The Magic Tinderbox part two...

the text of part two: “I say, good soldier, would you like to earn a bag of money?”

“Money? I'd do anything for money . . .”

“Good!” went on the witch. “It won’t be difficult, you'll see! All you have to do is go down that hollow tree till you reach a cave. There, you’ll find three doorways. When you open the first door, you’ll see a big dog with eyes like saucers, guarding a large chest of copper coins. Behind the second door lies a treasure of silver coins, guarded by a dog with eyes the size of mill stones. When you open the third door, you’ll come upon another dog, with eyes the size of a castle tower, beside a treasure of gold. Now, if you lay this old apron of mine before these dogs, they’ll crouch on it and do you no harm. You’ll be able to carry away all the coins you want. What do think of that?”

kristo's interpretation: *okay...backtracking just a little bit:

…his pockets were empty and his only possession was his sword.

So there IS one possession…i.e. a sword…the significance of which tends to mean the possession of Logic.

In the Tarot there are 4 suits: Disks, Cups, Wands, and Swords…each corresponding to one of the 4 so-called functions of consciousness. Disks equal Sensation, Cups equal Feeling, Wands equal Intuition, and Swords equal Thinking.

Jung’s Psychological Types are combinations of these 4 to form a dominant and an auxiliary function we all seem to be hard-wired into, such as Intuitive / Thinking, Sensate / Feeling, etc…. But this does not mean we lack any of the functions.

Instead, we tend to naturally shy away from using what would amount to our less developed (3rd) auxiliary function, and then positively abhor that least understood aspect of our own consciousness...our so-called Inferior function…more popularly known as the Shadow (function).

Swords…i.e. thinking, reason, and logic are the typically dominant function of men and the male gender. So, just to expand on this a bit, Thinking tends to be about splitting things up into basic components in order to understand and have power over them. It also contains the notion of decisive action.

And so our soldier, having learned to make use of his decisive powers in the context of wrestling with opposites, now has nothing but this personally dominant capacity in hand. If he is to grow in character...and if we are to have a story of any significance, he’s got to shake things up and DO something significant with this function.

In terms of significance, he can’t be content to just go out and accumulate more and more (of the same) stuff, he must eventually learn to conquer himself. And in Jungian terms, that means confronting his own Shadow…which in this particular case means the opposite of Thinking…i.e. Feeling.

As he walked through a forest, he met a witch…

Here, as in most fairy tales, the forest represents the unconscious…which is where we learn about that aspect of ourselves we rarely ever acknowledge…i.e. Shadow…our Inferior function. Just because it is NOT conscious, we don't normally believe it is part of us…but like in a coin flip…once we choose to identify with “heads” we've automatically accepted our identification with the coin itself, and therefore both sides simultaneously.

Hence the witch….

She represents the flip side of not just the sword…but of our very conscious nature…living as she does in the forest of the unconscious.

I could say more about the Feeling function here, but will limit myself to just say that Feeling is the function which allows us to value someone or something.

It is of course, always part of the decision making process…unless we are simply being random…either out of ignorance or innocence.

But consider how we tend to believe that our choices are simply either logical or emotional…and yet are actually often a combination of (at least) both.

Okay…if you follow me, then you realize that the witch is inevitable…. She is Psyche's way of shaking things (and often shaking us) up. But the encounter can only be appreciated if the soldier manages to grow in character.

We meet the Shadow every single day…and yet, if we are to grow, we MUST make that meeting somehow consciously significant. We’ve GOT to recognize our trips through the forest as vital excursions!

And we must also recognize that meeting the Shadow is often repugnant…but not something to run away from or abhor.

So Shadow says to the soldier: “I say, good soldier, would you like to earn a bag of money?”

Well, well…what do you know? Shadow really does have something to offer.

Of course, the enticement has to be something conscious ego can understand…i.e. cold, hard cash…but what Shadow really means is pure, raw, undifferentiated psychic energy.

Money is a conceptual commodity which depends upon mutual agreement among all of the monkeys involved as to its VALUE.

In other words…money is what Thinking actually calls Feeling…and yet won't consciously acknowledge.

This should lead us on another wild tack to explore what Feeling actually calls Thinking…but we’re dealing with the current tale, which is a Western European, i.e. patriarchal product.

It assumes Thinking as the Dominant function. Tales that assume Feeling as Dominant are another (important) story…and provide delicious food for future work.

“Money? I’d do anything for money . . .” says the soldier…now paying some attention to an otherwise despised and unacknowledged aspect of himself.

And this is how Shadow entices us towards Transformation…i.e. towards Integration…i.e. Integrity.

“Good!” went on the witch. “It won’t be difficult, you’ll see!

That's definitely NOT true! But for the ego to die, a few lies need to be told….

And it makes sense to remind ourselves that the death of the ego is NECESSARY for Integration / Transformation / Wholeness / Integrity…because ego is nothing much more than the ignorant belief assumed in identifying ourselves with a single, dominant (otherwise known as Superior) function.

All you have to do is go down that hollow tree till you reach a cave.

Now things get interesting.

A simple task for the brave soldier, who will now have to seriously use his courage to face the strange, unknown emptiness implied at the end of this short, peculiar journey.

This doesn’t sound difficult…but knowing that in the world of Thinking, money doesn’t grow on trees…and that we’re never, ever given something for nothing…the translation of this journey into cash that can be brought back to the real world begs the question: “So, what’s the catch?”

Before attempting to answer that, it’s interesting to note that descending a hollow tree and arriving in a cave sounds an awful lot like an odd, reversed version of the birth experience.

There, you'll find three doorways.

Well, now. Why three…and where’s the fourth? These are questions the alchemists often asked.

To be honest, I’m at a loss myself right here…but this often happens with dreams and fairytales.

One is forced to give up the hope of deciphering the exact meaning of some twist or turn until another version of the tale sheds light on the particular situation from a more familiar angle.

This is also a case of trusting that synchronicity will eventually intervene and provide the necessary clue that releases the great, triumphant “AHA!”

When you open the first door, you’ll see a big dog with eyes like saucers, guarding a large chest of copper coins. Behind the second door lies a treasure of silver coins, guarded by a dog with eyes the size of mill stones. When you open the third door, you’ll come upon another dog, with eyes the size of a castle tower, beside a treasure of gold.

Doors, guard dogs, metals, and increasing diameters. I’m guessing that “the size of a castle tower” refers to its diameter or base circumference, rather than its height.

So…the “catch” seems to be all about getting by the guard dogs…to say nothing of how to get back up that hollow birth / initiation canal with enough loot to make the journey worthwhile.

Another logical question again concerns those 3 doors. Why bother with copper or silver when gold is easily the most efficient means of transporting the available energy.

Just so you know, there ARE other fairy tales that imply something similar, and it has been my experience to understand them as symbolic of the three occult arts of Astrology, Witchcraft, and Alchemy.

Copper is the metal of Venus. This alone doesn't make a clear connection with Astrology…i.e. based on my personal experience. But Silver, as the metal of the Moon, makes a strong case for Witchcraft…while Gold is the most obvious in terms of its connection to Alchemy.

It would seem then, that the witch is offering an initiation into the occult sciences. Not just as a means of making a living…but as a means of achieving a worthwhile life.

With this as a possible metaphor, the dogs then represent the greater degrees of Intuitive (or perhaps Sensate) in-sight required to assimilate the various occult arts and become an adept.

As such, they would also represent one of the soldier’s two auxiliary functions (and likely, the one that is the lesser consciously developed).

Mastery of this auxiliary function will likely allow one to master (i.e. integrate) the Shadow.

Thank you
kristo

Magic Tinderbox...
part one
part three
part four
part five