Session Six – Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Mining the Mother Lode: How to Bring Diamonds from the Darkness (for Artists and People Who Want to Create)

Mother Night presents a new series of teachings from Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, the esteemed senior Jungian psychoanalyst and bestselling author of Women Who Run With the Wolves. This six-session online learning event invites us to tap the generative power of all goodness of the core self, all creativity and understanding that lies out of sight, in darkness called the unconscious.

In the sixth session of the series, Mining the Mother Lode: How to Bring Diamonds from the Darkness (for Artists and People Who Want to Create), Dr. Estés explains why “those who unleash their craft do not wait for the muse; the muse is like one’s breath, one’s arm, one’s hips, one’s eyes … the muse is always there, waiting to spring into action if only we lay out an empty space. Seed goes first to the places which are most empty.” So here, we will see about the places of psyche and soul and both worlds that seem most empty, unknown, and inaccessible. The stories “The Man Who Sought Treasure Afar,” “The Rebbe in Prison,” and “Coyote Learns to Dance” set out insights about how the psyche taps, nudges, shoves, trying to get its person to unfurl that idea, dare that new venture, complete that meaningful project, go wild and get rid of the "high court of apes" that criticize and condemn any and everything that comes from one’s hands, feet, body, or mind. Our work is not to criticize, condemn, or complain. Our work is to do. And then do again. And again, and know for once and for all, that seeking perfection is the abject enemy of "done."

Following a Q & A session with the audience, we close with the blessing prayer “Mary, Covered in Ashes; Mary, Covered in Diamonds.”

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
All users: high-speed internet connection; working speakers or headset.
PC: Windows 2000, XP, or Vista; Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 2.0 or newer. 1GHz CPU with 512MB RAM (2GB for Vista).
Mac: OS 10.4 or newer, G4 or Intel processor, 512 MB RAM; Safari 3.0 or Firefox 2.0 or newer.