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Depth Alliance CA-SF Bay…

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Lecture: The Myth of American Innocence, with Barry Spector -- 2/18

Started Feb 11, 2016 0 Replies 3 Likes

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Free Copies of Leona Tockey's Memoir

Started Feb 4, 2016 0 Replies 1 Like

Dear Friends:Leona Tockey, a dear friend who died last summer close to her 90th birthday, was a remarkable woman. She had a successful career as a psychotherapist specializing in sexual abuse issues,…Continue

The two Greta Myths of the Twentieth Century

Started this discussion. Last reply by Aleksandar Malecic Apr 26, 2014. 1 Reply 0 Likes

Where were you (or your parents) on October 12th, 1944? If you were a teenage girl in the New York City area, you might have been in or outside the Paramount Theater, where some thirty to thirty-five…Continue

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 243: Between the Worlds

11:00 A.M. – I leave Sebastopol in a good mood, after a wonderful poetry salon and a great breakfast with close friends. I have plenty of time to attend to today’s projects: get home, check the chickens, clean up, review the poems I might want to recite this evening during my KPFA interview about Rumi’s Caravan (www.rumiscaravan.com), meet another friend for coffee at 3:00, go to the Finnish Hall in Berkeley, park the car and leave posters for the Noah…See More

Jun 27

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Barry Spector posted an event

Rumi’s Caravan Returns to Oakland at Unitarian Church

July 14, 2018 from 7pm to 10pm

Recitation of World Poetrywith Doug Von Koss, Barry and Maya Spector, Larry Robinson, Kay Crista and others,and musicians Christine Tulis and Suellen Primost and Sufi dancer Chelsea Rose TICKETS: $15.00/Advance, $30.00 at the doorhttps://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3371248 A Poetic Conversation: For seventeen years Rumi’s Caravan has inspired audiences, weaving together poems by Rumi, Hafez, Machado, Rilke, Yeats, Mary Oliver,…See More

Jun 2

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Barry Spector posted blog posts

May 19

Barry Spector posted an event

Rumi's Caravan Returns to Oakland at Unitarian Church

July 14, 2018 from 7pm to 10pm

July 14th:Rumi’s Caravan Returns to Oakland Unitarian Church, 685 14th Street, 7:00 PM (Doors open at 6:00) Recitation of World Poetrywith Doug Von Koss, Barry and Maya Spector, Larry Robinson, Kay Crista and others,and musicians Christine Tulis and Suellen Primost and Sufi dancer Chelsea Rose TICKETS: $15.00/Advance, $30.00 at the doorhttps://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3371248 A Poetic Conversation: For seventeen years Rumi’s…See More

May 16

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Barry Spector posted blog posts

Apr 15

Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry's Blog # 42: The Myth of Israeli Innocence

The Myth of Israeli InnocencePart OneThere is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population – Moshe DayanThis essay is not really about politics; it’s about how politics reflects mythology, and together they create history.When 15th-Century European explorers “discovered” (a phrase used until only a few years ago) the “new world,” the power of myth…See More

Mar 8

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Barry Spector posted an event

28th Annual Redwood Men’s Center Men’s Conference at Mendocino Woodlands, Mendocino County, Northern CA.

May 25, 2018 at 6pm to May 28, 2018 at 12pm

Walls everywhere. In 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, there were fifteen border walls in the world. Now seventy walls divide rich countries from poor ones, major polluters from the victims of deep ecological crises. At America’s southern border. Palestine. Korea. Northern Ireland. Gated communities with security patrols. San Quentin. Auschwitz. Wall Street.Often, we believe we know who we are because we know who we are not – the marginalized “others” of the world. We maintain these divisions…See More

Feb 18

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Barry Spector posted blog posts

Feb 5

Barry Spector posted a blog post

The Civil Rights Movement in American Myth

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT In AMERICAN MYTH Part One: The Mythological and Psychological Background Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees… - Billy Holiday From the perspective of those who have been forced to bear the projection of American Dionysus, the subtext of almost all of our domestic issues and most of our foreign policy is America’s original sin, its fatal…See More

Jan 15

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 44: The Innocent American is the Violent American

by shmoover“What might happen,” asks my friend Carolyn Baker, “if instead of talking about gun control and the war on terror, we spent the next 48 hours just GRIEVING. No shopping, no…See More

Dec 30, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 224: The Hero Must Die, Part Four of Four

PART FOUR – THE PARADOX OF THE OUTSIDERThe redemption hero, like the Christ, always comes from outside the community. And like the Christ, he leaves once his work is done. He must leave; redemption mythology requires that since he came from somewhere else, he must return. But this leads to a paradox. The innocent community defines itself by what it is not – the external Other of terrorism, and the internal Other of race. We know who we are because we are not them, the others. The Other is the…See More

Dec 18, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 223: The Hero Must Die, Part Three of Four

PART THREE – THE PRESIDENTIAL HEROEnter George W. Bush the Cowboy, as he often did in public appearances. We saw him staged, the first President to appear this way (and each of his successors has retained this public style), typically striding out onto a great stage,with a crowd of supporters or soldiers sitting behind him. A huge American flag or patriotic motto typically loomed above them, completing the scene that had been carefully composed for…See More

Dec 15, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 222: The Hero Must Die, Part Two of Four

PART TWO – THE REDEMPTION HEROJoseph Campbell found his three-phase “monomyth” of the hero in almost all cultures; everywhere, that is, except in America. Why is this so? America lacks its own indigenous myths, except of course for the Native American myths that were actually nurtured by this land. But European conquerors and settlers, long alienated from their own indigenous roots, brought only the stories of Puritanism, materialism, progress, chosen people and hatred of the “Other” with them.…See More

Dec 14, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 221: The Hero Must Die, Part One of Four

PART ONE – THE AMERICAN HEROIn the 1950s the birth of the national security state coincided precisely with the peak of cinematic and television westerns, which have been America’s primary image to itself and the world. Westerns had been central to the movies from the beginning. In 1910, they comprised more than 20% of American movies, and the trend continued well into the second half of the century. As late as 1959, westerns comprised a quarter of all prime-time network hours.Who is the western…See More

Dec 13, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 220: Redeeming the World

Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions. ― T.S. EliotHell is paved with good intentions. ― Samuel JohnsonWe’re on a mission from God. – The Blues BrothersMy wife and I spent some time in Austria and the Czech Republic last summer. It was a delightful vacation, with great food and art and fabulous scenery. Still, as Jews, we both had the odd sensation (in Austria) of seeing those blond, Aryan faces and hearing German spoken all day. Although we knew very well that…See More

Nov 29, 2017

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Barry Spector posted a blog post

Barry’s Blog # 219: Thank You For Your Service

I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism…I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents. – General Smedley ButlerI laughed to myself… “Here we go. I’m starting a war under false pretenses.” – Admiral James Stockdale, on the Gulf of Tonkin incident I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don’t care what the facts are. – George H.W. BushWe are grateful to the Washington…See More

Nov 11, 2017

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Profile Information

Before you go further, please be sure you are applying for membership with YOUR REAL NAME, FIRST AND LAST, or if you are signing up as an organization, publisher, or project, list the organization name here; then list the name of the contact person in the next question.: San Francisco Area

What are your main areas of interest?: Jungian Psychology, Archetypal Psychology, Mythology

If you are signing up as an Individual Member, do you have a degree in Depth Psychology?: Other degree not listed here

If so, from what institution?: Harvard 1971

Are you a licensed or clinical therapist?: No

Please share a little about yourself by way of introduction. What draws you to Depth Psychology and what are you looking for from this community?: I am an author, utilizing archetypal psychology to understand American myth, history and culture. My book is: "Madness at the Gates of the City: The Myth of American Innocence" (Regent Press 2010).

Do you belong to any other online Psychology-related communities or orgs? If so, which?: Mythsinger Consortium

What is your WEB SITE (IF you would like to promote it)?: http://www.madnessatthegates.com

If you have a Twitter, Facebook, Blog, or LinkedIn account and would like to have people "follow" you, list it here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madness-at-the-Gates-of-the-City-The-...

Barry Spector's Blog

Barry’s Blog # 243: Between the Worlds

Posted on June 27, 2018 at 2:19pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

11:00 A.M. – I leave Sebastopol in a good mood, after a wonderful poetry salon and a great breakfast with close friends. I have plenty of time to attend to today’s projects: get home, check the chickens, clean up, review the poems I might want to recite this evening during my KPFA interview about Rumi’s Caravan (www.rumiscaravan.com), meet another friend for coffee at 3:00, go to the Finnish Hall in Berkeley,…

Continue

Barry’s Blog # 241-242: The Mythic Sources of White Rage, Parts 6 and 7

Posted on May 19, 2018 at 5:02pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

The third archetype we need to discuss is that of the Apocalypse.

It is critical to this enquiry about rage in American life to remember that the myth of American innocence began to take form while Puritanism was still dominating all intellectual discourse and most politics in both Britain and North America. Then, the idea of “America” – and along with it, the…

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Barry’s Blog # 239-240: The Mythic Sources of White Rage, Parts 4 and 5

Posted on May 19, 2018 at 4:56pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

Part Four

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand…Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different. – F. Scott…

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Barry’s Blog # 236-238: The Mythic Sources of White Rage, Parts 1,2 and 3 of 7

Posted on May 19, 2018 at 4:35pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

Part One

Who are the angry white males?

Sociologists tell us that the populations from which most reactionary activism arises are those who think they may be overtaken economically by groups below them in social class. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan have always been comprised mainly of lower-middle class men, not the poor. Similarly, most anti-abortion activists have been baby boomers who make less money than their parents.

But economics…

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Comment Wall (3 comments)

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At 8:17pm on August 21, 2012, Mark Winborn said…: Hi Barry -

Will do. And send yours to

5050 Poplar Ave., Suite 1633

Memphis, TN 38157

At 2:53pm on August 6, 2011, Bonnie Bright said…: Hi Barry. I'd like to add my welcome to Ed's and thank you for sending the links and articles for your work by email. You've done some wonderful things in your career and it's great you've found the Alliance. My main goal in founding this community is to help get depth psych out into the world and you have a both a wealth of information to share and willingness to share it. I am truly glad to meet anyone so in tune with a calling!

I hope you'll find this a place to deeply connect with likeminded others and that you will actively engage whenever you can find the time. I find it truly wonderful to be involved in this dynamic and growing community--especially since it allows us to connect from all over the globe in a way we otherwise could not.

I'll get those links up in the next couple of days. In the meantime, it looks like you're already off and running, but I'll send you some tips on navigating the site in a separate email in case its of help. Enjoy the site, and I look forward to seeing you around. ~Bonnie Bright, Founder

At 6:32am on August 4, 2011, Ed Koffenberger said…: Welcome Barry,

Glad you have found the Alliance and have decided to join. Your new book sounds intriguing and it will be on my shelf soon. These is an author's group where this information about your book can be posted as well. As an American, I lost my innocence about the nation during the Vietnam War era. Still lament its passing from time to time.

Ed

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