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Psychosynthesis Quarterly December 2017

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PSYCHOSYNTHESIS QUARTERLY The Digital Magazine of the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis Volume 6 Number 4 December 2017 “Take Your Grandmother Home” by Ann Gila Sleepers, Awake! by Jan Kuniholm Driving the Carriage by Dorothy Firman Opening the Gateway to the Storyless Land by Richard Lamb The Stone of Villa Serena by Isabelle Küng Psychology and Spirituality by Shamai Currim You Too are a “Self” by Margret Rueffler Psychosynthesis Life Coaching: A Transpersonal Process by Cristina Pelizzatti Using “Your Own Star” in Subpersonality Work by Pelizzatti and Burr Book Reviews: Handbook of Individual Family Constellations Always About Anxiety Courses: Psychosynthesis Life Coach Training Psychological Functions: Certificate Training Mothers and Daughters - Healing the Feminine And More . Psychosynthesis Quarterly Notes from the Editor Editor: Jan Kuniholm Even though we do not solicit material with any kind of “theme” in mind for the Quarterly, there are inner connections between many of Assistant Editors: Audrey McMorrow, Walter Polt and Douglas Russell the articles our writers share with you in this issue, which run the gamut from death to life, from habits to spirit. Design and Production: Jan Kuniholm, Walter Polt Ann Gila’s memoir, “Take Your Grandmother Home” is about Psychosynthesis Quarterly is published by recovering connections with family, and we have also a review of a AAP four times a year in March, June, September Handbook of Individual Family Constellations that shows the vital and December. Submission deadlines are February 7, importance of family relationships. Death makes an appearance in May 7, August 7, and November 7. Catherine Ann Lombard’s interview with Massimo Rosselli, and also Send Announcements, Ideas, Reviews of in Shamai Currim’s reminiscence of a Journey of Love. A dream is Books and Events, Articles, Poetry, Art, remembered in the Stone of Villa Serena, and the object of that dream Exercises, Photos, and Letters: Tell us what is mentioned by Dr. Rosselli in his closing words. has helped your life and work, what can help others, and examples of psychosynthesis theory in action. The new book Always About Anxiety alerts us to general anxiety Notice of Events should be 1500 words or less, and disorder from a first-person perspective. Life struggles on in an Old articles should usually be 4500 words or less. We Fighter’s Work. Richard Lamb shares ways of finding peace. accept psychosynthesis-related advertising from members. Non-members who wish to run psycho- synthesis-related advertising are requested to make Alan Haras shows how psychosynthesis is yoga, helping us find our a donation to AAP. Send submittals to: “true guru,” and Richard Lamb invites us to “invite the witness” in [email protected] the practice of presence. Didi Firman shows us that we cycle through psychological functions, as one triggers the next, and therein we find The Association for the Advancement a gift: awareness of the sequencing can break the chain. In of Psychosynthesis: Sleepers, Awake! I note how habits also function in cycles. Founded in 1995, AAP is a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation with tax exemption in the United States. Cristina Pelizzatti and Bill Burr share an application in It is dedicated to advocating on behalf of psycho- subpersonality work for “Your Own Star,” the interactive map of the synthesis and conducting psychosynthesis educa- tional programs. Membership and donations are tax psychological functions that made its debut in last issue. Cristina goes deductible in the United States. on to give a more detailed account of the work of psychosynthesis life AAP membership supports this publication and coaching. Shamai Currim contemplates the connections between the other educational activities of AAP, including psychology and spirituality, and finds them inextricably intertwined. scholarships. To become a member or to donate to AAP, Click Here. or you may contact us at Workshops and courses are coming up: A certificate training series (413) 743-1703 (leave a message if you call) with Didi Firman, in person in Amherst, MA, and also online as a or email [email protected] teleconference, in December and January; The Synthesis Center will If you are NOT a member we invite you to join offer a distance-learning program for Level 1 Psychosynthesis Life AAP and support psychosynthesis in North Coach Training beginning in February; and a Mothers & Daughters America and the world. Workshop series will be given by Karen Herold and Lauren Herold- Views expressed in Psychosynthesis Quar- Morgan in Bellevue, WA in January, February and March. terly are not necessarily those of the editors or of AAP. AAP makes every effort to ensure the accura- It is a pleasure for us to present theQuarterly to you. We are grateful cy of what appears in the Quarterly but accepts no to all who send us material to share, and look forward to the coming liability for errors or omissions. We may edit sub- year with you. If something in this issue inspires you, or moves missions for grammar, syntax, and length. you—or even makes you unhappy—please take a moment to share Psychosynthesis Quarterly is available as a your response with us. Your praise inspires us, and your constructive free download to all current AAP members and to criticism will help us to make the Quarterly even better. others who are interested in our work. To view pre- Send your comments to vious issues and an index of articles click here. [email protected]. © Copyright 2017 by AAP In the meantime, enjoy! 61 East Main Street Happy Holidays Cheshire, MA 01225-9627 and A Joyous New Year All Rights Reserved from all of us to all of you. www.aap-psychosynthesis.org Jan Kuniholm 2 contents “Take Your Grandmother Home” — Ann Gila 4 Support AAP’s Scholarship Program 12 Psychosynthesis Life Coaching: A Transpersonal Process — Cristina Pelizzatti 13 The Synthesis Center Level 1 Life Coach Training Program 19 Opening the Gateway to the Storyless Land:Presence in Reauthoring Our Stories — Richard Lamb 20 Old Fighter’s Work —Poem — Jan Kuniholm 22 The Path to Self Realization: Yoga, Psychosynthesis, and Goodness of Fit — Alan Haras 23 Reflections on the Soul, Healing, and Assagioli’s Last Hours on Earth: A Conversation With Massimo Rosselli —Catherine Ann Lombard 27 Driving the Carriage: The Gift of Psychological Functions — Dorothy Firman 31 Book Review: Handbook of Individual Family Constellations by Marco Moretti & Daniela Poggioli 34 Mothers & Daughters: A Legacy Lives On —Karen Herold and Lauren Herold-Morgan 36 Mothers & Daughters: Healing the Feminine — Workshop Series of All women 37 Psychology and Spirituality — Shamai Currim 38 Using “Your Own Star” in Subpersonality Work — Cristina Pelizzatti and Bill Burr 40 Sleepers, Awake! The Act of Will in the Field of Habits — Jan Kuniholm 45 The Synthesis 2018 Presenters Conference 52 The Stone of Villa Serena — Isabelle Küng 53 You Too Are a “Self” — Margret Rueffler 56 Book Review: Always About Anxiety by Jenny Nylén 58 A Journey of Love — Shamai Currim 59 Dive Deep in the Psychological Functions: In Person and Teleconference Certificate Training 62 3 journey “Take Your Grandmother Home” Ann Gila The following is a slightly abbreviated chapter from my recent memoir Stay Present and Love Him. I share it as an example of John Firman’s and my understanding of Self-realization. For Firman and Gila, Self-realization does not mean we become Self, but rather that we follow the invitations that Self extends to us—what both Assagioli and Jung referred to as “call”—even invitations that are sometimes beyond our immediate understanding. We don’t see Self-realization as experiencing a particular state of consciousness, but rather a deepening of our relationship with Self as we become increasingly able to listen and respond to its guidance. We found that Self’s invitations can come to us through various channels, following our conviction that Self is transcendent-immanent, and that these invitations are extended to us in every minute of our lives. Therefore, we view Self-realization as a moment-to-moment relationship between “I” and Self. [For an elaboration of Firman and Gila’s understanding of Self-realization, see Firman’s monograph, “Self and Self-Realization,” a free download on www.psychosynthesispaloalto.com .] ne day in mid-August 1996, I was at the noon weekday Mass in OSt. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church near downtown Palo Alto. I often went to this service because it was only thirty minutes long and could easily fit into my day, and its brief homily almost always had a message I needed to hear. On this particular day with the temperature in the low nineties, the coolness inside the church added to the peaceful quiet of the simple service, attended by only a small group of us. I easily fell into a reverie, and at the same time was aware of the ritual proceeding before me. In fact, the familiar liturgy may have contributed to what was to occur. In my head I began to hear the following command, repeated over and over: “Take your grandmother home. Take your grandmother home. Take your grandmother . .” I didn’t know where the message was coming from or what it meant. I had tears in my eyes and didn’t know why. I even tried to push it out of my mind, but it was insistent, as if it had a life force that wouldn’t be denied. After a while I surrendered to it, hoping that if I didn’t fight it I would learn its meaning. Mass ended, and the command was less intense but stayed with me as I walked home. I was eager to tell John about what had just happened. We talked. What does this mean? Is there something I’m supposed to do? Is this significant, or is it just some nonsensical intrusion? I certainly didn’t know where it came from, although at times in the past I had had the experience of being guided by something that felt beyond myself.
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