In turbulent times, our inner complexes may overwhelm or possess us, as we unconsciously project unresolved issues onto people and things in our outer world. Self-work is the antidote, a daily contemplative practice, a meditation on archetypal, psychologically potent images. Tarot is a wonderful way to do just that. Bring your deck along to our March Zoom meeting, and we will discuss how to connect the dots between the personal and the collective. We will give our intuitive function its daily walk through the House of Seventy-Eight Doors.  Along the way we will discuss synchronicities, active imagination, and the healing power of narrative.

Alan Scalpone likes to wear many hats, both literal and figurative.  As a multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer, he has toured the U.S. and Europe and participated in films and theater.  Today Alan is a professional tarot card reader who gives expert private and group readings in the Nashville area and through his website at alanscalpone.com. He currently attends MTSU, where he is working towards a psychology degree. He voraciously consumes the works of C.G. Jung. and tries his best to live the symbolic life. 

In 1957 Jung wrote a book, Flying Saucers, on the UFO phenomenon, a topic of worldwide interest in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  After studying everything he could find on the subject for ten years and giving a newspaper interview that led to his being mistakenly labeled a “UFO believer,” he felt compelled to write this short book to clarify his views and reflect primarily on the psychological aspects of what he called a “worldwide rumour.” Jung hoped that exploring this ambiguous material would reveal deeper truths about the human condition and help us navigate such non-ordinary experiences.

In this talk, Dr. Slater will discuss his recent book, Jung vs. Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age, in which he contends that the industrial disruption of the outer world is being followed by a post-industrial disruption of the inner world. The shadow side of the online world and the impact of algorithms and AI on society and culture exemplify this disruption. Prominent plans to merge humans and machines focused on joining minds and computers are shown to be outgrowths of this phenomenon, which promises to alter the foundations of human existence.   

This lecture will set out critical areas of understanding that help us enter and reflect on this potentially radical turn in human evolution. It will particularly emphasize Jung’s insights into the dissociative and integrative dynamics of the psyche. 

Glen Slater, Ph.D., has taught for over 25 years at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where he has recently chaired the Jungian and Archetypal Psychology program. His publications have appeared in a number of Jungian journals and essay collections in the areas of Jung and film, psychology and religion, and depth psychology and technology and include an essay on the roots of gun violence in the U.S. was the basis of a talk he presented to the Nashville Jung Circle in 2023. His book Jung vs. Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age came out in January 2024.