An exploration of loss, abandonment, dystopia and the Pilgrim’s journey Home, inspired by the HBO series The Leftovers.
This one-day workshop will explore the themes of:
- loss, of family, friends, dreams, lovers, and the world
- abandonment, by God and by self
- faith, meaning and hope in a post-apocalyptic world.
- finding redemption in a lost world
- Home, the pilgrims journey
- reimagining identity, a new ethic, the self as a religious phenomenon.
- a new myth
- family
Film is the vehicle of our contemporary mythology. Through the lens of film, the story of culture, society and the individual is communicated. Using the tools of psychoanalysis to interpret and understand the narrative and images of the film, gives us a unique and valuable insight into the mind, spirit and (largely unconscious) ideology of our time.
The critically acclaimed series ‘The Leftovers’, written by Tom Perrotta, deals with the theme of a lost world. A world of “leftovers” abandoned by God, by family members who have departed and ultimately by themselves, after the “sudden departure”: the inexplicable, simultaneous disappearance of 140 million people, 2% of the world’s population. An event that mirrors the biblical idea of the Rapture. The series focuses, as the name suggests, on the “leftovers”, those left behind, and their attempt to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of this apocalyptic event.
At a collective level, this symbolically represents elements of collective trauma in our contemporary zeitgeist. The rapidly shifting cultural, political and technological world (or umwelt) in which we are embedded, is deeply anxiety provoking. The loss of stability, community and traditional rituals, provokes in us a sense of alienation, abandonment, disenchantment and insecurity. We are desperate to find meaning, purpose and identity in a spiritually and psychically barren society. At a personal level, it speaks to the universal experience of loss we are all called on to make sense of.
We will ask the tough questions of loss and abandonment in its various forms and consider what the pilgrims journey home from this dystopian umwelt might look like. Juxtaposing loss with a re-symbolisation of identity, meaning and community, such that the possibility of returning home becomes a psychic reality.
Workshop and registration details:
Cape Town
Date & time: full day Saturday the 25 November 2017, 9.00am – to 5.00pm
Venue: The Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town City Centre
Workshop Fee: R550
Click here to book your seat now!
or call Alexia 071 566 9870 for more information.
Johannesburg
Date & time: Two evenings, Monday the 4th and Tuesday the 5th of December 6.30pm – 10.00pm
Venue: The Centre for Applied Jungian Studies, Bryanston, Johannesburg
Workshop Fee: R550
Click here to book your seat now!
For more information call Anja: 082 949 8895 or email info@appliedjung.com
Your facilitator
Stephen Farah MA is the co-founder and senior lecturer of The Centre for Applied Jungian Studies South Africa. He is an executive member of the International Association of Jungian Studies. Stephen holds an honours degree in analytical philosophy from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master’s degree in Jungian and Post Jungian Studies from the University of Essex. Stephen’s areas of interest include psychoanalysis, film, the philosophy of language, consciousness, individuation and the simulation hypothesis.
