PHI 501: A New Myth of God

Lionel Corbett, M.D.

This course explores the Judeo-Christian myth that has been at the core of the Western psyche for millennia. The image of the God at the center of this myth is no longer alive for many people. This course will articulate a New Myth that is emerging from the heart of Jungian religious writing. This myth involves our conscious relationship with personal experiences of the divine as they are mediated by transpersonal levels of the psyche.

Student Outcomes for This Course

Outcome #1: Students will understand a depth psychological approach to religious experience.

Outcome #2: Students will become familiar with basic Jungian concepts about religion, such as the concept of the transpersonal Self.

Outcome #3: Students will be able to recognize numinous experiences, both their own and those of other people.

Outcome #4: Students will be able to relate a numinous experience to the personality of the experiencer, and to the development of the personality.

Outcome #5: Students will appreciate that all religious traditions have archetypal elements in common, although local culture colors their appearance and content.

Outcome #6: Students will be able to approach suffering and evil from a depth psychological perspective and contrast it with theological perspectives.

Outcome #7: Students will understand the concept of the archetype, and its manifestation in dreams, myths, religions, and other symbolic systems.

Outcome #8: Students will understand the meaning of the symbol in mythology and religion, and be able to relate the symbol to personal experience.

Outcome #9: Students will understand the psychological aspects of some traditional religious ideas and teachings.

Course Sessions and Topics

This course is organized into ten one-hour audio sessions. The introductory session, on The Religious Function of the Psyche, is presented in both an audio and video format to better acquaint the student with Dr. Corbett. The ten sessions are organized into a thoughtful, effective presentation on this topic. We recommend you study the course tapes in their sequential order:

Required Reading

Corbett, Lionel, The Religious Function of the Psyche, Routledge, 1996. ISBN# 0415144019
Otto, Rudolph, The Idea of the Holy, Oxford Univ. Press 1997. ISBN# 0195002105
Edinger, Edward, The Creation of Consciousness, Inner City Books 1995. ISBN# 0919123139

Recommended Reading

Hardy, Alistar, The Spiritual Nature of Man, Oxford University Press, 1997.
Jung, C.G., Collected Works of C.G. Jung: Psychology and Religion, Vol. II (H.Read, M. Fordham, & G. Adler, Eds.), New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1967.
Ryce-Menuhin, J. (Editor), Jung and the Monotheisms, Routledge, N.Y., 1994.

Recommended Tape

Corbett, Lionel, Spirituality Beyond Religion, Sounds True, 2002, tapes or CD may be ordered on website http://soundstrue.com

Phone Conferences– Thursdays October 12 and Friday, November 17, 2006

rom 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., Pacific Coast time, all students participate in these conferences with Dr. Corbett. The first conference will also give you an opportunity to clarify any questions you may have about the course. No credit will be given for participation. Each conference has been designed around lectures and topics. See Phone Conferences with Faculty for conference calling process.

Topics for First Conference Call– Thursday, October 12, 2006

(1) Review tapes 1 - 5.
(2) Be prepared to discuss the Numinous.
(3) Be prepared to discuss the Self.
(4) Be prepared to discuss the concept of the archetypal dimension of the psyche.
(5) Be prepared to discuss the experience of religious symbols from a psychological perspective.
(6) Be prepared to discuss the relationship of spirituality to personality.

Topics For Second Conference Call – Friday, November 17, 2006

(1) Review tapes 6 - 10
(2) Be prepared to discuss the concept of synchronicity
(3) Be prepared to discuss a psychological approach to traditional religious ideas
(4) Be prepared to discuss the psychological approach to the problem of suffering and evil

Email Discussion Group "mysticwisdom"

Email discussion groups encourage group discussion on the topics, issues and concepts presented in each course. Students are encouraged to use this discussion forum to share their ideas, insights and questions with one another. A single email message reaches all students and the faculty member at one time. Credit will not be given for participation. This discussion group has also been put in place to help remove some of the geographic isolation which may be felt between students, and add an extra link to the natural and vital bond that develops in any spiritual community. All students with a current email address listed with Holmes Institute are automatically subscribed to the email discussion group for this course. Use this email address:

mysticwisdom@yahoogroups.com

If you desire to respond to an individual in the group, please use his/her personal email address on your class roster or the Faculty Directory – Fall Quarter 2006 contact information for your instructor.

Course Outline - Weeks 1 through 5

This outline gives a brief description of how to pace your self-study and gauge your progress in the required course activities throughout the academic quarter.

Lesson Objectives: By the end of the fifth week, students are able to:

Objective #1: Recognize and describe some of the manifestations of the transpersonal Self (image of the Divine) within his or her own soul and also within the experience of people who request spiritual counseling.

Assessment Experience #1: students will write a three page paper. The question will be emailed to the students the fourth week of the quarter. Successful students will know what a numinous experience is; the criteria for describing a numinous experience and what Jung meant by the transpersonal self. Dr. Corbett must receive your paper by Monday, October 23, 2006 .

Course Outline - Weeks 6 through 10

This outline gives a brief description of how to pace your self-study and gauge your progress in the required course activities throughout the academic quarter.

Lesson Objectives: By the end of the tenth week, students are able to:

Objective #2: recognize and write about his or her personal numinous experience, and those of others, no matter what form they take, based on the quality of the experience.

Objective #3: recognize and describe some of the manifestations of the transpersonal Self (image of the Divine) within his or her own soul and also within the experience of people who request spiritual counseling.

Objective #4: understand the concept of the archetype, and its manifestations in dreams, myths, religions, and other symbolic systems.

Objective #5: understand the meaning of the symbol in mythology and religion, and relate the symbol to personal experience.

Objective #6: describe the psychological aspects of some traditional religious ideas and teachings.

Objective #7: understand a depth psychological approach to suffering and evil, and the differences between this approach and traditional religious attitudes.

Objective #8: develop an increased capacity to find meaning in suffering by describing two or more examples.

Objective #9: develop a written statement describing the depth psychological approach to religion and religious experience from a Jungian point of view.

Required Reading: Edinger: read the whole book

Lecture Tapes: Review tapes as necessary

Assessment Experience: Written Final Paper. This paper is to describe your personal experience of the numinous. Incorporate insights related to Objectives #4-#8 as they related to your personal experience of the numinous. Explain how this particular experience affected you or changed your life or your God-image. Maximum paper length, 5-pages, double-spaced in size 12 font, in APA or MLA format. Your paper is to be received by Dr. Corbett on or before December 4, 2006.

How Quality of Writing and Thought
Will Be Assessed in Each Paper:

There is more than one path to excellence or to very good, competent work on student essays. Some courses, for example, have as their focus a large overview of a particular idea or concept which asks the student to know this material accurately without necessarily interpreting it.

Other courses may focus on moving the students to their own deep insights based on the material presented. Such insights may reveal themselves in writing, an art project or a combination of both.

"A” paper: Reflects writing/thinking which is truly exceptional. It demonstrates a thesis of unusual originality or organization or style as well as conceptual complexity or reveals extensive imaginative use of course materials. In addition, the essay is free of basic errors and adheres in all cases to the elements of appropriate MLA formatting (see page 17 for reference). The student has taken up an angle of vision toward the material such that some new understanding emerges from his/her engagement with it. If the paper is to be primarily expository, then both the scope and the quantity of the material discussed is outstanding, going well beyond the basic requirements of the assignments.

  "F" paper: Reflects generally scattered and unfocused writing that includes course material only minimally, is almost entirely personal, has no discernible thesis, tends to drift from one idea to another and is flawed in writing, format and style. It is absent of any elegance in thought or expression. The format is arbitrary and inconsistent with the accepted rules governing documentation and style in presentation. It appears as the product of carelessness, speed and a lack of any deep reflection, evidenced most prominently by sloppy proofreading or extreme brevity or scattered notes, incomplete form or failure to develop a thought with any finesse, subtlety, or overall coherence .

Suggested Style Manuals for Students

Guidelines for Success

If the student reads the material, listens to the tapes, and completes the written assignments, he/she will be successful in this course. NOTE: Students will receive a final grade of either “A” (passing) or “F” (not passing).