Dancing in the Flames | Chapters 5 & 6
The Rose in the Fire & Chaos and Creativity
“Living the metaphors often involves a leap of consciousness, which forces us to recognize not only gifts we buried long ago, but gifts we know not of.” (171)
Archive of Weekly Posts | Reading Schedule | Meeting Registration | Original Concept | Order the Book
Sunday, May 18th, 4-5:30 pm PDT / 7-8:30 pm EDT (note the evening time) | Our second general, live discussion online. | Register here
Sunday, June 1st, 10-11:30 am PDT / 1-2:30 pm EDT | Conversation with the great co-author and dear friend of Marion Woodman, Elinor Dickson ✨ | register with the same link above — just once is good!
Is there something you’ve been thinking about sharing that you haven’t yet dropped in the comments? Has a dream image arisen related to this material? What passages have stayed with you?
Join the conversation! Just a couple of weeks left.
Welcome to the fifth week of our slow read of Dancing in the Flames by Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson!
Over these six weeks (April 12-May 23), we will:
Read one chapter a week
Dive deeper into the material through weekly posts and “amplifications” (delivered to your inbox or the Substack app)
Share thoughts, favorite quotes, and questions in the comments
Explore the reading together in two live sessions, plus a bonus men’s discussion group!
✨ Meet co-author Elinor Dickson in an exclusive author chat! ✨
Some Themes of Chapters 5 & 6:
As we approach the end of our journey, these rich chapters bring us into the territory of metaphor, of physical illness and its relation to the inner world, the psychoid space of psyche and matter, quantum physics, the spectrum between physiological instincts and psychological archetypes, the meanings of certain addictions, and what the Virgin / Dark Goddess is seeking in transformation.
Marion Woodman: Dancing in the Flames — the documentary
I have yet to mention that there is an astounding documentary on Marion Woodman that is also called Dancing in the Flames. Though the book and the documentary don’t cover exactly the same material, they are exploring similar terrain. (Apparently, Marion loved the title for the book so much that she asked Elinor if it would be okay if she used it for the movie too.)
If you’ve yet to see the whole thing, here is one beautiful clip to give you a taste.
If you’re in a committed relationship or do clinical work with couples, I recommend this movie all the time as an example of Jungian couples work and how the path of individuation might appear within commitment.
The whole film can be rented or purchased here. It’s really worth a watch!
And if you’re eager for more, here is a lovely lecture that Marion Woodman delivered at Pacifica Graduate Institute (I’m not sure of the year). Entirely appropriate for our chapters this week, it’s called Blossoms Bloom in the Fire.