Category: Presenters

Presenters at the Fates and Graces Mythologium, a virtual conference for mythologists.

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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Katie Szymanski

Katie’s presentation is called “Embracing the Sacred Heart and Tasting the Ecstasy Within: Exploring the Spiritual Practices of the Beguines and Saint Lidwina of Schiedam”

The experience of desire, whether arising from physical sensuality or spiritual transcendence, finds its abode within the vessel of the heart. As articulated by Hadewijch of Brabant, a 13th-century Beguine from the Netherlands: “For love has no need for sadness, It shall know and understand all—Sweetness and cruelty, Joy and sorrow.” The Beguines, a community of laywomen in the Late Middle Ages in the Low Countries of Europe, defied societal norms by choosing neither marriage nor convent life. They fostered self-organization, engaged in active prayer, and devoted themselves to serving the world. Rejecting the established authority of the church, these women, grounded in a heart-centered spiritual practice, embodied a non-dualistic love for God.

Drawing upon the writings of female Beguine authors and the hagiographies of Lidwina of Schiedam, a lay Dutch mystic, this study delves into the spiritual practices of the heart that resonate within Christian mythology, exploring the transformative power of suffering’s initiation into the realm of ecstasy. Employing a feminist, depth psychological, and Buddhist lens, we examine these subversive mystical women as agents of a quasi-trauma therapy for the collective feminine, shedding light on their profound capacity to facilitate healing and growth.

About Katie

Katie Szymanski is a dedicated psychotherapist, scholar, artist, and CEO of the mental health company “The Couch.” She is a Ph.D. candidate in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Currently, she is working on her dissertation, a corrective history of Saint Lidwina of Schiedam, offering a feminist perspective that challenges traditional narratives and the male gaze found in exploitative hagiographies of female mystics. Through her therapeutic expertise, knowledge of mysticism, and artistic sensibilities, she explores the placement of humanity within the broader context of history, the psyche, and spirituality.

To hear Katie’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Shane Kyle Surrey

Dr. Surrey’s presentation is called “The Heart of Myth”

We may think of the heart of things as their center and fundamental essence. Myth, as a reflection of reality as it truly is, may touch upon the center and fundamental essence in the most profound way. In order to understand myth and the heart in this way, we must understand the heart of myth. Having an understanding of the heart of myth may help us improve our relationship with it and make its mysterious nature less daunting. This improved relationship with myth may in turn make the prospect of understanding the mystery of self less daunting as well. As mythologists, what we must all strive to do is understand what the heart of myth is so that we may uncover the foundational nature of Being itself.

About Dr. Surrey

Shane Surrey has a PhD and Master of Arts Degree in mythological studies with an emphasis in depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in literature, communications, and media from American Jewish University. His main academic interests include examining the relationship between mythology and popular culture as well as exploring various theories pertaining to mythology. Apart from his interests in academia, Shane is also attentive to storytelling in the mediums of video games, comic books, and television. Shane lives in Pasadena, California.

To hear Dr. Surrey’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Robert Scott

Dr. Scott’s presentation is called “All Roads Lead to the Heart-Center: A Study of a City’s Circulation System“

A city’s road network system is the circulatory system of the built environment. In fact, city planning vocabulary literally describes a city’s road system as its circulation element, where access is often provided by a major arterial or a local bypass. Thinking of the city’s networks of roads, streets, and highways in this way makes me wonder where might be the heart-center to where all this circulation leads? My talk for this year’s Mythologium is a blending of the physical nature of a city’s circulation with a psychological approach of finding one’s own heart-center. Using examples from my own hometown of San Diego, CA, I hope to lead the audience down a road toward finding the heart-centers in the places and cities they hold close to the heart.

About Dr. Scott

Bob holds a BA in Cultural Geography and, after 30 years in the city planning profession, received his MA and PhD in Mythology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology. In his 2022 dissertation, entitled “Encountering San Diego: A City Planner’s Search for a City’s Soul,” Bob examined how geography, history, and the mythic imagination, by way of archetype, metaphor, and image, inform a city’s soul and spirit of place. Through the primary lenses of depth, archetypal, and ecopsychologies, Bob’s approach to city planning implies a reinterpretation (or revisioning) of how a planner might assess the making of a city by cultivating a psychological vision for how one might engage more fully and more symbolically with the cityscape.

To hear Dr. Scott’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Abigail Nelson

Abigail’s presentation is called “Medusa: Shadow to Shield — The Dramatherapeutic Use of the Mythical Dark Feminine for Modern Female Empowerment”

When we picture Medusa, we see the monstrous, deadly creature with snakes for hair. The vicious killer who could turn even the strongest of heroes to stone with just a look. But who was the women behind the monster? Listen to her tale then decide for yourself, Medusa – villain or victim? Monstrous or misunderstood?

Dramatherapy uses myth as a powerful therapeutic tool. By engaging with myths in an embodied way, dramatherapy allows individuals to explore universal themes and archetypal characters, both at a conscious and unconscious level. At the same time, myths offer a safe and imaginative space where individuals can project their own deeply personal struggles, conflicts, and desires onto the characters and events, gaining new perspectives and insights. Furthermore, myths often contain transformative journeys, symbolic rites of passage, and powerful metaphors that parallel the psychological processes individuals undergo during therapy. By immersing themselves in the mythic realm, participants in dramatherapy can tap into their inner resources, access buried emotions, and discover hidden strengths. The use of myth in dramatherapy, therefore, serves as a bridge between the personal and the collective, enabling individuals to connect with universal human experiences, find meaning in their struggles, and embark on a path of healing and personal transformation.

Medusa: Shadow to Shield, was a women’s circle and dramatherapy workshop which used storytelling, embodiment and art-making to explore the myth, focusing on self-understanding and female empowerment. Following this workshop’s structure and using its content, this presentation will allow you to explore the myth for yourself, whilst giving you an insight into the broader use of myth in dramatherapy.

About Abigail

Abigail Nelson is a dramatherapist and creative wellness facilitator in Edinburgh, Scotland. Abigail attained an MA in Dramatherapy from Roehampton University in 2022 and is now registered with the UK’s Health and Care Professions Council and a member of the British Association for Dramatherapists (of which she is currently the Executive Intern). Abigail provides one-to-one and group dramatherapy in a community therapeutic arts and mental health charity, The Alma Project. She also works freelance, facilitating creative wellness workshops, events and retreats (where she works therapeutically with nature). You can see her previous and upcoming events, plus more information, on her website at www.abigailnelson.co.uk.

To hear Abigail’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Fujio Mandeville

Dr. Mandeville’s presentation is called “A Tale of Two Stories: From Eden to Managuara”

The story of the progenitors of the Lenca people and how they were created starkly contrasts with the attitudes of Western thought regarding Nature. The history of these attitudes, covered by surveying the views of Nature from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and then into the modern era, form a backdrop to the Lenca myth of the Mother Goddess, Ish-Managual who creates the Lenca people in the land of Managuara. The Lenca myth, passed down orally to Leonel A. Chevez by his grandmother, is described in his book Ti Manauelike: The Lenca Taulepa Chief. This story focuses on the Mother Goddess, whose mission is to come down from the heavens to Managuara, create the first humans, and then return once she has accomplished her task. She forms the shape of a human with dough made from corn grown in the milpas, seeds, bark, and leaves. She then calls upon six forest creatures: armadillo, rabbit, jaguar, turtle, monkey, and finally, eagle. Each creature sacrifices a particular characteristic of itself in making the first human. However, after seeing that her first creation is too weak to survive the harsh environment, she creates another being who is stronger and more adaptable to the jungles of Managuara. After she has finished, she must return to the heavens, but rather than leave her beloved creation, she sends the weaker of the two in her place. She then sacrifices her very being by infusing her spirit into all of Nature. This story is a love story between the creatrix and her creation. This myth speaks of love, sacrifice, and compassion. It also illustrates the intricate relationship between the divine, Nature, and humanity.

About Dr. Mandeville

Fujio Mandeville is a linguist, mythologist, and technologist. He holds a bachelor’s in linguistics with a minor in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. His focus there was on natural language acquisition and comparative linguistics. He also holds a doctorate from Pacifica Graduate Institute in mythological studies with emphasis in depth psychology. The title of his dissertation is Complexity Theory and Creativity: Seeing Through to the Mythic Leonardo da Vinci, in which he used a transdisciplinary framework to demonstrate that Leonardo da Vinci was a mythic figure and a complexity thinker. Fujio is also a software application manager and solutions architect for a major telecommunications company. His main interests are the intersection between myth, complexity thinking, technology, and its effect on culture, the usurpation of mythology for political ends, and transhumanism. His current work centers on the indigenous creation myth of the Lenca and its implications on Western thinking. His writings inform various disciplines, including art history, depth psychology, mythology, complexity theory, mathematics, and historical hermeneutics. He has lived in Germany and Japan. He lives in Washington State with his wife, Monica.

To hear Dr. Mandeville’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Amy Lawson

Dr. Lawson’s presentation is called “Not Just A Pump: Reclaiming the Heart from Science Back Into Soul”

My cardiology rotation during medical school taught me about the pathophysiology of the heart as a pump for blood. But before the Renaissance with its revolution in medical knowledge, the heart meant much more—the source of courage, of emotions, of vital heat, even the seat of the soul. In this presentation, we will explore the physiology of the heart using the poetic basis of mind and a mythic lens, discovering what hard science can show us when we view its knowledge symbolically. From the way the heart knows how often to beat through sensing pressure, to the vulnerable nature of the heart’s own blood supply, to the drastic circulatory changes that occur around the time of birth, there are important psychological lessons to be extrapolated from the wisdom of the body. Join me in an effort to reclaim a bit of the scientific heart back into the realm of soul.

About Dr. Lawson

Amy Lawson, MD, is a practicing pediatrician in San Francisco. She is also writing a PhD through Pacifica Graduate Institute on the intersection of mythology and medicine, exploring mythic narratives that help explain physician burnout and suffering. She is passionate about dream interpretation, reading tarot, and bridging the worlds of science and depth psychology.

To hear Dr. Lawson’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Dori Koehler

Dr. Koehler’s presentation is called “Returning the Heart to Te Fiti: Moana’s Mythic Message”

“I have crossed the horizon to find you. I know your name. They have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you. This is not who you are. You KNOW who you are…who you truly are”

Moana

Disney princesses are a global phenomenon. They are deeply imprinted on our global psyche. Love them or hate them, we can’t ignore them. They are often the targets of criticism, often with reasonable cause. But the truth is that they are far more complex and narratively significant than what the shallow critiques of them would have us believe. Disney princesses reflect what Jungian theorists call the anima consciousness, giving image to Walt Disney’s admonition that his stories gotta have heart, and calling audiences to consider the healing potential of the myth present in each one of Disney’s princess narratives. Princesses reflect the dynamic relationship between the attitudes of the artists at the studio and the people who engage them.

In my opinion, there is no greater archetypal image of the Disney princess as a healer than Moana. She journeys deep into the psyche returning the archetypal heart to Te Fiti and through that journey, she heals herself, her island, and her people. This presentation explores Moana as a character that enters directly into the traditional space of the wounded healer, the shaman, and a character who returns with deep wisdom for her community. I begin with a discussion of the connection between Disney Princesses and the goddess Persephone. Disney’s princesses all follow the same archetypal pattern of love and death, love and transformation.

Then I will examine Moana in the light of that archetypal tradition, arguing that the film is a call to healing through an attempt to use an intersectional lens of archetypal theory and the decolonization of Disney’s myth. Specifically, I will posit the following questions for consideration: what does it mean to return the heart of Te Fiti to Disney’s mythic message? In what ways does this message speak to the absolute necessity of connecting to the archetypal heart from an indigenous perspective to begin that process of decolonization? And how does healing the collective heart prepare the collective psyche for action in this time of cataclysmic climate change?

About Dr. Koehler

Dori Koehler, PhD is a cultural mythologist and scholar of American popular culture. She is a professor of Humanities at Southern New Hampshire University. Her research focuses on Disney, rituals, fandoms, and myths in the American cultural diaspora. Her book The Mouse and the Myth: Sacred Art and Secular Ritual is available through Amazon. She is a regular presenter at the Popular Culture Association’s regional and national conferences where she continues to ask questions about popular culture and American mythic identity in this time of enduring change. She lives in Santa Barbara, California, USA with her husband, Bruce, and their cocker spaniel, Sorcha.

To hear Dr. Koehler’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Pepa Cartini

Pepa’s presentation is called “How Wild Fennel Keeps Our Roma Hearts Alive”

During this presentation, participants will embark on a journey towards understanding the mythological role of wild fennel in Spanish Romani cuisine. The goal is to bring Romani culture closer to the audience through a language we all speak: the language of myth, the language of the heart.

Wild fennel is an essential ingredient in the Romani culinary imaginary. Against this background, participants will have the opportunity to understand how this herb embodies nearly all images of the Romani worldview, which is surprisingly ecological!

So, through a psychological and symbolic analysis of the images that emerge from wild fennel, participants will learn about the intrinsic relationship between the herb and Romani’s core values. Finally, participants will have the chance to connect and live up to these values when discovering the curious recipe for wild fennel that is cooked in my family and that keeps our Romani hearts alive.

About Pepa

Pepa Cartini is a passionate food copywriter and storyteller. Since 2016, she has been dedicated to helping food creatives and entrepreneurs discover, embrace, and share their unique stories, guiding them in finding their voice and connecting with their audience. Pepa’s love for food and storytelling also relates to her work as an instructor at Cadiz University and Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, where she teaches Food Storytelling.

Raised in Málaga, a vibrant city in the sunny Andalucía region of Spain, Pepa grew up amidst the rich cultural tapestry of her Spanish Roma father and German mother. This multicultural background deeply influences her perspectives on gastronomy and fuels her creative exploration.

In her ongoing journey of learning and self-discovery, Pepa is pursuing a Diploma in Mythology and Symbolism at the Superior Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCREB). Her Final Project, “The Symbolic-Psychological Analysis as a Methodology and Teaching Technique in Gastronomic Sciences,” delves into the intriguing realm of food mythology, the symbolic significance of food traditions, and the mythological connections humans create through food.

To hear Pepa’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Dr. Darlene Maggie Dowdy

Dr. Dowdy’s presentation is called “Homily to Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth-Heart Space”

Homer tells us that the goddess Hestia has a seat in the homes of all gods and men. All feasts begin and end with a honey-wine toast to Hestia (“Hestia I,” Homeric Hymns). Her presence is as ubiquitous as the hearth fire she personifies, yet the myths of ancient Greece say little about her.

This mythography proposes a brief socio-cultural exploration of Hestia’s archetypal spirit as an essential hearth-heart center that beckons the individual to gather around the warmth of family and community.

About Dr. Dowdy

Darlene Maggie Dowdy received her PhD in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2016.  Her dissertation, Harbingers of Change: Images and Archetypes of Imminent Transformation, explores the co-creative relationship between psyche, soma, and an ever-changing environment.  A variation of her dissertation, “Birds as Nature’s Harbingers,” was presented at the 2018 conference for the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology.  She co-presented on a panel concerning gender identity at the first Mythologium conference in 2019 with her essay “Metamorphoses of Gender and Identity in Ancient and Modern Myth,” and again in 2021 with “Demeter’s Way: The journey through grief towards healing in Homer’s Hymn to Demeter.” Although Maggie’s day job as vice-president of an independently owned industrial rubber company has little to do with myth as literature, she is constantly reminded of how the archetypal energy of the gods informs our everyday experiences.

To hear Dr. Dowdy’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register
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Mythologium 2023 welcomes Kristina Dryža

Kristina’s presentation is called “How the Myth of Sisyphus Can Unlock Our Heart Forces“

What can the myth of Sisyphus teach us about the heart? Is it possible to love the drudgery of fruitless labor? Can we develop a heart relationship with the boulder so that it’s no longer a futile task, but rather a process of deep connection and thankfulness? And if we open ourselves up to the presence, beauty, and power of the boulder, might it potentially reveal an even more enriching message and purpose? Can it even become an object of wonder?

About Kristina

Kristina is an author, TEDx speaker, ex-futurist and archetypal consultant.

To hear Kristina’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!

The Mythologium is a conference for mythologists and friends of myth. This year’s Mythologium will be held July 28-30 in-person and online in the Pacific time zone.

Learn more and register