[This is a duplicate of a post first published by the author on Facebook in 2019.] I recently came across a Facebook post from an acquaintance, Amanda Patterson, which read ‘South Africa is basically one big crime scene.’ It went on to list the ‘most dangerous places to live in 2019’, South Africa, disappointingly, came in second place. So close! Brazil topped the list. Still, I think 2020 could be our year. You can hear the rule of law and...
Reflections and confessions in the aftermath of the year 2020This will be the third in a sequence of annual confessions I began in 2018. The motivation for these is to connect and form common cause with the students entering the Nigredo Stage of the Magnum Opus Programme that commences each year in January, to conduct my own psychic housekeeping, and to take a moment to pause and reflect on the virtue and vices of the year I have lived through....
Michael Eblen Farah my brother, died on the 4th of June this year, 2019.[1] Whilst a shock, his death was not entirely unexpected. He had a high risk of mortality at the time of his death and in the two or three years preceding it. He battled his entire adult life with depression and generalised anxiety disorder; and, few years ago, was also diagnosed with adult ADHD, which was certainly consistent with his behaviour and lifestyle. These issues,...
This article relays a conversation I had with Artemis. I shared our thoughts with my daughter who insisted that I write about it. I met Artemis years ago when she attended one of our courses. She contacted me a few months ago to ask me to support her through her divorce. We have had many conversations since her separation. As with anyone who has gone through divorce, the toughest part is to redefine yourself as a single person. Artemis felt that during...
The recent murders in France by Islamic fundamentalists were shocking and scary. Terrorism –an apt name for the terror that it brings into the world. I heard a snippet of an interview with one of the band members that were playing in the club where 89 people were murdered. The trauma and devastation in his voice brought me to tears. Naturally we are inclined to wonder why human beings would do this to each other. Why the anger, frustration, hatred and...
With apologies to C. G. Jung Some general context What follows is an attempt to synthesise and make meaning from my very own Jungian journey of the last fifteen years. Besides borrowing the title from Jung’s biography Memories, Dreams, Reflections, I follow in the footsteps of two of my students, Tasha Tollman and Linda Hawkins, who have previously written pieces along these lines for publication on this site. I am not into the white washing or spin doctor style of...
My mother is 73. Last year August my father passed away and she was left alone after 52 years of marriage. A few months later, due to miscommunication, all the trees in her back garden were cut down. She was devastated. Three weeks ago, she was attacked, robbed, tied up and left for dead. She was only found two days later. She is now moving to a retirement village when she gets released from hospital. She has suffered a tremendous amount of loss. Her husband,...
When I was young, I was quite good looking. I never traded on my looks and I certainly never thought that I identified with being attractive. But now that I am growing older and my looks are fading, I am having a really tough time of it. It seems to me that suddenly (within a year) everything changed. My hair fell out and I realized that I can’t read the small print anymore. The quantity of food I have always...
If you are really wealthy, don’t read this blog. :) I was reading an article that James Hillman wrote “A contribution to soul and money”. He says lots of interesting things in it, but what struck me as most interesting is the idea that money = psyche. Money is an Archetype which is translated into psychic energy. This psychic energy is limited, so it can only be used by the ego for either external (conscious) development, i.e. manifesting money or...
A little boy was having difficulty lifting a heavy stone. His father came along just then. Noting the boy’s failure, he asked, "Are you using all your strength?" "Yes, I am," the little boy said impatiently. "No, you are not," the father answered. "I am right here just waiting, and you haven’t asked me to help you." Beautiful, isn’t it? And that is the inspiration for my blog today. This idea that we are not alone. That help is all around us and...
