Favorite Poems

Last week, a sharing of poems was initiated when I forwarded a Rumi poem sent to me by a friend. Hopefully, this will continue, but here's what's been shared so far, in chronological order (of submission). I can add more as they come in:

From Paula Spizziri – 10/20/10
Hi All,
My friend Afsoun is Iranian and likes to send poems to her friends every so often (a nice habit, don’t you think?). It seemed apropos of our conversation this week, so I wanted to share it with all of you. I would have just posted it to the blog, but we would have lost the Persian writing, and I feel seeing it the way Rumi probably wrote it adds to the experience.

This gives me an idea, however. Would people like to post some of their favorite poems on the blog, along with why they find the poem meaningful?

I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear?
When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return.

از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم — وز نما مُردم به‌حیوان سرزدم
مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم — پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟
حمله دیگر بمیرم از بشر — تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر
وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو — کل شیء هالک الا وجهه
بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم — آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم
پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون — گویدم کانا الیه راجعون

From Danielle Porrier – 10/22/10
Beautiful! Thank you.
It happens that my favorite poem is along the same lines, and comes from Hesse:

Alle Tode (All Deaths)

I have already died all deaths,
And I am going to die all deaths again,
Die the death of the wood in the tree,Die the stone death in the mountain,
Earth death in the sand,
Leaf death in the crackling summer grass
And the poor bloody human death.
I will be born again, flowers,
Tree and grass, I will be born again,
Fish and deer, bird and butterfly.
And out of every form,
Longing will drag me up the stairways
To the last suffering,Up to the suffering of men.
O quivering tensed bow,
When the raging fist of longing
Commands both poles of life
To bend to each other!
Yet often, and many times over,
You will hunt me down from death to birth
On the painful track of the creations,
The glorious track of the creations.
Blessings to all,
Danielle

From Jeanlu Ryersbach – 10/25/10
Hello everyone.
I have recommended "The Age of Innocence" to a few friends and we are continuing the conversation. I wish all of you a time to slow down, reflect and meditate in the way that suits you. Took me a long time to learn that, believe that. May you all see yourselves as the 'master carver'. "Master Carver" is one of my favorite prose/poems conveying Taoist sensibilities.

A virtual hug,
Jeanlu

“The Woodcarver” in The Way of Chuang Tzu

Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand of precious wood. When it was finished, all who saw it were astonished. They said it must be the work of spirits. The Prince of Lu said to the master carver: “What is your secret?”

Khing replied: “I am only a workman: I have no secret. There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded I guarded my spirit, did not expend it on trifles that were not to the point.

I fasted in order to set my heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.

“By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.

“Then I went to the forest
to see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand
And begin.

“If I had not met this particular tree
there would have been
no bell stand at all.

“What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”

From Michael Connolly – 10/25/10
Hello friends and fellow travelers

Here is a poem that I was going to share - Cavafy's Ithaca.
Perhaps I already have at an earlier retreat.

Michael

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

- Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)

From Kathy Meyers – 10/26/10

Hi Everybody,

I'm not very computer savvy, and this seemed a way I could address you all.

This sharing of poems is delightful. Michael's poem has always been a
favorite. The one I have put at the beginning of my memoirs recently
finished is the following:

Look to this day
For it is the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
and the realities of your existence:
The glory of action.
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of beauty,
For yesterday is but a dream and
tomorrow is only a vision:
But today well lived makes every
yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

"The Woodcarver"

This is one of the many prose/ poems and stories conveying Taoist sensibilities. One way for me to remember to look into and inside .

“The Woodcarver” in _The Way of Chuang Tzu.
Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand of precious wood. When it was finished, all who saw it were astonished. They said it must be the work of spirits.
The Prince of Lu said to the master carver: “What is your secret?”

Khing replied: “I am only a workman: I have no secret. There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded I guarded my spirit, did not expend it on trifles that were not to the point.

I fasted in order to set my heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.

“By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.

“Then I went to the forest
to see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand
And begin.

“If I had not met this particular tree
there would have been
no bell stand at all.

“What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”

Hello Group. As requested here is my parting comment about this group experience:
Our Angelo Spoto weekend wakes up and reintegrates sides/facets of Self that are just schuffled along in the day-to-day...not really encountered or experiences.
thank you for another amazing experience.
Loretta

2011 Spoto Seminar Topic - Tools for Individuation

Hi Everyone,
The topic for next year is Tools for Individuation: Dialoging with the Unconscious. It will include some hands on application of techniques such as dream analysis, active imagination, and maybe even some sand play! Stay tuned for the seminar dates, location, and reading list.
Paula

Spoto Sustenance 2010

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking forward to seeing you in this weekend. As those of us who have participated before in the seminar know, Jungian psychology is hard work! We need snacks to keep us going! Not only that, but sharing food and wine adds to the conviviality experienced over the weekend. We are a bit more constrained than in the past due to the fact that we don’t have our own kitchen fridge at our new venue.

Please review the shopping list and also let me know:

• Whether you have a food allergy or dietary restraint not already listed
• Whether you have non-perishable suggestions to add
• Whether you think it will work to bring cheese and grapes and leave them out a few days. (I might also be able to put a couple of things in the fridge.)

Reply either by clicking the comments link at the end of the blog entry, or by replying to my email. The past few years, I’ve purchased a case of wine with 9 bottles of red and three of white. Here’s last year’s shopping list, minus perishables and the non-perishables meant to accompany them:

• Apples – 6 pounds Macoun (had some left over); note: Laura loves Macoun and can’t get them in PA (and they are your Snack Coordinator’s favorite); If anyone wants to bring a few local apples from their area, we could do an apple tasting.
• Grapes – 1 bunch red seedless
• Dried apricots – 1 container
• Almonds – salted and unsalted
• Cheese – 3 cheeses, including cheddar, 1 goat cheese
• Crackers for cheese (include whole grain, sesame-flavored Asian Rice Crackers
• Nuts: walnuts (Ray); 1 big container (qt.-sized) mixed nuts and/or trail mix
• 1 bag hard pretzels
• 2 big bags chips (corn and blue corn)
• 1 pints salsa
• Cookies – two tubs of mini cookies
• Caffeine-free diet Coke (Angelo’s request) and with caffeine (Cindy)
  3 2-liter bottles of seltzer
• Cranberry-Pomegranate juice

See you soon!

Paula

October 2010 Agenda

Friday October 15
8:00 – 8:30 PM: Short meeting to get oriented for the weekend. Welcome, announcements and messages.

Saturday October 16
8:00 to 9:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM: Meeting begins
10:30-10:45AM: Break
10:45 AM -12:00 PM: Meeting resumes
12:00 to 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00 to 3:30 PM: Meeting resumes
3:30 to 3:45 PM: Break
3:45 to 6:00 PM: Meeting resumes
6:00 PM: Dinner

Sunday October 17
8:00 to 9:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 to 10:30 AM: Meeting begins
10:30 to 10:45 AM: Break
10:45 to 11:30 AM: Meeting resumes
11:30 AM to 12:00: Lunch
12:00 to 2:45 PM: Trip to Edith Wharton estate ($14.00)
3:05 to 4:30 PM: Meeting resumes
4:30 to 4:45 PM: Break
4:45 to 6:30 PM: Meeting resumes
6:30 PM: Dinner

Monday October 18
8:00 to 9:00 AM: Breakfast
9:00 to 10:30 AM: Meeting begins
10:30 to 10:45 AM: Break
10:45 AM to 12:00 PM: Meeting resumes and concludes.

2010 Spoto Seminar Information

Hi Everyone,
Mollie asked me to post the 2010 seminar dates. Here is the information:

Friday (evening) October 15 to Monday, October 18
Apple Tree Inn & Restaurant
10 Richmond Mountain Road, Lenox

http://www.appletree-inn.com/Pages/2008%20Home%202.htm

Be there or be square!

I'll be emailing about snack preferences shortly.

Cheers,
Paula

Could It Be Synchronicity?

Hi all,
I'm taking this as a synchronistic event: one of my all-time favorite books I read as a child is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (The others are the Laura Ingalls Wilder series and Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time - a heroine's journey.) I even reread it from time to time. As I've learned about individuation and the hero's journey over the years, I always link back to PT. It is a child's hero's journey: A boy with a bad case of ennui goes on a magical journey where he has to reconcile two brothers who are kings of Digitopolis and Dictionopolis, respectively by rescuing the princesses Rhyme and Reason with the help of his animal guide, Toc. The language is wonderful -- best to read aloud (like Shakespeare). There is even a numinous experience (check out the symphonic sunrise in the forest!).

Anyway, getting to the point, this morning on NPR Liane Hansen interviewed the author and the illustrator (none other than Jules Pfeiffer) about their new book (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129608795). I'm taking this as a sign that I should recommend you try to add Phantom Tollbooth to your readings. If you have children in your life, I urge you to read it aloud with them. Not Nietzsche, I know, but I know other adults who also treasure this book the way I do.

Warmly,
Paula

Spoto 2010 Reading List

Hi Everyone,
Here is the reading list information from Angelo. Looking forward to seeing you all in a few months!
Best, Paula

Ok, gang, below is a provisional reading list to play with for our October get together. As always, do what you can with it. Read at least a little, or read a lot...as your soul moves you (and as time permits). My guess is this is all mostly familiar material. So, it may be mostly rereading you are actually doing. I may throw in something else as it comes to me. We'll see. But, this should work for most people. I am getting the feeling too that this year's meeting is a summary of sorts of all that has gone before it. Perhaps, we will be moving to a different approach in future meetings, less didactic, more keyed to an intense, Jungian examination of pieces of literature or art, music, plays, etc. by the group. Perhaps, we'd want to tackle the Red Book next time, and utilize break-out groups more intensely. We could even follow a format like the Rubin Museum, where one person interviews another person on a pre-selected image from the Red Book unknown to the interviewee. An incredible amount of material has been covered over the years. So much to draw on. We have done weekends on Shadow, Anima-Animus, Dreams, Active Imagination, Greek Mythology, Alchemy, Synchronicity & Quantum Physics, Type and Archetype, and...what am I leaving out??? Someone solve the mystery! Reading list, below.
Hesse, H - Demian
Jacobi, J - The Way of Individuation
Jaffe, A - The Myth of Meaning
Jung, C.G. - Psychological Types or The Psychology of Individuation
Meier, C.A. - Personality: The Individuation Process in the Light of C.G. Jung's Typology
Spoto, A. - Jung's Typology in Perspective, Chapter 6
Stein, M. - Individuation
Von Frantz, M.-L. - Man and His Symbols, Part 3

Do You Think This Guy is an Artisan (SP)?

http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=21337502001

Pretty impressive!

Seminar: Jung's Red Book Revealed

Cindy wanted to share information about this Web-based seminar on Friday, January 22, 2010. You can view the seminar from yourhome computer.
http://ashevillejungcenter.org/RedBook.aspx