As is often the case, this edition of ARAS Connections contains an article that was brought to us through the Art and Psyche Conferences, the most recent of which was held in Sicily in 2015. This time it is a paper that one of the presenters in Sicily was inspired to send in. It is hard to believe that we have been publishing ARAS Connections since the end of 2006 during which time we have published an astonishing 114 articles. The first Art and Psyche Conference was held in San Francisco in 2008 after which we began to publish their papers. Art and Psyche has held three conferences and with this new paper, it is worth our celebrating the fact that the Art and Psyche conferences have contributed 30 papers to ARAS Connections. A wonderfully synergistic and collaborative relationship has developed between Art and Psyche and ARAS, which should not come as a surprise because Ami Ronnberg, our curator and Diane Fremont, an ARAS Board member, have partnered with Linda Carter to form the core of the ongoing ARAS/Art and Psyche working group to which Allison Tuzo, our head of digital media has lent her superb technical support. We are deeply grateful to Linda, Diane and Ami for their contributions as editors of these articles. In short, Art and Psyche has been a major contributor to ARAS Connections and ARAS has supported Art and Psyche by providing a perfect vehicle for getting their papers into the world.

From the perspective of ARAS, this collaboration is not just about the number of papers that Art and Psyche has contributed, but even more that it symbolizes an essential part of the ARAS mission to bring our unique archives and approach to the symbolic image into meaningful dialogue with the contemporary world and to contribute from our deep well of cross cultural research to an ongoing, keen interest in the spontaneous occurrence of archetypal imagery in every culture and every age, including our own. It is wonderful that so many scholars, therapists, artists, students, and citizens of the world have The Art and Psyche Conferences in which to present their work. And in turn for ARAS to offer the possibility of publishing their creative explorations in the unique forum of ARAS Connections which allows the almost unlimited reproduction of color and black and white images through the miracle of online digital publication that combines with fair use laws to permit the use of images without copyright by nonprofit organizations for educational purposes. Art and Psyche together with ARAS Connections have actually created a new and vital forum for the exploration of symbolic imagery in the modern world. This encourages the researches of individuals from all walks of life to prepare papers that will have an appreciative audience, both live at the conferences and through digital distribution of ARAS Connections which reaches close to 10,000 people quarterly.

With all these different elements in play, it is an honor for this edition of ARAS Connections to announce the call for papers for the next Art and Psyche Conference to be held in Santa Barbara in 2019. Please see the announcement below.