Summary: The horrific tragedy in Newtown, CT, has left us all grappling with the trauma of senseless acts of violence perpetrated on the most helpless and innocent among us, our children. While we may never understand what it is that allows for such atrocities, we have to continue to search for meaning, a way to understand and perhaps, to stem the tide of this force. Beyond Horror and Hope: The Archetypal Intersection of Innocence and Evil is an exploratory conversation in response to the Sandy Hook Connecticut school shooting with Jungian Analyst Michael Conforti, PhD and Depth Insights host and founder of Depth Psychology Alliance, Bonnie Bright, M.A. What are the archetypal influences underpinning the horror of the Newtown, CT school shooting---and those of so many recent violent events perpetrated on innocents with legal firearms. Is evil a reality? Is it an age-old pattern that becomes constellated under certain conditions? How do we find hope in the horror when tragedy strikes? It was Carl Jung who taught us not a only about the reality of the psyche but also offered up a courageous admission of the reality of evil. Building on Jung's discovery about the archetypes of evil, and Elie Wiesel's countless decades in writing about the Holocaust, we address the issues emerging from this and other similar disasters from the perspective of an archetypal approach to psyche and life. We invite you to join us, as together we bear witness to this tragedy and search for a way through the darkness to a place of understanding.
