The Anima Mundi School is a center for learning, research and reclaiming of the deep feminine & connection to the Anima Mundi—the World Soul, supported by and grounded in the psychology of Carl G. Jung.
Reclaiming the Mythical Feminine
Class of 2020
2020 has been a year of unprecedented collective turmoil and change. To be journeying with myth as our companions has given us not only perspective, but also the right container for these collective experiences. The women in this year’s class did not only experience the mythical patterns inwardly speaking to them, but also outwardly through the immensity of global restrictions and panic around the coronavirus pandemic, the fires around the globe and surging high temperatures all compiled to confront many of us with the tremendously challenging era we are entering.
‘Change is indeed here, whether we like it or not’, in the words of Greta Thunberg.
And so, for us at the Anima Mundi School it makes all the sense of the world to turn to the gods and goddesses, to the old myths and patterns of creation. If not now, then when are we going to reclaim this ancient relationship between human and its own chthonic body-soul, between human and divine and between the sacred and the profane? Myth has always been the vehicle for maintaining and deepening these patterns of relationship. Within the mystery of these stories, might lay dormant the redemption and the weaving of a new story for humanity.
The group journeyed through 7 cycles filled with creation stories and myths on the feminine, tended their dream images with curiosity and generosity of their time and creative impulse. Here is a glimpse into the final creative works called ‘The Crescendo’. It is with love and enthusiasm that I share these with you.
Take you time to go through these expressions as you would in an art gallery, let them speak to you and through you and feel free to share with those you feel will appreciate.
all the best blessings,
Faranak Mirjalili
(Founder Anima Mundi School)
Mother
by Suzanna Thelwall
““This work came out of a nine month study of my dreams while losing my physical mother and becoming closer to the universal mother.””
In Sophia’s Embrace
by Olga Romanillos
“I dreamt that I was climbing a mountain and when I had reached the top, I hugged the mountain and took her in my embrace. This peaceful moment and feeling was very visceral. I then noticed that I was now wearing a dress ‘of the mountain’, it was a dress made of mud and earth. I later connected the dream to my connection to Sophia, the Mother of All.
For my final project, I decided to follow my dream literally, and when I wore the dress I had created with tree leaves and ferns, I went into the woods. There, a dialogue full of meanings unfolded: my wounds were Her wounds, my scars were Her scars.”
“And today, only today,
maybe tomorrow,
I will uncover the wound and bless it.
Sacred ground.”
Regeneration
by Suzanne Schreve
“An early earth and dust bound feminine finds new form”
““This Neolithic inspired goddess emerged from my hands as I tried to give shape to the dreams and active imaginations that preceded an inner integration of a long and ancestrally repressed sexual energy, leading to a surrender into and strengthening of both masculine and feminine qualities expressed in various ways.””
“I started carving in their names, the names of my ancestors, and my daughter’s, infusing it with prayer. As I am seven months pregnant, her strong curves and winged arms hold not only the promise of new life in me, but also through me. She now stands in my house at the centre of a birthing altar receiving prayers. I am still carving names. After birth I will place her onto the land where the elements can absorb her back into soil, and regenerate.”
Vase Bene Clausum
by Anca Sira
Charcoal and gold leaf on paper
““The innocence of the child archetype in the swirl of polarity, duality and chaos of the world we live in exteriorly and interiorly. The confusion at times we feel in chaos. The constant process of albedo and nigredo and all in between that we go through to attain the bits of gold that is integrated and is more wholly, us. This lifelong journey of shadow and light that leads us home to ourselves.””
The Power of Pomegranates
by Ann Korijn
Pomegranate.
succulent, tangy, slimy, hopeful and playful is the pomegranate inside.
resilient, tough, rough, textured and protective is the pomegranate outside.
“What better medium could I have used for my end project? All words fell flat from the richness of the past nine months——I was introduced to Goddesses and absorbed so much of their magic and their mysteries, that the minute I put it into words it all became cliche. The experience was—and remains —too rich. Pomegranates became the medium instead of ink and/or oil paint.”
““While re-listening to the audios from the Anima Mundi course, each goddess materialized—new thoughts emerged, such as the importance of applying cicadas to Ereshkigal, and a black tear to Lady Baubo, and giving Inanna one humble, strong pair of wings. Thoughts that came to me while working with my hands.””
Dancing Paradox
by Anahita Mah
““Within us, there is light and shadow, joy and despair, creation and destruction. Dancing with the sacred song of life, will let the two settle by each other peacefully and equally.”
”
The Shadow Mirror
by Laura Krusemark
![Oil and turpentine on wood panel using saran wrap, spatulas, paper towels and brush, all with my non-dominant hand [the right hand] to create the various marks, eyes, faces, etc.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d3602e5a8242f00010168a2/1599243256229-B5W6HQYAXML4PWY7T0JU/The+Shadow+Mirror+-+Laura+Krusemark.jpg)
Oil and turpentine on wood panel using saran wrap, spatulas, paper towels and brush, all with my non-dominant hand [the right hand] to create the various marks, eyes, faces, etc.
““This artwork is my expression of the shadow aspects within, most of the time hidden or covered up and not ‘proper’ to show fully in many societies. I felt especially at this time of chaos and trauma on our planet, it’s important to acknowledge these shadows so we can become whole and see the beautiful, sovereign reflection that we are in the totality of light and dark, as is reflected in the myths that we’ve journeyed through these 9 months.””
Mistress of the Natural Law
by Faranak Mirjalili
To bridge the inner and the outer, dream and matter, student and teacher, intellect and intuition, have been a few of the paradoxes that this years cycle brought me. In this work, in which a hypnopompic dream figure is brought into a traditional clay mask, a few of these dualities are held together.
—Faranak Mirjalili (Founder Anima Mundi School)
clay and acrylic paint
Anima
by Wanda Tuerlinckx
““The collective life force that unifies air, fire, earth and water, and reveals herself as a luminous feminine primordial being from the invisible dimensions.””
Mother’s Net
by Irene
Mother
Don’t be shy
I know you need a place to hide
Mom is here and that’s all right
I’m on your side, on your side
Open up the windows of your mind
Don’t you see it is time
To leave your fears behind?
It’s time you cross the river to glory land
That’s the place you long to be
Come, follow me
Escape through word
Of desire and dreams ….
(inspired by the song Mother, Enigma)
Persephone & Demeter
by Anonymous
“This photograph is a fragment of a much larger piece done with paint and my body as brush, outside on open land, while listening to the story of Demeter and Persephone towards the end of summer. Two pieces of painted fabric were created - one during the day and the other at night, and I am currently working on putting them together as a stitched collage. The process has been about moving away from aesthetic considerations of the visual and immersing oneself in a story through the intersection of body and land.”
