Round the Herne

 The theme for September's Suffolk Jungian Circle (virtual meets, 7.30pm on the last Wednesday of the month - let me know if you want the link) is Jung and Christianity. Having chosen the topic, we all rapidly realised that it was a vast topic that could fill multiple meetings - but this is by way of a taster. For the actual meeting different people will each tackle a sub-topic of their choice. This recording cuts off as, despite the best laid plans, someone knocked at the door and I cannot work out how to pause a video recording and splicing two videos into one is too much of a headache to bother with. The final topic that I didn't get to was to touch on a point by Blum, which could probably be a whole debate in itself, that the Christian doctrine of the soul and accompanying personal salvation fits nicely with Jung's individuation, Further, Blum argues that the modern world has gone to Hell in a handbasket by treating people as merely functions and therefore replaceable r...

 A short-ish philosophical musing on the Ancient Greek understanding of time and how it relates to two deities, Kronos and Caerus. It would be interesting to hear people's views about the nature of time and particularly the issue about whether brief good times can outweigh long bad times in the qualitative Caerus-sense.

 What started off as some research for a lecture (around male friendship) took me off down various mythological tangents, including into the daimona/goddess/spirit Philotes from Ancient Greece who formed and sustained friendships between people (and sometimes also sexual relationships, but that is a side issue). The work-related research has been looking at the connection between social isolation and what are euphemistically called negative life outcomes - ill health, mental problems, increased chances of suicide etc.). While friendship may not get anywhere near the modern cultural coverage of romance (thinking about all those soppy songs, films, Mills & Boon novels etc.), in ancient times there were plenty of tales about friends going off on adventures together.

 As part of my job I organise various public conferences and seminars. This year we are trialing a few online mini courses in social sciences, starting with three evenings introducing some sociological theories and ideas. These are free to participate in, but you will need to let me know that you want to take part so the Teams link can be sent out. The first of these seminars takes place tonight at 7.30pm and is followed by another session next Tuesday evening and the one after that. The weekly topics are below. If you want the link, drop me an email at robin.herne@easterneducationgroup.ac.uk (the under-16s will need parental permission to tune in). What’s the Big (sociological) Idea – these virtual sessions explore major sociological theories: Week 1: Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and the Functionalists; Week 2: Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Feminism; Week 3: Michel Foucault and Postmodernism.

 It has been quite a while since I have had the time or inspiration to post anything - obviously running out of brain cells. Anyway, the next meeting of the Suffolk Jungian Circle will be discussing Jung's Red Book, so here is a meander around the topic and some of the angles that could be taken for discussion.

 My reflection on Jung's notion of the Senex archetype - the Inner Sage, Wise Old Whatsit, call it what you will - mainly for the Suffolk Jungian Circle which will be discussing the topic at the end of the month. The reflection takes in the relationship with its polar opposite, the Puer/Puella Aeternus, and with the alchemical phase of citrinitas (the yellowing) that Jung felt people passed through after they had reconciled with their inner anima/animus.  

 This reflection on the ethics of storytelling was prompted by a discussion on a radio broadcast that I took part in the other week. This considers some of the moral issues that might impact on the stories that people tell around the camp fire.

 This short ramble is just a few ideas around the topic of the genius loci - the spirit of place, as understood by the Ancient Romans. I had a guest spot last night on an American online radio talking about my books, including the murder mystery anthology (A Dangerous Place) one of whose themes is the power of the genius loci to shape and influence the people who live within its sphere. This recording picks up on some of those ideas and reflects further on the idea of how we interact with the entities that take up residence in a location where we also spend a great deal of time. If I can marshal my thoughts in a more coherent fashion in the near future, I shall do so - having been laid low with an infection, today is the first time I have felt able to say something even as meandering as this.

 A reflection on a variety of issues from a polytheist perspective - linking the notion of worship (from the Anglo-Saxon weorth-scip) to Max Weber's ideas on religious value systems, medical ethics and the boundaries of Beauchamp and Childress's philosophising around moral values in medicine.

 Recorded this spiel partially in response to a question asked about the Suffolk Jungian Circle recording on alchemy and partly because of various other things going on. Greek mythology has two related concepts for stories (or subsections of larger stories) of katabasis and anabasis - respectively the journey into the Underworld and the return to the land of the living. This is paralleled in the Christian tradition by notions of the Harrowing of Hell, in both versions a key feature is that the traveller is going into the Dark Place in order to retrieve something - a lost loved one, a treasure of some sort etc. As the recording hopefully emphasises, there are lots of different ways to understand what the Dark Place is and the nature of the voluntary journey there. A lot of people end up in Dark Places, but they rarely go there willingly so it is debatable whether the notion of katabasis applies to all such terrible experiences or only to ones of a voluntary nature (and ones with an ...

 Some thoughts on Virtue Ethics and the ideas that abounded in Ancient Greece, with the occasional foray into Roman and other cultures. I might extend this to reflect on some other moral values in a future recording. The notion of what constitutes a decent life and how best to behave in the world continues to interest me. It would be good to discuss these notions with someone once again.  

 A reflection (or ramble) on the Jungian concept of synchronicity mainly for the benefit of the Suffolk Jungian Circle who are discussing this idea at the end of the month. It may, of course, interest others and it would be interesting to hear if anyone else has experiences to share around synchronicitous or meaningfully coincidental events happening in their lives.

 A reflection on Jung's ideas around the Intuitive personality type, mainly for the benefit of members of the Suffolk Jungian Circle preparatory to our monthly discussion group. Hopefully I haven't made all Intuitives sound like Professor Trelawny out on the screaming piss with Doris Stokes - that's not what Jung wanted to say at all. They are just very good at picking up on things that most other people would miss!

 A recording mainly for the Suffolk Jungian Circle, ahead of our virtual discussion about Jung's ideas on the Sensation Type of personality.

 This recording was made mainly for the Suffolk Jungian Circle preparatory to a discussion of Jung's Thinking Type, part of his analysis of personality. However, it might also be of interest to a wider audience with an interest in Jungian philosophy. It touches on concepts like enantiodromia, inferior functions, archetypes, and so forth. Te Circle is discussing a different issue each month, should anyone be interested in participating. 

 A few random thoughts about Carl Jung's notion of participation mystique and how it can link into animism, paganism, and the creative arts. It would be interesting to hear other views and experiences around this topic (especially what might pretentiously be called the "death of art", touched on towards the end of the video).

  The Australian political theorist Kenneth Minogue coined the term St George in Retirement Syndrome (a more  pagan equivalent might be Beowulf in Retirement Syndrome!)  to describe the plight of old campaigners who, having gained prominence in their younger days by fighting against some draconian enemy find themselves yearning for the sense of purpose it once gave them. The Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne spoke about difficult life scripts that people get stuck acting out, becoming ever more unhappy as they do so. One of the negative scripts he links to the Greek myth of Baucis and Philemon, a sweet old couple who are transformed into interlinked trees as a reward for their hospitality. Whilst such a fate might sound lovely, retiring too early to a peaceful, placid existence can become utterly tedious for many and they yearn for challenge and difficulty. Retirement can leave a lot of people wondering what on earth to do with themselves. Hankering for the “good old days”...

 A few months back I gave a talk at the local pagan moot on some ideas found in Greek philosophy and how they were expressed through mythology. The two videos linked to here cover most of the ideas talked about at the moot. It would be interesting to hear of listeners views, if they have a different take on these concepts - or if there are additional ideas that people would like to hear about. The first video deals with mythos, arete, eudaimonia, and hubris. The second video goes over miasma, katharmos, eusebia, and xenia.

  Lecture - Tuesday 17th May, 6pm in Lecture Theatre #1 at the Waterfront Building, Ipswich Modern forms of Paganism have undergone a revival in the last century, drawing on the polytheist and animist religions of the ancient world for their inspiration and world view (though often blended with ideas from a variety of other sources). Many, perhaps the majority, of modern pagans feel a reverence for the natural world and a wish to restore the damage done by increasing industrialisation and population growth. This talk examines some of the major influences on the development of Paganism, the relationship with the environmental movements, and how an animist worldview shapes an understanding of the Land, the living beings we share it with, the realm of spirits, and our respective duties towards them. Biography Robin Herne is the Route Leader for Sociology and Criminology at West Suffolk College, having previously been the Lead for Religious Studies and Ethics there. He regularly contri...

 I have been mulling over the issue of religious writings within ancient paganism for a while now, and finally have the time to get some thoughts down in the hope of starting a conversation that others will chip in on. Whilst it was going on in Judaism well before, Christianity has become prominently associated with the practice of hermeneutics - the study of sacred scripture. Originally it was essentially the same thing as exegesis, but since the concept has secularised hermeneutics includes communications outside of the written text (spoken conversations, political speeches etc.) whilst the term exegesis is retained in the Church for the study of the written word. I want to keep the focus here on the books, poems, and other writings of significance to ancient polytheist cultures more so than modern writings or non-textual sources. That said, there are some works (such as the Havamal) which I strongly believe are best thought of as lyrics or scripts - that is to say, they were per...