The Pelican as it Appears in The Golden Treatise of Hermes’

This workshop has  been approved for  6.0 hours for professional counselors (Friday 2.0; Saturday, 4.0; it was reviewed for NBCC credits.

             ‘The Pelican as it Appears in                                                                                         The Golden Treatise of Hermes’

                Lecture & Reading Seminar By

        Regine Schweizer-Vüllers, Ph.D.  

 DATES & TIMES: Lecture - Friday, November 1, 2019

                                                7:00 to 9:00 P.M.

                             Reading Seminar - Saturday, November 2, 2019   

                                                  10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.

PLACES: Friday – Home of Dr. Steve Staires

                                104 Monteigne Dr., Lafayette, Louisiana       

                Saturday – Home of Charlene Henry

                                     157 Oakview Blvd., Lafayette, Louisiana

NOTE:  Limited seating, pre-registration required for Saturday seminar!

Friday evening lecture: The alchemists often called their alchemical vessel “pelican.” However, the pelican represents the entire alchemical opus. One can even say that the bird is a symbol of the alchemist himself,  namely of the spirit in which the opus is done. The alchemists, though, did not intend to produce the so-called ordinary gold out of the impure and ordinary initial substances. Rather they wanted to create a psychic gold, a miraculous stone, an all-healing remedy, in order to unite the initially separated or even hostile psychic  substances.

          In the accompanying image called “Revivifying,” we see Sol and Luna rise from the fountain. On the left we see the Pelican with its fledglings. According to the accompanying text the two scenes belong together – the reappearance of the emerging sun and moon out of the depth of the fountain and the revivification of the dead fledglings by the pelican.

          The pelican also appears in the last chapter of the so-called “Tractatus aureus Hermetis” [Golden Treatise of Hermes] which goes back to the early 17th century. Four colors belong to the bird, whereby the fourth color, the “true yellow”, “the golden color” or “the gold” was equated with the goal of the whole process. As the lapis, that is, as the “all-transforming ferment” or the “all-transforming medicine”, the pelican could reconcile not only the opposites within the human soul but – miraculously – even the opposites of the outer world.

          This lecture explores the symbolism of the first three colors of this alchemical process and concludes with some reflections on the fourth color, the “golden color” or the “gold.” Looking at the text with reference to C.G. Jung’s and Marie-Louise von Franz’s psychological approaches to alchemy we will discuss this healing and uniting power of the Fourth.

Saturday reading seminar: After discussing the lecture of the previous day, we will continue our work with a reading seminar. We will read and discuss one of the most beautiful chapters in Marie Louise von Franz’s Commentary to Thomas Aquino’s Aurora Consurgens, the fifth chapter on the “Treasure House that Wisdom has built upon a Rock.” We will look at this “House of Wisdom” as it appears in the text of the Aurora Consurgens as well as in the Codex Rhenovensis, an old alchemical manuscript with some very impressive pictures. We will then look at the innermost center of this house – at its sanctuary. In the innermost center of a temple, a holy place or a  church always stands the image of a God or a Goddess. What is the mystery of this “House of Wisdom” and what kind of an image or deity does it contain?

     For this reading seminar, suggested reading in preparation is chapter 10 in the above-mentioned   

     Aurora  Consurgens and/or the section on the Aurora in von Franz’s book Alchemy, An Introduction

     to the Symbolism and the Psychology (in particular, pp. 262-266).

     **For additional information about the readings, please contact Charlene Henry at 337-232-9914.

   Regine Schweizer-Vüllers, PhD, is a Jungian analyst and psychotherapist in private practice in Zürich, Switzerland. She completed her training as analyst at the Jung Institute, Zürich, in 1986. From 1994 to 2008 she was a member of the board of the Research and Training Centre in Depth Psychology according to C. G. Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz.  Regine Schweizer-Vüllers is a member of IAAP and works as a training analyst, supervisor and lecturer in Zürich and internationally. From 2001–2014 she was part of the board that organized the annual Eranos conferences in Ascona/Ticino. She is the current president of the Foundation of the Psychology Club Zürich and together with her husband the editor of the ongoing publication of the Psychology Club Zürich, a series of books which contribute to the scientific work of  C.G. Jung. Her interest includes topics related to Analytical Psychology, especially alchemy, medieval mysticism, fairy tales, legends, folk songs and historical tales. For many years she has offered monthly reading seminars on C. G. Jung’s Mysterium Conjunctionis and – recently – on Marie-Lousie von Franz’s Commentary on the Aurora Consurgens.

COSTS:

      Friday Lecture and Saturday Reading Seminar-

            Friday and Saturday (both) - $60.00

            Friday lecture (only) - $20.00

            Saturday reading seminar (only) - $40.00

       CEU’s- Applied for.

            Friday and Saturday (both) - $30.00        

            Friday (only) - $10.00

            Saturday (only) - $20.00

NOTES:  

For Saturday reading seminar, pre-registration is required due to limited seating.   Pre-register for Saturday reading seminar and/or Friday lecture by mail using form below or online (our website) at:   

      www.cgjunglafayettela.org   >Selecting “Upcoming Events”  

                                                       >”Lecture & Seminar: Regine Schweitzer-Vüllers”

For Friday evening lecture, door registration begins one-half hour (6:30 p.m.) before event.

         . . . . EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE C. G. JUNG SOCIETY OF LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA  . . . .               

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PRE-REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE REGINE SCHWEIZER-VÜLLERS LECTURE & READING SEMINAR

Make check payable to C.G. Jung Society of Lafayette and mail to P.O. Box 683, Abbeville, LA 70511

     LECTURE & READING SEMINAR:  Fri. & Sat. (both) - $60.00;  Friday (only) - $20.00;  Saturday (only) - $40.00

     CEU’S:  Fri. & Sat. (both) - $30.00;   Friday (only) - $10.00;   Saturday (only) - $20.00

     Name & Address:_____________________________________________________________________________

     Phone:____________________________________Email_____________________________________________

     Amount Enclosed $_________________________Check No._________________________________________

NOTE:  Limited Seating for Saturday Reading Seminar!  Pre-registration is required to insure

             reserved seat for reading seminar.