The Luminaries: Sun and Moon in Myth and Psyche

$105.00

The Sun and Moon are the most conspicuous travelers through the sky, the features most recognizable to everyone, and also the horoscope placements people are likeliest to know. In English they are also the only major astrological bodies to be objectified as “The” Sun and “The” Moon, their names lost — a curious situation for markers of identity!

In this 3-part webinar series, we will seek to return their mythic names to them: to re-embed them into the ecology of the mythic imagination, by exploring the stories told about them by the the cultures most directly connected to the emergence of western astrology: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece.

Through the aid of these images and stories, we will develop a deeper felt sense of each of the luminaries, beneath and beyond the traditional and psychological concepts. We will seek to think and feel and sense with and through the symbols to explore the deepest patterns that shape us.

Part One: The Moon

In the first webinar, we will study the stories of the Moon, through the myths of four storied lunar gods and goddesses in the cultures most directly influential on what we now call western astrology: Sin/Nanna from Mesopotamia; Khonsu from Egypt; and from Greece the Titan Selene and the Olympian Artemis as well as Hecate, the crone goddess connected with Night and later the dark moon.

Each speaks to distinct aspects of the Moon: Nanna/Sin, the cyclical timekeeper, guardian of calendars, whose phases governed rhythms of life and ritual; Khonsu, healer/protector, whose wandering through the night sky offering safety and restoration; Selene, goddess of recurrence, embodied time, attachment to the familiar; and Artemis, mistress and huntress of animals and huntress and guardian of the vulnerable.

Part Two: The Sun

In the second webinar, we will explore the stories of the Sun, through the myths of the four most-storied solar gods from the same places and times: Shamash/Utu from Mesopotamia; Ra from Egypt; and from Greece the Titan Helios and the Olympian Apollo. Each of these solar gods also speak to a distinct aspect of the Sun’s character: Shamash, the justice-bringer and revealer of truth; Ra, the creator and cosmic orderer, whose daily journey mirrors the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; Helios, the watchful observer of human deeds, ever-present as the light that illuminates the world; and Apollo, the radiant god of intellect, prophecy, and healing, whose connection to the Sun carries both a philosophical and healing impulse.

Part Three: The Lunar-Solar Relationship

In the third webinar, having developed a multi-dimensional experience of both luminaries, we will explore their relationship with one another. Especially we’ll consider the relationships they were said to have between each other in the myths — including father-son, mother-lover, brother-sister, midwife-brother — and how these dynamic relationships may help us understand the development of personality, a sense of self, and consciousness.

Part 1 – 1 hr | 47 mins

Part 2 – 1 hr | 54 mins

Part 3 – 1 hr| 52 mins

$105 | includes streaming access and transcript

Pre-recorded for download.

includes video, audio and slides