Mary Reynolds Thompson: Awakening to the Ocean and River Woman Archetype: A Five Part Writing Workshop

Check out Mary Reynolds Thompson’s article, The Pulse of the Wild.

The Ocean and River Woman Archetype represents a surrender of the ego in order to live from love. Like a devotee entering a sacred river, by immersing yourself in this archetype you lay claim to the wild river of your wanting. The initiated Ocean and River Woman knows how to dance with her emotions in a way that brings her fully alive. No longer afraid to express her emotions, they become the current that sets the course of her life and initiates her own re-birthing process. In this five-part course, you will explore your own relationship to Ocean and River Woman and learn how she has the power to dissolve the ego and reveal your deeper, greater self within. You will be guided on this journey by Mary Reynolds Thompson, author and facilitator of poetry and journal therapy, and a pioneer in the emerging field of spiritual ecology.

In this online course, you will:

• Explore the archetypal significance of Ocean and River Woman in your life
• Plunge into the depths of your longing in order to find your place of belonging
• Reclaim the power of your emotions to shape the contours of your existence
• Write from a deeper and more creative place

Each session will be 90 minutes long and will offer multiple writing prompts. There will also be opportunities to share what you write in small, intimate groups. The work is creative, deep, imaginative, and allows for many different styles of writing techniques, from poetry to prose. No previous writing experience is necessary.

Throughout the sessions, you will be inspired by quotes, poetry, embodied exercises, writing exercises, and meditations.

Please note that this program runs every Tuesday, June 8-July 13, EXCEPT July 6th.

June 8: “Surrendering to Something Greater”

• Begin by examining what archetypes are, how they work within us, and what the Ocean and River Woman represents to each of us
• Explore how and when someone tends to encounter the Ocean and River archetype and what she comes to teach us
• Examine the different meanings of surrender, and why for many women this is a particularly challenging task
• Write about letting go of control and what that feels like
• You’ll be inspired by poetry, quotes, and the ability to hear others voices.
• You’ll do a specific ritual connected to the deep yearning or longing you bring to this journey

June 15: “Moving from Dam/ned to Flow”

• Explore creatively the differences inherent in living from a dammed state to one of flow
• Explore the ways in which we dam ourselves
• Move into a state of flow through a special music meditation
• Do a writing of release to open to creative flow and glimpse new possibilities

June 22: “Reclaiming the Power to Shapeshift”

• Examine all the forms that water takes and begin to map your own emotional landscape
• Learn the art of Ocean and River Woman to dance with a spectrum of emotions
• Begin to work with and write about the emotions that you least employ and explore their depths and meaning for you

June 29: “Learning to Love Ourselves”

• Explore the damaging and limiting images of self-love we have been fed
• Learn about the differences between healthy boundaries and unhealthy ones
• Tap into the ancient knowing of Ocean and River Woman to hold, cradle and
  accept every aspect of you
• Write your own love poem to yourself

July 13: “Coming Fully Alive”

• Explore the vital place that water and emotions play in bringing us to life
• Reflect upon the images that have arisen and continue to arise during this course
• Return to the deep yearning or longing you brought to this course
• Write about the source of your own river—pure, unpolluted and life-giving