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Understanding the Trump Presidency from a Mythological Perspective
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Wednesday, February 7, 2018
 

BY KAREN BOSSICK

Experts have tried a myriad of ways to understand the Trump presidency, coming up it from psychological and other perspectives.

On Thursday Kayden Baker-McInnis will review the Presidency in terms of a mythological view at the monthly meeting of the Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable of Ketchum.

The free gathering will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Minnie Moore Room at the Community Campus in Hailey. Refreshments will be served.

Baker-McInnis, a Dionysian scholar, writer and Jungian-based spiritual counselor, will explore the Titan/Dionysus myth and the cultural expression of this re-emerging myth in the American psyche. In particular, she will identify archetypal dynamics present in the Trump presidency.

“In a current Trump presidency, America is at a crossroads when it comes to American democracy and identity. What we do now, individually and collectively, determines if America will continue in a state of decline or if an American renaissance is possible,” said Baker-McInnis, who received an MA from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology and now offers Myth Study groups and writing workshops in Salt Lake City.

 Baker-McInnis proposes that President Trump is in the archetypal field of the shadowed god Dionysus—the god that brings destruction and chaos.

“This archetypal field shreds what needs to be rebuilt and revisioned,” she said. “What is key to understanding the Dionysus myth is Dionysian destruction can only be answered communally. This is why C.G. Jung considers Dionysus, the god of dismemberment, as key for the modern world. James Hillman remarks that when Dionysus arrives, a change in consciousness becomes possible.”

Baker-McInnis notes that America is in a state of change.

“In the face of an American president who fears the feminine, a collective response arises in the form of the historic Women’s March. In response to an American president who glorifies exerting power over women’s bodies, emerges the #MeToo Movement. Why this is significant mythically is that one aspect of Dionysus is that he is the ‘bringer of the release to women.’  In this moment, women are changing America culturally,” she said.

A mythological perspective is key to navigating right action in the current polarizing political and cultural field, Baker-McInnis added.

“The denial of climate change, racism, sexism, and the war on science and higher education are expressions of titanic forces taking over this country,” she said. “Trump is a creation of our sleeping nation, a nation unconscious to our colonial impulses and our rampant racism. The arrival of Dionysus signifies that America can now wake up.” 

The Mythological RoundTable, under the umbrella of the Josephy Campbell Foundation, is a gathering of people drawn together by an interest in all things mythological. JCF Mythological RoundTables exist throughout the world, with 33 in the United States.

The Ketchum group has been meeting since August 2015, exploring a variety of topics followed by  discussion.

“Trying to understand the Trump presidency from a larger perspective is a topic the community has been wanting for a year now,” said Jan Peppler, the group’s founder. “Finally, we have a scholar who can frame this discussion and help us understand our deep emotions.”

For more information, visit www.jcf.org.

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