Journeys of a Pregnant Virgin

Six weeks have passed, and tomorrow morning at this time I will be on my way to the airport, heading home to Vancouver. I've had an interesting week of classes, culminating yesterday with an all day seminar on Individuation, a topic that Jungians can't seem to say enough about. In various classes I have heard many attempts to describe and define the process. For those interested, here are some ideas from yesterday's discussion.

Individuation is a lifelong process of becoming conscious of who we are. It is the psychic impulse toward growth and full realization that mirrors the body's naturally unfolding process of maturation. Individuation is psychic movement and sometimes involves entering into an irrational process where the ego must relinguish control. As this process continues throughout our lifetime we becomes better able to sort out where we are in relation to the larger collective and to realize our own separateness and uniqueness, and to contain the neverending play of opposites within our psyche. You might say that what the ego does with life becomes our individuation process.

And, speaking of individuation, here is a lovely passage I read last night as I enjoyed my glass of wine and the quiet of having the whole house to myself. It comes from an article by Jungian analyst, Robin Van Loben Sels, in the special issue of Spring Journal titled,"Body & Soul: Honoring Marion Woodman."

"Whole-hearted acceptance of body's concrete existence is essential, of our essence. We cannot individuate without it. When bodies are unloved, whether by ourselves or others, hatred flows in, or intense neglect ensues. More than symbol, more even than the bread and wine of the Last Supper, each body is a knowing connection, a telling thing, a medium of experience, of expression and being. The body navigates us to where it wants us to go from an inner map not available to consciousness. Developing a sense of body awareness requires that we become aware of what the body wants, and how the body feels emotionally, and that we integrate all of this with personal consciousness."

She also quotes the Native American writer, Linda Hogan, who writes, "The body, made of earth's mud and breathed into, is the temple, and we need to learn to worship it as such, to move slowly within it, respecting it, loving it, treating ourselves and all our loved ones with tenderness ... love for the body and for the earth are the same love."

This is such a profound and strangely familiar truth to me that it's almost shocking to experience its importance over and over again on my journey. More often when we speak of loving our body it has to do with coming to accept its deviations from the cultural norms of beauty that haunt us in youth (which really means loving the image of our body, loving our body as object), but becoming aware of how the body feels emotionally and taking that as seriously as the mind's experience is a whole other story.

And with those reflections, typed in rhythm to a beautiful Charpentier cantata, I will close for now. I will most likely not go to Einsiedeln for the Salve Regina service this afternoon as I had planned, but have a slow day of cleaning and packing, and a long pre-flight walk, and finish with a lovely holiday gathering of BodySoul Rhythms women in Maya's home tonight, with mulled wine and candlelight. It seems like a perfect last day in Zurich before heading home for my four week midterm break.

Until January, then, I wish all who visit these lines peaceful hearts and souls over the next weeks and "Guten Rutsch" into the New Year! I'll be back in 2006.