There is a type of fairy tale which especially focuses on the problem of encounters with the Self. Such fairy tales revolve around the theme of surmounting great difficulties to reach a treasure. But indirectly, the Self makes an appearance in nearly all fairy tales. For example, it is touched upon in the toad’s ring in “The Three Feathers”; in the name Ring, which is the name of the king’s son in the Snati-Snati story; and in the prickly fish on the altar of the mountain spirit. Indeed, the hard-to-attain treasure is often present in the guise of simple things. When one is interpreting fairy tales, it pays to always keep an eye open for this central motif.
In the same way that a crystal may be illuminated from its various sides, so each kind of tale presents certain aspects and necessarily obscures others. For instance, in one tale certain archetypes can be seen particularly clearly, while in another story other archetypes emerge. And there are groups of tales, all of which refer to the same configuration of archetypes.
It is tempting to try to create an abstract model of the general structure of the collective unconscious, representing it as a crystal, in itself one and the same but manifested in ten thousand different fairy tales. However, I do not believe this to be possible because I assume that we are dealing with a transcendental order similar to the atom, which physicists say cannot be described as it is in itself because three-dimensional models inevitably distort it. While schemata can be invaluable, the four-dimensional event forever eludes our grasp.
Although the inner order refuses to be schematized, we can nevertheless obtain hints of that order by observing that all the different tales circumambulate one and the same content—the Self.
NOTES
1. Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass, trans. William Adlington, 1566; revised by S. Gaselee (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library, 1915).
2. Fr. Max Schmidt, The Primitive Races of Mankind (London, Calcutta & Sydney: George G. Harrag & Co., 1926).
3. Cf. L. W. von Bülow, Die Geheimsprache der Märchen, or P. L. Stauff, Märchendeutungen, 1914.
4. Theodor Benfey, Kleinere Schriften zur Märchenforschung (Berlin, 1894).
5. Antti Aarne, Types of Folk Tales (Helsinki, 1961).
6. Ludwig Laistner, Das Rätsel der Sphinx (Berlin, 1889).
7. Adolf Bastian, Beiträge zur vergleichenden Psychologie (Berlin, 1868).
8. Georg Jakob, Märchen und Traum (Hannover, 1923).
9. Stith Thompson, Motif Index of Folk Literature (Bloomington: Indiana University Studies, 1932–1936).
10. See, for instance, the work of Max Lüthi, Das europäische Volksmärchen (Bern, 1947).
11. Julius Schwabe, Archetyp und Tierkreis. Mircea Eliade, Myth and Reality, trans. Willard R. Trask (New York: Harper & Row, 1963), and The Myth of the Eternal Return, trans. Willard R. Trask (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, Bollingen Series XLVI, 1974).
12. C. G. Jung, “Approaching the Unconscious,” in Man and His Symbols (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1969).
13. Max Lüthi, “Die Gabe im Märchen und in der Sage.” Inaugural dissertation, Bern, 1943.
14. Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, 1937.
15. Cf. Paul Kugler, “Remarques sur les rapports de la théorie des archétypes et du structuralisme,” Cahier de Psychologie Jungienne, no. 29 (1981); 35–47.
16. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur (Tales of World Literature) (Jena: Diederichs Verlag), a multivolume series.
17. Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture (London, 1981).
18. John G. Niehardt, ed., Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (New York: William Morrow Co., 1932).
19. Knud Rasmussen, Die Gabe des Adlers (Frankfurt am Main: Societäts Verlag, 1937).
20. R. M. Berndt, Kunapipi (Melbourne: Cheshire, 1951).
21. Laurens van der Post, The Heart of the Hunter (London: Hogarth Press, 1961).
22. The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales (New York: Pantheon Books, 1972), p. 319.
23. J. Bolte and G. Polivka, Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Brüder Grimm, 5 vols. (Leipzig, 1913–1927). See vol. 3, p. 30.
24. C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 14, trans. R. F. C. Hull (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, Bollingen Series XX, 1970).
25. Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens (Berlin & Leipzig: W. de Gruyter & Co., 1930–1931).
26. C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 11, Psychology and Religion West and East, chap. 2.
27. C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 18, chap. 3.
28. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Russische Volksmärchen, no. 5 (1921).
29. This version, which appears under the title “Snati-Snati,” is taken from Adeline Ritterhaus, Die neuisländischen Volkmärchen (Halte, A. S., 1902).
30. For other parallels, see Carl Pschmadt, “Die Sage von der verfolgten Hinde,” dissertation, Greifswald, 1911.
31. C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 8, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche.
32. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Deutsche Märchen seit Grimm (1922), p. 237.
33. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Nordische Märchen (1915), p. 22.
34. Ibid., p. 194.
35. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Südamerika indianische Märchen, no. 76 (1921), p. 206.
36. See “Berg,” in Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens.
37. C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 12, Psychology and Alchemy, and vol. 13, Alchemical Studies.
38. For a discussion of the horse as a symbol, see C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 5, Symbols of Transformation, paras. 421–428 and 657–659.
39. See C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 11, Psychology and Religion West and East, chap. 3, “Transformation Symbolism in the Mass.”
40. Apuleius, The Golden Ass.
41. Mrs. Rhys David, “Zur Geschichte des Rad Symbols,” Eranos Jahrbuch (Zurich: Rascher, 1934).
42. See Handbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens.
43. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Nordische Volksmärchen (1915), vol. 11, no. 32, “Zottelhaube.”
44. See C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 16, The Practice of Psychotherapy, part 2, sec. 3, “The Psychology of the Transference.”
45. Grimm’s Fairy Tales (London: Routledge, 1948), p. 244.
46. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Französische Volkmärchen, no. 32 (1923).
47. Ibid., Zigeunermärchen, no. 31 (1926).
48. Ibid., Märchen aus Turkestan und Tibet, no. 9 (1923).
49. Ibid., Balkanmärchen, no. 12 (1919).
50. See C. G. Jung, Collected Works, vol. 10, Civilization in Transition, chap. 3,“Wotan.”
51. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur: Märchen aus Sibirien (1940), p. 81.
52. Ibid., p. 121.
53. Cf. Sartori, “Der Schuh im Volksglauben,” Zeitschrift für Volkskunde (1894), pp. 41, 148, and 282.
54. Grimm’s Fairy Tales, p. 608.
INDEX
Note: Index entries from the print edition of this book have been included for use as search terms. They can be located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
Aarne, Antti
active imagination
aging
Aion (Jung)
alchemical writings, fairy tales versus
alchemy, developmental stages and
amplification, defined
anima; activation of; animus, versus; bottling up of; conflicts of; as guide; mountain spirit and; projecting of; realizing of; repression of
animal skin motifs; burning and
animal tales
animus, aggressive; anima, versus; escape from; evil spirit and; loneliness in women and; negative; power of
antlers motifs
Apuleius, Lucius (The Golden Ass)
archetypal stories; four stages of
archetypes; energy and; individual experience with; reality and; unconscious and
autonomous complexes
ball motifs
Bastian, Adolf
bell motifs
Benfey, Theodor
“The Bewitched Princess”
Black Elk
carpet motifs
carrot motifs
cask motifs
chief motifs. See king motifs
childless king, queen motifs
children; ego development of; separation and; transference and
Christ
Christianity; bottling up of anima and; raven symbol and; wine symbolism and
civilizing, taming motifs
collective unconscious; fairy tales and; Indians, archetypal images and; individuation and; myths and; neuroses, psychoses and
comparative material
compensation; lowly activity and
conscious energy, unconscious meaning
consciousness, four functions of context, constructing
creation motifs
creation myths
creativity
Creuzer, F.
dancing motifs
deer motifs
“The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” (Grimm)
dishonesty
dog motifs
dramatis personae
dreams; around moving; compensation for conscious situations and; ego, building of and; emotional reactions to; fire in; life problems and; meaning of; methods for interpreting; nun’s, about Mass; psyche and
Dummling stories
ego, assimilation of shadow and; defined; development of; instinctual urges and; mirror of self and; neurosis and
energy; archetypes and; lack of psychic
envy
Eros
Eros principle
evil, dealing with; nature and
fairy tales, alchemical writings versus; “The Bewitched Princess”; collective unconscious and; “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” ; “The Frog Daughter of the Czar”; general human basis and; “The Girl and the Skull”; “Hans the Hedgehog”; history of science of; The Golden Ass, ; international language of; “King Thrushbeard”; methods for interpreting; motifs of; myths and; origination of; psyche and; psychic facts and; “The Secret Church”; “Shaggy Top”; “The Star”; “The Three Feathers” (Grimm); “The Virgin Czar”; “The White Bride and the Black Bride”; “The Wife of Death” ; “The Woman Who Married the Moon and the Kele” ; “The Wood Woman”
fantasy
feather motifs
female shadow
feminine element, Eros culture and; losing contact with; repressed
feminine psyche
fire motifs
fire transformation
fish motifs
fog motifs
Fordham, Michael
four functions of consciousness
fox motifs
Freud, Sigmund, feminine element and
“The Frog Daughter of the Czar”
frog-lady, cursed by father motifs
frog motifs
giants
“The Girl and the Skull”
God-images
The Golden Ass (Apuleius)
golden thread motifs
gold motifs
Gorres, J.
Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm; “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” ; “Hans the Hedgehog”; “The Three Feathers”
hair motifs
“Hans the Hedgehog” (Grimm)
healing
Hediger, Heinrich
hero motifs; model for self and; restorer of healthy ego and; types of
Heyne, Chr. C.
honey symbol
illud tempus
individuation; collective convictions regarding
interpretation; dreams and; learning art of; practical problems of
island motifs
Jakob, Georg
Jensen, Alfred
jumping through ring motifs
Jung, C. G.; Aion, ; archetypes and; dream interpretation and; fairy tales importance of and; fairy tales, old men and; individuation and; intellectual versus feeling factors and; literature of; living symbolic life and, 99–; Mysterium Coniunctionis, ; “A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity” ; Psychology and Alchemy, ; rationalism and; reality of psyche and; unconscious psyche and
Kepler, Johann
Kerynitic hind
king motifs; aging
“King Thrushbeard”
kitchen motifs
Krohn, Kaarle
Laistner, Ludwig
life patterns
literature review
Logos principal
loneliness motifs
Lorenz, Konrad
Luthi, Max
magic flight motifs
“The Magic Horse”
marriage; meaning of; quaternity
masculinity, women and
mice motifs
milk symbol
moon god
Moritz, K. Ph.
mothers, male psychology and; powerful, complex; territoriality and
Motif Index of Folk Literature (Thompson)
motifs: animal skin; ball; basic; bells; carpet; carrot; childless king, queen; dancing, creating; dog; fairy tale; feather; fire; fish; fog; fox; frog; frog-lady cursed by father, 109–; gold; golden thread; hair; hero; honey; interpretations of; jumping through ring; king; loneliness; magic flight; mice; milk; mountain; mythological, “elemental thoughts of mankind” ; old men; parallel; poisoning; precious stones; queen; raven; relationship; ring; Self; singing; skull, 189–; spinning; staff; stepmother; sword; thread; toad; trapdoor; vampire; wheel; wind; wings; witch
mountain symbolism
moving, men, women and
Müller, Max
Mysterium Coniunctionis (Jung)
myths, collective unconscious and; decayed; fairy tales and; religious
naming of problem
Nazis
neuroses, collective; defined
neurotic conscious attitudes
number symbolism
old age, seeing of life’s patterns and
old men motifs
parents image
patterning
Pauli, Wolfgang
peripeteia
phobias
poisoning motifs
possession, escaping from
precious stones motifs
“Prince Ring”
psyche, dreams and; fairy tales and; feminine
“A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity” (Jung)
psychology, science and
Psychology and Alchemy (Jung)
psychoses; collective
quaternios
queen motifs
Rasmussen, Knud
rationalism
rat poem
Rauder, minister
raven symbol
reality, return to
relationship motifs
religion, Christianity and; fairy tales and; myths and
repressed feminine
repression; of anima; of symbolic factors
ring motifs
rituals, origins of
Saint Victor, Richard de
salt symbol
Schmidt, Father Max
Schwyzer, E.
“The Secret Church”
Self, the; Christ figure and; defined; ego development and; encounters with; hero as model for; motifs of; realization of the; ring motif and
self-realization
separation
setups, average
sexual fantasy
shadow; assimilation of; being led by; burial of; collective; energy, lacking; female; redemption of; repressing
“Shaggy Top”
singing motifs
skull motifs
Sphinx
spinning motifs
spirit, death and
staff motifs
“The Star”
Steinen, Karl von der, Voyage to Central Brazil
stepmother motifs
Stucken, E.
sun
sword motifs
symbolism; living symbolic life and; number
symbols. See motifs
temenos
territoriality
Thompson, Stith, Motif Index of Folk Literature
thread motifs
“The Three Feathers” (Grimm); other versions of
three feathers ritual
toad motifs
transference
transformation, fire and
trapdoor motifs
unconscious; archetypes and; psyche and
vampire motifs
“The Virgin Czar”
Voyage to Central Brazil (Steinen)
water, entering
wheel symbol
“The White Bride and the Black Bride”
“The Wife of Death”
wind motifs
wine motifs
wing motifs
Winkler, H.
witches, anima and
witch motifs
“The Woman Who Married the Moon and the Kele”
woods motifs
“The Wood Woman”
Wotan
C. G. JUNG FOUNDATION BOOKS
Absent Fathers, Lost Sons: The Search for Masculine Identity, by Guy Corneau.
Creation Myths, revised edition, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
Ego and Archetype: Individuation and the Religious Function of the Psyche, by Edward F. Edinger.
The Feminine in Fairy Tales, revised edition, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
Gathering the Light: A Psychology of Meditation, by V. Walter Odajnyk.
A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung, by Robert H. Hopcke. Foreword by Aryeh Maidenbaum.
In Her Image: The Unhealed Daughter’s Search for Her Mother, by Kathie Carlson.
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales, revised edition, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
Masculinity: Identity, Conflict, and Transformation, by Warren Steinberg.
*Psyche and Matter, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
*Psychotherapy, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales, revised edition, by Marie-Louise von Franz.
Transforming Sexuality: The Archetypal World of Anima and Animus, by Ann Belford Ulanov and Barry Ulanov.
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales Page 21
