Claire’s talk is called, “Lay your burden down: Baubo jests to ease Demeter’s despair”
By studying the mythic character of Baubo and her relationship with Demeter, contemporary women may find the freedom to travel into new psychic terrain, plumb the depths of the soul and embrace their own changing bodies and generative energies. C.G. Jung said, “The process of coming to terms with the unconscious is a true labour, a work which involves both action and suffering.” This presentation looks at three ways in which the relationship between the ailing Demeter and the old lady Baubo work together to facilitate a deeper relationship with the unconscious: 1) through the archetypal realm of their mythical characterizations; 2) through the power of female sexual energy in its fierce expression of life, and 3) through the divine pleasure of full-belly laughter, grounded in the libidinal flow of eros and the regenerative power of the earth. Baubo offers herself in the service of life so that Demeter may feel her own heart, lay her burden down for just that moment, and make way for the mystery of life to shine through.
About Claire
Claire Tiampo Savage is a doctoral student in Jungian and Archetypal Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has a master’s degree in educational psychology, is a credentialed teacher and resource specialist, and has taught regular and special education in Milwaukee and the San Francisco Bay Area. Claire has written for The Journal for Career Assessment and Psychological Perspectives and has an upcoming chapter entitled “The soul’s calling in teacher education” in New voices and new visions: Explorations in archetypal pedagogy, edited by C. Mayes, S. Persing, and C. Schumacher.