Depth Psychology Alliance - Book Club October 2015


The Depth Psychology Alliance Book Club operates as an open forum. Everything is done via writing within the group so you can participate at whatever schedule and level works for you. The author will start the forum on the first day of the month with with an introductory post, and you can ask questions or make comments at will. During the month, there may be additional opportunities for interaction with the author and each other via live text chat or video webinar.
On the Doorstep of the Castle A Play of Teresa of Avila and Alma de Leon by Elizabeth Clark-Stern (Published by Fisher King Press)
ORDER the book LISTEN to an interview about "On the Doorstep of the Castle" with Elizabeth Clark-Stern for Depth Insights Radio	Our setting is 16th century Spain. The Inquisition has expelled the Jews or forced them to convert. Teresa of Avila is igniting the imagination of the country as the nun who receives messages directly from God. Alma de Leon, a young Jewish converso, appears on Teresa's doorstep, petitioning to become a novice in her care. Their complex relationship explores the feminine archetypes of the Amazon, and the Medial Woman, in a story that unveils the foundations of psyche's movement toward wholeness: Kabbalah, and Christian rapture, in an oppressive yet luminous time. This play is a work of creative imagination based on the interaction of a true historical character and a fictional one. Teresa of Avila is admired to this day not only by Catholics and Christians, but by Taoists and Buddhists, psychologists and poets. Carl Jung was fascinated by her master work, The Interior Castle, for its description of the journey of the soul toward intimacy with God. The fictional character, Alma de Leon, is inspired by twentieth century Jewish philosopher, Edith Stein, who chanced to read Teresa’s autobiography, and experienced a profound spiritual awakening that led her to become a Carmelite nun. "What if these two were to meet?" the playwright asked herself, crafting the character of Alma as a Jewish woman true to her time and place in history. The teaching of the ancient Jewish mystical tradition, the Kabbalah, was strictly forbidden by the Inquisition, and yet Alma is haunted by it, even as she dons the habit of a nun and struggles to find her identity in the presence of her passionate, spiritually adventurous mentor. Click here to read in in-depth book review of Clark-Stern's On the Doorstep of the Castle by Jungian analyst Erel Shalit Click here to view a scene from the play via the video library in the free online community, DepthPsychologyAlliance RSVP to get further details for the Book Club in the free online community on Depth Psychology Alliance

Author: Elizabeth Clark-Stern

elizabeth clark-stern

Elizabeth Clark-Stern is a psychotherapist in private practice in Seattle,Washington. Before embracing this beloved work, she worked as a professional screenwriter.

Her produced plays and teleplays include "All I Could See from Where I Stood", "Help Wanted", and "To See the Elephant". Her play, "Out of the Shadows: A Story of Toni Wolff and Emma Jung", published by Fisher King Press, has been performed in Seattle, at the International Jungian Congress in South Africa, and for the Archetypal Theater Company in New Orleans.

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LISTEN to an interview about "Out of the Shadows" with Elizabeth Clark-Stern for Depth Insights Radio

More about Elizabeth Clark-Stern

Publisher Web Site: Fisher King Press

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