Description
Russell Lockhart, Ph.D. Seminar Series on
The War Between Eros and Thanatos
Time: 10am to noon, every other Wednesday
Dates: January 21, February 4, 18, March 4, 18, April 1, 2026
It’s a dark time, growing darker. Thanatos is winning. What to do? Each person must answer this question for themselves, and it requires the deepest possible reflection. This seminar will illustrate my answer. I will tell what I have learned from those whom I have known who worked personally with Jung. Their approaches, insights, and experiences have informed my thinking and contributed to my personal work on the central issue. I will convey what Jung has taught me through his work and his appearance in my dreams and active imaginations. I will also describe what other figures have taught me in dreams, visions, and imaginal experiences. All these experiences reveal that the answer, for me, lies in the realm of eros. To explore this, I will use my essay, “Eros in Language, Myth, and Dream”; A close reading of this text, along with material from my book, Psyche Speaks, will provide many points for deeper exploration of why I believe that eros is the answer to the dark spirits loose in the world and how we can enact eros in our daily lives. Finally, I will reflect on the meaning and purpose I have found in the fifty years of my being a Jungian analyst.
Come prepared to ask questions, make comments, and contribute your experiences to this urgent question.
Russell Lockhart, Ph.D. was born and educated in Los Angeles and received his doctorate in human psychophysiology from the University of Southern California. He was trained as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute Los Angeles where he served as Director of Analyst Training. Since 1982 he has lived and practiced Jungian Analysis in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to such publications as Words as Eggs: Psyche in Language and Clinic, and Psyche Speaks: A Jungian Approach to Self and World, Dr. Lockhart is also a poet, publisher, artist, and novelist.
The Seattle Jung Society is honored to host an archive of his writings available to all members on our website, www.jungseattle.org.