Reclaiming the Mythical Feminine

A 9 month mythopoetic immersion into the deep ecology of the Mythical Feminine.

about our core course

Please note that the 2023-2024 cycle will be our 7th and final one before we give the myths a well-deserved space and rest.

For this final offering of this program, we will also accept trained analysts (or those in training) who would like to explore the depth-work with myth and dreams in the unique way the Anima Mundi School has developed it .

Reclaiming the Mythical Feminine
a 9 month guided online course with myths, dreamwork & creative expression

Deep exploration of goddess Mythology and Jungian Dreamwork

Once upon a time there were wise women of the forest, wise old bearded men with piercing eyes that would tell you a story. They would enchant you with their wrinkled wisdom and secretly, whilst telling you a story passed down generation after generation, whisper in the spaces between their words the wisdom you needed in your life ahead. In the secret cracks of your heart, you would be infused with the spirit, and it would be the spirit of that story, of that ancient, ancient tale, that would sail your boat through the wilder storms of life. 

There is a world still alive, still pulsating and yearning to be known within and all around you. This world of images, and the Mundus Imaginalis, is where magic is alive, where the gods and goddesses who hold the lament of the dead, are waiting to be reclaimed, waiting to be known and related to. This world is mostly accessible through our dreams, as the dream is the most direct portal into this world of symbolic images. Myths and fairytales are also direct nourishment coming from the kitchen of the grandmothers and our long forgotten ancestors, and it is in the spaces between the dream and the myth that we immerse ourselves for the next 9 months. 

To be ’cooked by a myth’ is a journey for the hero and heroine within us. A part of every human being longs to consciously come to know what ancient stories live within the depths of his/her soil and soul. It is this part of you that goes on a mythical adventure, making these ancient tales your own byworking with the  images given to you in dreams at night.

Consider this journey both an immersion into the deep murky waters that were abandoned long ago, as well as the sweetest honey coming directly from the breast of the Goddess. This journey will be guided with private Jungian therapy sessions (with emphasis on Jungian dreamwork) every month and live gatherings where Faranak and Gauri take you through a mythic encounter through the traditional oral arts of storytelling. In all the myths and archetypes we work with, we focus on the individuation journey through the feminine.

We will dive into the Mother and Daughter with Persephone and Demeter, encounter the dark sister Ereshkigal with Inanna, explore our earthy soils and fiery nature with the Black Madonna & Kali and plunge into the pure waters of our hearts with Anahita & Saraswati. In total, we explore 7 myths over 9 months. Each class is rich and interactive as we work together as a group; we open ourselves to the mysteries held in these ancient stories and see where we are lead. Between chaos and cosmos, we move with the cauldron of the alchemical group-journey as well as individually.
There might be slight changes to the cycles as we practice deep listening to the images of the dreams that come into being from the unconscious. And as every group is different, the journey adapts itself to the rhythm and the pulse of the group. 

One thing will be likely, if not inevitable: you will not return the same. We are not just telling stories, we are allowing the stories to come alive within our psyche and we let its medicine stir within us as we establish a long forgotten sacred relationship to the ancient sacred ground of the underworld.

This journey is a depth-immersion that is created by Faranak’s own journey to the inner worlds that started during her first Jungian training 7 years ago. The program has been enriched ever since with the experiential journey each participating woman has brought. The Mythical Feminine journey is created to ignite us and our relationship to the Anima Mundi, the World Soul in a time when it is most needed in the world.

The private Jungian dreamwork sessions in this course is an essential part of the alchemical work. It is designed to help you navigate through the world of your own images as the complexes within our psyche are stirred through the power of these stories. Without the private analytical work, work with the mythic imagination is only half baked.

Structure of the Course

There are 7 learning modules over 9 months, each exploring a different aspect of the feminine psyche from a Jungian and mythological perspective. Each learning module has 1 storytelling gathering that includes work with the imaginal and 1 art-class approx. 2 weeks after the stroytelling. The art-classes have proven to be a most essential moment of creative breakthrough and integration of the story. The total hours of this course, including all classes, online audio-classes and creative assignments are approximately 10 hours / month. This excludes your private sessions.

Faranak Mirjalili will be your lead teacher. She is one of the main storytellers together with UK based storyteller and anthropologist Gauri Raje. Gauri will take us through her ancestral roots with the fierce and powerful story of Kali and she will be co-telling all the other myths in the program with Faranak. Laura Krusemark, our in-school artist and art-teacher, will help you creatively work with the mythic images and symbols during the myth-based art classes.

The 7 modules include:

• Descent of the Goddess with Inanna

• The Restoration of the Primordial Mother—Daughter Bond with Demeter & Persephone

• Understanding the Masculine within Women with Isis & Osiris

• Wisdom of the Dark with the Black Madonna & Kali

• The Unifying Rivers of Heaven & Earth with Anahita & Saraswati

• Releasing the Sparks of Wisdom with the Gnostic Sophia

• Creative Participation with the Anima Mundi

You will receive:

• 2 private dreamwork sessions every month of Jungian dreamwork (40 min each)

• 1 storytelling class with the group every month: live storytelling and working with the imaginal

• 1 Mythical Art class with the group in the theme of the myth

• Online course material for every myth cycle (accessible for 1 year)

• Access to the private group on a social media platform (not Facebook)
  

  Hours of study and live classes:

• A total of 28 hours of attendance of live classes, average 3.5 hours/month.

• A total of 24 hours of course material to study, average 2-3 hours/month

• Self-study hours (reading books, creative exploration and assignments are 2-5 hours/month.

This will be a small and intimate group, therefor there are limited spaces available.

Please note that the 2023-2024 cycle will be our 7th and final one before we give the myths a well-deserved space and rest.