THE INTERPRETATION OF FAIRY TALES by Marie-Louise Von Franz will be examined with a discussion of the overlapping relationships of the archetypes and familiar and universal motifs, such as helpful animal figures and beings from other realms, as seen in fairytales and dream life in numerous cultures through the ages.

An original fairytale by Susan Reintjes, THROUGH THE FAIRY DOOR, will be used as an example of the creative process, employed to introduce participants to the healing powers of their own imaginative abilities as well as stimulate access to their personal relationships with various archetypal figures.

The Friday lecture will touch on this material while the Saturday workshop will delve more deeply into the Von Franz material, as well as in-depth reading of chapters of the Through the Fairy Door leaving ample time for discussion, experiential meditation and creative activities.


WORKSHOP: The Power of Fairy Tails and the Creative Life

This experiential workshop instructs participants in the practice of gaining access to the creative and imaginative power of the right brain through exercises and techniques designed to quiet and subdue the activity of the left hemisphere of the brain in a society that emphasizes linear thought.

Participants will be led through a right brain meditation allowing time to experience the presence and power of their individual creative Muse. We will discuss the relationship each person has with its unique Muse and the importance of that rapport in creative expression. We will explore the complex of the “writer’s/artist’s block” and discuss ways to become conscious of the roots of this phenomenon.

Time will be spent in creative activity including constructing a haiku (Japanese poem) and illustrating a personal meditative experience/or dream using paper and colored markers, pastels and crayons.