Welcome

Tom Singer

As we wind down a turbulent 2017, it is time to reflect on what is of real value in a divisive and troubling time.  We are lucky to find in Aurelie Athan, a Columbia University Professor and long time ARAS volunteer,  a perfect spokesperson for the enduring value of ARAS.  Her words might inspire you to make a contribution of any amount to ARAS by clicking here.

"It seems today, even more than ever, ARAS' relevance in our lives is calling to us. I know that for myself, and my students, dropping into the stillness of the Self and hearing it speak is the ultimate respite from the outside noise. Within, we find image, in all its multiple meanings. Our inner knowing has an important message for us and it is through connecting with it that we begin to understand what is important for our own and collective unfolding. This guidance is a true freedom I wish for everyone and ARAS is the jewel that makes it possible. If I could put a value on that I would donate the World to ARAS. A smaller gift of thanks might have to do instead, but will make a difference to continue supporting this oasis. Please donate today and help countless more discover their way back to Soul.”

As Aurelie Athan "would donate the World to ARAS", so too would "ARAS donate itself to the World" with your help.

In this edition of ARAS Connections, Sylvester Wojtkowski joins the search for what is of enduring value by taking us on a remarkable tour of Federico Fellini’s  films. How apt is it to be publishing at this time a paper that focuses on  the individuation of the monster.   In Fellini's case the monster that inhabits the deeper layers of his psyche is the “giantess." What I find particularly compelling about Sylvester Wojtkowski’s work is that he goes straight to the archetypal level to sketch out an autonomous movement in the psyche that has a life of its own, that undergoes its own development and transformative processes, and that leads Fellini on his brilliantly creative imaginative journeys.  This paper is important not only for what it teaches us about Fellini and the creative process, but also because it connects us  or reconnects us with a core value of the Jungian tradition. The Self and other archetypal contents of the psyche live their own life and sometimes drag us screaming along into places that are full of surprise, delight, terror, and mystery.  I suggest that you let yourself be led both by Aurelie Athan’s encouragement to give to ARAS so that ARAS can give to the world and by Sylvester Wojtkowski’s amazing skill at guiding us into the inner world of one of the greatest of all filmmakers.