
Why do we need to hear the stories of our ancestors ?
Myths are the language of the soul, clothed in the culture of a people. As Jung saw it, the relationship between myth and the deep psyche is co-creative. Myths spring to life when read, viewed, or enacted. They awaken instincts and impart the qualities and styles of consciousness that the gods and goddesses represent. Symbolic expressions of the inner unconscious drama, myths point to life’s values and bring order to the inner chaos and its outward manifestations.
Living blueprints, myths guide the wayfarer through dangers from tragedy to comedy.
Mythologist Joseph Campbell identified four functions of myth: a metaphysical, cosmological, sociological, and psychological function. The metaphysical function of mythology is evocative of the divine, providing a face to the Mystery. The cosmological function is an explanatory image of our universe, depicting the cosmos, planets, and seasons. The sociological function provides the voice of authority, social order, and tradition within the community. Lastly, the psychological function of myth lies at the root of all three, and acts to guide individuals through the stages of life. It shapes rites of passage and reflects the stories of human plight.
It is within this framework, that I bring mythology to my work as a Jungian mentor and ritual artist. Though I include mythologies from distinct traditions, I emphasize Mesoamerican mythology and the Purépecha, which is my ancestry.
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Mythology

The Tongva Creation Story
The Tongva-Gabrielino people are the First Nation people of what is unceded Los Angeles, California, where I now live. In sharing their creation myth, I do so not only to acknowledge, but to honor the Tongva-Gabrielino peoples; and as a Jungian of Mexican indigenous descent and ritual artist, I do so to invoke the unique power of the creation myth, to rejuvenate, restore, and re-create the world anew~ in their vision, wisdom, and stewardship.
In the beginning was the God Quaoar, which means creator.
Quaoar was born out of the chaos. As he arose, he was sad to find so much emptiness, and so he began to dance around, and as he danced, he sang a song of creation. From his song, other gods came to life; the God of Sky, the Goddess of the Earth, the Grandfather Sun, and Grandmother Moon.
Together these gods began to dance together and even more beings were birthed. All these divine gods and goddesses danced and sang the creation song and created everything else in existence that we know today. The sea, mountains, plants, animals, and of course the first man and woman.


Guadalupe Tonatzin
The brown-skinned Madonna appeared on Tepeyac, bathing the sacred hillside in an emerald green luminescence. A great symphony of a multitude of birds suddenly rose up and fell away, unlike any birds Juan Diego had heard before; to his amazement the earth seemed to sing back (“Nican Mopohua.”)
Tepeyac means the Hill that Sings in the Nahuatl language of Mexico, and prior to Guadalupe’s appearance in 1531, it was an important pilgrimage site for Tonantzin/Our Mother, an Aztec goddess of maintenance and upkeep, hence the syncretizing between the two.
Guadalupe’s appearance and presence played a crucial role in the formation of Mexican consciousness and rescue of a people suffering genocide, plagues, and slavery. Centuries later, Guadalupe/Tonantzin prevails as numinous and historic emblem of liberation and redemption in the Mexican psyche.
Coatlicue
Reimagining the Divine Feminine in the Kairos
~ Jung, Myth, Symbols, and Ritual Art
Coatlicue is the Aztec Mother goddess, whose name means Skirt of Serpents. Coatlicue’s rich symbolism and myth are explored both through a Jungian mirror and ritual art, to reawaken the divine feminine– both within and without, and embrace her styles and qualities of consciousness in search of balance and order in the chaos.
In these perilous and uncertain times, we begin the work of reimagining the Garden bequeathed us, and of learning what it might mean to tend the Mother Earth– body and soul.
Another world is possible!
Hope is radical!
Imagination is gold!
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