Personal Mythology and Dream Work

Comment

Comment by Susan Burns on November 4, 2009 at 10:13pm

Anyone who cares to share a personal story of compassion and how it has become part of your mythic journey is welcome to share it here.

Comment by Susan Burns on November 4, 2009 at 10:00pm

Comment by Susan Burns on September 10, 2009 at 8:44pm

Comment by Kenny Ramer on April 23, 2009 at 11:12am

Thank you Susan for the invitation, we apparently are seeing things through similar lenses, I think many of the members here resonate to the same things on varying conscious and unconscious levels. But just the same, we are conscious of this unconscious intelligence awareness which in essence is more knowledgeable of what it is we are talking about then our own minds and brains allow for. It is a building up of our own capacity to think more deeply, How one taps into this Knowledge which is most certainly a natural part of being human, I have learnt many things about this unconscious mind and the knowledge it brings, over the years, and we are talking 35-40 years of serious study and practice in being a conscious student of this Experience of the Higher unconscious worlds,. Engagement in many different forms of the esoteric. What I personally like about what you offer here is a fluidity of change and adaptation and a profound understanding that we must change along with our own narratives. So to me this practice requires a different kind of openness, and it is this reaching for this kind of openness which activates a new experience and then poof you fully get that you are this experience and all other chatter and concern is the illusion…Then one cultivates this connection to oneself and a nurturing takes place which hadn’t been felt before. And the most profound distinction is that we learn more from the other about ourselves then we do from ourselves. As long as we have this openness within ourselves then we can hear things differently from others…

I am not an educator by profession, but have personally assisted many people to this other side of ourselves. And have found it to benefit others.

Comment by Susan Burns on April 23, 2009 at 8:23am

Friend Kenny, I am glad you are here adding your comments here. Keep it up!

Comment by Susan Burns on April 23, 2009 at 8:19am

Thank you. Doug, I love your words. And I am looking forward to exploring this topic more with you. Many of your comments are precisely what Dr. Krippner teaches.

Last weekend he told many stories of cultural guiding myths which resulted in the destruction of societies, and gave examples of myths which were guided by dominator paradigms and their outcomes, as well as myths that evolved as a new story out of conflicting myths. Elements like these shape us on a personal level as well as a societal level.

Dr. Krippner paralleled your comments on the fact that we have so much information coming at us, but, unlike early cultures, are deprived of substantial guiding cultural myths for our time. He says we need to create them. But we cannot create them consciously without looking at our own unconscious myths, and using those to make new stories that heal our personal and societal wounds.

He also spoke of the hero's journey and how sometimes that can turn out to be quite traumatic and fatal, as in your example of leadership. This is a myth, I am currently struggling with. I have never been so attacked in my years of leadership from all sides, and now see it as quite transpersonal. It is like something bigger is happening and a new story trying to emerge out of perceptions thrown at me from stories that are quite distorted. And still I need to look at how I am attracting that and what is trying to happen as the story lines play themselves out. Looking at the whole thing mythically really helps.

And I am finding the choices I am making need to come from my core perceptions and values. I am currently evaluating my own personal mythology in light of the hero's journey. I am learning, it is about being true to my own story, in a very conscious way. It is not easy to do but I trust this process. I think if we could all learn to work with our stories by stepping out of them and working with others, we would find very healthy guiding myths for our time.

Sometimes it is hard to bring unconscious elements to the fore to examine them because often we have to find the hidden story. That is why we need the support of groups, as you say. That is also the context we need for creating new cultural myths on a societal level, a mutual support, based on empathy, compassion, and a deep witnessing. It takes courage and more than just telling a story to change a myth.

Thank you so much for adding your comments. I look forward to hearing more about your work.

Comment by Kenny Ramer on April 22, 2009 at 2:41pm

I so agree with your Comments...we need to reinvent a much bigger story then the one we are telling ourselves, about who we are and where we are going...

Comment by Doug Banner on April 22, 2009 at 1:27pm

I have been working on personal storytelling from a slightly different angle. Here is an article I published in Professional Storyteller. I thought it might get a ball rolling.

The Changing Story


“Joseph Campbell often said that while mythic structure is universal, myth itself is constantly renewed through reinterpretation. Every generation must re-contextualize myth to suit their times, to create their own road map for how to fit into the world. He often suggested that the scarcity of modern myth is an incalculable loss to our culture.”

Philip Cousineau


I see a lot of use of the phrase: “Change the story, change your life, or your world, or your community, or what ever.” I don’t think the idea is new or original. I sometimes think that I live in a state of forced myopia. Not from a lack of awareness about the state of things but from an inability to handle all the information that modern technology makes available at any given moment. I must therefore be selective in what and how much information in which to immerse myself. I try to be broad minded and open to wide ranging sources and points of view but I still fall short of the ideal as an information sponge and processor. It is this veritable tsunami of information that also makes it difficult for me to believe that we can actually generate an individually unique thought or idea. The validity of an idea then doesn’t come from its originality but from the fact that any number of strangers exposed to different information and experiences can create convergent thoughts that support the same idea. The challenge in our culture comes with the argument of who owns the idea. Intellectual property is the title I believe is given to this “thing” that we then employ lawyers to sort out for us. This concept is the topic of a completely different discussion.
Changing the story is the idea that is of most interest to me. In 1987 during the Interviews with Bill Moyers, Joseph Campbell charged that he believe the world, our culture specifically, was in a mess because we had not created “the myth to match our times.” What I heard when listening to the interviews was that the storytellers had failed to do their jobs. This does not preclude the responsibility of the rest of society but it does give us a place at which to start.
In my work as a storyteller in workshops, performances, and in college teaching I have found that the phrase “change the story” has become cliché. The phrase is thrown around as if it is somehow “the answer” and is a simple thing to do. Anyone that has done any kind of individual or group counseling knows just how difficult it actually is to change personal or group behaviors, perspectives, and beliefs. Another aspect of changing the story comes with the assumption that people actually know what the story is. How many of us have come to the awareness that advertising is storytelling with the focused intention of manipulating us into a frame of mind where we are not sufficient or adequate until we have the right car, house, cloths, use the right shampoo, have the right hair color, drink the right beer, and on adnauseam. These stories, though well conceived and very effective do not serve us individually or collectively. They create destructive behaviors to individuals, communities and our culture. If you don’t buy this idea check the statistics on personal credit card debt, family health, mental illness and drug and other forms of abuse in all populations of our culture.
Another aspect of the “story” as told in the context of leadership is that what is often called for in leadership is rugged individuality and quick, solid decisions without signs of weakness. Yet much of decision making that would result in positive outcomes for the most people requires clarity, honesty, humility, and humanity all of which are perceived as weakness. Anyone that has spent any time in a leadership role knows full well that social and emotional wounding and attacks are an expected part of the job. I know people who have refused leadership positions because they are not willing to become targets. Why does this belief continue? It is, I believe, embedded in the story that pervades our culture. I believe we are still living as if our businesses and communities are city states that must be controlled by warrior kings. When things are not well we must sacrifice the king. This story no longer serves us in a time when cooperation and collaboration are needed.
So, from my point of view, “changing the story” is absolutely a necessity for our changing times but we must also know what the story is and how it must be changed. We must understand that not everybody tells the same story or needs the same changes. We must also understand that each of us as storytellers cannot possibly take on this task alone. It will be by working together sharing ideas and experiences, successes and failures that we will be able to take on the role that Joseph Campbell suggested that we take and re-establish the value of myth, folklore, and story in our culture. My future vision is that storytellers will be seen by our culture as more important than bankers.

Comment by Susan Burns on April 22, 2009 at 8:32am

We had a Personal Mythology weekend in Portland with Dr. Stanley Krippner. He truly is a treasure! The whole weekend was absolutley wonderful! It was informative and practical. We worked with understanding our stories and dreams in a bigger context the entire time. I want to share with you what some in the group wrote about their experience because the world needs to show up on May 1 for Dr. Krippner at Bastyr University to understand that personal stories have mythic elements that can be worked with and transcended. I hope you will come, if not to the whole weekend for this deep work and community time with great meals, at least to the Introductory evening with book signing.

Comments on April 17-19 Personal Mythology workshop with Dr. Stanley Krippner in Portland

-This has been a remarkable and joyous experience. Dr. Krippner is a true wisdom keeper.

-Stanley is a wisdom keeper and a world treasure. In his hands, I have discovered and grown. He is gentle and great fun! I wouldn’t have missed this experience for the world.

-He is so full of knowledge. Decades of wisdom and tradition pour out of him – a National Treasure.

-The workshop was well organized and flowed smoothly. Dr. Stanley was/is wonderful, charming, and vastly knowledgeable. He gave me permission to do my work.

-I love Stanley’ stories and how he genuinely cares about people.

-This has been a delightfully inspiring workshop experience from a Master who is extraordinarily gifted in his field. His extensive knowledge combined with his powerful way to tell stories has been very engaging for me. I intend to explore the application of the content of this workshop with the children on the autism spectrum whom I serve.

-Dr. Krippner offered a great deal of very pertinent information for psychotherapists, counselors, psychologists in a kind of compassionate manner. It was possible to work on personal growth and personal issues while learning new techniques and accomplishing CECs. This all took place in a beautiful environment with a great support team.

-Stanley Krippner is a very wise man with an accepting, compassionate interpersonal style. This led us through steps to discovering our personal mythology with grace and good humor. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to begin this work with him.

-I learned to help people work with their dream and encourage them to live mythically as part of a bigger picture.

- I liked the release of the disabling myths and taking in the presence of the healers.

- I appreciate your bringing Dr. Krippner to teach us. He is a wise and kind person.

-What I liked best is this wonderful community and Dr. Krippner's presence.

For details of the event and to register go to http://www.mythevolve.com