University of Sydney / Faculty of Arts / Department of Studies in Religion / Postgraduate Research Seminars 2004

Postgraduate Research Seminars 2004

For Further Details, contact:
Dr Edward F. Crangle
Telephone: 02 9351 7653

The Gnostic Body as Archetypal Mind: The Alchemy of Immanence


presented by Dr Robert J. Williams

Thurs 23 September 2004
12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Woolley S334

Disenchantment with the traditional dissociation between immanence (objective experience/science and experimentation) and the prospect of transcendence (subjectivity/religion and the mytho-poetic expression of meaning) is a characteristic of "New Age" thinking. The hypothesis that the deeper symbolic truths of ancient myths can be shown to prefigure modern scientific concepts is an example of this quest for a more unified world view. I will test this hypothesis with regard to the human body and the evolution of consciousness that we experience as psyche.

I will compare and contrast two areas of research. The first will involve the myths of embodiment as a projection of Archetypal forces, e.g. the Gnostic version of the "Fall" and the Classic model of the body as consisting of three worlds in one (the domains of the Gods of Olympus). This material will be examined in terms of structure and function and considered in terms of the contemporary science of the self-organizing and emergent body/brain as the ground of our being.

The contemporary sense of the Western Esoteric will furnish the overall context for the study. Faivre's call for establishment of a truly genetic metaphysics and for the revival of an approach to science as Naturephilosophie can accommodates a study of the body, both physical and subtle, as the form of somatic psyche very well. Concepts such as correspondences and mirroring, the trans-mutational powers of active imagination etc will be central to the discussion.

The Direct experience and personification involved in esoteric practice (the development of gnosis through use of the body) is the source of myth. Consideration of spiritual alchemy, adapted into the post-Jungian dynamic called the Transcendent Function provides a developmental figure as praxis. The ultimate goal of this work remains the transcendence of the experience of dualism between immanence and transcendence.

Bio:
Dr Robert Williams completed his MA (1st class Hons) and Ph.D. in Psychology at Auckland University and Kingseat Psychiatric Hospital, NZ. His previous research work was mainly related to body/mind/environment problems such as alcoholism, substance abuse and symptoms of eating disorders. He worked on body-image problems particularly related to gender stereotypes amongst adolescents. Together with a number of his students and colleagues he published over sixty journal articles and reports. He is now a full time research student in Studies in Religion.

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