Course Descriptions

A tradition that combines what we now think of as philosophy, psychology, and spirituality has wound like an underground river through Western history below the dominance of institutional Christianity. This course examines three big stretches of this river of alternative and oft-suppressed wisdom: Gnosticism as the earliest, alchemy from the time of Zosimos forward, and, more recently, Earth-based forms of spirituality. Along the way we will also stop at such riverbanks as the Cathari, the Waldenses, the Albiginses, and some of the Western oracular traditions, such as Tarot. Jungian psychology will provide one of several depth tools for understanding the significance of this tradition. Throughout we will tend the question: What might this tradition offer the creation of a just, integral, and Earth-friendly world community? Priority to EWP PhD students