2021: Jocelyn Chaplin “Equalising Rhythms – The Spirit Within Matter”

In consideration of the Covid-19 pandemic, this lecture took place on Zoom.

Jocelyn’s lecture explored three crises facing humanity, which all interconnect and relate profoundly to the present Coronavirus Crisis: firstly the Crisis of Meaning; secondly the Climate Crisis and thirdly the Crisis of Inequality.

The Crisis of Meaning

Spirituality has been an important part of many therapies. But it has usually been connected to Patriarchal religions or New Age commercialism. In both, the underlying model is hierarchical. The goal is moving ever upwards towards enlightenment or perfection.

Jocelyn has been working on an alternative paradigm for 40 years. She described it as the Equalising Rhythm model. Many believe that God is dead, but perhaps goddessing as the spirit in matter is very much alive. She calls her Equalia. She prioritises attuning to the balancing needs of each situation rather than dominating or winning.

The Coronavirus is not a punishment from a vengeful God but can be seen as a re-balancing by Gaia/Mother Earth/Equalia.

Equalia in 11 Dimensions – Jocelyn Chaplin

The Climate Crisis

In nature, both within and outside us, balancing or equalising can be seen as the most powerful underlying force, which is present from the subatomic to the cosmic levels. It is because humans no longer honour or attune to it that we are destroying the planet. Instead, internalised hierarchical structures drive our excessive consumerism and competitiveness. Clever advertising plays to our needs for status, as in endless unnecessary flying.

The Crisis of Inequality

We cannot build a more sustainable future with present levels of inequality and our dominating, vertical thinking. From global issues like colonialism and capitalism to our internalised biases, most of our psychological problems are caused somehow by one hierarchy or another. As therapists, we are working daily with the results, from depression and low self-esteem to the stress of poverty.

The Afternoon Session

Jocelyn facilitated an experiential workshop in which participants were invited to consider their personal experiences of hierarchies.

When at the top of a hierarchy
When at the bottom of a hierarchy
To explore deeply the experinece of being equal to another

About Jocelyn Chaplin

Jocelyn works in private practice and, with John Rowan, co-founded the Serpent Institute in 1998 to train therapists in Humanistic and Psychodynamic approaches within a natural spirituality framework. It is now a centre for developing a spirituality with equality at its heart.

Jocelyn is also an artist.

She has published several books and articles, including:

The Mass Psychology of Thatcherism (with Christine Haggart) (Pamphlet), West London Socialist Society.1983
‘Feminist Counselling in Action’ Jocelyn Chaplin. Sage. 1988-1999. ISBN 0 7619 6310 3 (hdbk) 0 7619 6311 1
‘Love in an Age of Uncertainty : Reclaiming Aphrodite’ Jocelyn Chaplin. Harper Collins. 1993. ISBN 1-85538-169-9
‘Deep Equality: Living in the Flow of Natural Rhythms ’ Jocelyn Chaplin. John Hunt Publishing. 2008. Wiley and Sons. ISBN. 978-1-84694-096-508

Book List

In addition to her own books listed above, Jocelyn recommended the following books in relation to her lecture:

‘The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future’ Riane Eisler. Unwin Paperbacks. 1987- 1990.
ISBN 0-04-440627-4
‘The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image’ Anne Baring and Jules Cashford. Penguin. 1991. ISBN 0-670-83564-1
‘Other Lives, Other Selves: A Jungian Psychotherapist Discovers Past Lives’ Roger Woolger. Harper Collins. 1987-99. ISBN 1-85538-311 X
‘The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory ’ Brian Greene. Vintage. 2000. ISBN 0-09-928992-X
‘The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of A New Era’ Steve Taylor. John Hunt Publishing. 2005. ISBN 1-905047-20-7

Some of these books are out of print, but copies of all of them are widely available via several online booksellers.