In the Japanese mythic world, the Sake-drinking Oni (demon) Shuten-Dōji, had ever growing transgressions, such as capturing and torturing young maidens, and so Minamoto no Raikō, the heroic warrior, was tasked with slaying the demon. Shuten’s alcohol addiction was exploited by Raikō and thus it was the reason for his defeat. In this webinar series, we will examine the struggles, the psycho-socio-cultural consequences of alcoholism-addiction and the journey to recovery: transformative integration through the symbolic anthropomorphizing mythic lens. The functional truths of psychic disintegration, confrontation and the resilience of the Self will be explored in this rediscovery and reclaiming path to wholeness. Unmasking aspects of the recovery-healing journey, such as tackling relapses and destructive temptations. In the course of the four weeks, Shuten-Raikō battle’s mythic iconography will be reimagined as the embodiment of fighting the spirit of alienation (alcohol) for the evolution of socio-cultural consciousness.

Participants will examine the sacred and/or shadow dimensions of the Self through world cultural practices, rituals and ceremonies related to alcohol, such as the Omiki Shinto ceremony or the sacred liquor offering to the Lord Kaal Bhairava. Guided active imagination, reflective writing and embodied visualization activities will be conducted to discover new ways in the process of the Alchemized Self.

What you will Receive:

• 4 Live Interactive Webinars (via Zoom) with Q & A (listed in Pacific time)
• Recommended Readings and Resources
• A Verified PGI Digital Badge — stackable toward certificate and degree pathways
• 4 CECs

This Course is ideal for:

• Students, scholars or individuals interested in mythology, folklore and/or Jungian Psychology, curious to expand the clinical psychological framework of addiction or alcoholism through a re-envisioning mythic-archetypal dynamic
• Therapists, counselors and other mental health practitioners in helping professions exploring a collective, cultural, social, ritualistic insight to healing.
• Creative individuals, artists, writers seeking creative mythic symbolic explorations through images, narratives and imagination.

 

Course Overview

Week One : Birth of Shuten Dōji: Mythic Origins of Addiction

How does addiction come into being symbolically, psychologically, archetypally?

• An orienting overview of the four-week mythic arc, inviting participants into a shared field of inquiry.
• The birth myths and iconography of Shuten Dōji are explored through Jungian amplification, revealing how addiction takes form in the psyche.
• Key forces that initiate, sustain, and intensify addictive patterns are identified through mythic storytelling rather than pathology alone.
• Guided dialogue and Q&A to surface early reflections and lived resonances.

Week Two: The Addiction Oni and the Shadow Encounter

What we refuse to see gathers power.

• A brief mythic return to the prior week, tracing the emergence of the Oni within the psyche.
• Drawing on Carl G. Jung’s insight that addiction reflects a misdirected longing for wholeness, participants explore the Shadow as embodied by the Oni.
• Addiction is examined as unprocessed desire, where disowned emotions and unmet longings seek expression.
• Reflective discussion and Q&A focused on Shadow recognition and integration.

 

Week Three: Archetypal Heroic Journey to the Self: Relapse, Recovery, and Raikō

Recovery is not linear; it is initiatory.

• A brief recap situating participants within the unfolding heroic narrative.
• Through Joseph Campbell’s Hero Archetype framework, the inner battles of relapse and recovery are reframed as essential trials of transformation.
• Raikō’s strategy and confrontation with Shuten Dōji illuminate threshold crossings, false victories, and the courage required to face the inner demon.
• An archetypal-mythic map of the Self’s principles facilitating balance, inner harmony and centering will be co-constructed with the participants through these reflections.
• Q&A grounded in mythic reflection and lived experience.

 

Week Four: Spiritus Contra Spiritum: Mythic guidance, ceremonies, rituals and sacred imaginations to inner luminosity

What heals the spirit must speak its language.

• A brief mythic synthesis of the journey thus far.
• Invoking the sacred consciousness through tools such as guided active imagination and visual mythic embodiment activities helpful to understand the need for inner confrontations.
• Participants explore the Honji, the true or essential Self, cultivating meaningful relationship to inner authority and purpose.
• Alcohol-related rituals and cultural practices in Japan and other cultures are examined to reveal how substances function symbolically within collective life.
• Jung’s notion of psychic duality is explored through ritual offerings and sacred imagination, honoring the full spectrum of human experience.

• Concluding Q/A and reflections.

 

Learning Objectives (4 CECs)

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Recite 4 key mythic and archetypal principles to the clinical framework outline of addictive behaviors and its contributing factors.
2. List and apply 4 specific techniques to Shadow work using mythic reflective analysis and a creative Jungian lens.
3. Assess the therapeutic role of mythologist, Joseph Campbells’ Hero Archetype in addiction and recovery, identifying five mythic reasons for inner work and ritualized self-reflection.
4. Apply 4 depth psychological theoretical paradigms by engaging in embodiment and imagination practices, symbolic mythic interpretation works and sacred narratives as well as rituals reflections.

 

Course Addendums:

Bibliography, Reading List, PDFs, Creative Prompts/Reflective Questions, Films to Watch

Campbell, J. (1991). The power of the myth. Anchor Books.

Campbell, J. (2001). Thou art that. Transforming religious metaphor. New World Library.

Campbell, J. (2008). The hero with a thousand faces. (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

Eliade, M. (1963). The sacred and the profane: The nature of religion. (W. R. Trask, Trans.). Harcourt, Brace & World.

Jacobi, J. (1971). Psychological reflections: An anthology of Jung’s writings 1905–1961. Routledge.

Jung, C. G. (1961). Letter to William G. Wilson (January 30). In H. Read (Ed.), The collected letters of C. G. Jung (Vol 2, pp. 412–415). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C. G. (1968). Collected Works of C.G. Jung, (Vol. 12: Psychology and alchemy, G. Adler & R.F.C. Hull, Eds.). Princeton University Press.

McCabe, I. (2015). Carl Jung and alcoholics anonymous: The twelve steps as a spiritual journey of individuation. Routledge.

Reider, N.T. (2010). Japanese demon lore: Oni from ancient times to the present. Utah State University Press.

Rönnberg, A. & Martin, K. (Eds.). (2010). The book of symbols: Reflections on archetypal images. Taschen.