13th December 2013
7.00pm Discussion Group
8.00pm Guest Lecture
Carl Jung and the Gnostic Gospels
Gospel of Mary
Knowledge of the inner self and the feminine principle of creation are concepts not found in traditional Christian scriptures. Yet, about 40 gospels and letters have been discovered over the last 150 years which throw a different light on both. Considered heretical and rejected in the 4th C, the Gnostic Gospels, speak about the knowledge of the inner self; the importance of the feminine principle in creation; and knowledge of the soul as juxtaposed to a belief. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. This talk will begin with the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels; and some of their teachings which inspired Carl Jung’s work since 1912. Jung himself claimed that Gnostics were his intellectual predecessors – and an inexhaustible source of the collective unconscious especially for his concepts of psyche, archetypes, and the feminine. The focus will be on the relationship between Carl Jung’s Gnostic essay ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’. the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Philip and the Gnostic creation myths in general.
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Joanna Kajawa
Dr Kujawa received her B.A and M.A in medieval philosophy & history at the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies and the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. After finishing her PhD at Monash University she wrote the book, Jerusalem Diary: Searching for the Tomb and House of Jesus (bestselling travel guide to Jerusalem on The Book Depository and Amazon.com) plus numerous scholarly articles and newspaper features. Her most recent contribution on the topic is a chapter in Journeys and Destinations published by Cambridge Scholars Press. For the last 12 years she has worked as lecturer and tutor at RMIT and Monash University; and for the last three years as editorial assistant for Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. www.joannakujawa.com