Valerie Harms

You can visit the Montana Friends of Jung page on Facebook for news about this group. Please befriend it and send comments. E.g. you can join the discussion on The Red Book.

The spring issue of Distinctly Montana magazine has come out. If you can't find it locally, subscribe or read it online at www.distinctlymontana.com. It features guides to 10 rousing hikes, golf courses around the state, and the don't-miss places in Helena. Also popular are the Interior Designers Roundtable discussion and feature on buying consignment furniture. The designer treats every article as an artwork, so it's quite striking. Full disclosure: I edit the magazine but I can still recommend it. Read More 

In way too much psychological writing you get the impression that our "shadows" are all the personal qualities we are ashamed of. Shadow equals bad aspects about ourselves. The fact is that the term "shadow" came about to represent those qualities that we allowed the culture to repress in us. Thus, if we felt different in any way or if we wanted to make art or think about meaning or live by the ocean and surf and rescue dolphins, and if our parents or teachers tried to steer us in different directions, then our desires and aspirations were repressed. They became hidden in the darkness, our shadow. We didn't show our true desires to our bosses or families either when we suppressed them to fulfill what we thought were cultural aspirations. Our shadows therefore really contain our best talents, gifts, and aspirations. Instead of allowing one's light to shine, one hid it under a bushel in the darkness. No one can explain this better than Clarissa Pinkola Estes on disk 2 of her new Mother Night series. She has been one of my great mentors because she is such an evoker.  Read More 

Tune in to listen to this interview....http://www.voiceamerica.com/Show/Episode/51766/the-link-between-the-inner-world-of-our-imagination-and-the-outer-world-where-we-encounter-animals

I am thrilled to be interviewed by Bernie. Here's the link.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewRSS.aspx?siteSKU=a9zxHN90HbiGCCKkIudBVg%3d%3d&categorySKUs=IdXOyXWGXtvd0PA%2bqVpG5g%3d%3d

you can access anytime.

For my book on rebirth, I've compiled a list of important symbols. Here it is. I'd love your feedback of any kind.

Vessel—The vessel is the womb, from which all birth proceeds. The female body is such a container. The uterus and the oven are both vessels. Pottery/vessels used for the gathering of food and water from early cultures had breasts. The funereal urn is also a vessel. Projected outward, it symbolizes the world, the cosmos.
In Christianity, the vessel became the baptismal font and the chalice of the Last Supper.

Vulva—The vulva, yoni, or vagina is the place of putting in the semen, which jumpstarts procreation and birth. The vulva is also like rich soil desirable for sowing of the seed. Grain is the fruit of the earth; hence, the Feminine principle has always been associated with food and nourishment. Births and harvests have been celebrated in all cultures since earliest domestic times. Plants, flowers, and trees bear seed and thrive, depending on fertile soil, clean air, and water.
A symbol for the vulva or vagina is the triangle.  Read More 

A great present you could give yourself and others to enhance your lives is The Book of Symbols, published by Taschen, compiled by the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, located at Jung Institutes in LA and NYC. The book has over 400 art images with commentary from a depth psychological point of view. I wrote the ones on the horse and the cave, et al. This is an extremely valuable and unique reference book for under $35. Read More 

In the fall of 1954, I was living in the very small town Stamford, Texas. Elvis was booked at our high school auditorium.When he came on stage, he was accompanied by thin Scotty, guitarist, and jovial Bill, bass player, with whom he played for years. Elvis, dressed in ivory shirt, slacks and shoes, looked  Read More 

--Dreaming of Animals is "a fine piece of work" ~ Jeremy Taylor, author of Dream Work, et al.
--"You write so well! I was immediately engaged." ~ Stephen Aizenstat, President of Pacifica Graduate Institute, CA
--The Inner Lover: --"A refreshing antidote to the codependency literature. Harms tells not only how to disengage ourselves from others, but how to use our attractions to discover and develop our inner potential. A warm, empowering book." ~ Robert Johnson, author of He, She, and Inner Work.
--About The National Audubon Society Almanac, "ought to be on every bookshelf in the land. ~ Theodore Roszak, The Voice of the Earth, et al
--"This blockbuster of an environmental Almanac zeroes right in on how you and ecology fit into everyday life." ~ Dr. Anne LaBastille  Read More