“The Greek patristic tradition…resisted the implications of a scheme that inserted a radical division between nature and supernature. In Greek patristic thought all of nature was a divinely graced mystery, even if fallen, and one in which the symbiosis of the divine presence with the material form was frequently and luminously manifested (most sublimely and archetypally in the incarnation of God himself as man). ”
Background
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has said that all of creation is a sacrament. All of creation is a locus of encounter with God, and the natural order of creation a divine theophany. In this spirit, this initiative is born out of a desire to better understand how the human person, as part of creation--and in the Orthodox tradition, in the image of God--heals and flourishes. Orthodox Christianity and Analytical Psychology (Jungian) have each a tradition of exploring the depths of the person, the psyche, though until recently their insights have been separated by thousands of years, cultural, geographic, and linguistic differences. In our rapidly evolving world, we believe there is now an opportunity for real discourse between the two, to share perspectives and discover possible areas of resonance and collaboration in their respective ways of pursuing healing in contemporary society.
“Love all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things.”
“A wrong functioning of the psyche can injure the body in important ways, just as conversely a bodily illness can involve the psyche sympathetically, for body and soul are not separate entities, but one and the same life.”