Mythic Heroes: Exploring Archetypes in W. African Storytelling - Marilyn Omifunke Torres, MS

Phoenix, AZ, October 20, 2014 --(PR.com)-- The Phoenix Friends of CG Jung invites the general public to a Saturday morning talk (10:00 -11:30 am) and Saturday afternoon (1:00-5:00 pm) workshop on October 25, 2014 by Marilyn Torres, exploring the hero archetypes in West African (IFA Divination) storytelling today. Professor Torres is an ordained storyteller of West African Yoruba Oral tradition. The workshop will be held at the Casa Franciscan Renewal Center (Santa Barbara Room), Phoenix AZ This interactive talk will introduce the Nigerian Yoruba Ifa divining practices as a form of oral tradition. Storytelling links the world of archetypes to the myths and legends used in transmission of these ancient stories that guide individuals exploring the human journey - past, present and future. Participants will have an opportunity to discover how Jungian typology is linked to African Orisas (deities) myths. This mythology provides insight into patterns of temperament and the stages of the Hero’s Journey.

In the afternoon workshop participants will be able to experience the divination practices of the Nigerian Yoruba tradition. A transmission of OduIfawill be given for the collective community of those taking part in the workshop. Each individual will then have an opportunity to map out his or her own Hero’s Journey as it is linked to this divination and the archetypal forces speaking. They will also work with the story of the Orisas from the Ifa Tradition and discover the link to their temperament (typology). This workshop will include working with the symbols, rituals and elements of the Odu as seen through both a traditional and a Jungian lens. Each participant will be able to “walk” with this process for a year (the time period for the divination given). At the end of the year, the true power of the story will be discovered by all.

Marilyn Torres, MS, is known as the WestWinds Storyteller in the Phoenix valley area. Professor Torres is an ordained storyteller of West African Yoruba Oral traditional of over 33 years. She received two chieftaincies in the village of Imota in West Africa, Nigeria, in 1984 as a descendent of the “children of slavery from the island of Puerto Rico.” During her fieldwork in Nigeria while visiting among her elders, Marilyn was renamed Omifunke in honor of her father’s lineage and her return to her ancestral lands among the Yoruba people of West Africa. Professor Torres is a residential Faculty member for The Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College, as well as a trainer/facilitator for Achieving a College Education Program (ACE) at South Mountain Community College. Marilyn incorporates storytelling into all forms of academic achievement, literacy and college bound leadership among youth, children and adults teaching The Art of Storytelling, Multicultural Folktales, Sacred Stories from Around the World, African Oral Traditions, and Storytelling in Healing Setting.

Phoenix Friends of C.G. Jung was formed in 1984 as a non-profit educational society, meeting to share through lectures, workshops, and related events, our common interest in the depth psychology of Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl G. Jung. In addition, we provide activities for growth and individuation by bringing in speakers for lectures and workshops. For more information about our group or to join, please see our website at http://phoenixfriendsofcgjung.org/wordpress/. Workshop registration and payment of fees is available from our website.