Not I, But the Wind: Oracular Poetics in Creative, Spiritual, and Healing Practices
Sunday, October 18, 2026 – 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET/10:00pm GMT
An online interactive talk for the Friends of the San Francisco Jung Institute
Oracular instruments, such as the Tarot and the I Ching, along with practices such as trance, vision questing, seance, dream incubation, and active imagination have long been utilized by artists, mystics, and healers as a means for receiving guidance from forces and beings beyond our day-to-day reality. Jung turned to the I Ching when struggling with intractable problems that reasoning alone could not solve. Composer John Cage turned to the same oracle as his primary method of composition, which he called “chance operations.” Artist Hilma af Klint received instructions for her groundbreaking abstract paintings from beings who spoke to her during seances, while the equally groundbreaking musician David Bowie turned to the “cut up” technique taught to him by William Burroughs to break free of his ego’s desires so that he could hear and obey the desires of what Jung called the “Creative Spirit” and the “Invisible.”
Highlighting the lives and work of a select group of artists, mystics, and healers, this talk will examine a variety of divinatory techniques which have been known to offer messages and instructions to the conscious mind prepared to receive them and act upon them. An “Oracular Poetics” includes not only listening and receiving, but also action–the making of something from the instructions that one receives. These techniques are not only for a select few–we will explore how they can foster a deeper connection to wisdom, healing, and transformation in all of our lives.
The Seer and the Saboteur: Desire, Denial, and Reawakening at the Crossroads
of Immanence and Transcendence
August 16, 2026 — 10 AM PT/ 1 PM ET/ 6 PM GMT
For Kosmos Institute's Inaugural Colloquium.
Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves. ~ Adam Phillips
That’s how it is sometimes / God comes to your window / all bright light and black wings / and you’re just too tired to open it. ~ Dorianne Laux
Human life is a miracle, yet dominant Western cultures have all but forgotten this fact as we sleepwalk towards global catastrophe. While we may experience moments of revelatory clarity, awe, interconnectedness, and deep empathy, we are most often distracted, self-absorbed, driven to relentless achievement, or simply numb. Why is it so difficult (as psychoanalyst Adam Phillips has stated) to “bear our aliveness”– to bear, and to live, the miracle of our existence? What is it about human nature that has led us to create economic, political, and religious structures that aim to keep us anesthetized, dependent, and ignorant of our shared origins, wisdom, and responsibilities?
This talk will address these questions by exploring two opposing, yet complimentary–and necessary–human impulses: desire and denial. While all humans share these impulses, they are seen most clearly in the lives of artists, mystics, and medicine people/shamans; those humans whose callings entail daily navigation, negotiation, and cooperation with desire and denial as they traverse temporal and eternal realities. Their insights are invaluable for this exploration.
Writing from a prison cell, the poet, playwright, and statesman, Vaclav Havel observed that, “the tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life but that it bothers him less and less.” This is indeed a tragedy with consequences that are being felt not only by the individual, but by the whole of human and non-human nature on this precious planet. At this critical moment in time, we must reawaken in numbers large enough to counter the forces that seek to keep us overwhelmed and undereducated, distracted and lethargic, as they eagerly plunder both our outer and inner worlds. We do not need to be mystics, shamans, or artists, but we can learn from their devotion to their destinies and from their relationship with desire and denial as we strive to be truly alive in the present while shaping our collective future.
That’s how it is sometimes / God comes to your window / all bright light and black wings / and you’re just too tired to open it. ~ Dorianne Laux
Human life is a miracle, yet dominant Western cultures have all but forgotten this fact as we sleepwalk towards global catastrophe. While we may experience moments of revelatory clarity, awe, interconnectedness, and deep empathy, we are most often distracted, self-absorbed, driven to relentless achievement, or simply numb. Why is it so difficult (as psychoanalyst Adam Phillips has stated) to “bear our aliveness”– to bear, and to live, the miracle of our existence? What is it about human nature that has led us to create economic, political, and religious structures that aim to keep us anesthetized, dependent, and ignorant of our shared origins, wisdom, and responsibilities?
This talk will address these questions by exploring two opposing, yet complimentary–and necessary–human impulses: desire and denial. While all humans share these impulses, they are seen most clearly in the lives of artists, mystics, and medicine people/shamans; those humans whose callings entail daily navigation, negotiation, and cooperation with desire and denial as they traverse temporal and eternal realities. Their insights are invaluable for this exploration.
Writing from a prison cell, the poet, playwright, and statesman, Vaclav Havel observed that, “the tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life but that it bothers him less and less.” This is indeed a tragedy with consequences that are being felt not only by the individual, but by the whole of human and non-human nature on this precious planet. At this critical moment in time, we must reawaken in numbers large enough to counter the forces that seek to keep us overwhelmed and undereducated, distracted and lethargic, as they eagerly plunder both our outer and inner worlds. We do not need to be mystics, shamans, or artists, but we can learn from their devotion to their destinies and from their relationship with desire and denial as we strive to be truly alive in the present while shaping our collective future.
Returning in 2027!
I'm thrilled that there is a waitlist for this course. It will return to Kosmos in 2027, along with a 2.0 advanced course for those who worked with me in 2026. Registration coming soon.
The Archetypal Artist: Psychological, Spiritual, & Cultural Dimensions
of the Creative Calling
~~~
A New Nine-Week Experiential Course for Kosmos Institute
2027 Dates Coming Soon!
Depth Psychology has long maintained a paradoxical position to creativity and to the creative individual. On one hand, the artist is singled out as the one “who creates the future,” while on the other, creativity is likened to an instinct shared by all. This six-week series will explore the paradoxes, perils, and reveries of creative “making,” what the Greeks called poesis, through the insights of Jungian and archetypal psychologies, as well as through mythology, philosophy, and artmaking itself. Whether you consider yourself an “artist,” a “craftsperson,” or simply long to answer a calling that will not subside, this course will both ground and transform your understanding of yourself as a member of an archetypal lineage of world-bridgers, shapeshifters, mystics, philosophers, healers, magicians, and alchemists. What unites these figures? What is their mission in our modern world? “The creative,” according to James Hillman, “is an achievement of love,” while for novelist Franz Kafka, “art, like prayer, is a hand outstretched in the darkness, seeking for some touch of grace that will transform it into a hand that bestows gifts.” What are your gifts? How do you bestow them? What are your achievements of love?
The nine-week series features three primary areas of engagement: 1) curated weekly readings, viewings, and links to auxiliary materials; 2) weekly live Saturday morning gatherings of 90 minutes; plus 3) the opportunity to deepen and share the course content throughout the series via shared creative expression such as poetry, song, dance, film, performance, visual art, and discussion with fellow participants.
The nine-week series features three primary areas of engagement: 1) curated weekly readings, viewings, and links to auxiliary materials; 2) weekly live Saturday morning gatherings of 90 minutes; plus 3) the opportunity to deepen and share the course content throughout the series via shared creative expression such as poetry, song, dance, film, performance, visual art, and discussion with fellow participants.
Register at Kosmos Institute
Interviews & Podcasts
Speaking with Brian James for his podcast "Howl in the Wilderness" was an amazing experience! Watch the episode on Youtube.
Jon Wilson's podcast "Jung and the World" is one of the best Jungian-oriented offerings on the web. It was such a pleasure to have spoken with him on a couple of occasions, including the episode below.
Past Events
Certificate in Applied Mythology
Pacifica Extension & International Studies
I'm pleased to have contributed to the design of this highly-popular certificate which has been offered yearly since 2019. While I'll miss teaching my work on ritual and myth in this venue, check out the new version of this course with some exciting new instructors for 2025.
The Tao of Chaos/The Taos of Creativity: Inviting the "Third Mind" Through Creative Collaboration
Phoenix Friends of Jung
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. Phoenix, AZ
Thanks to all the wonderful folks at the Phoenix Friends of Juing who joined me for a day of interactive lecture, art making and conversation focused on the element of chance. For more information on future programs please visit the Phoenix Friends of Jung online.
Free Workshop Series for Cancer Survivors
I'm collaborating this with Alice Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. to present an ongoing series of workshops that we've entitled, "Healing Through Stories and Images." We're being hosted by the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara, CA. This is a FREE series for women on the Central Coast at any stage of their treatment for any type of cancer, not just breast cancers. We'll be exploring some of the world's great myths dealing with illness, loss, rejuvenation and resilience. I'll be guiding everyone as we create our own personal intuitive collages based on the week's themes.
Psyche & Image: The Wonder and Danger of Aesthetic Experience
Charlotte Friends of Jung
Nov. 10 & 11, Charlotte, NC
I so enjoyed presenting a Friday night talk along with a Saturday workshop for the Charlotte, NC Friends of Jung on Nov. 10 and 11, 2018. Thank you all for your hospitality and creativity!
2016 Talks in Ojai and Santa Barbara, CA
Many thanks to the Ojai branch of the Joseph Campbell Roundtable for inviting me to speak to their members and guests on Sunday, June 12. I presented a talk entitled "The Archetypal Artist: Creating at the Crossroads of Fate and Free Will," at the Council House on the stunning grounds of the Ojai Foundation.