Stories - particularly fairy tales and ancient myths - can be powerful tools for healing; medicine for the soul. Without preaching, they reveal patterns of psychic development in each of us and reflect our deepest fears, passions, sorrows and joys. They allow us to encounter ourselves, from a safe distance, and allow us to gain insights into aspects of ourselves that we may not always want to face. Adorned with jewels of imagery, metaphor and symbol, stories contain wisdom - accumulated through generations - that can help us navigate through life's stormy seas.
The style in which fairy tales and myths are told may relate to why they have such healing power. Fairy tales are like public dreams. They begin with “once upon a time,” and take place somewhere far away. Myths, overlaid with more cultural context, begin at specified times in history and unfold in specific places. In either case, as we experience fairy tales or myths, we leave present time and enter into timeless eternity. We board a ship that takes us to a very distant place known as the unconscious.
The late psychoanalyst Carl Jung believed there is also such a thing as a “collective unconscious.” In the collective unconscious certain symbols have meanings that are universally understood by the human soul - codes passed down through generations. It is interesting to notice that when telling fairy tales to children, they seldom question the stories' meanings. On some level, they just know what they mean, though they could not explain the meanings in words.
Stories begin by describing a problem - circumstances are out of balance or incomplete. To restore balance and reach wholeness, a fairy tale hero must overcome a dragon or some other nasty entity. A mythological character must do battle with Goliath, the Trojans or the like. As a tale or myth unfolds, decisive points are reached which ultimately lead to restoration of order and balance. Cinderella marries the prince and lives happily ever after. Arachne, the weaver of tapestries who boasted her work was comparable to the goddess Athena's, is, along with her descendants, transformed into a spider by Athena.
Characters in story and myth are usually shallow and underdeveloped, but each one of them represents a part of us. Other components of story, such as trees, elves, giants, birds' nests and characters' professions, such as cobbler, tailor, woodcutter also represent components of the psyche. Taken together, the elements of a story mirror our whole selves. They collaborate to bring about a story's final resolution, as we as listeners must establish order within ourselves so that our inner “kingdoms” may thrive in states of balance and wholeness.
The classic “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights” offers a glimpse into stories' healing power. A king, once known by his people as kind and just, went mad with despair and rage over his queen's betrayal. After having her and her lover killed, he vows never again to trust a woman. He eventually decides to wed a different woman every night and have her strangled the next morning so he will never have to face the pain of betrayal again.
However, when the ingenious Shahrazad offers to marry the king to help save the women of the kingdom, she is able to postpone her execution day after day by filling their nights with stories, “cliff hangers!”
If Shahrazad had no cunning, and told the king straight truth, she would have been strangled like the other wives. But carefully she would tell stories that held up a closer and closer mirror for the king.
Through metaphor the king was eventually able to hear the life lessons he needed that would help him come back to his true self - a self capable of love.
The words of the poet Juan Ramon Jimenez catch the essence of the healing power of story:
“I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing.
And nothing happens!
Nothing (Silence - Waves)
- Nothing happens. Or has everything happened, and we are standing now, quietly, in the new life?
Beth Miller hosts storytelling and musical gatherings at The Center and teaches classes in creative journal writing. For more information, contact The Center at 704-0319 or visit
www.TheCenter4wellness.com
The late psychoanalyst Carl Jung believed there is also such a thing as a “collective unconscious.” In the collective unconscious certain symbols have meanings that are universally understood by the human soul - codes passed down through generations. It is interesting to notice that when telling fairy tales to children, they seldom question the stories' meanings. On some level, they just know what they mean, though they could not explain the meanings in words.
Stories begin by describing a problem - circumstances are out of balance or incomplete. To restore balance and reach wholeness, a fairy tale hero must overcome a dragon or some other nasty entity. A mythological character must do battle with Goliath, the Trojans or the like. As a tale or myth unfolds, decisive points are reached which ultimately lead to restoration of order and balance. Cinderella marries the prince and lives happily ever after. Arachne, the weaver of tapestries who boasted her work was comparable to the goddess Athena's, is, along with her descendants, transformed into a spider by Athena.
Characters in story and myth are usually shallow and underdeveloped, but each one of them represents a part of us. Other components of story, such as trees, elves, giants, birds' nests and characters' professions, such as cobbler, tailor, woodcutter also represent components of the psyche. Taken together, the elements of a story mirror our whole selves. They collaborate to bring about a story's final resolution, as we as listeners must establish order within ourselves so that our inner “kingdoms” may thrive in states of balance and wholeness.
The classic “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights” offers a glimpse into stories' healing power. A king, once known by his people as kind and just, went mad with despair and rage over his queen's betrayal. After having her and her lover killed, he vows never again to trust a woman. He eventually decides to wed a different woman every night and have her strangled the next morning so he will never have to face the pain of betrayal again.
However, when the ingenious Shahrazad offers to marry the king to help save the women of the kingdom, she is able to postpone her execution day after day by filling their nights with stories, “cliff hangers!”
If Shahrazad had no cunning, and told the king straight truth, she would have been strangled like the other wives. But carefully she would tell stories that held up a closer and closer mirror for the king.
Through metaphor the king was eventually able to hear the life lessons he needed that would help him come back to his true self - a self capable of love.
The words of the poet Juan Ramon Jimenez catch the essence of the healing power of story:
“I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing.
And nothing happens!
Nothing (Silence - Waves)
- Nothing happens. Or has everything happened, and we are standing now, quietly, in the new life?
Beth Miller hosts storytelling and musical gatherings at The Center and teaches classes in creative journal writing. For more information, contact The Center at 704-0319 or visit
www.TheCenter4wellness.com
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