The Sister from Below

Earth Day Conference with Naomi Lowinsky

2010-03-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

FIsher King Press authors Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and Patricia Damery will be presenting at the following conference:

Listening to Earth / Listening to Psyche:
Old and New Pathways to Healing Our Relationship to the Earth

Saturday April 17, 2010 9:30 am - 5 pm
Cost: $125
CE Credit: $15 CE Hours: 6
Approved for MD, PhD, MFT, LCSW, RN
Location: Unitarian Church 1187 Franklin St SF 94109
Reserve for this event with the San Francisco C.G. Jung Institute.

Because the Mountain is My Companion:
Poetry of the Natural World
Presented by: Naomi Ruth Lowinsky

Poetry's roots are shamanic. There are poets of the natural world who return us to a realm in which earth, stone, tree are alive, luminous with divinity, a realm in which animals are our companions, our gods, our teachers. So are mountains.

There are poems which can alter our consciousness—opening our senses to the experience of the sacred, and to the wildness within us.

Dr. Lowinsky will read some poems that evoke these deep, essential experiences of the "unus mundus"—feeling part of everything that is—some of her own and some by poets she loves: Wendell Berry, Patiann Rogers and Gary Snyder.

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, PhD, is an analyst member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is the recent recipient of the Obama Millennium Poetry Prize, awarded for "Madelyn Dunham, Passing On." Her most recent publication, The Sister From Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way has recently been published by Fisher King Press. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies in addition to her two poetry collections, red clay is talking and crimes of the dreamer.

Invoking the Divine in Psyche and Matter:
Analytical Psychology and Biodynamic Agriculture
Presented by: Patricia Damery

"We are not lacking in the dynamic forces needed to create the future," Thomas Berry asserted. "We live immersed in a sea of energy beyond all comprehension. But this energy, in an ultimate sense, is ours not by domination but by invocation."

Carl Jung approached the human psyche through invocation and active imagination, an approach similar to that of Rudolf Steiner's to the earth through Biodynamic agriculture. Both men were deeply influenced by the scientific work and poetry of Wolfgang von Goethe. In this talk some of Goethe's basic principles necessary for the kind of consciousness which apprehends these "dynamic forces needed to create the future," will be presented, a consciousness that is at the heart of participatory science, and an experience of transcendence. Examples from analytical practice and farming will be cited and the biodynamic ritual of "stirring" described, which is at once a "setting of intention" and a prayer. Through this consciousness we are distinct and we are at one with creation, an individuating experience.

Growing up in small Midwestern farming community, presenter Patricia Damery witnessed the demise of the family farm through the aggressive forces of agribusiness, and, like most of her generation, left. Coming full circle, she returned to the land and farming when she married her husband Donald and joined him on his ranch. Her work with the psyche and the earth emphasizes feminine-based practice.

Patricia Damery, MA, is an analyst member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and practices in Napa. With her husband Donald, she has also farmed biodynamically for ten years. Her forthcoming book Farming Soul: A Tale of Initiation is to be published by Fisher King Press in the spring 2010. Her articles and poetry have appeared in the San Francisco Library Journal; Jung Journal; Psychological Perspectives, and Biodynamics: Working for Social Change Through Agriculture.
Also presenting at this event will be:

Jerome Bernstein on: Explorations of Borderland Consciousness

Johnson Dennison on: Balancing Navajo (Diné) Ceremonies with Western Medicine: Introducing Nature and the Spirit of the Holy People

Maria Ellen Chiaia on: Gaia Speaks and the Gods Enter

Current Writings

2010-02-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

2009 has been a good year for Naomi Ruth Lowinsky’s poetry. “Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” won the New Millennium Writings Obama Millennium Prize (link) and her poem, “Your People Are My People” won an Honorable Mention in the New Millennium Writings 2009 contest. In addition, several poems were accepted by a variety of literary journals:

* “An American History Poem” in New Millennium Writing s

* “Goat Song” and “Forgive me My Sisters” in Jewish Women’s Annual

* “Many Houses Ago” (the first section of a longer poem) in Pinch

* “Psalm for the Whales” in Westview

* “Thunder my Love” Cadillaccicatrix

* “When One of Us is Ripped Loose We All Unravel” in Argestes

* “her song in the stars” in A Gathering: Ina Coolbrith Anthology

“…a unique and uplifting journey, an inspiring read”

2010-02-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

The Sister From Below, reviewed in February Poetry Flash

The current (February 2010) edition of Poetry Flash features a review of The Sister From, Below by Lucille Lang Day. Lucille Day is the founder and director of Scarlet Tanager Books. Her new book of poetry is The Curvature of Blue.

The review describes The Sister as “a book about self-realization, finding one’s deepest self, and discovering the connections between one’s life and the timeless realm of myths….The Sister is Lowinsky’s muse in her many guises. She can take the form of actual people, living or dead, mythical figures, or individuals drawn wholly from Lowinsky’s imagination: an Italian nurse who tended Lowinsky in early childhood, Lowinsky’s grandmother who died in the Holocaust, Sappho, Eurydice, Old Mother India, the biblical Naomi, and many others. The muse can even appear as a male figure, such as one of Lowinsky’s early lovers or the mysterious Shaman of the Stones.”

Lucille Day asks, “Ultimately, who or what is the muse? Lowinsky suggests that the muse could be the soul, the Self as in Jungian psychology, inspiration, a lover, a god or goddess, an intermediary between worlds, or all of the above. Wisely, she does not try to pin the muse down to a single definition or explanation, but instead focuses on conveying her own experiences in which the muse 'lifts the veil on other realities.'”

See www.poetryflash.org

The Sister From Below can be ordered as an “eBook”

2010-02-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Sister From Below can now be ordered through the Amazon Kindle eReader as well as in the Adobe Digital Edition eBooks (which are compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems) and the Sony Reader.

This means that anyone with a computer, anywhere in the world, can purchase The Sister in digital format, download it and be able to read it on a Windows or Mac computer, as well as on a Sony or Kindle eBook reading device.

Here’s what you do:

1) Go to the Fisher King Press website www.fisherkingpress.com

2) Click on the eBook link on the upper left side of the page, under the ‘Categories’ menu. You will find detailed instructions of how to order The Sister (and other Fisher King Press book) as an eBook.

Please note: You do not need a special eBook reading device like the Kindle or Sony eReader. If you have an eBook reading device, great; if not, that’s fine too. A computer is all you need, along with the free Adobe Digital Edition (ADE) software.

To order Kindle editions of The Sister, you can order directly from the title page on the Amazon.com website, where the Kindle edition is offered along with the printed version.

"The Sister From Below" Receives a Glowing Review in Psychological Perspectives

2010-01-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

In a review published in Psychological Perspectives (Volume 52, Issue 4), Dr. Robin Robertson wrote, “This is a remarkable book, I might even say a unique book. I certainly don't know of any other book like it.” He goes on to say, “This book moves seamlessly between Active Imagination, personal memories and experience, and poetry, both her own and from other poets….There are so many wonderful stories here, so many faces of the muse: in ‘When the Sister Gets Her Way’ we hear how the muse first convinced Naomi of her spiritual calling as a poet.”

Robertson continues, “Perhaps my favorite of the stories (but it's a tough choice) is ‘The Book of Ruth: Naomi's Version,’ in which her muse is the ‘Ur Naomi,’ the ancient Naomi whose real story is missing from the Book of Ruth in the Bible. It's a moving story of what happens when the masculine and feminine are separated, and power when they once more join….I hope many read this book and that it inspires others to make their own attempt at creating a new form of literature.”

Dr. Robertson is a Jungian-oriented clinical psychologist, author of Indra’s Net: Alchemy and Chaos Theory as Models for Self-Transformation (Quest Books, 2009).

“Soul’s Tongue: A Poetry Reading with Cello and Conversation”

2010-01-14T11:43:00.000-08:00

Bridge Crossings---Conversations in Poetry 2010
A SUNDAY AFTERNOON SERIES
February 7, May 16, September 26, November 7

Jung Institute of San Francisco
2040 Gough Street, San Francisco
(415) 771-8055

February 7th brought us the first afternoon of a series of poems and conversations by poets addressing a common theme, accompanied by music and visual images. The impetus for these conversations arose from the notion that poetry is a “crossing” over varying psychic territories that touch our lives, our practices, and our humanity with both a feeling of recognition and surprise.

A Freudian and a Jungian, both analysts, both poets, Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and Forrest Hamer read and conversed; cellist Chris Evan provided musical accompaniment.

All shared the medium of language and engaged in the work of translation—from image, affect and memory into words.

Does soul speak to each in the same tongue?

If the poet is also an analyst, does one discipline support the other? Or are they conflicting practices?

FORREST HAMER is a widely published poet. He is the winner of the Beatrice Hawley award for his collection “Call and Response” and the Northern California Book Award for his collection “Middle Ear.” His most recent book of poems is called “Rift.” Poems of his have been published in “The Best American Poetry.” Forrest Hamer also works as an analyst and comes from the Psychoanalytic tradition.

NAOMI RUTH LOWINSKY has published her work in many literary magazines. Her poetry collections are “red clay is talking” and “crimes of the dreamer.” Her memoir on creativity, “The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way,” was recently published. Naomi also works as an analyst and comes from the Jungian tradition.

CHRIS EVANS has performed classical music in the Bay Area and France. She has played in the orchestras at San Francisco State, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley. Lately she has become interested in improvisation and composition.

2009-11-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

Your People Are My People

2009-11-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky was again recognized in the New Millennium Writings competition, winning the Honorable Mention Award for her poem, "Your People Are My People." According to Don Williams, editor and publisher of New Millennium Writings, "Our poetry judge, Nikki Giovanni, liked this poem a lot."

"Your People Are My People" tracks the ways music, meaningful to each culture, evokes the commonalities and differences in the experiences of European Jews and African Americans.

The poem will be published in the 2010-2011 New Millennium Writings, due out in one year, and at www.newmillenniumwritings.com.

Roland Hayes Article in Psychological Perspectives

2009-10-27T20:56:00.001-07:00

“My Home is Over Jordan,” by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, appears in the latest issue of Psychological Perspectives (Volume 52, issue 3 / 2009).

This powerfully moving article remembers the story and charisma of Roland Hayes, the great and almost forgotten African American tenor. A classically trained musician, Hayes was as well known in his day as Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson, both of whom he mentored. Hayes introduced the beauty and joy of spirituals to concert audiences in Europe and America.

Roland Hayes touched the author’s life when she was a very young child. Her parents were faculty members at Black Mountain College. In mid 1940s North Carolina, her father committed what at that time was the revolutionary act of inviting Hayes to perform before an integrated audience. This memorable concert featured the son of freed slaves singing the European repertoire of Schubert and Bach and the African American folk tradition of spirituals.

Spirituals offer a religious attitude that intertwines African, Jewish and Christian roots with the practical function of conveying secret messages about the way to freedom— a peculiarly American blend of soul that has much in it to sustain us in difficult times.

Roland Hayes made a profound impression on the author. She invokes his spirit in this article and learns much about herself and about him.

Psychological Perspectives is a quarterly journal of Jungian thought published by the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. Subscription information is available from http://www.junginla.org/psychpersp/.

A Day with Naomi Lowinsky and The Muse in Los Angeles

2009-10-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles & Psychological Perspectives present:

"A Day with Your Muse"

10am - 1pm, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

C.G. Jung Institute Los Angeles

"A Day with Your Muse" is a half-day event in which Naomi Lowinsky will present material from her book, and lead a writing workshop to help people get in touch with their inner "Sister from Below." Reserve your space now!

The "Sister from Below" is a fierce inner figure. She emerges out of reverie, dream, a fleeting memory, a difficult emotion—she is the moment of inspiration—the muse.

This Sister is not about the ordinary business of life: work, shopping, making dinner. She speaks from other realms. If you'll allow, She'll whisper in your ear, lead your thoughts astray, fill you with strange yearnings, get you hot and bothered, send you off on some wild goose chase of a daydream, eat up hours of your time. She's a siren, a seductress, a shape-shifter . . . Why listen to such a troublemaker? Because She is essential to the creative process: She holds the keys to the doors of our imaginations and deeper life—the evolution of Soul.

Naomi Lowinsky, MFT, is an analyst member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and the poetry/fiction editor for Psychological Perspectives. She is the recent recipient of the Obama Millennium Poetry awarded for "Madelyn Dunham, Passing On.” Her most recent publication, The Sister From Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way (ISBN 9780981034423) has just been published by Fisher King Press. A reprinted edition of The Motherline: Every Woman's Journey to Find Her Female Roots (ISBN 9780981034461) has also just been published by Fisher King Press. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies in addition to her two poetry collections, red clay is talking (2000) and crimes of the dreamer (2005). She has a private practice in Berkeley.

To reserve your space, contact the
C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles
10349 Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone: (310) 556-1193
email: office@junginla.org www.junginla.org

Poetry reading at Nefeli Café in Berkeley

2009-09-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

Oct. 9th, 2009, 7 PM

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky will be reading at Nefeli Café in Berkeley
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
1854 Euclid Ave
(between Hearst Ave & Ridge Rd)
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 841-6374

“The Word Made Flesh: The Living Symbol - San Francisco Jung Institute

2009-09-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Oct. 10th, “The Word Made Flesh” a presentation at the San Francisco Jung Institute Conference on The Living Symbol.

CONFERENCE:
The Living Symbol In and Out of the Consulting Room - Maria Chiaia, Naomi Lowinsky, Richard Stein, Bryan Wittine, Suzanne Wagner
Saturday and Sunday, October 10 & 11, 2009
9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Reserve for this event at San Francisco Jung Institute
"Symbols act as transformers"
- C.G. Jung (CW Vol. 5: 232)
Living symbols are messages from the depths of our being to our conscious "I", messages that reveal mysterious things about ourselves and our lives. Psychotherapists across traditions have found that symbolic images open the way to the creative possibilities of the unconscious. We discover these images through free association, dreams, fantasies, creative productions, and within the relational field between analyst and analysand. They evoke fascination, awe, fear, joy, upset, disorientation, but are inevitably transformative when we approach them with respect and attend to them in a contemplative way.

In this conference five Jungian analysts with different approaches will speak to their experience of living, transforming symbols in their lives and clinical work. What does the living symbol look like in clinical practice and in life? How does the symbol enter our psyche, and what does it do once it becomes known? What are the spiritual implications of symbols? Through lectures that include theory, art, poetry, and clinical material, the speakers will offer their unique perspectives on the ways symbols guide processes of growth in and out of the consulting room.

The Word Made Flesh - Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
It is as if the poet could still sense, beneath the words of contemporary speech and in the images that crowd in upon his imagination, the ghostly presence of bygone spiritual worlds, and possessed the capacity to make them come alive again. As Gerhart Hauptmann says: "Poetry is the art of letting the primordial word resound through the common word." - Jung, (CW 5 p. 303)
Our medium, in analysis, is language: the spoken word. Like poets we seek the "primordial word." We are engaged in the Promethean art of bringing life, fire, libido back to our analysand's word: so the word is made flesh; the symbol comes to life; the God is renewed.

When a person stumbles into analysis, she is typically split off from the surge of her libido, cut off from the meaning of her words, severed from her authenticity and from her Gods. She is incarcerated in taboos and constrictions that block her feeling, steal her breath, smother her fire.
If the analysis goes well she will find her way back, through the circumambulations and meanderings of the analytic conversation, to her own primordial word. She and her analyst will create a private language, a personal Tarot deck of living symbols, born of their shared wanderings in her internal landscape: her Gods and demons, dreams, memories, wounds, and longings. This is the stuff of her soul. Together they come to know what moves her, what excites her, how her words become flesh. Perhaps she will find a creative form in which to manifest the power of her personal symbols.

I propose to tell the story of such an analysis, the one I know best – my own – and to reflect on how language and poetry expresses the living symbol: the word made flesh. A series of poems about my analytic experience will structure the talk.

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, PhD, is an analyst member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and a widely published poet. Her book on creativity, The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way, has just been published by Fisher King Press. She has published a collection of poems about the analytic experience, Crimes of the Dreamer. She is the poetry editor of Psychological Perspectives, teaches writing classes in many settings, and is in private practice in Berkeley.

San Francisco Jung Institute Monthly Writing Group

2009-09-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Once a month writing group at the SF Jung Institute.

Deep River: Writing as a Spiritual Practice - Naomi Lowinsky
Saturday October 17, 2009 and 7 Subsequent Second Saturdays
1 – 5 pm

I listened to the earth-talk
- Mary Oliver

Poetry of the natural world is a deep river in American literature. From Walt Whitman to Mary Oliver, American poets have heard the spirit of the earth and its creatures, have spoken for forest and mountain lake, gray whale and marsh hawk. threatened habitat and lost wetlands. Theirs is the prophetic function of giving voice to our fear and our grief. Theirs is the shamanic function of re-imagining our place in nature.

This coming year in the Deep River Writing Circle we will track our own relationship to the natural world. We will read Whitman, Oliver, Gary Snyder, W.S. Merwin, Patiann Rogers and others, and write under their influence.

The Deep River writing circle is a place to find your own voice, to develop your writing practice, to participate in a small community of writers, to study great poems, to make your own connection to the deep river of nature writing. New members welcome, space allowing. Our first meeting will be on Saturday, October 17th from 1-5 in the Institute Library. After that we will meet on second Saturdays, November 2009 through May 2010. Limited to 12 participants.

What others are saying about Naomi and the Sister from Below

2009-06-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

What Others are saying about Naomi Lowinsky and the Sister from Below:

“Naomi Lowinsky has given us a remarkable, fearless, and full autobiography. Speaking in poetic, psychologically sensitive, scholarly dialogues with her shape-shifting muse, she has created a new form . . . This is a beautiful book to treasure and spread among worthy friends.”

—Sylvia Perera, Author of Descent to the Goddess and Celtic Queen Maeve and Addiction.

“. . . Naomi Ruth Lowinsky offers us a superbly detailed investigation of the powerful, mythic forces of the world as they are revealed to the active creative self. Don’t miss this enlightening and fascinating book.”
—David St. John, Author of Study for the World’s Body: New and Selected Poems and Prism.

“Naomi’s poetry and prose is infused with the suffering and joys of humans everywhere. Insightful and deeply moving, she brings us the food and water of life.”
—Joan Chodorow, Author of Dance Therapy and Depth Psychology, Editor of C.G. Jung on Active Imagination.

“A passionate love letter to those who yearn to be heard. A must read for every woman who longs to write poetry.”
—Maureen Murdock, Author of The Heroine’s Journey and Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory.

“Naomi Ruth Lowinsky reinterprets mythic and historical reality in provocative versions of the stories of Eurydice, Helen, Ruth, Naomi, and Sappho. The voice of the Sister from Below argues, cajoles, prods, explains, and yes, loves her human counterpart, and becomes the inspiration for Lowinsky’s stunning poetry in this highly original book.”
—Betty de Shong Meador, Author of Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart and Princess, Priestess, Poet.

The Sister from Below is a personal story, yet universal, of giving up a creative calling because of life’s obligations, and being called back to it in later life. This Fisher King Press publication describes the intricate patterns of a rich inner life; it is a traveler’s memoir, with outer journeys to Italy, India and a Neolithic cave in Bulgaria, and inward journeys to biblical Canaan and Sappho’s Greece; it is filled with mythic experience, a poet’s story told. The Sister conveys the lived experience of the creative life, a life in which active imagination—the technique of engaging with inner figures—is an essential practice.

The Sister speaks to all those who want to tab into their creative source and fulfill an unlived promise—those on a spiritual path, those who are filled with the urgency of poems that have to be written, paintings that must be painted, journeys that yearn to be taken…

In addition to The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way and The Motherline: Every Woman’s Journey to Find Her Female Roots, Naomi Ruth Lowinsky is the author of numerous prose essays, many of which have been published in Psychological Perspectives and The Jung Journal. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies, among them After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery, Weber Studies, Rattle, Atlanta Review, Tiferet and Runes. Her two poetry collections, red clay is talking (2000) and crimes of the dreamer (2005) were published by Scarlet Tanager Books. Naomi is a Jungian analyst in private practice and poetry and fiction editor of Psychological Perspectives.

Naomi has recently been awarded first prize in the Obama Millennium contest for her poem “Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” in which she imagines the spirit of Obama’s deceased grandmother visiting him as he speaks to the crowds in Chicago after his election. The poem will be published in the literary magazine New Millennium Writings this fall. To learn more about Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and her many publications visit www.sisterfrombelow.com

The Sister from Below:
When the Muse Gets Her Way
—ISBN 978-0-9810344-2-3
Published by and available for purchase directly from Fisher King Press.
Also available from your local bookstore, and a host of on-line booksellers.
Publication Date: June 1st, 2009

A Day with Noami Lowinsky and The Muse

2009-06-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

"A Day with Your Muse"
Presented by: Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at the
C.G. Jung Institute San Francisco

"A Day with Your Muse" is a day-long workshop in which Naomi Lowinsky will present material from her book, and lead a writing workshop to help people get in touch with their inner "Sister from Below."

The "Sister from Below" is a fierce inner figure. She emerges out of reverie, dream, a fleeting memory, a difficult emotion—she is the moment of inspiration—the muse.

This Sister is not about the ordinary business of life: work, shopping, making dinner. She speaks from other realms. If you'll allow, She'll whisper in your ear, lead your thoughts astray, fill you with strange yearnings, get you hot and bothered, send you off on some wild goose chase of a daydream, eat up hours of your time. She's a siren, a seductress, a shape-shifter . . . Why listen to such a troublemaker? Because She is essential to the creative process: She holds the keys to the doors of our imaginations and deeper life—the evolution of Soul.

Naomi Lowinsky, MFT, is an analyst member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is the recent recipient of the Obama Millennium Poetry awarded for "Madelyn Dunham, Passing On.” Her most recent publication, The Sister From Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way (ISBN 9780981034423) has just been published by Fisher King Press. A reprinted edition of The Motherline: Every Woman's Journey to Find Her Female Roots (ISBN 9780981034461) has also just been published by Fisher King Press. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies in addition to her two poetry collections, red clay is talking (2000) and crimes of the dreamer (2005). She has a private practice in Berkeley.

Saturday, June 13, 2009
10 AM - 4 PM
$125
CE Credit:$ 15
CE Hours: 6 Approved for MD, PHD, MFT, LCSW, RN

Location:
C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco
2040 Gough Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415/771-8055 (phone)
415/771-8926 (fax)
jungmail@sfjung.org

Reserve for this event

Naomi's poems, Lisa's music

2009-05-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Several of Naomi's poems (Hush Child the Night is Burning, Scenes from Childhood and What Broke) have been put to music by the very talented, Lisa Safran (Naomi's step-daughter). The melodies and arrangements complement each poem's unique evocation. Listen to Lisa's music.

Naomi Lowinsky interviewed by Jane Crown

2009-05-24T13:03:00.001-07:00

Fisher King Press author, Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, winner of the Obama Millennium Poetry awarded for "Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” was recently interviewed on the Jane Crown Show. You can easily listen to the hour-long interview by clicking on the link above, finding "archives" at the bottom of the page and clicking on "Naomi Ruth Lowinsky." Naomi's just released title, The Sister From Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way is now available from Fisher King Press and from your local bookstore or a host of online booksellers.

Press Release: The Sister From Below

2009-05-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

With Great Pleasure Fisher King Press announced today the publication of:

THE SISTER FROM BELOW:
WHEN THE MUSE GETS HER WAY
by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
(Recent recipient of the for Obama Millennium first prize writing award.)

Who is this Sister from Below? She’s certainly not about the ordinary business of life: work, shopping, making dinner. She speaks from other realms. If you’ll allow, She’ll whisper in your ear, lead your thoughts astray, fill you with strange yearnings, get you hot and bothered, send you off on some wild goose chase of a daydream, eat up hours of your time. She’s a siren, a seductress, a shape-shifter . . . Why listen to such a troublemaker? Because She is essential to the creative process: She holds the keys to the doors of our imaginations and deeper life—the evolution of Soul.

The Sister emerges out of reverie, dream, a fleeting memory, a difficult emotion—she is the moment of inspiration—the muse. Naomi Ruth Lowinsky writes of nine manifestations in which the muse visits her, stirring up creative ferment, filling her with ghosts, mysteries, erotic teachings, the old religion—bringing forth her voice as a poet. Among these forms of the muse are the “Sister from Below,” the inner poet who has spoken for the soul since language began. The muse also appears as the ghost of a grandmother Naomi never met, who died in the Shoah—a grandmother with ‘unfinished business.’ She visits in the form of Old Mother India, whose culture Naomi visited as a young woman. She cracks open her Western mind, flooding her with many gods and goddesses. She appears as Sappho, the great lyric poet of the ancient world, who engages her in a lovely midlife fantasy. She comes as “Die Ür Naomi,” an old woman from the biblical story for which Naomi was named, who insists on telling Her version of the Book of Ruth. And in the end, surprisingly, the muse appears in the form of a man, a long dead poet whom Naomi loved in her youth.

The Sister from Below is a personal story, yet universal, of giving up a creative calling because of life’s obligations, and being called back to it in later life. This Fisher King Press publication describes the intricate patterns of a rich inner life; it is a traveler’s memoir, with outer journeys to Italy, India and a Neolithic cave in Bulgaria, and inward journeys to biblical Canaan and Sappho’s Greece; it is filled with mythic experience, a poet’s story told. The Sister conveys the lived experience of the creative life, a life in which active imagination—the Jungian technique of engaging with inner figures—is an essential practice.

The Sister speaks to all those who want to cultivate an unlived promise—those on a spiritual path, those interested in a Jungian approach to life, those who are filled with the urgency of poems that have to be written, paintings that must be painted, journeys that yearn to be taken…

Here's what others are saying about The Sister from Below:

“Naomi Lowinsky has given us a remarkable, fearless, and full autobiography. Speaking in poetic, psychologically sensitive, scholarly dialogues with her shape-shifting muse, she has created a new form . . . This is a beautiful book to treasure and spread among worthy friends.”
—Sylvia Perera, Author of Descent to the Goddess and Celtic Queen Maeve and Addiction.

“. . . Naomi Ruth Lowinsky offers us a superbly detailed investigation of the powerful, mythic forces of the world as they are revealed to the active creative self. Don’t miss this enlightening and fascinating book.”
—David St. John, Author of Study for the World’s Body: New and Selected Poems and Prism.

“Naomi’s poetry and prose is infused with the suffering and joys of humans everywhere. Insightful and deeply moving, she brings us the food and water of life.”
—Joan Chodorow, Author of Dance Therapy and Depth Psychology, Editor of C.G. Jung on Active Imagination.

“A passionate love letter to those who yearn to be heard. A must read for every woman who longs to write poetry.”
—Maureen Murdock, Author of The Heroine’s Journey and Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory.

“Naomi Ruth Lowinsky reinterprets mythic and historical reality in provocative versions of the stories of Eurydice, Helen, Ruth, Naomi, and Sappho. The voice of the Sister from Below argues, cajoles, prods, explains, and yes, loves her human counterpart, and becomes the inspiration for Lowinsky’s stunning poetry in this highly original book.”
—Betty de Shong Meador, Author of Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart and Princess, Priestess, Poet.

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky has recently been awarded first prize in the Obama Millennium contest for her poem “Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” in which she imagines the spirit of Obama’s deceased grandmother visiting him as he speaks to the crowds in Chicago after his election. The poem will be published in the literary magazine New Millennium Writings this fall. To learn more about Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and her many publications visit www.sisterfrombelow.com

Press Release: The Motherline

2009-05-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

With Great Pleasure Fisher King Press announced today the publication of:

THE MOTHERLINE:
EVERY WOMAN'S JOURNEY TO FIND HER FEMALE ROOTS
by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
(Recent recipient of the for Obama Millennium first prize writing award.)

Our mothers are the first world we know, the source of our lives and stories. Embodying the mysteries of origin, they tie us to the great web of kin and generation. Yet, the voice of their experience is seldom heard. The Motherline describes a woman’s journey to find her roots in the personal, cultural, and archetypal realms. It was written for women who have mothers, are mothers, or are considering motherhood, and for the men who love them. Telling the stories of women whose maturation has been experienced in the cycle of mothering, it urges a view of women that does not sever mother from daughter, feminism from “the feminine,” body from soul.

Here what a few reviewers have had to say about The Motherline:

“(In) this perceptive and penetrating study . . . (Naomi Ruth Lowinsky) imaginatively applies Jungian, feminist and literary approaches to popular attitudes about . . . mothers and daughters and movingly, to personal experience.”
—Publisher’s Weekly

“A combination of years of scholarship and recordings of personal journeys, this book belongs in every woman’s psychology/spirituality collection.”
—Library Journal

“In this accessible volume, Jungian psychologist Lowinsky explores the pain that women feel when their mother-love is undervalued or erased.”
—ALA Booklist

In addition to The Motherline: Every Woman’s Journey to Find Her Female Roots and The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way, Naomi Ruth Lowinsky is the author of numerous prose essays, many of which have been published in Psychological Perspectives and The Jung Journal. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies, among them After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery, Weber Studies, Rattle, Atlanta Review, Tiferet and Runes. Her two poetry collections, red clay is talking (2000) and crimes of the dreamer (2005) were published by Scarlet Tanager Books. Naomi is a Jungian analyst in private practice and poetry and fiction editor of Psychological Perspectives.

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky has recently been awarded first prize in the Obama Millennium contest for her poem “Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” in which she imagines the spirit of of Obama’s deceased grandmother visiting him as he speaks to the crowds in Chicago after his election. The poem will be published in the literary magazine New Millennium Writings this fall. To learn more about Naomi Ruth Lowinsky and her many publications visit www.sisterfrombelow.com

The Motherline:
Every Woman’s Journey to Find Her Female Roots
—ISBN 978-0-9810344-6-1
Published by and available for purchase directly from Fisher King Press.
Also available from your local bookstore, and a host of on-line booksellers.
Publication Date: June 1st, 2009

"Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” wins First Prize in Obama Millennium Contest

2009-05-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky has won first prize in the Obama Millennium contest for her poem “Madelyn Dunham, Passing On” in which she imagines the spirit of of Obama’s deceased grandmother visiting him as he speaks to the crowds in Chicago after his election. The poem will be published in the literary magazine New Millennium Writings this fall.

On May 24th, 2009, Naomi will interviewed on-line on the Jane Crown show at 2 pm Pacific time, 4 pm Central time, 5 pm Eastern time. She will read the prize winning poem among others.

Naomi Lowinsky's newest publication, The Sister From Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way (ISBN 978-0-9810344-2-3) will be published and available for purchase on June 1st, 2009. Also available on June 1st, 2009 will be a reprint of Naomi's popular book, The Motherline: Every Woman's Journey to find Her Female Roots (ISBN 978-0-9810344-6-1). Fisher King Press is publishing both of these titles. You can order books directly from Fisher King Press with discounted terms, or purchase from your local bookstore or from a host of online booksellers, including amazon.com.

The Muse Gets Her Way

2009-01-17T22:58:00.000-08:00

January 15th, 2008

With great pleasure, Fisher King Press announces another forthcoming title.

Available Spring of 2009

The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way
a Jungian Perspective by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky

Who is She, this Sister from Below? She’s certainly not about the ordinary business of life: work, shopping, making dinner. She speaks from other realms. If you’ll allow, She’ll whisper in your ear, lead your thoughts astray, fill you with strange yearnings, get you hot and bothered, send you off on some wild goose chase of a daydream, eat up hours of your time. She’s a siren, a seductress, a shape-shifter . . . Why listen to such a troublemaker? Because She is essential to the creative process: She holds the keys to the doors of our imaginations and deeper life—the evolution of Soul.

The Sister emerges out of reverie, dream, a fleeting memory, a difficult emotion—she is the moment of inspiration—the muse. Naomi Ruth Lowinsky writes of nine manifestations in which the muse visits her, stirring up creative ferment, filling her with ghosts, mysteries, erotic teachings, the old religion—bringing forth her voice as a poet. Among these forms of the muse are the “Sister from Below,” the inner poet who has spoken for the soul since language began. The muse also appears as the ghost of a grandmother Naomi never met, who died in the Shoah—a grandmother with ‘unfinished business.’ She visits in the form of Old Mother India, whose culture Naomi visited as a young woman. She cracks open her Western mind, flooding her with many gods and goddesses. She appears as Sappho, the great lyric poet of the ancient world, who engages her in a lovely midlife fantasy. She comes as “Die Ür Naomi,” an old woman from the biblical story for which Naomi was named, who insists on telling Her version of the Book of Ruth. And in the end, surprisingly, the muse appears in the form of a man, a long dead poet whom Naomi loved in her youth.

The Sister from Below is a personal story, yet universal, of giving up a creative calling because of life’s obligations, and being called back to it in later life. This forthcoming Fisher King Press publication describes the intricate patterns of a rich inner life; it is a traveler’s memoir, with outer journeys to Italy, India and a Neolithic cave in Bulgaria, and inward journeys to biblical Canaan and Sappho’s Greece; it is filled with mythic experience, a poet’s story told. The Sister conveys the lived experience of the creative life, a life in which active imagination—the Jungian technique of engaging with inner figures—is an essential practice.

The Sister speaks to all those who want to cultivate an unlived promise—those on a spiritual path, those who are filled with the urgency of poems that have to be written, paintings that must be painted, journeys that yearn to be taken…

Naomi Ruth Lowinsky is the author of The Motherline: Every Woman’s Journey to Find Her Female Roots (1992) and numerous prose essays, many of which have been published in Psychological Perspectives and The Jung Journal. She has had poetry published in many literary magazines and anthologies, among them After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery, Weber Studies, Rattle, Atlanta Review, Tiferet and Asheville Poetry Review. Her two poetry collections, red clay is talking (2000) and crimes of the dreamer (2005) were published by Scarlet Tanager Books. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize three times. Naomi is a Jungian analyst in private practice, poetry and fiction editor of Psychological Perspectives, and a grandmother many times over.

The cover image "Phases of the Moon" is an oil painting by Bianca Daalder-van Iersel, an artist and Jungian analyst practicing in Los Angeles, California. You can learn more about the artist and her work at www.bdaalder.com.

The Sister from Below:
When the Muse Gets Her Way
—by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
ISBN 978-0-9810344-2-3
Estimated shipping date June 2009,
call or email to place your advance order.
+1-831-238-7799

advance orders can also be placed with amazon.com