In our rush to build the next frontier of artificial intelligence, technology has unconsciously inherited an ancient cultural pattern: placing a single "solar" capability at the apex while treating reflection, intuition, and grounded execution as lesser alternatives.
Join depth psychologist and author Dr. Howard Teich for an eye-opening in-person workshop that reframes how we understand intelligence — human and artificial alike. Drawing from depth psychology, alchemical symbolism, and modern systems design, Dr. Teich introduces the Solar–Lunar–Terrestrial Complementarity framework: a dynamic model that replaces rigid hierarchies with an interconnected ecology of mind.
Before Saturday
Free Introductory Talk
Free Public Talk · Thursday, October 22, 2026
C.G. Jung, Alchemy, and AI
A talk by Dr. Howard Teich | San Francisco, October 2026
7:30 PM · Dogpatch Hub, 1278 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
When OpenAI named its models Sol, Terra, and Luna, it thought it was choosing pretty words. When it crowned its newest flagship Astra — the stars — it thought it was simply reaching higher. It wasn't. Beneath that naming lies a 4,000-year-old story — one that alchemists, Freud and Jung, and the myths of nearly every culture have been quietly replaying ever since: the assumption that one kind of mind must rank above the others, and that transcendence means escaping the ones below. Drawing on Jung's own Mysterium Coniunctionis and a lifetime of work on complementarity, Dr. Howard Teich traces how this ancient sun-over-moon pattern shaped everything from Greek mythology to the atomic bomb — and asks whether the intelligence we're building right now will finally break it, or simply automate it. Part depth psychology, part cautionary tale, this talk offers a strikingly different lens on what AI actually is, and what we still get to decide about it.
The Three Archetypes of Consciousness. Understand the distinct, indispensable roles of Sol (sustained reasoning and differentiation), Luna (rapid adaptation, reflection, and responsiveness), and Terra (embodiment, practical application, and grounding) — and why Astra, the stars OpenAI reached for next, points back to where it all began: the stardust from which both carbon and silicon-based life are forged, and the shared origin that makes the conversation between human and artificial intelligence not a rivalry but a reunion.
From the Ladder to the Spiral. See how over-indexing on solar dominance creates a rigid ladder of rank — one rung above another — and why the truer image of intelligence is the spiral: think of the DNA double helix, where ascending and descending strands intertwine and every level circles back to inform the others. Pure reflection lacks direction without that interplay, and ideas become disembodied without grounded integration.
Complementarity Over Binary Thinking. Learn how to shift your everyday mindset from "which is strongest?" to "how do these forms of intelligence work together to create wholeness?"
Live Interactive Q&A. Engage directly with Dr. Teich to explore how this archetypal framework applies to your creative work, leadership, and personal life.
A digital copy of Cosmic Humanity. Dr. Teich's forthcoming book, included for every attendee.
Live Visual Experience
This workshop unfolds with live visual accompaniment, immersing the Solar–Lunar–Terrestrial framework in projected imagery as Dr. Teich speaks.
Open to everyone — creatives, thinkers, psychologists, tech professionals, and anyone curious about expanding beyond binary thinking to discover a deeper, more integrated way of navigating modern life.
About the Facilitator
Dr. Howard Teich, PhD, MS, is a psychologist, consultant, and educator based in San Francisco. Trained in Jungian analysis by Joseph Henderson and John Beebe — two of the most influential analysts in the post-Jungian tradition — he has maintained a private clinical practice for over fifty years. He is the creator of the PACE Profile, a proprietary personality assessment instrument originally developed for Apple, designed to map behavioral orientation across solar and lunar archetypal dimensions rather than conventional typologies. The PACE Profile has since been applied in leadership development, team dynamics, and organizational consulting for companies including Microsoft, Intel, and Wells Fargo.
His foundational research on solar and lunar psychology — which reframes these archetypal orientations beyond the traditional masculine/feminine duality — has been published in Parabola, the San Francisco Jung Institute Journal, Noetic Science Review, and the anthology Use of Comparative Mythology: Essays on the Work of Joseph Campbell. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, the California Institute of Integral Studies, Sonoma State University, the University of San Francisco, and Esalen Institute. He holds an MS from the University of Oregon.
Dr. Teich is the author of Solar Light, Lunar Light: Perspectives in Human Consciousness and co-author, with Kevin Stein, of the forthcoming The Secret of Complementarity: Beyond Binary Thinking.
A: The workshop will be held in person at Dogpatch Hub, 1278 Minnesota Street, San Francisco. Admission is free of charge; please reserve your seat using the registration form on this page.
Q: How long is the workshop?
A: Three hours, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Pacific Time, including a live interactive Q&A.
Q: Will a recording be available?
A: Details on recording availability will be provided to attendees.
Q: Do I need any background in psychology, alchemy, or AI?
A: No. The workshop is designed for curious, intelligent adults from any background. Dr. Teich has spent fifty years making these ideas accessible without diluting them.
