"Dancing in the Flames" Slow Read
All the details you need to know to join us in April & May
Click to jump to the reading + meeting schedule.
The feminine Is not Dead Nor is she Sleeping Angry, yes, Seething, yes. Biding her time; Yes. Yes. -To Be a Woman, Alice Walker (*selection)
I’ve been heartened by the response to the upcoming Dancing in the Flames “slow read” starting mid-April. Your enthusiasm and interest have affirmed my instinct that this is a needed antidote to these dark times. You’ve also asked a lot of questions about when/how we’ll get started, so I wanted to follow up right away with more details. (Below.)
Some of you have also picked up on the astrological relevance: we’ll read this book while Venus moves through the sign of Aries—the feminine in the flames, so to speak. Venus was on a similar tour through Aries when Jung began his Red Book journey in 1913 and when we marched for women’s rights after the 2016 election in the US.
…the very fear that led patriarchy to repress matriarchy has kept patriarchy neurotically bound in a struggle for power to what it did and does repress. What is repressed out of fear reemerges in the form of its repression. … The imbalance undermines an entire civilization, contributing to its collapse.
-Dancing in the Flames
The close friends and authors of Dancing in the Flames understand the medicine we need.
You likely know the extraordinary Jungian Analyst Marion Woodman, author of many wonderful books and a teacher to countless students in her lifetime. For those who don’t yet know her work, her obituary in The New York Times offers a glimpse of her brilliance. So does this lecture of hers about the initiation process in individuation, which I’ve shared with many students and clients over the years and have listened to at least a dozen times myself.
Co-author Elinor Dickson is less well-known, but her deep, collaborative influence in this book is unmistakable. Elinor spent twenty years as the chief psychologist at an inner-city hospital in Toronto and thirty-five years as a Jungian therapist. She has written several books and countless essays on the masculine and feminine and the urgent need for consciousness in these times. Her ability to see and articulate the predicament we’re in as a society astounds me; she’s been particularly radiant for me in recent months—about which I’ll share more soon.
We will have the great fortune of being able to speak with Elinor Dickson at the conclusion of our reading of Dancing in the Flames. She’s graciously agreed to an online conversation and Q&A—date TBA.
Elinor and Marion were close friends and collaborators for forty years, and their mutual work exploring the abandoned feminine within patriarchy is deeply rooted in Jung’s work and profoundly relevant for all genders. While Dancing in the Flames is about the “feminine,” it is not for women alone. Not at all. In fact, a significant portion of the book attends to men’s work and the suffering of men in patriarchy.
All the details you need to know for our book group:
Starting April 12th, we’ll embark on a “slow read” of Dancing in the Flames, a beautiful concept that I’ve borrowed from
whose “slow reads” of War & Peace and Wolf Hall I’ve loved this year.We will read one chapter a week for six weeks. Each Saturday morning, I’ll share a summary post to support an in-depth reading for the week, including insights into the specific chapter material. As you read, you’re encouraged to share questions and thoughts in the comments on that post to discuss with others!
We’ll also meet twice for live, 90-minute discussions of the chapters we’ve read so far. (Recordings will be available to those who can’t attend live.)
How do I join?
As a paid subscriber to Self & Society, you’re all set. Weekly reading assignments are below, along with the dates and a registration link for all of our live meetings.
If you don’t already have a copy of the book, you’ve got plenty of time to call your local bookstore to put it in an order, find it at your library, or order one from bookshop.org.
If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, you can upgrade to join us anytime.
If you’d like to participate but don’t have the financial means to join as a paid subscriber, just send me a note, and I’ll get you set up with a subscription.
If you’re a paid subscriber but don’t have an interest in reading along with us, that’s okay! Please forgive the few emails you’ll receive in the spring. I’ll make an effort not to bombard those who aren’t joining with emails. You can also follow along very passively if you’re unsure. There are lots of ways to participate (or not).