ONLINE SEMINARS IN ENGLISH
by ddr. MATJAŽ REGOVEC, PhD, DFAstrolS, DPsychAstrol, qualified Jungian psychoanalyst

ALCHEMY – COSMOLOGY (PSYCHOLOGICAL ASTROLOGY) – PSYCHOANALYSIS SERIES

*THE ALCHEMY OF RELATIONSHIPS – AN INTRODUCTORY SEMINAR INTO THE SERIES*
7 October 2023
In this introductory seminar to the series, we are going to explore some basic tenets of the traditional alchemy as art and science. We are going to deal with the four elementary processes – the burning (calcinatio), solidifying (coagulatio), evaporating (sublimatio) and dissolving (solutio), as well as the three phases – the starting blackness (nigredo), the developing whiteness (albedo) and the final redness of full life (rubedo) and their corresponding planetary archetypes. We are going to see how alchemy can be used as the basic tool of relatedness – both to our own inner selves, as well as to important others and the collective.

*ALCHEMY OF SPIRITUAL RE-ALIGNMENT AND THE INTUITIVE COGITO*
11 November 2023
What is spirituality if not living our life to its fullest potential? Yet, to live it, we need to discover what constitutes our individual meaning first. By working on ourselves with the techniques of active imagination, psychoanalysis, as well as our physical action in our daily lives, we are going to be able to free the very spirit that alchemists knew was imprisoned in the very matter of our own inner potential. In order to understand this process, we will draw upon the dynamics of the planetary archetypes of personal spirit: Mars, Jupiter, Pluto, and the Sun.

*ALCHEMY OF MIND AND REASON*
9 December 2023

The mind or ‘thinking cogito’, as we named it, is the most eccentric of all human capacities to perceive, operate and create. It has no body, yet its basic tools – concepts and essences – are very powerful. They offer a perspective on life, which is from above and neutral, bringing freedom and non-attachment of living – indeed, the sublime. Although the alchemy of the mind is traditionally called sublimatio – a process in which the material of our lives evaporates into knowledge about ourselves, we will also focus on the processes of solutio and coagulatio. These two processes relate to the transformation of thinking from the collective to the individual. We are going to touch once again on the very mystery of the birth and development of an individual.

*THE SPIRIT OF THE DEPTHS – ALCHEMY OF EMOTIONAL TRANSFORMATION*
13 January 2024
What Jung termed as “the spirit of the depths” in his Red Book, is in fact a journey towards one’s very individuality. But how is this to be achieved? The alchemical process of dissolution (solution) entails a departure from the surface and superficiality of our everyday lives into the depths of our own being where the treasure of our individuality can be uncovered. Often this means letting go of our safe attachments and bonds with the collective. We are going to explore the alchemical solution with the use of the workings of transiting Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto.

*ALCHEMY OF THE PHYSICAL AND THE BODILY COGITO*
10 February 2024
The alchemy of the body and its cogito (perception, action and creation of our physical bodies) can be experienced as most powerful, since it materializes the whole of the alchemical process of our personal journey and the resulting transformation of our lives. It is the birth of the individual. In alchemy, the corresponding traditional process was “ oagulation”. Coagulation means that we are not only witnesses, but also objects of our very own alchemical opus, yet this process involves some challenging emotional processing, which we are going to describe along the tracks of Saturn in transit.

*THE ALCHEMY OF LIFE OPPOSITES*
9 March 2024
The opposites we encounter in life, like day and night, conscious vs. unconscious, active and passive, giving-accepting, etc. all have corresponding archetypal tracks that reveal their deeper dynamics and meaning. In terms of cosmology, they are contained in the planetary pairs of Sun-Moon, Mars-Venus, Jupiter-Saturn, Uranus-Pluto, Neptune-Saturn, etc. Working through of the alchemical opposites of life is essential for understanding, as well as for working practically and productively with, the inner and outer conflicts that arise because of life’s continuing advancement into ever new and more evolved forms. In order to attain to the highest goal of alchemy, namely of producing “gold”, we first need to adhere to the very dynamics of the opposites.

*ALCHEMY OF CARDINALITY AND THE ARCHETYPE OF INITIATION*
13 April 2024
How are we initiated into new forms of life and what are the levels of this very primary movement of our Being? The archetype of initiation and its alchemy finds its way through the cosmological fields of Aries (spiritual birth), Cancer (being born emotionally), Libra (birth of mind) and Capricorn (being born in a material body). Cardinality and its initiation archetype are supported by the planetary archetypes of Mars, the Moon, Venus and Saturn. We are going to explore the specific developmental challenges of each of them.

*THE DIAMOND OR THE ALCHEMY OF FORM, STABILITY AND VALUES*
11 May 2024
Cosmological fixity has a function of preserving and enhancing the already born and the established. Without fixity, things and processes would not grow to their full form, stability and wealth. These forms of the body, psyche, spirit and mind are represented by the archetypes of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius. By exploring the planetary archetypes (Venus and Saturn, Mars and Pluto, the Sun, Saturn and Uranus) of their values we are going to draw near to their very alchemical essences – in order to participate in one of life’s greatest mysteries, that of maturation and of coming to fruition.

*CADENT QUALITY, ALCHEMICAL DECAY AND THE RENEWAL OF LIFE*
8 June 2024
Cadence in cosmological terms entails the sophistication of everything already formed and brought to fruition. Full forms now need to be distributed, and not only sophisticated, but also decayed in those cases, where further development is no longer viable. Cadence is thus both a great test, as well as an opportunity for upgrading life. This is where we discover what remains permanent yet sophisticated on one hand, and what needs to be let go of, in order for a new cycle of life to be initiated in the future, on the other. The alchemy of Gemini (mind analysis), Virgo (practical sophistication techniques), Sagittarius (the cadent paths of the spirit) and Pisces (the emotional transcendence) is going to be explored with the help of the archetypes of their planetary rulers.

*SEPARATIO AND CONIUNCTIO – THE HIDDEN DIMENSIONS OF MAN’S TRANSFORMATION*
6 July 2024
In this final seminar of the alchemy-cosmology-psychoanalysis series, we are going to track the archetypes of separation and unification that feature prominently in the alchemical tradition. The two processes can be seen as complimentary and essential to each other, for there is no unification of male and female, child and parent, conscious and the unconscious, love and power, progression and regression, etc. without their, albeit temporary, separation. The planetary archetypal tracks of coniunctio (Neptun and Pluto) and those of separatio (Uranus and Saturn) are going to lead our way into the two hidden dimensions of woman’s and man’s transformation and the resulting progression of their lives.

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The seminars are taking place online (via Zoom) on Saturdays between 4.30 and 6.30 pm CEST (UCT +2, GMT +2). There is 120-minute time format, of which 90 minutes is the theoretical presentation, followed by a 30 minutes workshop, where we are going to work with the IPAL Method with two participants from the group. The cost of each seminar is 39,50 €, budle of 10 seminars offers 20% discount and free ebook.

Ddr. Matjaž Regovec, holds doctorates in psychology and philosophy. Trained and qualified originally as a Jungian, he is nowadays an independent psychoanalyst at the IPAL Institute. Having been working as a psychoanalyst and a psychotherapist for 30 years now, he also offers some individual consultations with the IPAL Method. He is the author of numerous books in Slovenian, Serbian, Hungarian, Russian and English language. He lectures and holds workshops worldwide.

Matjaž works best directly under the Sun, and his third-house Saturn in Pisces draws him next to the sea, on the island of Crete, where he wrote some of his recent books. He enjoys cooking, the art of horticulture and travelling, exploring different cultures, their ancient history, religion and other historical facets of human spirit and cosmological heritage. He understands alchemy and symbolic cosmology as a means and inspiration for the integration of the divide between mind on one hand, and body-psyche-spirit dimensions of man on the other. The very same processes that once upon a time were identified on the alchemical stove, may nowadays be usefully applied in working upon oneself in order to enhance one’s quality of life and well-being.