Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, “there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” Hurston knew the psychic distress that stems from the visceral need to tell our stories. She reminds us too that, if we listen closely, the “agony” acts as a catalyst for the quest to know the narratives that give us deeper knowledge of ourselves and of each other.

Throughout her life, Dr. Oropeza has been preoccupied by a restlessness to be near the feminine, to bridge the gap of …

The story of psychoanalysis began with men trying to understand women through the study of hysteria and more significantly through the lens of male experience, with male experience being seen as the “norm.” In the hundred years since the inception of psychoanalysis, many of Freud’s theories have been challenged, re-described, abandoned and indeed defended in bitter battles.

With a striking consistency, there is a remarkable disappearing act that takes place for the wo…

Myths, fairytales and sacred texts are replete with stories of the amputated and sacrificed feminine. From Medusa to the Handless Maiden, from Iphegenia to Jepthah’s daughter, the feet, hands and heads of women and girls are routinely disposed of, often with narrative alacrity. In the fairytale of The Red Shoes, Karen, the orphaned girl, approaches the executioner and pleads with him to cut off her feet at the ankles. The lines that follow this horrific request are reveali…

In this engaging and thought-provoking talk, Dr. Alanna Kaivalya shares her career journey from scholar to author, educator, and leader in the movement to redefine modern femininity. Drawing on her background in mythological studies and depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, she explores how timeless myths, archetypal wisdom, and the balance of feminine and masculine energies shape the way women experience empowerment, satisfaction, and relationshi…