January 06, 2022

#9 | Grimm Brothers: The Three Feathers | The Lost Oracle | Feminine in Exile | Marie Louise von Franz and the Jungian Approach to Fairy Tales

58 minutes

There was once on a time a King who had three sons, of whom two were clever and wise, but the third did not speak much, and was simple, and was called the Simpleton. When the King had become old and weak, and was thinking of his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him. Then he said to them: "Go forth, and he who brings me the most beautiful carpet shall be King after my death." And that there should be no dispute amongst them, he took them outside his castle, blew three feathers in the air, and said: "You shall go as they fly."

Thus begins the story of The Three Feathers from the Brothers Grimm Collection. According to Jungian Analyst Marie Louise von Franz, the opening line of a fairy tale is the diagnosis of the state of the kingdom. In this case - a kingdom dominated by the logical, linear masculine principle. A place where the intuitive, sensual feminine is nowhere to be seen.

The story leads us to some unexpected places in order to restore the feminine back into the culture described by the tale. Namely, underneath the castle where she exists in toad form with plenty of magic to spare.

This story was a case study in Von Franz' book: The Interpretation of Fairy Tales. Somewhat of a witch herself, I follow her lead carefully in this episode to see what her Jungian flashlight might illuminate for us as we go.

The throwing of the three feathers was an ancient way of consulting the oracle. This leads us into the territory of the I Ching, and a passage from the Richard Wilhelm translation. The introduction to this pocket edition of the book attempts to appeal to a modern audience, cut off from the gods by our stubborn intellect that, in Nietzsche's framework, is a camel that thinks it's a mountain peak.

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