Jung Society of Atlanta

Susan Olson

By Grief Transformed
Dreams and the Mourning Process

December 12, Saturday Lecture 7:30 pm
members: free; non-members $20; students $10

In her first year of training at the C.G. Jung Institute (Zurich), Susan Olson suffered the loss of her college-age daughter in a hit-and-run auto accident. By Grief Transformed describes her journey through mourning, guided by a series of vivid and startling dreams. Jung’s definition of the dream as “a harbinger of fate, a portent and comforter, the messenger of the gods” evolves from academic theory into embodied insight in this chronicle of one woman’s encounter with the transforming power of grief. From personal story, this book expands to include premonitory and grief dreams of other mourners, dreams cited in Jung’s memoirs, and selections from mythology and literature. Classical and contemporary writers provide their unique perspectives, and illustrations from ancient and modern art enhance the text. On the archetypal level, the Greek myth of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone evokes the universal and timeless experience of loss and renewal in the crucible of grief. The dreams and stories recounted in this book, together with some provocative hints from Jung’s work, suggest that death may usher us through the open door into a world beyond time and space. Dreams of the dead comfort the bereaved, offer tantalizing glimpses of the “hereafter,” and deepen our reverence for the eternal mystery of death and rebirth.

Susan Olson, a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, has practiced as a psychotherapist and Jungian analyst for over thirty years. She received her B.A. in English from Smith College, her M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin, and her M.S.W. from the University of Georgia. A member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian analysts, she is a founding member of the Georgia Society of Jungian Analysts and is on the faculty of the Memphis Jungian Seminar. In addition to her private practice, she lectures and leads seminars on several topics. Dreams and the mourning process, the hero’s (and heroine’s) journey in The Lord of the Rings, feminine and masculine individuation in The Phantom of the Opera, and our soulful companionship with animals are among her favorites.