World Making Through Personal Symbols with Rebecca Purcell at the ARAS Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism at the C.G. Jung Center of New York

In this class, taught by Rebecca Purcell–artist, and former visual director/co-creator of the iconic ABC Home–students will explore the history of symbols from several perspectives, learn to utilize the power of symbols in their life and work, and leave class with a finished object  a talisman like the ones pictured. To create their work, students will draw on the vast resources of The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS), a pictorial and written archive of mythological, ritualistic, and symbolic images from all over the world and from all epochs of human history.

Under the guidance of the instructor, through research of images and texts from the ARAS archive, class discussion, and a lecture by Ami Ronnberg–ARAS curator and editor of the “Taschen’s Book of Symbols”–you will explore the history of your own, personally, significant symbols and their relation to both the Jungian notion of archetypes and the collective unconscious, as well as Purcell’s individual research exploring symbols in relation to the creative process. Students will leave with a broadened view of the significance of symbols, and how to harness and utilize symbols in their life and work. The final project will be the transformation of a personal symbol into a small, physical talisman/amulet, to serve as a reminder of ones character/values and as a confirmation of one’s inner/subconscious world.