From the Crusades, the First and Second World Wars, and the ongoing violence worldwide, we have to admit that war is an archetypal reality within the Psyche. However, with modern weaponry that can decimate the world with the push of a button, we can no longer afford to see war as the only solution to conflict. From the sages and dreamers of antiquity to the 1931-1932 correspondence between Einstein and Freud titled Why War? humanity has sought to understand the nature of war and how to stop its ongoing proliferation, its justification of unimaginable crimes against humanity, and the loss of millions of lives worldwide.
To these earlier contributions we can now add the voice of Jung and Jungian Psychology, along with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel’s personal experiences of the Holocaust and his lifetime pursuit of humanitarian concerns to address the issue of war and crimes against humanity. These profound insights speak to the very nature of war and all that follows in its wake. The world stage can no longer be the screen upon which governmental leaders project their exiled contents onto, and now more than ever, we need to find some way to halt the rampant escalation of projections.
Michael Conforti is a Jungian analyst and the Founder and Director of the Assisi Institute. He is a faculty member at the C.G. Jung Institute of Boston, the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, and for many years served as a Senior Associate faculty member in the Doctoral and Master's Programs in Clinical Psychology at Antioch New England. A pioneer in the field of matter-psyche studies, Dr. Conforti is actively investigating the workings of archetypal fields and the relationship between Jungian psychology and the New Sciences. Dr. Michael Conforti offers insight into the workings of Psyche and archetypal dynamics and patterns so as to provide a modicum of hope, and a framework with which to understand and navigate current world events.
PANELISTS
Clay Boykin is a former United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer and served as a unit level Executive Officer and Nuclear Safety Officer. Today, Clay is a business development, leadership, and organizational change management consultant, where he develops and enhances creative and counterintuitive thinking in individuals, teams, and in the corporate C-suite. Clay is the author of the book: Circles of Men: A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Creating Men’s Groups, and is the creator and host of the podcast, In Search of the New Compassionate Male. Clay’s next book, Unstuck: The Art of Creating a New Lens Through Which to See Your World, is due out mid-next year.
Dr. Nathan Hogan is a retired veteran, having served nearly 22 years in both the U.S. Air Force and Army. His military experience included multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as numerous operational deployments around the world. Nathan earned his M.A. in History with a concentration in Global History from American Military University and his Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. He served on the senior committee for the University of Arizona’s College of Humanities “Thunder of War – Winds of Return” project, focused on using important humanities sources to create dialogues about the experience of war. He is also the leader of the Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable® chapter in Tucson, Arizona. Nathan currently works as a senior analyst and developer for Titania Solutions Group, Inc.
Dr. Oksana Yakushko is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst, writer, speaker, and consultant based in Santa Barbara, California, where she is research director and professor of psychology for the clinical psychology program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She teaches courses in social psychology, research design and dissertation development.
Robert A. Jonas was trained in Object Relations psychology at Harvard and used his post-doc Masters in Spirituality from Weston Jesuit School of Theology to explore the healing resonances between Christian contemplative prayer, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and Buddhist (Vipassana, Zen and Tibetan) meditation. Jonas founded the Empty Bell Sanctuary in western Massachusetts in 1994, and now leads interfaith contemplative groups. He is a biographer of Henri Nouwen and student of Sui-Zen, the Japanese bamboo flute (shakuhachi). He has performed in many secular and spiritual contexts and has played at three Buddhist-Christian retreats with the Dalai Lama, including a performance under the Bodhi Tree in India. Jonas has recorded three CD's. His Sui-Zen album, "Blowing Bamboo," is available on iTunes, and one example of his many integrations of shakuhachi and nature.
Christophe Le Mouël, Ph.D., is a quantum physicist trained in France. He is currently the Executive Director of the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles and co-chief-editor of the journal Psychological Perspectives, a quarterly journal of Jungian thought. He is in analytical training in Zurich at the Research and Training Center for Depth Psychology according to C.G. Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz. His passion is the connection of matter and psyche, he has written several articles on this subject. Dr Le Mouël, is a frequent presenter at the Assisi Institute and his work continues to make vital contributions to our ongoing investigations into the confluence of matter and spirit.
Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor in the Mythological Studies Program At Pacifica Graduate Institute. He has authored, coauthored, edited or coedited 33 volumes of poetry, non fiction and fiction. His most recent titles include The Way of Myth: Stories' Subtle Wisdom and The Fiction in Our Convictions. His web site, dennispatrickslattery.com contains a series of blogs, paintings, adventure invitations and online courses.
HOST
Dana White, Ph.D. a contributing faculty member to Pacifica's myth degrees and author of numerous volumes on mythology. Over the course of his career, Dana has worked in radio and industrial television, as a vice president of marketing for Merrill Lynch, and as an academic department chair at an art college. He edits and designs books, produces films and motion media for universities, corporations and non-profits, and is a professional photographer with more than 40 books to his credit.He currently produces and hosts the Myth Salon, a venture he co-founded in 2016 with Dr. Will Linn,
MODERATOR
Will Linn, PhD, Will is a Creative Mythologist. For three seasons and thirty episodes, he anchored the Sky, ZDF and History Channel TV show, Myths: The Greatest Mysteries of Humanity as one of the two recurring “meta experts.” He is the founder of mythouse.org and Head Mythologist for Fascinated by Everything—a visionary experience company that creates narrative art in next-generation mediums. Will served as a leader for the Joseph Campbell Foundation over an eight year period and was the founding chair of an innovative film and performing arts college called Relativity School in Los Angeles Center Studios. From 2015-2023, he taught myth, anthropology, writing, story and philosophy at the college while leading high school, graduate and professional coursework in the United States and Europe. His media and conference appearances, publications and roundtables have been focused on the poesis of nature and technology, meta-narratives of transformation, historical arcs in the mythic imagination and the archetypal revolution of meteor-steel.
MYTH SALON
The Myth Salon is all about cultivating community – bringing people and ideas into a delicious convergence every month to explore ideas of substance. Dr. Will Linn and Dr. Dana C White, the indefatigable moderators of our Myth Salon, congregate the mythological community to explore upon this rich and fertile path, and increase the amperage of myth and substance wherever we are. When we nurture and sustain our community relations and involvement, we all benefit! The full playlist of Myth Salons since the Spring of 2020 can be found Here.
MYTHOUSE INVITATIONS
Mythouse.org - Mythic Calendar: The Mythic Calendar integrates the world’s major holidays into a single calendar of media and information rich portals that explore the mythic dimensions of each holiday, sign of the zodiac, flower of the month, birth stone and celestial event. Check in with the mythic calendar each month and with every holiday to stay engaged with mythic time.
Mythology Channel: Explore ten years of mythic radio series, round tables, myth salons and special events in the Mythology Channel’s content library.