05040512

May 4 & 5, 2012

Lecture: Trees and Tree People: Greening Ourselves,
Saving the Planet

JEAN SHINODA BOLEN, M.D.

The learning experience that led to this talk and Dr. Bolen's latest book, Like a Tree: How
Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Planet, began when a huge beautiful tree in
front of her house was cut down through a vote by a homeowner's association. The tree came
down while she was at the United Nations, where in a conversation about her unsuccessful
effort to save the tree, Gloria Steinem, remarked; "Remember Jean, you are a writer, and
a writer has the last word." That there is a difference between "tree people" and "not-tree
people" was a beginning insight. Her words will lead us from knowledge of what trees are
and what they do, to the symbolic, sacred meaning, soulfulness and wisdom of trees. She
invites us to be mystical activists, visionary activists, and sacred-feminine feminists-- to heed
a call that touches heart and soul.

Workshop: Grail, Goddesses, Circles and the Sacred Feminine

The grail and goddesses are archetypes, symbols with depth and meaning. In this workshop,
Jean Shinoda Bolen will bring us into the legendary, mythic and spiritual realm of the
sacred feminine. Cut off from sources of meaning, without a connection to the feminine
principle, the Tao or the Self, the inner landscape of men and women becomes a wasteland.
The wounded Fisher King and the abduction of Persephone are metaphors for depression,
alienation, life-threatening illness, and addictions on a personal level, that are related to the
loss of creativity, spontaneity, and love. These are also metaphors for what ails the planet.
We will listen to Jean tell stories, participate in a guided meditation and a circle experience.
This workshop will provide opportunities to be in touch with inner sources of wisdom and
compassion, encourage the formation of circles with a sacred center, and inspire possibilities
of change and transformation.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D, is a psychiatrist,
Jungian analyst, and an internationally known
author and speaker who draws from spiritual,
feminist, Jungian, medical and personal wellsprings
of experience. She is the author of The Tao of
Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in
Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close
to the Bone, The Millionth Circle, Goddesses in Older
Women, Crones Don't Whine, Urgent Message from
Mother, and Like a Tree. She is a major advocate
of a United Nations 5th World Conference on
Women, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the
American Psychiatric Association and a former
clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of
California at San Francisco. Her website is www.jeanbolen.com