The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective: Transforming Trauma and the Wellsprings of Renewal - Paperback

by Shoshana Fershtman (Author)

The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective explores the soul loss that results from personal, collective, and transgenerational trauma and the healing that unfolds through reconnection with the sacred. Personal narratives of disconnection from and reconnection to Jewish collective memory are illuminated by millennia of Jewish mystical wisdom, contemporary Jewish Renewal and feminist theology, and Jungian and trauma theory.

The archetypal resonance of the Exodus story guides our exploration. Understanding exile as disconnection from the Divine Self, we follow Moses, keeper of the spiritual fire, and Serach bat Asher, preserver of ancestral memory. We encounter the depths with Joseph, touch collective grief with Lilith, experience the Red Sea crossing and Miriam's well as psychological rebirth and Sinai as the repatterning of traumatized consciousness.

Tracing the reawakening of the qualities of eros and relatedness on the journey out of exile, the book demonstrates how restoring and deepening relationship with the Sacred Feminine helps us to transform collective trauma.

This text will be key reading for scholars of Jewish studies, Jungian and post-Jungian studies, feminist spirituality, trauma studies, Jungian analysts and psychotherapists, and those interested in healing from personal and collective trauma.

Cover art: 'Radiance' by Elaine Greenwood

Author Biography

Shoshana Fershtman, JD, PhD, is a Jungian analyst and psychologist in Sonoma County, California, USA. She is a member analyst and teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, and served as core faculty at the Sonoma State University Depth Psychology program. She has studied Jewish mysticism with teachers from the Jewish Renewal and Reconstructing Judaism movements, and has taught extensively on Jewish mysticism, transgenerational trauma, and the Sacred Feminine. Her work as an attorney focused on advocacy for environmental and social justice and indigenous rights.