Honi the Circle-Maker: an ancient narrative for creating temenos in challenging times

Abstract

Our current world pandemic and the ensuing turmoil have challenged us to find new narratives of radical change. Poet Antonio Machado speaks of ‘listening on the vast rim of silence’. The author opens with reflections on the importance of soul-work that is grounded in the ephemeral, reverie and other non-verbal experiences in creating new narratives. She invites the reader to engage in active imagination with an ancient myth from the Jewish Talmud dealing with death and destruction. Honi the Circle-Maker, a known miracle-worker draws a circle around himself and with chutzpah (daring) challenges God to send the right type of rain to end a devastating drought. Using the theoretical concepts of Carl Jung, Erich Neumann and other contemporary Jungian analysts (Hillman, Kalsched, Winborn, Stein and Tuley), the author discusses the power of archetypal imagery of circle-making and the Great Round. To the background of the myth, she emphasizes the power of the individual to make a difference in the world. Finally, she concludes with reflections on the importance of the other in the face of a pandemic.