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January 1, 2021 at 11:40 pm #4525
I am sharing this essay here on the Share Your Work topic on the Forums as inspired to do so while considering recent posts on The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, because in this story and essay (essay about the story) there are so many metaphors. If anyone else here has enjoyed this legend or the Snow Geese or the Canadian Geese flying to and fro in their seasonal migrations, I would enjoy hearing from you. Also, some members in the forum were discussing the mythic trickster lately and there is a section in here on the trickster aspect of the main character and the goose. Thank you–Marianne Bencivengo (aka Mary Bencivengo)
The Loner Type Who Lives by the Sea:
From The Snow Goose, a Study of the INFP
by Mary Bencivengo
April 17, 2018We all hear about and picture, poetically, the loner type who lives by the sea. One such loner is a legendary character depicted in the novella, The Snow Goose, by Paul Galico. In this paper, I approach his character to do a portraiture study of him, Philip Rhayader, INFP, with a Jungian typological lens. First, in accordance with C.G. Jung’s theory, I analyze Rhayader’s main characteristics composing the psychological preferences of Introvert (I), Intuitive (N), Feeling (F), and Perception (P); then I analyze the various detailed functions as found in the Meyer-Briggs, John Beebe’s, and Carol Shumante’s developments of Jung’s theory. After a summary of the story, I provide details of the story as I go through the character’s INFP functions.
A Note About the Book
The Snow Goose is a hauntingly charming, legendary tale not told lightly. It entertains with the entrancement of a fairy tale, yet is thick with desolate marshland in England in the northern wintry cold (Galico, 1989, front of book jacket) and heavy with sorrow. As a novella, it was first published in 1941, but appeared before that in the Saturday Evening Post in 1940 (Benson, 1999, n.p., para. 1). Galico (1989), “one of America’s most celebrated writers” (back of book jacket), retold the legend, at times piecing together “fragments” of various accounts he heard (Galico, 1989, p. 41).
A Note About Jungian Typology
Depth psychologist C. G. Jung developed his theory of psychological types, noting that individuals are either predominantly introverted or extraverted, and also have other functions operative in the psyche that favor either intuition or sensation, thinking or feeling, and perception or judgment (Myers & Myers, 1980/1995, pp. 8-9). To the character of Rhayader, I ascribe I for Introvert, N for Intuition, F for Feeling, and P for Perception—to theorize his type as INFP. In this paper, I refer to two charts by typologist John Beebe: Beebe’s (n.d.) “Eight-Function Eight-Archetype Model—All Types,” and Beebe’s (2017) “Table 1: The Beebe Archetypes.” I also utilize Carol Shumante’s (2017) booklet of charts listing tendencies of how the functions behave in all the Meyers-Briggs types when using the various preferred functions, from her forthcoming book, with her permission.
A Note About This Folktale as an Outer Glimpse at an Introvert
A legend is a type of folktale based on a true character told and retold repeatedly. Usually what is told in hearsay becomes general knowledge. Therefore, folk characters are usually flat, without much development of characterization (“Characterization,” 2011, p. 215). Outer things are noticed, mostly. Little dialogue occurs. It can thus be obviously deduced that the focus is the action and behavior, the comings and goings that span the landscape. This tale seems thus the perfect set-up, and setting, for a mysterious introvert. Unless we know him or her well, how do we understand his inner world, or what makes him tick? This is the job of typology. This legend is unique in how it can lend itself to a sample of typology; most folktale characters are even flatter—less dimensional—than this one.
A Quick Summary of the Tale
The Snow Goose “is the story of a lonely hunchbacked artist [Philip Rhayader, referred to as Rhayader throughout the story] who lives in an abandoned lighthouse in the marshlands of Essex, and his friendship with a young girl [whose name is Frith] who brings him an injured Canada Snow Goose” (Benson, 1999, n. p.) (brackets mine). Together, these two humans tend to the bird’s wounds. The goose stays with Rhayader until it heals, then finally leaves, but comes back each year during its migration to spend time there with his human friend. Like the goose, over the years, while Frith grows up, she too makes visits to Rhayader, also to visit the goose.
Between these three beings, ties are made that are not broken, until the very end during war time, when “in the spring of 1940, the birds migrated early from the Great Marsh [when the] roar of the bombers […] frightened them” (Galico, 1989, p. 28). One day when Frith visited, Rhayader was loading his sailboat with supplies (Galico, 1989, p. 35); Rhayader decided, “He must go to Dunkirk. A hundred miles across the North Sea. A British army was trapped there on the sands, awaiting destruction from the advancing Germans. […] Men were putting out from Chelmbury in answer to the government’s call […] to rescue as many as possible” (Galico, 1989, p. 36). By this time, Frith had grown, and she and Rhayader realized they were in love with one another. While Rhayader rescues shipload after shipload of soldiers, his snow goose follows faithfully above his ship like a “bloody omen” (Galico, 1989, p. 42) to the enemy Germans that they will lose this battle and a good omen—like an angel in the sky—to the British. On an attempt to get home, Rhayader dies at sea from a blast of machine guns, and the snow goose guards over his body until the boat sinks into the sea, Rhayader going down with her (Galico, 1989, pp. 47-52). The snow goose that had become tamed and had chosen to make its home in Rhayader’s sanctuary was never to be seen there again; Frith bade her beloved Rhayader’s soul goodbye and off to heaven as the snow goose flew away for the final time (Galico, 1989, pp. 53-58).
A Quick Sketch of Rhayader as an Introvert
Rhayader prefers the company of birds to humans. Galico (1989) establishes early in the story that “in the late spring of 1930 Philip Rhayader came to the abandoned lighthouse at the mouth of the Aelder. He bought the light and many acres of marshland and salt surrounding it” (Galico, 1989, p. 8), where he “lived and worked year round […] and, for reasons, had withdrawn from all human society” (Galico, 1989, p. 8). It is given that his life as a hermit crab (and he has a deformed claw of a hand) is a drastic case of a man inside his shell: not many people, even introverts, live outside the company of other humans. Of introverts, Jung (1971/1976) stated, “Self and world are commensurable measures; hence a normal introverted attitude is as justifiable and valid as a normal extraverted attitude” (p. 235 CW 6, pt. 2, para. 632). Your next door neighbor who invites you over for coffee and conversation may very well be a normal introvert who enjoys company.
The difference between an introvert and an extrovert is in how each one perceives the world in terms of an object (Jung, 1971/1976, pp. 178-79 CW 6, pt. 2, para. 556-57). “A mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the inner world” (Sharp, 1991, Introvert section, para. 1) is that of the introvert, whereas “a mode of psychological orientation where the movement of energy is toward the outer world” (Sharp, 1991, Extrovert section, para. 1) is that of the extrovert. While Rhayader did move away from the neighborhood of people, he yet reaches out to the objects in the outer world of nature and birds, but this does not necessarily make him an extrovert. He brings his outer world experience back to his inner world—as exemplified in how he brings the birds (back) to him each year at his feed station.
What makes Philip Rhayader an unusually extreme introvert is that he “was a hunchback and his left arm was crippled, thin and bent at the wrist, like the claw of a bird” (Galico, 1989, p. 8) and “he had mastered his handicap, but he could not master the rebuffs he suffered, due to his appearance” (Galico, 1989, p. 8). It appears that most all folklore about hunchbacks portrays them as hated or feared, but then reveals them to be actually loving and kind; likewise, “Rhayader did not hate; he loved very greatly” (Galico, 1989, p. 8).
A Quick Sketch of Rhayader as an Intuitive Perception Type
Intuitive type preferences (rather than sensory type of using mostly the five senses) of gathering information is most often paired with the perceptive type preference (rather than the judgement type preference) (Haas & Hunziker, 2011/2014, p. 20). Though Rhayader uses his five senses in his observances of nature as part of his vocation as an artist, he is not usually the type to arrive at immediate judgments, but prefers to perceive things over time in an open-ended attitude to see how things develop. He does this with his relationship with his frequent visitor Frith, the young girl, and with his paintings, which take time to process and finish.
A Quick Sketch of Rhayader as a Feeling Type
An artist by vocation, he paints nature and birds (Galico, 1989, p. 8). Most people tend to imagine the artist as a feeling type of person, whether knowing anything about typology or not. Perhaps an exception could be a technical graphic artist illustrating nature and animals for science texts or an illustrator of medical texts; these might be, instead, thinking types– though “any type can be anything, so any type can be an artist” (C. Shumante, personal communication, March 6, 2018). The stereotypical “artist-type” is commonly regarded as an emotional person. “Jung believed that introversion and extraversion were in everyone, but that one attitude is dominant” (C. Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018). The stereotypical emotional artist who expresses emotions via their art acts according to their inner values, for “feeling is the function of subjective judgment or valuation (Sharp, 1991, Typology section, para. 5).
A Portrait Study of Rhayader Using John Beebe’s Eight-Function Eight-Archetype Model
1) The Hero/Heroine Archetype of His Dominant Function (Fi) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the first function, which is the dominant function, is the archetype of the Hero/Heroine (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the dominant function is Introverted Feeling (Fi) (Beebe, n.d.). This means that the predominant inborn preference of expression of the Hero archetype will thus play itself out in the INFP through feelings that are by his nature introverted.
As seen above, Rhayader’s hero’s journey is that of an artist whose love of nature and birds inspires his work. When he sees the birds, he feels strongly about them, his feelings being in soulful affinity with them as living creatures admired for embodying flight, freedom, and grace. Shumante (2018) stated that the INFP, when using the Hero function, “can experience deep sympathy with any and all living things, sharing their feelings” (p. 21). Shumante (2018) also wrote that they “can appear cold although feeling a passionate idealism” (p. 21); this is shown in how Rhayader might appear cold and callous to other people, since he moved away from human society, yet possesses a passionate idealism of helping and saving birds. Shumante (2018) continued that the INFP using the Fi function in the Hero (first) position “may be constantly aware of the presence or absence of inner tranquility and act in a way to increase or maintain the tranquil feeling” (p. 21); when he creates a peaceful pit-stop for migrating birds before their return north to Iceland and Spitsbergen (Galico,1989, p. 11), he is, in the meantime, nurturing his own need for tranquility through actualizing his idealism. He may wish more humans had been more compassionate with him. He also sees to his own pleasant tranquility in that it makes him happy when bird hunters cannot encroach upon his property to hunt there—in fact, he forbids it (Galico, 1989, p. 11).
2) Rhayader as the Good Parent Archetype of His Auxiliary Function (Ne) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the second function, which is the auxiliary function, is the archetype of the Good Parent (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the auxiliary function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne) (Beebe, n.d.). The Good Parent archetype will thus play itself out in the INFP through extroverted intuition, as explained below.
Rhayader’s auxiliary function is extroverted, which helps him, as an introvert, deal with the outer world. With intuition here paired to an extroverted function, he can function efficiently in the outer world from an inner source of knowing. The auxiliary function is always the function that compliments the dominant function as in the analogy of being its ‘right-hand (wo/man)” (C. Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018). It often picks up where the dominant function might leave off, to balance out the behavior or action of the primary/dominant function (C. Shumante, personal communication, March, 2018).
Rhayader keeps a fenced-in bird sanctuary for birds that migrate there at the beginning of the winter (Galico, 1989, p. 12) and also kept some tamed waterfowl there (Galico, 1989, p. 11). His extraverted side finds a way to still interact with the world, and in Good Parent mode, he “was a friend to all things wild, and the wild things repaid him with their friendship” (Galico, 1989, p. 11). This illustrates Shumante’s (2018) statement that for the INFP, the Good Parent (Ne) shows up to “help others notice patterns” (p. 12) [italics mine]; Galico (1989) wrote in his story that Rhayader was happy, when the same migrant birds would return year after year, that “implanted somewhere in their beings was the germ knowledge of his existence and his safe haven, that this knowledge had become a part of them, and with the coming of the grey skies and the winds from the north, would send them unerringly back to him” (pp. 13-14).
His Good Parent Ne nature comes forward also when the young girl Frith shows up, carrying the wounded snow goose she found to Rhayader, and he takes care of both the child and the bird, seeing to each of their needs. She has wandered into the marshlands where he lives and is unsure of him as a stranger, but he assures her with the kindness and gentleness a child needs to feel safe. Then, as he bandages the goose’s wings, he comparably takes Frith under his wing by having her help him—and helps her help him, helps her help the bird, being a good teacher as a good parent would be. Shumante made mention that “INFP’s love to rescue wild animals.” (C. Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018). He also demonstrated to Frith the patterns involved, the correct methods and procedures, for doctoring the goose: how to clip only the outerwing so the feathers would grow back and enable it to fly again in the spring, how to tie the wing to the bird’s body so it would not use it until it was healed, how to bandage it, how to splint its broken leg, and how to feed it grain (Galico, 1989, pp. 19-21). While they together doctored the goose, he told her a story that taught her the seasonal pattern of migration among the birds.
He modeled positive INFP Good Parent behavior to the girl that “when confronted with obstacles, [it is possible to] see and articulate new paths forward” (Shumante, 2018, p. 12) [brackets mine]. Indeed, the bird would fly again.
The Good Parent mode as Ne is good, perhaps, because it intuitively knows where the hurt is and uses the intuition to try to un-hurt (fix) it. Rhayader also told Frith they would name the bird “The Princess Perdue” (Galico, 1989, p. 20-21); in doing so, he was being the Good Parent to both the bird as if it were a/his child and to Frith, a child who would adore the image of a fairy tale princess as its name. He helped Frith heal her own heartache of feeling lost in the marsh and her grief over the wounded bleeding snow goose by giving the bird a name that meant “The Lost Princess” (Galico, 1989, p. 21). Throughout all these considerations, Rhayader is also being a Good Parent to himself, nurturing his own wounds—the wounds that made him seek sanctuary away from humans in the first place. All three of these characters—Rhayader, the young girl Frith, and the snow goose (The Princess Perdue)—are mirrors of each other in various ways, for all three in the course of the tale are wounded in one way or another, whether INFP or not.
3) Rhayader as the Eternal Child Archetype of His Tertiary Function (Si) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the third function, which is the tertiary function, is the archetype of the Eternal Child (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the tertiary function is Introverted Sensation (Si) (Beebe, n.d.). The archetype will play itself out in the INFP through the sensory experiences (of the five senses) in an attitudinal introverted preference. Below are some ways this can be observed in Rhayader’s preferred recreational activities.
Rhayader is a sailor who loves adventure and exploration. Sailing is commonly thought of as an introspective activity, especially when solitary, even if it is a bold stretch into the outer world. In her chart, Shumante (2018) listed that the INFP when operating in his tertiary function “can be infinitely amused by recreating and reliving moments from the past, telling and retelling old stories” (p. 2). We might look at sailing as a form of recreating and reliving memories of the first grand moment of exhilaration and/or peace in the open wind and water. Many sailors who set sail for the first time and are then hooked like a fish to a fishing pole. Recreation can be a form of recreating oneself, it seems. It is a way to feel refreshed and renewed, having fun like we did as children, but often in different grown-up ways. In that way, perhaps each time he ventures out is a way to relive/retell his personal narrative. It is said “he would sail the tidal creeks and estuaries and out to sea, and be gone for days at a time” (Galico, 1989, p. 11); Shumante (2018) in her chart, for tertiary Eternal Child, wrote that the INFP “may go on too long when narrating memories” (p. 2)—not to say that for Rhayader days at a time is too long, but it shows he can get lost in times of play like we feel as children when outdoors and do not want to go back inside. This could easily be assumed as extraversion, for Jung stated, “Now, when orientation by the object predominates in such a way that decisions and actions are determined not by subjective views but by objective conditions, we speak of an extraverted attitude” (Jung, 1971/1976, p. 182 CW 6, pt. 2, para. 573), but Rhayader adventures for the sake of the inner process of his art. Here, the object is the sea—and it is the wind. It tells him what to do, and he does it: “He sailed with wonderful skill […] to handle the sheets of his billowing sails in a tricky blow” (Galico, 1989, p. 10). Even with his crippled arm, Rhayader was creative and could use his teeth to handle the sails (Galico, 1989, p. 10). It seems to show that as an adult he kept his sense of childlike wonder in the world that would sail against all odds, without letting his determination tire as an adult. Sensation seems extraverted here, yet he internalizes these things into himself, enough that they appear second nature—such as mastering the use of his teeth as a hand.
Rhayader is a photographer. Again he is (re)telling stories, as photos allow us to relive moments. Another statement about this function Shumante (2018) listed is that for the INFP tertiary Eternal Child archetype, the person “often enjoys creative projects that record or memorialize a moment, tradition, or event” (p. 2) and, again in regards to him being gone for days at a time out at sea, “can enjoy pursuing detailed research over prolonged periods, amassing an impressive data base” (Shumante, 2018, p. 2).
Shumante (2018) mentioned that when others are using the Intuitive Sensation (Si) function, the INFP “may bask in a wash of nostalgia if the memories are shared” (p. 2). On their first encounter, Frith sees all Rhayader’s paintings of birds while together helping the snow goose, and on each encounter thereafter when she visits, his inner child puer emerges to greet the puella she as a child is. (Puer is the term for the masculine child archetype and puella is the term for the feminine child archetype) (Beebe, 2017, n.d. and C. Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018). After Rhayader dies at sea, when she returns to his lighthouse, Frith finds the portrait he had painted of her “from memory, so many years ago, when she was still a child, and had stood, wind-blown and timid” at his threshold, hugging an injured bird to her” (Galico, 1989, p. 53). Their two inner child-spirits both understand the wounds of the other.
4) Rhayader’s Anima Archetype of His Inferior Function (Te) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the fourth function, which is the inferior function, is the archetype of the Anima/Animus (the term anima for a man and animus for a woman) (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the fourth inferior function is Extroverted Thinking (Te) (Beebe, n.d.). The archetype will play itself out in any type who is male as the unconscious feminine side of his personality and in any female type as the masculine side of her personality (C Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018.) Below are some ways this can be observed in manifestations of Rhayader’s unconscious sensitivity, sensitive reasons for his behaviors of which he may not be aware, which mix with his Extroverted Thinking the way he might think to choose his colors and mix his paints. The author Galico (1989) drops a hint that Rhayader might care about colors and hues with pronounced thinking because it is told in the tale that Firth even learned to mix his paints (p. 28), so he could have had a logical method for doing so, extending his thoughts outward to the palette, then expounding his methods, and with unspoken sensitivities, to Frith,
Rhayader pours his feelings into his paintings and while his masterpieces hang in galleries, he keeps most his works hidden at home (Galico, 1989, p. 14). This illustrates “embarrassment and idealization” (Beebe, n.d.) that can occur with the fourth/Inferior function of Anima/Animus. The Inferior function for all types can be the “trap door” (C. Shumante, personal communication, February, 2018) opening to the strata of the four lower functions, which will be seen below.
5) Rhayader’s Opposing Personality Archetype of His Extraverted feeling (Fe) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the fifth function is the archetype of the Opposing Personality (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, this is Extraverted Feeling (Fe) (Beebe, n.d.). The archetype will play itself out in a way that “defends by offending [and can be] “avoiding” [and a] “self-critic” (Beebe, n.d.) (brackets mine). That Rhayader hoards hundreds of his paintings in the lighthouse (Galico, 1989, p. 14) can here be a double-whammy: perhaps when painting birds, idealizing their form, he is idealizing his own form, in a type wish-fulfillment, wishing he was more handsomely shaped instead of hunchbacked. Perhaps when sailing and photographing, he imagines himself in at least a more beautiful background (akin to background memories) for his self-image. The opposing personality (for anyone) tends to present “frustration & challenge;” (Beebe, n.d.). Perhaps it is too often too challenging for Rhayader to face the public to present and/or sell his work, and perhaps especially unless it is perfect in his own eyes in order to compensate for his physical appearance. It is interesting to note that Shumante (2017) stated that the INFP’s Opposing Personality “finds engaging in chit chat exhausting, requiring intense preparation” (p. 26); if he visits a gallery bearing his paintings, he would need to chit chat, and his paintings themselves may be part of that preparation/self-preparation. Shumante (2017) also stated that the INFP’s Opposing Personality “sometimes doubts own ability to relate to others, feeling alienated from all” (p. 26); in the life of a hunchback, noticeably different from others, this feeling could be more frequent and more drastic than for other INFP’s.
6) Rhayader’s Critical Parent Archetype of his Introverted Intuition (Ni) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the sixth function is the archetype of the Critical Parent who is either the male Senex or the female Witch (Beebe, 2007) in its symbolic expression. For the INFP, the sixth function is Introverted Intuition (Ni) (Beebe, n.d.). The archetype will play itself out in ways that set limits and “controls” (Beebe, 2017). The characteristic and habitual preferences of Rhayader’s fourth Inferior Anima and his fifth Opposing Personality frustrations and challenges discussed above could overlap with this sixth position’s functioning, as prior-mentioned events deal with his control over his sense of security and what he feels he can either deal with or not handle about his life and his work. In the Inferior function’s dynamics above, he is “inactivating” (Beebe, 2017) the work he hides from public view and “refuses” (Beebe, 2017) his own success and need to go out in public. He has a negative vision of himself (as could be obvious for someone with a physical deformity) and as Shumante (2017) noted about the INFP’s Ni function, he or she “may have a visceral, negative reaction to a vision or a visual image” (p. 10). It is possible he carries in his memory also the image of others’ horror or grimacing when confronted by his appearance.
Shumante (2018) also noted of the INFP’s Ni in the Senex/Witch position that the INFP “may critically warn people of what WILL happen” (p. 10). What is interesting here, in a symbolic mythopoetic manner, is how the snow goose hovers protectively above Rhayader’s sailboat like a guardian angel heralding the message to the stranded soldiers that a brave man is there to save them. The snow goose acts like a beacon—like a lighthouse does for ships, for the author Galico (1989) told of how the goose in its flight was lit up in the sky like an angel in the fiery glow from the bombs (p. 48).Yet, at the same time, he seems a supernatural devil in the sky to the attacking Germans.
7) Rhayader’s Trickster Archetype of his Extraverted Sensation (Se) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the seventh function is the archetype of the Trickster which operates in modes of “manipulation & paradox” (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the seventh function is Extraverted Sensation (Se). (Beebe, n.d.). The archetype will play itself out in a way that is “mischievous, [that] creates double binds, [and] circumvents obstacles” (Beebe, 2017) (brackets mine). As discussed via the previous sixth function events, Rhayader and the snow goose together play the trickster upon those soldiers upon the shore. It is a highly unusual and unexpected moment when finding oneself in the shadow of death to be saved by a man who looks like a devil but turns out to be an angel circumventing their obstacles (Beebe, 2017) and has a devoted bird like a dove of peace flying overhead. Some said at first it seemed the devil himself had come after them at their time of death—instead they are saved as if by God himself, some of the soldiers said (Galico, 1989, p. 45). We can see here how Senex and Trickster might overlap in function or motifs in a story, and how the sixth function can be the wise old man sometimes and not always only the more critical parental figure; we can see too that this wise old man archetype might seem like a fatherly God to some, and that this could sometimes double-duty as a Trickster archetype. Next, we will see how in this story, the Devil intertwines with the Senex, the Trickster, all in the same character of Rhayader—his snow goose, his soulful wild relation, included.
8) Rhayader’s Demonic/Daimonic Archetype of his Extraverted Sensation (Se) of the INFP
For all psychological types, the eighth function is the archetype of the Devil/Daimon which operates in modes that “undermine self and others [and] creates opportunities to develop integrity” (Beebe, 2017). For the INFP, the eighth function is Extraverted Sensation (Se). (Beebe, n.d.). He undermines the Germans when they are ready to attack the British soldiers. In doing so, he steps outside his own wounds to tend to the wounds of others, even if most men–and women—have hurt him. The integrity (Daimon) is that he gives his life for others—and the/his undermining (Devil) of himself is the same. Lost in the sensation of his action, the good wise old man pays no heed to bullets firing around him. Now we can see the dynamic functions of the wounded healer: it was after Rhayader died that his legend changed, and people everywhere said of him what a good man the hunchback with the claw-hand was, whom they previously thought of as the very picture of a devil: “’im wiv the ‘ump an’ ‘is little sailboat. A bloody good man e’ was, that chap” (Galico, 1989, p. 49). The trickster tricked them, along with his trickster Snow Goose.
In folklore, the lone hunchback as wounded healer is a common, repeated motif. There was the famous The Hunchback of Notre Dame (by Victor Hugo) and then the hunchback of Essex. One lived in a church and one in a lighthouse. Quasimodo scared everyone except Esmeralda and Rhyader scared everyone except Firth. Both were thought devils who ironically turned out to be good, and to be loved. The irony in this legend, told by Galico with its irony in the hunchback motif and the irony of its ending, won Galico an O. Henry Award in 1941 (Benson, 1999, para. 3). This is one way in which the sad, surprising ending of this tale is yet also a happy one.
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Sharp, D. (1991) Jung lexicon: A primer of terms and concepts. Retrieved from this site
Shumante, C. (2018). Shumate, M. C. (2017). The function-archetype decoder. Jung’s eightfold way (forthcoming). Adapted with permission from McAlpine, R., Shumate, C., Evers, A., & Hughey, D., The function-archetype decoder [software program], 2009; Louisville, KY: Type Resources. [Class handout]. Dept. of Depth Psychology in Jungian and Archetypal Studies, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Carpinteria, CA.
Note: This paper was posted online at Pacifica Graduate Institute in April of 2018 (date at beginning of paper) in APA format. It is formatted differently here. Date posted here is second copyright date. I am self-publishing this paper on my website rather than submit it for publication in journals. I have posted this on my website on October 13, 2019 in honor of the Canadian geese that migrate to and through this area where I live on the coast of Lake Erie south of Canada.
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January 3, 2021 at 8:56 pm #4571
A well-written paper, Marianne! I played with the formatting a little bit (center alignment doesn’t seem to work for anyone), and I fixed the link for D. Sharp’s “Jung lexicon” so it’s not a raw link and opens in a new window, rather than taking the reader away from COHO.
Stephen Gerringer
tie-dyed teller of tales
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Visit the Contact the Foundation page, select Community and Social Media, and fill out the contact form.
FAQ: Community
Before you start posting and responding in these forums, please read and follow the following guidelines:
- 1. Respect Others You may certainly take issue with ideas, but please — no flaming / ranting, and no personal or ad hominem attacks. Should the opinion of another forum member spark your anger, please take a deep breath, and/or a break, before posting. Posts must be on topic – related to mythic themes.
- 2. Respect Others’ Opinions These are conversations, not conversions. “Conversation” comes from the Latin words con (“with”) and verso (“opposite”). We expect diverse opinions to be expressed in these forums, and welcome them – but just because you disagree with what someone has to say doesn’t mean they don’t get to say it.
- 3. Come Clear of Mind In addition to expanding the mind, certain substances (alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, etc.) have been known to impair good judgment. We recommend you keep a journal while under the influence and then later make more rational determinations regarding what is appropriate to share in this forum.
- 4. Respect This Space The Joseph Campbell Foundation, a US not-for-profit organization, offers this forum as part of our mission of continuing Mr. Campbell’s work of increasing the level of public awareness and public discourse with regards to comparative mythology.
- 5. Avoid Contemporary Politics Given the volatile nature of contemporary political discourse, we ask that members steer clear of candidates or current political controversies. Forum members come from across the political spectrum. There are other fora across the internet for discussing myth and politics.
- 6. Be Polite Forum members come from many different sets of cultural assumptions, and many different parts of the world. Please refrain from language whose only purpose is offense. If it helps, imagine your grandmother reading forum posts – as perhaps she may, since other folks’ grandmothers are.
- 7. Refrain from Sexually Explicit Posts Please do not make sexually explicit posts within these forums, unless they are absolutely germane to the discussion underway – and even in that case, please try to warn readers at the top of your post. Not all members have the same threshold when it comes to taking offense to language and pictures. NOTE: Under no circumstances will we condone the posting of links to sites that include child pornography, even inadvertently. We will request that such links be removed immediately, and will remove them ourselves if compliance is not forthcoming. Any Associate knowingly posting such links will be suspended immediately; we will forward a snapshot of the offending page, the web address and the associate’s contact information to the appropriate criminal authorities
- 8. Refrain from Self-Promotion Announcements linking to your new blog post, book, workshop, video clip, etc., will be deleted, unless they are demonstrably part of the greater conversation. The only exception is the Share-Your-Work Gallery, a subforum within The Conversation with a Thousand Faces. If you have art, poetry, writing, or links to music and other work you would like to share, do so here.
- 9. Search First If you’re thinking of starting a new topic, asking a question, etc., please take advantage of the search functionality of this forum! You can find the search field above the list of forums on the main page of the forums. Also, consider searching on the greater JCF website – this site is full of amazing resources on a wide variety of topics, all just a search away.
- 10. Report Violations If you witness or experience behavior that you feel is contrary to the letter or spirit of these guidelines, please report it rather than attacking other members. Do this by choosing the Report button (next to “Reply”) at the top of the post, and select a reason from the dropdown menu (Spam, Advertising, Harassment, or Inappropriate Content). The moderation team will be notified. Depending on the degree of bad behavior, further posts might require approval, or the user could be blocked from posting and even banned.
- 11. Private Messages Forum guidelines apply to all onsite private communications between members. Moderators do not have access to private exchanges, so if you receive messages from another member with inappropriate or hostile content, send a private message (with screenshots) to Stephen Gerringer and/or Michael Lambert.
Visit the Contact the Foundation page, select Technical Support, and fill out the contact form.
The Conversations of a Higher Order (COHO) consists of ten public forums loosely focused on a central theme. The forums are listed, with a brief description, on the COHO home page (each forum listed on that page also appears in the same order in the menu in the lefthand column – that menu stays with you as you move about the forums). This also shows who created the last post in each forum, and when.
When you visit a specific forum you will see the list of topics people have posted so far in that forum. Click on one to read that post and any replies. Feel free to add a reply if you have something to share, or just enjoy following the conversation. You can return to the COHO home page by clicking the "Home>Forums" breadcrumb at the top of the page – or move directly to a different forum by clicking on one of the listings from the forum menu in the lefthand column of the page.
If there’s anything you want to introduce – a question, an observation, or anything related to Campbell, myth, or one of his many related interests – create a topic in the forum you feel comes closest to including the subject you want to discuss. Most forums include in their description a link to a corresponding part of the website. For example, The Work of Joseph Campbell description has a link to all his published works: you can of course focus on a specific book or lecture, but also any topic related to the ideas arising out of his work is welcome in that forum.
When posting a new topic or a reply to an existing conversation, check the “Notify me of follow-up replies via email” box (conversations unfold at a leisurely pace: someone might need a few days to let what you write simmer in the back of their brain – this is how you find out someone has replied), and then click Submit. You can also click "Favorite" (top of the page on the right when reading forum threads) to be notified of all responses in a discussion.
Click on the Profile link under your user name in the upper left corner above the forum menu. Then select Edit and follow the prompts to upload an image file from your computer.
When you finish your post, before clicking the Submit button check the box at the bottom of your post that reads, “Notify me of follow-up replies via email.” You can also click on “Subscribe” (in the upper right corner of a thread) to follow the complete conversation (often a comment on someone else’s post might inspire a response from you).
We ask that when linking to web pages, please avoid posting the raw URL address in your text. Highlight the relevant text you'd like to link in your post, then select the link icon in your formatting bar above your post (immediately to the left of the picture icon, this looks like a diagonal paperclip). This opens a small field:
Paste the URL of the page you are linking to into the field provided. Then click on the gear icon to the right of that field, and check the box that says “Open link in a new tab” (so readers can see your link without having to navigate back to the forums), before clicking the green “Add Link” button.
To add an image to your post, click on the image icon in the menu at the top of your post (it's the icon on the far right):
In the Source field of the pop-up form, click on the camera icon on the far right. This should give you access to the files on your PC / laptop, or the photo library on your mobile device. Select the image, and add a brief description (e.g., "Minoan Goddess") in the appropriate field.
In the dimensions field, you only need enter the first number (240 is a good size for starters; if too small click the edit icon and increase that number). Then select OK.
Click on the name of the person you want to contact (under their avatar in a any of their posts). This link will take you to that member’s profile page. Then click on “Send a Message,” and compose.
If you witness or experience behavior that you feel is contrary to the letter or spirit of these guidelines, please report it rather than attacking other members. Do this by choosing the Report button (next to “Reply”) at the top of the post, and select a reason from the dropdown menu (Spam, Advertising, Harassment, or Inappropriate Content). The moderation team will be notified. Depending on the degree of bad behavior, further posts might require approval, or the user could be blocked from posting and even banned.
Visit the Contact the Foundation page, select Community and Social Media, and fill out the contact form.