Jung’s Approach to Nourishing the Life of the Soul, in and through Nature: A Nantucket Experience

with

Willow Young

…go in quest of yourself, and you will find yourself again
only in the simple and forgotten things. —C.G. Jung

In preparation for our afternoon excursions into the natural world of Nantucket and to support our cultivation of sanctuary, we will explore C.G. Jung’s life-long engagement with the natural world and his study of natural sciences. Many of the metaphors Jung uses throughout his writings refer to the natural world. At the heart of living fully and authentically is the capacity to cultivate consciousness with an engaged connection to our essential nature—our inner daimon. Jung writes,” … we are part of Nature. Nature, herself, is designed to produce consciousness. We will listen, as Jung did, with two ears—to metaphorical images of nature and to the physical world of nature at the heart of Nantucket Island. Jung suggests, “Without my piece of earth, my life’s work would not have come into being.” We will reflect on Jung’s antidote to the loss of contact with Nature, that is, to listen deeply to Nature, by paying close attention to our experience in nature, to our our dreams, to the inner figures in our imagination, and to words that surface in our writings and musings. We will cultivate, as did the earliest inhabitants of Nantucket Island, simplicity of being with nature, “allowing Nature to affect us” [and to respond] “out of her fullness”.

Willow Young, LMFT, is a Jungian Analyst in private practice in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California. She is a training analyst at the C.G. Jung Study Center of Southern California and serves as an analytic supervisor. Willow has lectured nationally and internationally on many subjects related to Jungian Analytical Psychology and clinical work. Willow is Distinguished Emeritus Professor in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California and served as Program Chair of the Counseling Psychology Program from 2011-2018, Director of Clinical Training from 2005-2011, and currently teaches Analytical Psychology and Depth Case Presentation. She has taught at the graduate level for 20 years and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and the Star Service Award in 2014. Willow is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Jungian Analyst in private practice. She is a Clinical Member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, American Association of University Professors, Jung Study Center of Southern California, Research and Training Center for Depth Psychology According to C.G. Jung, and Marie Louise von Franz (Zurich, Switzerland), and an analytic member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. Publications include articles in Psychological Perspectives, Jung Journal on Culture and Psyche, and On Second Thought: Learned Woman Reflect on Profession, Community, and Purpose. For more information, visit www.willowyoung.com

Photographs courtesy of Getty Images