In my last article, “Four Feminine Archetypes,” I mentioned that I used to be unnerved by the fairy tales that were passed down from generation to generation in my hometown. As a young child seeing the world as black and white, I tried to understand the code of conduct in the stories that one could follow to avoid evil. However, the more stories I heard, the more confused I would become—in some stories, wicked people would get eaten by the ghost as a penalty they paid, whereas in some other stories, kindhearted people, due to their forgiveness, also got eaten by the ghost. It looked as if all kinds of behaviors and attitudes would invite evil, and this assumption would make my blood run cold whenever I heard fairy tales that were circulating in my hometown. Very recently I came across the book “Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales” by Marie-Louise von Franz (Shambhala, 1995), which demystifies the myths of fairy tales, and I was so grateful to learn a new way of interpreting fairy tales and hence overcome the fear that had been at the back of my mind since childhood.
Von Franz was a renowned scholar and psychologist with research interests mainly in fairy tales and alchemy. From the age of 18 in 1933, she collaborated closely with Carl Jung until his death in 1961. It’s said that her writing explains Jung’s theories and approaches better than that of Jung himself, and this is very true according to my reading experience of this book. By virtue of her excellent writing, despite that a vast amount of unfamiliar material is referenced by the book and I only have a very brief comprehension of the psychological terms used, I was able to read through the book with pleasure, by focusing on the logical connections between the ideas and the supporting material.
The book is composed of two lecture series given by von Franz, namely shadow and evil as referred to by the title. It examines fairy tales from around the world, discusses how the fundamental aspects of the unconscious, that are shared by people from different cultures, are personified by the characters, and reveals the profound lessons we can learn about ourselves from these seemingly innocent stories. Specifically, in regard to my question, it talks about what behavior invites evil, and concludes that the rule of behavior is paradoxical, and we must rely on our inner self, which is an encompassing whole beyond good and evil.
Now when thinking about how fairy tales came about, I see in my mind’s eye that during the long nights of the ancient days, surrounded by the darkness and the unknown, our ancestors experienced an overwhelming feeling of dread—the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind. As a result, they unconsciously projected their innermost fear on animals and conceived ghosts, and created stories that helped them express or conquer their fear. With this new understanding, I feel a sense of compassion for whoever scared me with the fairy tales when I was little and the little girl who I was.
I remember how pleasant I felt while reading this book in the quiet night. When I finally paused my reading and hit the bed, with the light shed by von Franz on the dark side of human psychology, my mind was so clear and trouble-free that I fell asleep right away. If you are curious about fairy tales too, check out this book and remember that those who dive deep down into the meaning of fairy tales could find profound answers, in the same way that in Frozen II Elsa does through the lullaby about a secret river, that her mother used to sing to her when she was little.
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