Our Annual Program of Events

Our annual program of events includes nine monthly lectures and workshops, as well as seminars and study groups, including a summer workshop series exploring Jungian topics. Our presenters include both locally- and nationally-known Jungian scholars. CEUs are available for counseling professionals needing continuing education credit, and our events are, for the most part, intended for the general public.

Our Library

The Nancy Alvord Library, one of the most unique libraries in America, is housed at the Good Shepherd Center in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. It contains more than 2,600 volumes on philosophy, symbolism, mythology, folklore and fairytales, and cultural anthropology. Central to this extensive library of works collected over the 40-year history of the Society is the Kate Millard Memorial Collection of rare and out-of-print works including books by Carl Jung and Jungian scholars, theorists, historians, and analysts.

Our Society

Formed in 1973, the Seattle Society is one of many such organizations around the world. We are a largely volunteer organization which thrives on the efforts of community members who share a passion for the insights of depth psychology.

Membership is open to anyone interested in learning about Jungian thought. To learn about other benefits of membership, please see “Member Benefits”.

C.G. Jung Society, Seattle, is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational corporation. Our operations are supported by donations and membership dues. To learn about ways to give, please see “Support Our Work”.

Our History

This compilation of memories, dreams, and recollections from our history was created for the Society’s 40th program year in 2013. What follows is a brief, factual overview of the Society’s activities over the past forty years.

1973-1974: The Society began as Friends of Jungian Psychology Northwest. It was headquartered in the home of founder Nancy Alvord. Dues were $5.00. Those who served on the founding board were:

• George Doczi, President
• Barbara Peterson, Secretary
• Nancy Alvord, Treasurer, Membership
• Sally Parks, Programs
• Ali Willeford, Publicity, Newsletter
• Dorothy Knudson, Tacoma group
• Virginia DiCicco
• Quentin Fisk
• Virginia Hoyte
• Pat Lantow
• Jim McDermott
• William Willeford

The Friends of Jungian Psychology Northwest offered its first public programs—evenings with sand play therapist Dora Kalff, and with mythologist Joseph Campbell.

1976: The Friends of Jungian Psychology Northwest was located at 2423 NE 54th Street.

1979: The Friends of Jungian Psychology Northwest was located at 6328 22nd Ave NE.

1980: The 22nd Ave NE location was short-lived. The Friends used a post office box for its address, and the library was stored in a board member’s home.

1981: The bird in a tree of life logo was created by Anna Hayes and her husband. It was first used in the Fall 1981 newsletter.

1984-1985: At the annual meeting, the name of the organization was changed to C.G. Jung Society, Seattle. The Society still did not have an office/library space; our program events were held at the North Seattle YWCA. Featured on the program of events that year was Robert Johnson on active imagination.

1986: The Society began meeting at Cornish College of the Arts and housed its library there. That year, the films Matter of Heart and Way of the Dream were shown. Bill Levy served as President.

1987: Program events to this point had usually been held on Monday evenings. That year, the monthly Friday evening lecture and Saturday workshop format was adopted.

1990-1991: Membership, which had seriously declined in the early 1980s, now saw a period of growth and topped 350. Under Bette Joram’s presidency, the Society began seeking in earnest office space and a computer, necessities for an organization of that size. Finally, the Society relocated to the University Heights Center.

1992: The library had grown to approximately 900 volumes. Kate Millard was president at this time.

1994-1995: The program theme was aptly named Trauma and Rebirth as the Society lost both its meeting space and its office space in quick succession. The Cornish College of the Arts meeting location was no longer available due to Cornish’s increased student enrollment. The Society lost its office/library space when the Seattle School District planned to use University Heights as an administrative office building. Program events during this time were held at the Wallingford Senior Center, the Community Mental Health Center, and the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

1995-1996: The Society moved to the Good Shepherd Center, Room 345, and began holding its program events, for the most part, in Room 202 of the Good Shepherd Center. Our first web site was established.

1997: The Kate Millard Memorial Library Collection was established upon her unfortunate passing. The library entered a period of tremendous growth, nearly doubling its number of volumes. The Society received a donation of an IBM 386 computer.

1998-1999: The library stands at over 1,550 volumes, crowding Room 345 of the Good Shepherd Center, and the Society sought a larger space. Membership held steady at approximately 200 members over the last several years. The Society upgraded to a larger, more powerful computer system. We continue to strive to bring our members a quality annual program of events. Our theme for the 1999-2000 program year was Dreams. Karen Campbell was serving as President.

2000-2001: The Millennium arrived safely. Two of our speakers’ plane flights were canceled because of the 9/11/2001 catastrophe at the World Trade Center bombing in New York and the Pentagon. Speakers that came included Peter Elting, Michael Horne, Claire Douglas, Thomas Kirsch, Anne de Vore, Sachiko Reese and Terry Gibson. Our newsletter had Inside Pages, a member-to-member essay opportunity.

2002-2003: June Singer spoke at Trinity Church on When Terror Confronts the Psyche and Growing Older in an Uncertain World. The Good Shepherd Center celebrated its 100th birthday and we celebrated our 7th year of tenancy. We had our annual meeting at Tully’s in the old Rainier Brewery building. The coffee was free, hot and delicious. We had our last 10th Night Party at Nancy Alvord’s. Philemon Foundation was formed in NYC for the purpose of publication of the unpublished works of CGJ—this will be called The Complete Works of Jung and will include manuscripts, notes, correspondence, seminars, discussions, and The Red Book.

2004-2005: We had our first 12th Night event at the Episcopal Diocesan House on Capitol Hill—a beautiful, historic stone building with formal decor. Our big 30th Anniversary was held at Seattle Art Museum on March 13 and included a tribute to the founding members, five of them were able to attend—Dorothy Knudson, Nancy Alvord, Virginia Hoyte, Jim McDermott, and Sally Parks. There were speakers from the Seattle area, panel discussions, and a room to display artists’ works. Lunch was catered for the special visitors, and attendance for the whole event was exciting. Michael Meade presented an evening program on Culture, Conflict and Change. We sponsored Psyche and Spirit, a series of community dialogues.

2006-2007: New shelving was purchased for the library. We continued to get great used-book donations from members. We kept books new to our collection and sold many duplicates. We sponsored three courses: Shirley McNeil on Psyche and the Garden; Eberhard Riedel on Dreams; and Geri Grubbs and Susan Jenkins on Children and Jung. Alchemy classes were led by Bette Joram. A play by Elizabeth Clark-Stern, Out of the Shadows, a story of Toni Wolff and Emma Jung, was performed in the 4th-floor chapel.

2008-2009: In July, we showed Wisdom of the Dream, a three-hour film on analytical psychology and the work of Carl G. Jung at Seattle University facilitated by Kyle Lee Williams. In September at Bellevue College, we sponsored a showing of Way of the Dream, a 10-hour film featuring interviews with Marie-Louise von Franz. We participated in a webcast from Zurich with Murray Stein speaking. In 2009, Bunny Brown was elected president.

2010-2011: Several of us went to Portland to the Oregon Friends of Jung’s presentation of Sonu Shamdasani’s lectures. In 2011, distinguished speakers included John Beebe, Anne de Vore, Phil Cousineau, Anne Taylor, and Naomi Ruth Lowinsky. Our library catalog went online.

2012-2019: In celebration of our 40th anniversary, we decided to digitize four decades of our speakers’ lectures that are on cassette and VHS tape, launching Project Mnemosyne, named after the Greek goddess of memory. Nancy Alvord, a founder of the Friends of Jung in 1973, presented a $5,000 gift to launch the project. Linda Sheaffer continues to do all the data entry for the library, having spent 15 years commuting from Ferndale and Lummi Island to our office. We are blessed to have regular volunteers who work with Bunny in our unique and extensive library. Following the publication of The Red Book, we sponsored a summer series on The Red Book with Walter McGerry in the summer of 2013, after starting the year with a great party, Convivium Imaginum for Twelfth Night.

How You Can Get Involved

Please consider supporting our worthwhile work by joining our email list, following us on Facebook or Linked In, attending one of our upcoming events, becoming a member, volunteering your time, and/or making a donation. Thank you. As a thoughtful learning community, we are on a mission to raise consciousness through fostering deep psychological and spiritual understanding of ourselves and the increasingly complex and challenging world around us. We strive to make Jungian and depth psychological thought accessible to the general public with contemporary lectures, workshops, archives and other resources that help liberate the soul and transform culture.