wondering and wandering
Sarah at Þingvellir National Park, Iceland (2015) before heading North to attend the 2 week long Svartárkot
Culture — Nature program
You can contact me at: sarah.norton.phd@arcticmail.com
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Hello and welcome, Thank you for taking the time to visit and learn a bit more about me. I am an independent scholar, writer, editor, and creator. I received my doctoral degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2020 after completing my dissertation in Jungian and Archetypal psychology. The title of my dissertation was "Arctic Imaginings: Chasing Ice through C.G. Jung's Liber Novus into the 21st Century" and I defended, fittingly, on Earth Day. This multi-year alchemical hermeneutic inquiry was an in-depth look at personal experiences of grief and ambiguous loss in the context of the larger backdrop of climate crisis. Through this experience and accompanying dreams, ice became an abiding image which offered wisdom, connection, and the light of hope even in the darkest times. Most recently, I was able to move this work forward into a new book Climate Change, Environments of Uncertainty and Loss: Jung, Politics and Culture, published by Routledge in 2025 (see more below). With a bachelors degree in Sociology, a masters and PhD in Depth Psychology (sometimes termed the psychology of the unconscious), and as a certified Dream Group Facilitator through the Haden Institute, I am deeply interested in the individual, the community at large, and the many connections (known and unknown) that weave us into the world, especially in this time of climate chaos. I have a deep and abiding love for dreams, the cryosphere, and the creative process. As a passionate, but amateur, photographer, studied dreamer, and constant adventurer, I have a special connection to image and the wisdom that diving deeply into an image (visual or otherwise) can bring each of us. Just like the Sólheimajökull glacier pictured above, each image has many layers and hidden depths, which, once explored, can open up a new world of knowledge and understanding for the individual and the collective. Below you will find links to the various pages where you can access my writing and work. There are also "highlights" where I will update new publications and upcoming presentations occasionally.
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Climate Change, Environments of Uncertainty and Loss
"Sarah D. Norton’s powerful book takes the whole psyche into the existential crisis of the twenty-first century: the climate catastrophe. By exposing rise of political rage as rooted in unconscious loss and grief, the book provides a map of terrain that we must traverse. For without the exploration of the psychic legacies of colonialism, speciesism, and inequality provided here, real transformation is stuck. Perhaps not surprisingly, Norton shows C. G. Jung as prescient and helpful in unsticking the wheels of change. This book is desperately needed to tell the story of where we are and how to foster necessary forgiveness and hope." Focusing on one of the most significant and critical issues facing the world today, this important book explores multiple aspects of climate change through the use of Jungian symbols and "signs" of this environmental shift, while diving deep into the politics of loss in reaction to climate chaos, uncertainty, and ambiguity.
Despite the imminent threat of ecological crisis, many treat this existential crisis as something that can be pushed to the side, ignored, and denied. The loss of natural habitats, species, land, human life, and health continues, acknowledged or not. Unconsciously, a necessary process of grief is bubbling up from the depths as a reaction to this climate crisis. This grief, often disguised as anger or inaction, can lead to individual and political action if it is engaged consciously and directed with purpose. From forest fires, to melting ice, to bleached coral, and warming oceans, within the chapters of this book, each sign of our changing planet is explored in depth from multiple perspectives. Through this exploration, each is revealed as a Jungian symbol encompassing so much more than we consciously comprehend. Each symbol is brought to life in the context of this political, communal, and individual space of loss, transforming a subversive grieving process into creative, conscious action. This is essential and accessible reading for those within the fields of depth psychology, environmental sciences, humanities, and politics, as well as anyone wishing to gain more insight into the current climate crisis and their place within it. "Sarah Norton masterfully weaves depth psychology, political analysis, and environmental science together to explore the complex emotional and societal impacts of our climate crisis. With profound insight and compassion, Norton’s transdisciplinary approach offers a unique and vital perspective on one of the most pressing issues of our time. This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand and navigate the psychological and universal dimensions of climate change." |
This creative and transdisciplinary addition to the Jung, Politics and Culture series engages with core depth issues concerning the climate crisis. Norton explores the unconscious tendrils of grief that entangle so many people in a stifling sense of doom. From mythology and folktales to economics and activism, we experience a hopeful text that takes an enlivening post-Jungian approach to the imagery, symbolism, psychology and politics of climate change." 
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Current and past work
Writing on Medium
To read, visit: https://sarahdnorton.medium.com/
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Editor, The Rose in the World
Explore The Rose: https://roseintheworld.org/
and read Sarah's editor's greetings in the archives. The Rose is currently on hiatus for restructuring. |
Academia Profile, CV, and essays
Read more: https://sarahnorton.academia.edu/
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Current and upcoming work
Information about upcoming publications and talks, as well as current pieces to peruse.
(Each of the images below can be used as a link to access the registration, bookstore, publisher, etc.)
(Each of the images below can be used as a link to access the registration, bookstore, publisher, etc.)
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ONGOING COLLABORATION
Psychreative has wonderful offerings each month, you can almost always find me there as I am honored to co-host this event in collaboration with Roula-Maria Dib, founder of the London Arts-Based Research Centre(LABRC). Find the new information each month on LABRCs site here: https://labrc.co.uk/psychreative/
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Recent presentations
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Past Publications, presentations, and more...
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PUBLISHED ARTICLE
Psychological Perspectives, Vol. 64, Issue 3: Cultural Images
Glacial Grieving: Melting the Ice Within to See the World Renewed https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332925.2021.1994808 |
AUTHOR TALK
AUTHOR TALK:
I am honored to give a talk on my new book with the Pacifica Extension and International Studies program on April 16th at 12-1pm PT (2-3pm ET). More information to register and join can be found here, recording available to all who register: https://extension.pacifica.edu/author-spotlight/ |
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
International Association of Jungian Studies:
Presentation topic from December 2-4, 2022 online Jung and Doom: Imagining a Path Forward into the Unknown And from December 12, 2024: "Climates of Uncertainty and Possibility: Confronting Giants on the Black and White Path." I have also presented an numerous conferences over the years with the Jungian Society of Scholarly Studies, the International Association for the Study of Dreams, London Arts-Based Research Centre, and the Art and Psyche Conference. |
PUBLISHED ARTICLE and POEM:
In Indelible's Issue #6: The Feminine:
"Grief and Hope: A Heroine’s Journey," p. 32 and "The Great Mother, a Pantoum" p. 234 View the issue here. |
SHORT PRESENTATION:
Presentation of a work in progress during one of our monthly Psychreative sessions, "A Meditation on Green." This later became part of the chapter of Climate Change, Environments of Uncertainty and Loss, Chapter 3 "Shadows of Green Shroud Fires of Change." View the full session on Youtube here:
https://youtu.be/N-fNgNPfA1U |
Article publication:
In Unpsychology Magazine, Issue 7, Spring 2021: Climate Complexity Change
"Snow: A Meditation on Covid and Climate" pp. 48-51 |
RADIO PROGRAM
"Finding Our Fit" on TheWork FM Discussions on the topic "What Your Shadow knows that You Don't with Gary Goldberg and Sanna Calvert of the Foundation for Family and Community Healing (HealingEdu.org), and "How the Unconscious Guides Us." |
presentation
Presenting the topic "Grieving with Earth: Melting the Ice Within" as part of a Zoom Panel with Foundation for Family and Community Healing (FFCH) for Earth Day, view now on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/cy6aBCHAuwY |
Published Article
Essay and photographs, a composite of a keynote talk at the 2020 Natural Spirituality Regional Gathering and a the FFCH Earth Day presentation above: "Arctic Imaginings: Melting the Ice Within"
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Published Chapter
Chapter 16: "Arctic Calving: Birthing A New Vision of the Earth through the Symbol of Ice" by Sarah D. Norton, pp.231-241. In Jungian Perspectives on Rebirth and Renewal, Routledge, 2017
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collaboration
Sarah was pleased to contribute 3 dreams with commentary to the book Dream Animal Wisdom by Connie Bovier. She was also honored to have the glossary of terms adapted from her work
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