A gentle reminder that the Myth Salon with Dr. Patrick Mahaffey, founding chair of Pacifica’s Mythological Studies program and current core faculty, will take place the week after next on Thursday, April 18 at 7pm. In addition to contributing the journals and publications related to mythology, religion and depth psychology, he is the author of the recently released Integrative Spirituality: Religious Pluralism and Awakening and the editor of Evolving God-Images, Essays on Religion, Individuation, and Postmodern Spirituality. Not enough can be said to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Mahaffey to the scholarship emanating from Pacifica’s myth program, and over the years, he has become a mentor and colleague to countless graduates and educators. The Myth Salon is deeply honored that Dr. Patrick Mahaffey is coming down from Santa Barbara to share an evening with us.
Then, on Wednesday, May 15 at 7pm, the Myth Salon will be visited by Dr. Maeve O’Donnell, coming to us from the Getty Center, where Maeve is a scholar of Medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts. He talk will cover representations of the underworld and afterlife in medieval manuscripts, focusing on what these realms were believed to have looked like to the ancients, Medieval and Renaissance cultures. She will also discuss early Spanish manuscripts and late medieval manuscripts, discussing the symbols and images – cultural and liturgical. If you have seen the Getty’s collection of illuminated manuscripts, you know how colorful and how small they are. Amplifying the imagery to fill the high-def TV downstairs is certain to yield an amazing experience with what has become the backbone of western art history.
Dr. Maeve O’Donnell received her PhD at The Courtauld Institute of Art in England where she wrote a thesis on thirteenth- and fourteenth-century altar furnishings and liturgical objects from the Iberian kingdom of Castile. Before moving to London for her PhD, Maeve worked for four years in the Counsel’s Office of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and completed her MA at Hunter College (CUNY) and her BA at New York University. An article based on her PhD has been recently published in Medievalia and another is out next month. She is also currently working on an expansive book project on the Castilian altar.
If you haven’t yet responded, please let us know whether you’ll attend either of the upcoming Myth Salons. In addition to functioning as a feature of Pacifica Graduate Institute’s extended community that includes faculty and staff, students, alumni, and interested friends, The Myth Salon serves those who cultivate their interests in Jungian, Depth Psychology, cultural and mythological studies. Each month, the Myth Salon gathers together with an invited presenter in my Santa Monica home from 7-9pm for an evening of mythic content, ritual and discussion that is moderated by my good friend and colleague, Dr. Will Linn.
So, we look forward to seeing you here and if you have friends or associates who might wish to receive the Myth Salon email announcements, or if you desire to attend either or both of the upcoming Myth Salons on April 18 with Dr. Patrick Mahaffey or May 15 with Dr. Maeve O’Donnell, please let us know as soon as you can.
