A Crossroads of Place and Time: A Terrapsychological Inquiry of Mount Forest Island

Abstract

Terrapsychological Inquiry is a depth psychological research methodology applying principles of ecopsychology to the study of the relationship between person and place. In the current study, I apply the methodological explorations of Terrapsychological Inquiry to the place of Mount Forest Island in Illinois to better understand its ecological and characterological essence. This exploration includes an examination of the “place history” of Mount Forest Island in Illinois as well as an integration of the technique of active imagination to generate further images related to the character of Mount Forest Island as place. The emergent themes and images from this work are then amplified through various cultural and mythological material to identify archetypal elements. Relatedly, this work examines the epistemological validity of the imagination in general. The implications these methodologies have for “reenchanting” Western culture’s relationship with place are also discussed, especially as they relate to addressing the cultural contributors to various climate and pollution crises. The research is organized in a tripartite structure composed of the nodes of Terrapsychological Inquiry as a methodology, Mount Forest Island as research partner, and active imagination as an epistemological technique. These nodes provide a reciprocal elaboration and enrichment of each other. Discussions of synchronicity and the psychoid as proposed by C. G. Jung and subsequent theorists then offer some further amplification of potential theoretical mechanisms underlying these relationships and enhancements.