Restitution of the Feminine Principle:
Symbols from the Jewish Kabbalah
a Zoom Presentation by
Lynne Radomsky Ph.D
"One would need to take a deep plunge into the history of the Jewish mind … into the subterranean world of Hasidism … and then into the intricacies of the Kabbalah, which still remains unexplored psychologically."
- C. G. Jung (1944, para. 358)
"The feminine principle brings up the healing compensation by becoming active."
- Marie Louise von Franz (1999, p. 31)
Zoom Presentation
Saturday, September 18, 2021
10 AM to 12 PM
Cost: $10 Members; $15 Non-members
For participants interested in CEUs, contact Monica Daigle at monica@intrinsiccoach.la.
The Kabbalah (lit. to receive), is a Jewish religious mystical movement that interprets the religious values of Judaism from a mystical perspective. This Kabbalistic tradition traces its roots back to the BCE era. It is focused on the idea of a living God present and active in all that exists. It is considered the compendium of the divine nature of the universe and our souls. Central to the Kabbalah is the concept of the Shekhinah, the feminine principle. In the Kabbalah, Shekhinah is experienced as a living presence, the corporeal and incorporeal Eros. She heralds reflections in Ishtar, Astarte, Inanna, Sophia, Isis and Mary Magdalene.
The red thread that I hope to follow in this paper is interwoven with the possibility of the bringing together of the masculine and feminine principles. Psychologically, symbolizing a coniunctio, a totality driven by a loving attitude towards the relationship between anima and animus, between Eros and Logos, that when combined, initiates healing.
We live in a time of an enantiodromia towards the dark, the chthonic and the unconscious. We could understand this as a compensatory response to the one-sided rational development in consciousness. This perhaps offers us healing in the face of our current fear, grief and uncertainty. In this talk, we explore the nature of Shekhinah as an image of the chthonic facet of the religious symbol in the evolution of the new God-image.
Lynne Radomsky, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst, author and lecturer from Cape Town, South Africa. For over 30 years her professional focus has included private practice, post-graduate clinical training and professional supervision. She has a life-long interest in both the mystical traditions of Orthodox Judaism which informed her diploma thesis: “The Redemption of the feminine: The hidden treasures of the Kabbalah” as well as in indigenous cultural spiritual systems. Her recent book “Where dreams Come Alive: The Alchemy of the African Healer” (2019) amplifies the alchemical and psychological aspects of the African initiation rituals. She lectures internationally on both these topics.