The course is a rich and fascinating interactive adventure of bringing 'the Shadow' into consciousness and experientially knowing Archetypal aspects of ourselves in their fullness. In searching the hidden depths of our own consciousness we can find the treasure trove of  strengths and resources that wait to be discovered there.

“The images of the unconscious place a great responsibility upon a man. Failure to understand them, or a shirking of ethical responsibility, deprives him of his wholeness and imposes a painful fragmentariness on his life.”

Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

The workshops show us that the imaginal aliveness of our embodied psyche is how the primal unformed energies of the archetypes are personally known to us and present themselves in daily life through our 'complexes', allowing us to directly access the structural aspects of our own psyche that we also share with others.

Without form these unconscious energies manifest in bewilderingly chaotic and overwhelming ways without recourse of interaction or dialogue. The moods which we experience are at times as Robert Johnson succinctly put it “Like wrestling a fog bank.” In bringing form and embodiment to these archetypal energies we bring the potential of relationship & harmonisation to occur.

On the first Saturday we will engage with 12 Archetypes -The Protector, The Controller, The Sceptic, The Fearful one, The Victim, The Damaged self, The Fixer, The Vulnerable Child, The Desirous One, The Judging Mind, The Silent Observer and The Boundless Self.

On the second Saturday, we explore the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover Archetypes, and experientially engage with the Magician, centering on the work of Robert Moore and Douglas Gillettes with their seminal book King Warrior, Magician, Lover and that of feminine counterpart Archetypes as outlined by the original work of Toni Wolfe. 

We will also be looking at exiled parts via an interactive group process, identifying parts within us which have somehow become exiled, repressed or hidden, which we often only recognise in Archetypal aspects we dislike in others and includes a gentle invitational methodology of bringing these parts home and ourselves towards wholeness of Self. 

It will include an introduction to dream work too, involving making associations, connecting dreams to inner dynamics, interpretation and ways of making the dream concrete within our lives - living their wisdom forward through embodied action.

We see this as essential inner work for those continuing on the Hero's Journey who are looking to embody psychological wholeness and harmonise with the Self.

‘It begs the question…Without an ongoing embodied relationship with the Unconscious, what’s the point of Awakening…?’ 

The practices go beyond mindfulness in that one becomes curious towards one’s experience, including the ‘felt sense’, that which is within our experience but as yet cannot be described. During this process symbols (words, images and feelings) help to bring more meaning & understanding in an unfolding relationship between the conscious and unconscious, which when embodied & expressed help us to become more whole.

Inner Relating reintroduces parts of ourselves that have been ignored, exiled, or unconscious to us, welcoming all that has yet to be seen, heard or felt. We relearn how to access and experience the inherent wisdom of our body and it’s language. The course provides the experiential arena where it can be communicated and fully embodied.

It’s a great way of processing blockages such as guilt, shame & unworthiness that our society seems to no longer have a capacity for, nor the capabilities of handling successfully. Somatic Dialogue also helps dissolve the glue that binds our unconscious ‘complexes’ together, internal functions keeping us in states of fight, flight, freeze or fawn that drive us to behave irrationally & unconsciously.

It helps free us from our encultured minds revealing our own unique way in life with our talents & gifts and what’s sometimes called the ‘golden shadow’, that which has been dormant or suppressed. Rather than a dragon to be slayed, we bring a playful approach of befriending our shadow, bringing positive change us for the better.

This power and wisdom once owned, alchemised and embodied, becomes ours to draw upon when needed. This is held within a safe container with facilitators who have extensive experience of the work involved, with ongoing shadow work practice.

Payment plans are available

Course Leaders : Matthew Farren, Luke Farren

Email: hjretreats@gmail.com