048: A WOMAN’S BODY & THE HEALING POWER OF MYTHOLOGICAL ARCHETYPES

Did you know there are thousands of years of stories and patterns that exist in our psyches that literally affect responses within our bodies? These patterns are called archetypes. Cultures generate an image that capture these patterns, in the form of characters we deeply connect with. These “characters” can literally help to facilitate healing in our bodies. Dr. Jaffa Vernon Frank is an archetypal mythologist, licensed mental health counselor, author, and a woman with over 40 years of experience living with endometriosis. She holds a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology and an M.A. in Counseling with an emphasis in Grief, Loss, and Trauma therapy. Jaffa teaches courses in the psychology of altruism, archetypes, and the evolution of consciousness at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her book is called Eyes of the Gorgon: Endometriosis, Mythic Embodiment, and Freedom.

In this episode:

• Her near-death experience, after losing twin sons and suffering an aggressive battle with disease localized in her female reproductive organs
• The way that an archetypal, embodied mythopoetic approach to suffering and loss can deepen and transform hardship into hope and empowerment.
• The soul as a relational phenomenon that ensouls all of life with meaning.
• The life-affirming truth of death/rebirth goddesses like the Gorgon/Medusa, as “soul teachers” we can be in actual relationship with.
• What does it mean to be a human woman in embodied relationship with the divine? Healing embodied misogyny and reclaiming our most indigenous processes (menstruation, pregnancy/birthing, menopause).
• Self-shame vs. self-reverence

Check out Dr. Frank’s website at jaffavfrankphd.weebly.com Her book is called Eyes of the Gorgon: Endometriosis, Mythic Embodiment, and Freedom and is available on Amazon.

Drum roll…I just announced my Stand Speak Shine School for 2020 and spots are filling up. ? Check it out! www.standspeakshine.com

I recently launched two online courses: The Emotional Wholeness Master Class and The 22 Day Depression Cleanse which can be found HERE.  

I am is the author of two e-books, “Where Depression Ends and You Begin: 4 Passages to  Discovery”; and “True and Lasting Change–4 Ways to Break Through Fear.” 

My Stand Speak Shine programs provide women with retreats and mentoring programs to empower them to heal, express and create.  www.standspeakshine.com

My book, If She Could Speak, will be released in 2021.