Fairy Tale Friday ~ October 30th

Hansel & Gretel 

MEMBERS ONLY - JOIN US FOR THIS FREE 

FIRESIDE EVENT

Reserve a spot around the fire and alongside the river, for an evening of story telling, reflection,

and good conversation.

On the eve of Hallow's Eve, members are invited to share a cup of wine or cider and some special treats, along with a timely consideration of the symbolic imagery of the dark forest, the witch’s candy cottage, and the harrowing but triumphant outcome of Hansel and Gretel's encounter with unconscious forces. 

Gift With Membership ~ Video Lecture: The Life & Work of C.G. Jung

The Library is pleased to offer members this comprehensive introductory lecture as a complimentary gift in appreciation of your membership and support. This course is Module 1 of a 12-part video lecture series: Encountering the Psyche: Fundamental Concepts in Analytical Psychology, presented by Library Education Director, Angelo Spoto.

The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is an annual spiritual tradition originating in central Mexico that is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd throughout Latin and Central America. Believed to have originated over 3,000 years ago by Aztecs who believed that death was not an occasion to be mourned, it is a meaningful and celebratory holiday that incorporates the practice of making ofrendas- or offerings- to those who have passed.

The constituents of any one single ofrenda vary from region to region, but typically these altars, built inside the homes of those who celebrate The Day of the Dead include: cempasuchil (marigold) flowers (either real or made from paper), as the colors and smell were thought to attract spirits and lead them home; copal incense (made from a tree-based resin that indigenous populations burned to 'transmit prayers'); various citrus fruits and culinary staples like tamales and mole; decorative sugar skulls and other calavera (skull) iconography; traditional pan de muerto (celebratory bread often formed into the shape of bones, animals, and skeletons); and candles portraying the Virgin of Guadalupe (among other religious tokens). Most families also add pictures of their departed loved ones and other sentimental offerings specific to the person.

These traditional ofrendas are arranged at a time of year (from September to October) when the monarch butterfly makes its migration across central Mexico, which is perhaps why Mexican folklore coheres around the idea that monarch butterflies are a symbol of the soul.

When the monarchs return (as they always do), the migration is viewed as the spirits of ancestors returning home to visit- a beautiful metaphor for the soul's continuation after death.

Jung referred to the unconscious as the land of

the dead, and the Red Book, in its purest essence, is

a record of Jung’s own attentive, intimate, intense dialogues with a collective of ancestral spirits

in the unconscious that he came to understand are more alive than dead...and more real than real.

In the Red Book Jung urges that we, in our living

humanity, make it a priority to “turn to the

dead, listen to their lament and accept them with

love” in order to return “the life branch” to “the tree

of divinity."

Introducing a New Library Series:

Symbols of Transformation ~ Exploring the Language of the Unconscious

Free Program - MEMBERS ONLY

Join us online for monthly conversations on the transformative and numinous potential of symbols.

Inaugural Discussion: November 2nd

(Day of the Dead / All Souls Day)

Online (Zoom) from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Symbol: THE BUTTERFLY

[Butterfly Painting by Lindsey Kustusch]