The Guild of Pastoral Psychology
The Union of Opposites; Creation, Destruction and the Psyche
Notice: Booking will open 20th April 2026
SPRING HALF DAY WEBINAR
Dr. Alan Mulhern, a Jungian analyst, presents two talks on the fundamental archetype of creation and destruction—the “union of opposites” that structures both the cosmos and the human psyche.
Talk 1 explores the ubiquity of the archetype, showing its indispensable role across human history and thought. We will trace this core tension from the great cycles of the cosmos and the structure of DNA to the “gales of creative destruction” in economics and the rise and fall of civilizations. The lecture will highlight its dominance in major philosophies (from Heraclitus to Nietzsche) and religions (the dualism of light/dark, good/evil) as well as its expression in visionary art and literature.
Talk 2 focuses on the archetype’s manifestation in the psyche, psychotherapy, and our contemporary crisis. We examine how the opposites of creation/death are woven into our consciousness (the God archetype, the symbolic meaning of Creation Myths) and how this tension drives the theories of Depth Psychology (e.g., Freud’s Eros and Thanatos, Jung’s Shadow and Individuation, and Stanislav Grof’s birth matrix). Finally, we will consider how our global civilization is precariously balanced on these forces, emphasizing that the potential for apocalypse or evolution ultimately resides in the individual and collective human psyche
