Book Club: Week 1: Celtic Queen Maeve And Addiction, An Archetypal Perspective by Sylvia Brinton Perera
Cross the threshold into a journey with Celtic mythology and culture, psychotherapy and addiction!
A little while ago in one of our collaborative zoom calls I shared this book with Kate Oliver, a sugar addiction specialist. Kate immediately ordered the book and we’ve been talking about it ever since.
Kate and I have been in Circle together for several years; she was one of the first to join me in The Crone Coven, was a member of The Grove and here we are on Substack. I share this by way of introduction because this Book Club collaboration has come about because of the many hours we have sat in Circle and Council, and Co-working sessions together.
We have come to know each other in that unique way that you do through Circle; an intimate insight into each other’s psyche and emotional life, together with an understanding of our visions and hopes for the world.
Celtic Queen Maeve And Addiction, is a tome of a book - 412 pages with 42 pages of Endnotes and 12 pages of references! And whilst beautifully written, I often have to read the same page several times. It’s an incredible tapestry of Celtic mythology and culture, her clinical work as a psychoanalyst and her interest in the art of psychotherapeutics (particularly the works of C. G. Jung). She shares stories and case studies and applied theories and examples.
In exploring how best to read and work with this book, Kate and I decided to create the Circle Project Book Club and begin with this book.
Our intention is to create a sort of book club study circle through which we can share our thoughts and experiences of reading the book, and you can join us in whatever way works best for you. You might like to buy the book or borrow it from the library and read along with us, you may prefer to engage through our posts and prompts.
How it will work:
Each Sunday (hopefully!) for the next 11-weeks we will take it in turns to share a personal review of a chapter together with quotes and reflections, and offer a selection of reflective enquiry provocations.
Our invitation to you is to work with those provocations (our intention is that you can do so whether you have a copy of the book or not) by journaling, creating art or movement - in other words to respond to the prompts in the most aligned way for you, and then to share your experience in the comments.
Our hope is that we can create an evolving and unfolding conversation with multiple threads, additional questions and provocations and see where it takes us!
Let us Begin:
Introduction
I can’t remember when I first heard the story “The Wooing of Etain” but I am sure that my experience of this tale was in the oral tradition. I know that at the time I had very little understanding or appreciation for the symbolism woven through.
Although I first listened to the story, it is one of the oldest written Irish tales and I had the opportunity to lean in and learn more through Sharon Blackie’s Sister’s of Rock & Root program.
This is the story that Perera shares to set the scene for her explorations and her three sourced approach - mythology, clinical work and the art of psychotherapy (which she likens it to the ancient triple spiral design).
She explains that in preparation to teach a class on Celtic symbolism she opened herself to:
…the Celtic wildness of imagination, its vivid passions, and its very permeable boundaries between ordinary and supernatural reality.
Perera offers The Wooing of Etain by way of example of her understanding of how to grasp Celtic archetypal material by using the skills she uses to appreciate both dreams and the energy patterns that we are unconscious of that compel our behaviour. She says:
…the mythopoetic material forces us to experience the mystery of life’s changes as the expression of an endlessly creative and regenerative transcendent process.
The introduction is rich and full, and offers not only an introduction to the book but to Celtic mythology, symbolism, themes, rituals, motifs and festivals. And, not surprisingly, she introduces us to Maeve and the themes of Addiction and Healing.
I offer below two quotes from the introduction together with some gentle provocations to help us to explore our role as Circle Holders:
Quote 1
…individuals prone to addiction, with depressed and hungry souls cut off from their personal and cultural lineage, may find a source of self-esteem and hope as they begin to recognise the the mythic patterns their miseries express.
Provocations:
How does the idea that many modern addictions stem from a profound sense of disconnection from our roots and heritage resonate with you? How might this perspective change the way we approach addiction recovery and mental health in our communities?
In Circle School, I place much emphasis on reconnecting with our cultural roots. What is your experience of the role of cultural heritage and ancestral lineage in contemporary wellbeing practices and Circle spaces? Should we place more emphasis on this? Why or why not?
How do you understand the power of archetypal stories in understanding personal and collective suffering including addiction and deep emotional distress? Can these stories offer hope and transformation?
Reflect on our responsibility as Circle Holders in addressing the deeper, archetypal dimensions of participants' experiences. How can we create spaces that honour and integrate these mythic aspects in a meaningful and respectful way?
Quote 2
Living in an age that is called an age of addictions necessitates our looking at the connections between archetypal structure of the mythologen and what is seeking to be healed and born on a collective level as well.
Provocations:
How does living in an "age of addictions" resonate with your experiences? What issues do you see within your community that might contribute to, or alleviate this?
What role can mythology and archetypal stories play in our practices and within our Circles? How might they provide insight and guidance for holding space for issues of addiction and disconnection?
How could integrating an understanding of archetypal structures into our Circles support both individual and collective healing in these times?
Is there a particular archetype that you feel is prevalent in today's world? How does it help or hinder our capacity to heal personally and collectively?
In the comments, please:
Let us know if you are reading the book or not
Share your responses, experiences, thoughts, feelings, ideas and anything else that you feel called to
Offer any additional resources that you feel are relevant and helpful.
I so look forward to being in conversation with you.
Next week, Kate will be sharing her reflections and prompts for Chapter One - The Goddess Maeve.
With you in Circle in these (r)evolutionary times
What a wonderful invitation and generous offering. I am entering an extremely busy period so may need to watch from the sidelines, more than I am able to contribute.