"In myths or legends... we get at the basic patterns of the human Psyche." 
Marie-Louise von Franz, 1973 
Program Description

A meaningful life is one lived in relationship to the Self and to the archetypal rhythms of nature. While we each need to navigate our own way through life, we learn of these natural rhythms and the life pro-offered by the Self when reading fairy tales, legends, and the mythological journeys of heroes and heroines. It is through these texts that we hear another voice which extends our personal understanding about life. A voice that both beckons us on to riches, or also warns of great tragedy. 
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While Dr Rosaly Roffman reminds us that "mythology is the story of humanities’ relationships to the divine", it was Marie-Louise von Franz who provided our deepest understanding of fairy tales as "nature’s constants", allowing us to understand the wisdom of these stories.  
This is the world of Psyche revealed to us through fairy tales.
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Through fairy tales, we are brought into the world which Jung referred to as "The Spirit of the Depths" where each adventure speaks to our hunger for soul, and each story illuminates that invisible path which leads to The Self. Here is a telling of time eternal, and the voice of the "antique soul" teaching us about life as it has been recounted by generations eternal. 
 
In this course, students will learn the art, love, and the discipline of seeing the depths of meaning contained within fairy tales, and strengthen and re-awaken a passion for these seminal stories which remind us that “once upon a time in a land far, far away” is present here and now in our own psyches.​
 
Course Objectives

  • Through an in-depth study of the work of Marie Louise von Franz, we will deepen our understanding of the archetypal significance of fairy tales and how they reveal the nature and dynamics of the Psyche.  
  • Draw on an archetypal, symbolic and objective approach to the fairy tale images and themes, to discover the Wisdom of the Psyche.   
  • Become familiar with the development and structure of fairy tales from their archetypal underpinnings, motifs, cultural influences, and their relationship to those innate, self-organizing properties of the Psyche.  This process will also examine patterns in fairy tales such as archetypal elements of the story, recurring motifs and numbers.  Key components such as: title, exposition, characters, conflict, plot progression and lysis will be highlighted to examine the underlying structure and processes.   
  • We will examine how the actual beginning of the fairy tale- its initial conditions--/ provide unique insights into the unfolding of the story.  These early conditions reveal the archetypal pattern expressed in the fairy tale, and as von Franz taught us, with this understanding , we can often “predict” how the story may progress through the conditions and themes unique to the archetype expressed in the story.  
  • Since many of  the original features of fairy tales have been contorted to fit our collective  preference for “happy endings” and “living happily ever after”, we will reintroduce the original presence and purpose of the Shadow archetype in fairy tales.   
  • Deepen our awareness of how fairy tales are a vital portal for the presentation of archetypal material and how these themes are often found in film, literature, and current events.

Course Highlights

  • Presentations from an international faculty of Jungian Analysts and Archetypal Pattern Analysts will demonstrate how myths, legends, fables and fairy tales are filled with images and meaning that can guide us to greater wisdom. Our approach to stories and sacred texts will honor the work of Carl Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, and several other seminal figures in this specialized field. Students will have direct access to some of the foremost leaders in the modern day study of archetypal patterns in stories.  
  • This certificate program will provide students not only with the opportunity to observe in-depth translations of fairy tales, but will also allow direct learning through participation.  Several sessions will be dedicated to a real time learning experience. Students will enhance their ability to understand initial conditions, identify the archetypal pattern, and discover the archetypal processes within fairy tales, and their role in shaping the direction and content of the story.  
  • Students will receive an orientation on how to work with fairy tales and the work of  identifying key Jungian elements of the Feminine and Masculine, the Shadow, Anima/Animus, the Self, psychological functions, and symbols of the Psyche within the story.  
  • We will be working with fairy tale images and themes as they relate to Archetypal Coherence in a story. In this light, the program will focus on archetypal structure and processes and the presentation of universal, archetypal patterns.  
  • Special Opening Lecture - In addition, students have the rare privilege of learning from Dr. Hansueli Etter as Guest Presenter in this course. Dr. Etter, who is a Senior Jungian Analyst based in Switzerland and was a long-time colleague and personal friend of Marie-Louise von Franz, will present a very special opening lecture on Saturday, September 10. This lecture is open to the entire Assisi Community (students and graduates from other programs, alumni, and members of the public from across the world). Students enrolled for the Beginning Fairy Tale Analysis program are automatically registered for this presentation. 

Online Course Format 
 
  • Classes are held live on Tuesday evenings from 8pm - 9.30pm US Eastern Time.
  • The only session not following the Tuesday format is the opening lecture presented by Dr. Hansueli Etter taking place on Saturday September 10th, 12 noon - 1.15pm US Eastern Time.
  • All sessions take place live via Zoom which allows all participants to see one another during the live classes.  
  • In addition, each session will be recorded and shared with all participants to ensure that those who may miss a class can access the recordings at any time. This also gives students an opportunity to review the content in their own time. 
 
Certification Course Class Dates 2022
 
  • September 13, 27
  • October 11, 25
  • November 8, 22
  • December  6, 20
Save the date! 
​The Assisi Institute is launching a 4-week Clinical Fairy Tales course which starts in January 2023. Our Advanced Fairy Tales certification course starts in February 2023. Registration for these two courses will open in the Fall. 
Cancellation and Refunds Policy 

A full refund minus a $50 administrative fee, is given if cancellation is made prior to one week (by September 6) before the beginning of the series. A 50% refund is given if cancellation is made less than one week before the series begins.
Faculty
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Kevin Richard

Kevin Richard, MA serves as an administrator in the Rhode Island (RI) Family Court system.  Through several decades of working with the Court and its respective population, Kevin has overseen large judicial programs and departments; worked on policy and system reform, served as an advocate for children; and worked as a counselor. He has been appointed to numerous committees designed to address areas of child welfare, juvenile justice, and areas of mental health.  In 2015, he was part of a three person delegation from Rhode Island invited to the White House in order to address the growing concern with child trafficking. 

Kevin has been part of the Assisi Institute since 1993 and has been certified as an Archetypal Pattern Analyst.  He has served as the Institute’s Director of Studies and has assisted with programmatic design.  He continues to serve as a speaker, student mentor, consultant, and as of 2021 serves on the Assisi Foundation’s Board of Directors.  As a senior faculty member of the Assisi Institute, his presentations examine the interface of science and Jungian Psychology, initial conditions, and the objective role of images in art, stories and in the human condition.
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Michael Conforti

Dr. Michael Conforti is a Jungian analyst and the Founder and Director of The Assisi Institute.  He is a faculty member at the C.G. Jung Institute, New York, Jung Institute, Boston, and for many years served as a Senior Associate faculty member in the Doctoral and Master's Programs in Clinical Psychology at Antioch New England.

A pioneer in the field of matter-psyche studies, Dr. Conforti is actively investigating the workings of archetypal fields and the relationship between Jungian psychology and the New Sciences. He has presented his work to a wide range of national and international audiences, including the C.G. Jung Institute - Zurich and Jungian organizations in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Italy, Russia, and Venezuela. 

He is the author of Threshold Experiences: The Archetype of Beginnings (2007) and Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche (2002), which have been translated into Italian, Russian and a soon to be released Spanish edition.  His articles have appeared in Psychological Perspectives, San Francisco Jung Library Journal, Roundtable Press, World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution, and Spring Journal.
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Rozan Christian
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Dr. Rozan Christian is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas.  She holds a doctoral degree in counseling from the University of North Texas as well as a master's degree in education from Southern Methodist University (SMU).  She is also certified as an Archetypal Pattern Analyst.  Rozan maintains a private practice in Dallas, Texas, focusing on the identification of unconscious processes in her clients’ lives.  She specializes in understanding the archetypal meaning of fairy tales and their application today.  

For the past several years, she has led fairy tale discussion groups for individuals who want to know more about the human psyche.  She has also translated fairy tales as a conference and webinar presenter for the Assisi Institute.  

Rozan serves as an adjunct professor in the Master of Science in Counseling Program at SMU and supervises post-graduate interns seeking professional counseling licensure.  In addition, she has published in professional journals, co-authored chapters in books, and presented at national conferences about the effects of life-changing events, including near-death experiences.
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Renee Ramsden​
 
Renee Ramsden has been working in private practice in Cape Town, South Africa for almost 40 years. She is a founder member of the Southern African Association for Jungian Analysts (SAAJA) and a training analyst. She specialises in dream-analysis and has been teaching alchemy and psychology as presented by C.G. Jung to SAAJA candidates, the wider professional group and interested members of the public for 25 years. She has a longstanding interest in shamanism, ancient goddess cultures and their relevance for the feminine in our current world. She is currently serving on SAAJA’s Executive Committee as Vice-President. She is also co-facilitator of SAAJA’s Jung and Film events.
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Special Guest Presenter: ​Dr. Hansueli Etter
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Hansueli F. Etter is a long-time colleague of M.L. von Franz, and founding member of The Research and Training Centre for Depth Psychology according to C.G. Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz in Zürich. He is also the president of the Foundation for Jungian Psychology in Kusnacht. Dr. Etter has a PhD in Anthropology and lectured for many years at the University of Basel. He graduated from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich in 1982 and works in private practice. His main interest and research lies in the topics of the religious dimension of Jungian psychology and in the secret relation between psyche and matter. He is a published author of many books and papers in German and in English. 
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(860) 415-5004     assisi@together.net