XPost: alt.folklore.science, alt.psychology, alt.psychology.psychoanalysis   
   XPost: sci.psychology.theory   
   From: mlwi@swipnet.se   
      
   Psychoanalysts and psychotherapists often make use of narratives, such   
   as fairytales, as if they were invented to exemplify psychic etiology,   
   which they are obviously not. The most well-known example is the story   
   of Narcissus, which is not really about narcissism. However, it could   
   be used to illustrate unconscious self-obsession, and the dynamic   
   underlying narcissism. Narcissus does not really impersonate a human   
   ego. It is explicitly stated in the fairytale that he is the son of a   
   river god and a nymph. Hence he is a minor god, a spirit that roams   
   the wood. The meaning of the story revolves around concious   
   realization. An unconscious content (a spirit in the wood) obtains   
   energy and thus becomes conscious (self-mirroring).   
      
   Another fairytale figure is the witch, which could easily be   
   misinterpreted. The witch is really a more universal symbol, typically   
   denoting the dark aspect of the Mother archetype, related to the   
   shadowy aspect of nature. The witch is not merely destructive. She   
   does not denote an aspect of pathology. Death is necessary for life to   
   exist. The cruelty of nature is inescapable. Without bloodthirsty   
   predators the herbivores would consume all vegetables, and life on   
   earth would be destroyed.   
      
   For instance, the conflict with the witch would serve the purpose of   
   overcoming the problem by way of integration of the dark aspect of   
   human nature. Typically, the witch is the evil that unwittingly works   
   to do good.   
      
   I think that many psychoanalysts are really using diverse narratives   
   in this way, i.e. they tend to use them as illustrations, in order to   
   depict the pathology that they are discussing. This does not mean that   
   the narrative, as such, really represents a psychological etiology.   
      
   Comparatively, the ostrich is used to depict a certain escapist   
   mentality among human beings, but it is not at all the truth about the   
   ostrich as such. It is a very tough bird. I think we tend to treat   
   narratives in the same way as we treat ostriches.   
      
   Mats Winther   
   http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)