape as a weapon in conflicts, and, in many parts of the world, what a tragic and awful fate results from being born female. I was inspired by the indomitable spirit of girls and women who survive and work in the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that rescue and help. Artemis is their archetype. While I’m not on the frontlines, the intuitive feeling function that gives me empathy and serves me well in doing analysis, motivates my Artemis-activism. Writing the book began with telling the myth of Atalanta at the Jung Institute in Küsnacht (2012). In Jungian circles, the myth of Psyche, told by Erich Neumann in Amor and Psyche (1956), is described as the psychological development of the feminine. But it’s a pattern that doesn’t describe women whose leading archetypes are Artemis, Athena, and Hestia. I wanted this myth to become a counterpart to the Psyche myth in Jungian thought about women’s psychology…..’

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‘There is a tribe of silent thrivers that many people don’t know’ (Silent Thrivers, p. 89, M.E. Hart)

In recent posts I have been referring to art and art practices as a means of resistance and creation of the possible or small utopias, which could perhaps be defined as collective healing although I have more generally focused on artistic practices and creativity as a means and a process of increasing awareness and healing trauma. Below is a poem with the title Circle from M.E. Hart’s book Thriver’s Quest (2018, Library Partners Press). He too uses the metaphor of the circle not as in negotiating positions in the circle or the stepping out of it, nor the opening of the circle to call someone in or create a crack onto a new future, but instead as Hart writes ‘to describe reconnecting emotions inside with my journey in life outside. It is what healing feels like’ (p.44)

Circle

When the circle was broken / something new began / when the circle was broken / something came to an end / the unbroken circle wound through the years / through mountains / through valleys / through anger and fear / through joys and sorrows / through happiness and tears / the unbroken circle reaches back to the start / a journey through time / to the initial spark / the unbroken circle was broken / with me it is being repaired / even as I speak (p.43)

M.E. Hart has used art, poetry in his case, to process experience and heal. He has drawn on his own healing journey from early sexual abuse and trauma and later life experiences in developing his poems. He is an attorney, actor, scriptwriter, poet, and certified executive coach and has received a BA in Russian Language and Literature. Hart leads a team that helps organizations create inclusive and innovative cultures.

His healing journey and book is centered around six themes: Surviving, Searching, Fighting, Realizing, Healing, Thriving. These seem to be universal themes or / and phases for those working to heal from trauma. M.E. Hart has used an interesting and more structured process he calls The Mini Quest Writing Process, which is a short version of the Hero’s Journey by the mythologist Joseph Campbell. Like in the hero’s journey it includes three steps: The Call, The Quest and The Return. He supports that these internal journeys can help us reconnect to our deepest self and to rediscover who we are born to be, and what we are born to do and offer the world. Hart writes that ‘The Call can be a thought, a feeling, a sensation, a dream, a question we ask ourselves, or a question someone asks us, anything really. It is what sparks us to try to understand what’s happening in a given moment. The Quest is writing down what we are thinking, feeling, remembering, fantasizing, and imagining as we explore the thoughts, feelings, bodily responses, and actions that catch our attention. Then we spend some time putting what we have discovered into a poetic form that deepens our understanding and healing. The Return is re-visiting our poems to help us understand ourselves better as we have new responses to them. Often, we discover that re-reading our poems helps us make sense of something in our present life’.

‘I’m calling it all back / I’m calling back by spirit / and as the universe / flows through me like a stream / dip your hand in and take all you need’ (I’m Calling Back My Spirit, p. 51)