Works in Progress

Mountain of the Adepts, 1654 (Michelspacher, Cabala)

Phoenix Rising explores, from a Jungian perspective, the experiences of victims of another’s hubris that sets them on an involuntary journey to the metaphorical Underworld. The mythology of the Underworld and the overlap with hubris are investigated to provide context for understanding the stories of the people who sometimes not only survived their journey but experienced a type of alchemical/psychic transformation.

This is a work in progress but tentatively will explore topics such as the mythology of the Underworld, the hubris that can cause another to fall into the Underworld unprepared, and a few examples of stories that illustrate Underworld journeys.

In one of my favorite books on alchemy from a Jungian perspective is Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology by Marie-Louise von Franz (Inner City Books, Toronto, 1980). She presents an illustration, Mountain of the Adepts, 1654 (Michelspacher, Cabala) that represents the phoenix at the pinnacle of alchemical transformation. She writes, “The phoenix, symbol of the renewed personality, staddles the sun and moon (the opposites as masculine and feminine).” (p. 12) Something that is significant in the symbolism is the balance of the masculine and feminine; one does not dominate over the other. For transformation to be like the birth of the new phoenix from the old, Jungians recognize the need to learn to what is called holding the opposites.

This page contains some preliminary information and

tentative plans for works in progress.

Potential work TBA

Book in Progress

WOMEN ALCHEMISTS 2.0

by Robin L. Gordon, Ph.D.