#jungian power of words

[the-sciences]

Unlocking the Power of Ancestry: Exploring Astrological Family Therapy

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! Where do you think Alastor's arc is going? Redemption or villainy?

Hi!

Thank you for the ask, I loved watching Hazbin Hotel and I am happy I can write for the series :)

As for now, I think Alastor will spiral and hurt Charlie very badly, but he will eventually redeem himself (probably in a key moment). That is because Alastor is framed as Charlie's Jungian shadow.

What is the Jungian Shadow?

According to Jung, the shadow is what a person represses, both positive and negative. So, it can be one's violent tendencies, but also one's potential and energy. It really depends on the person.

So, why does Alastor fit the Shadow Archetype? Well, first of all:

Alastor's powers make use of shadows. Not only that, but Alastor's own shadow is very expressive and shows the demon's repressed feelings. In other words:

On the one hand Alastor embodies the shadow, in the sense he represents what Charlie refuses to face

On the other hand Alastor himself represses his emotions behind a smiling face:

Alastor: Just because you see a smile, don't think you know what is going on underneath. A smile is a valuable tool, my dear. It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing and ensures tha no matter what comes your way, you're the one in control.

This is a good characterization for a jungian shadow because the shadow grows stronger and more dangerous, when it's ignored. So, the most one refuses to face their feelings, the most these feelings fester and grow powerful and dangerous. This fits Alastor both when it comes to others and to his own character:

He takes advantage of an emotional unstable and vulnerable Charlie to strike an abimguous deal with her. Similarly, he uses Husk's gambling addiction to steal his soul. He uses people's weaknesses an unsolved problems to take over.

He suffocates his feelings, which symbolically manifest in his powerful shadow-tentacles. His design and abilities are representative of his psychological coping mechanism, which is nothing, but repression.

As written above, though, the Jungian Shadow can be both negative and positive depending on what one hides. This duality is shown in Alastor's two roles in Charlie's arc:

He is a demonic archetype (even moreso than Lucifer, the titular devil), as he waits in the shadows for a chance to manipulate Charlie

He is an evil mentor, as he genuinelly likes Charlie, sees her potential and wants to guide her towards greatness:

She's filled with potential that I could guide

This isn't a contradiction, but complexity. Alastor is chaotic and mixes negative traits and intentions with positive ones. Just like what people repress can be both bad and good, usually at the same time.

This is clear when it comes to the Princess of Hell:

Charlie to Alastor: What's that you said about smiles?

Charlie is similar to Alastor in how she represses herself behind her pollyanna persona and her smile. This doesn't mean she is faking her altruism and generosity, but that she is using these traits to hide something else:

Lute: The only reason you're still here is that Daddy gave you and your Hellborn-kind a pardon from an exorcist's blade. How does that feel? To know how little you matter.

Deep down, Charlie invests herself in the Hazbin Hotel project because she wants to matter. She feels powerless and unimportant, as a result of her parents' neglects and of Hell's difficult situation.

So, our protagonist has strong self-issues that she refuses to face:

Husk: Princess is a bleedy heart who wants to solve everybod else's problems, 'cept her own.

That said, this isn't the only thing Charlie represses. The Princess of Hell hides:

Every negative emotions she feels, like her self-hate or her anger at Vaggie for hiding her true identity:

Rosie: How does that make you feel? Charlie: Just... angry? Because we share everything! Because she always supported me, and my ideas, and now I don't know whether or not that was just more of the lies... Oh no, that's a horrible thing to think! Do I think that? Yes! No? Kinda?

Her most violent and aggressive side, which makes so she is unable to make full use of her powers:

Vaggie: Well, I mean... You're the princess of Hell, but you don't really use the power that comes with that. Mybe you can, I don't know? Command a little more... authority. Charlie: But that's so mean.

In short, by repressing her negative feelings, she also represses her potential. It is only by facing herself as a whole, that she can fully grow and bloom into her most powerful and complete self:

This is made clear in Charlie's quest in Cannibal Town. There, our girl is at her lowest, but she is pushing herself forward for the sake of her loved ones. She is trying to imitate Alastor by smiling, even if she is sour inside. However, things do not go well and it is only through her heart to heart chat with Rosie, that Charlie is able to pull herself together and inspire her people. Symbolically, she gets through them not with a 100% optimistic song like "Inside of every demon is a rainbow". Rather she opens her speech, by showing vulnerability and honesty:

It's a feeling like a rumbling in your gut That you could finally be faced with A billion needy faces I guess what I mean to say is For the first time in my life I might have to be ready for this Ready to be the one who's leading from the front Gotta come into my own Gotta come into my throne Gotta take charge and defend my only home And although I kinda feel unsteady Now I need to be ready for this

She affirms who she is and her willingness to grow into herself:

For the first time in my life Maybe I can be ready for this I can be the marshal leading the parade I can come into my own And I think I've always known My destiny could never be postponed When Adam brings the battle here I must appear like I'm ready for this

So, it is only by tapping into her own shadow that Charlie can be successfull. It is through expression and not repression that she can reach her goals.

What about Alastor?

He is the same, but so far he has been refusing to open up to others:

Angel: He's been here a while and he's still a big, creepy mystery.

That said, his time at the Hazbin Hotel has had an impact on him. He is forced to deal with others without killing them:

Vaggie: Pentious's eggs are all over the place. I need you to get rid of them. (...) Humanely!

He is shown cutting ties with a poisonous friend:

He openly admits he likes the people of the hotel:

Alastor: Ah, an enjoyable collective to be around. I admit one could get accustomed.

However, he still refuses to openly show vulnerability and ends up like this:

Let's highlight that Charlie and Alastor are foiled in The Show Must Go On song.

Both stand in the ruins of their homes/dreams.

The Hotel:

I took a hotel, and I destroyed it I know I could have done better Better, instead of letting you down

The Radio Station:

This place reeks of death There's a chill in the air And I barely escaped being killed by a hair

And both decide not to give up and to keep pursuing their objectives. However, Charlie is framed positively, while Alastor negatively. Why?

Charlie sings about her feelings openly and is supported by her father and found family:

Alastor sings about his pain privately and even then he barely shows his desperation before going back to his villanious mask:

Symbolically the moment Alastor reunites with the Hotel Crew, he sings:

And we're doing it with a smile!

He is back in control of himself, ready to hide everything behind his neverchanging smile.

So, Alastor is both Charlie's negative foil and Jungian Shadow. As her negative foil, he is bound to spiral. As her Jungian Shadow he is bound to be saved. Why is that so? Two reasons.

The Jungian Shadow can't be killed, but needs to be integrated with.

The main themes of the series are redemption and love, so it is improbable that Charlie won't help the person, who co-founded the hotel with her.

If anything, it seems that our princess is progressively asked to forgive, inspire and see the good in more and more complex cases.

It starts with Angel, who willingly stays at the Hotel. It goes on with Pentious, who infiltrates the Hotel, but makes no real damage. Then Lucifer, whom Charlie loves, but that has been absent from the majority of her life. Finally, Vaggie, who breaks Charlie's trust.

Each conflict Charlie has challenges her in a different way and helps her discover herself and grow. She is bound to meet new struggles when Lilith becomes a broken pedestal and finally when Alastor betrays or hurts her. Still, she is going to forgive and to understand them.

Charlie is going to see the good in Alastor and to better understand herself as a result. As a matter of fact Charlie's journey is one where she is slowly discovering a world, which isn't black and white:

If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

Just like people aren't black and white. Just like she herself isn't black and white. By saving Alastor, she is gonna save herself too. Together with the whole universe.

And what about Alastor? Well, he needs to work on himself, as well. He too must integrate with his shadow, who is embodied by a certain character:

Husk is a powerful overlord, who lost his soul to a demon. Just like Alastor:

Husk: Big talk for someone, who's also on a leash.

Alastor and Husk are both on a leash. Still, Husk admits it and starts working on his shortcoming:

Husk: You're a loser, just like me

Alastor instead affirms his willingness to be in control and to pull the strings:

Once I figure out how to unclip my wings Guess who will be pulling all the strings?

Alastor is a loser, just like Husk. Just like all the characters in hell. Sinners vs Winners. And yet, he refuses to admit it. This is why he makes no progress. Similarly, he wants freedom, but enslaves others. This isn't going to work out, which is why I am fairly certain he will eventually set Husk free. Probably by doing so, Alastor will make the first real step towards his own freedom. He will start integrating his own shadow.

Thank you for the ask!

[trekkie-polls]

Oh geez i re-did this poll because I misspelled colonialism in the first one, snd now this one has fascism misspelled and a word missing from the title 🙄 thank goodness tumblr is so nice about typos

[hamliet]

can you analyze the song Out for Love from Hazbin Hotel means to veggies character arc

It's the main theme of the entire series: people can only be redeemed through love.

Hard work, sure. Struggle, sure. Apologies and accountability, of course. But it's ultimately dependent on love.

The only way any lasting change of meaningful measure is made is through love. And yeah yeah it's simplified but it's the main message. Think about Sir Pentious. What is his last action?

Telling Cherri Bomb he loves her.

His sacrifice amounts to nothing at all, but he died to save Cherri alongside all his friends/family in the hotel. It's not a coincidence that Sir Pentious says that line before making his sacrifice: the writers are telling us exactly what they want us to associate his getting into heaven with. Love.

But the song does have really cool Easter eggs so let's go:

I see you're driven by your detestation Your every step is stoked with animus You need a different type of motivation Or there's no way that you can handle this

Obviously, being driven by revenge doesn't work. However, there's a clever play on words here with "animus." See, Vaggie is Charlie's Jungian animus, and vice versa. The anima (or animus) is, inJungian theory, the masculine within the feminine and the feminine within the masculine. The goal is to align with your animus.

We see that in Vaggie and Charlie's respective attitudes and outfits--again, this is simplistic, but as a design choice it was deliberate. Vaggie, the more aggressive one, dresses far more feminine. Charlie, the princess who sings her heart out, dresses in suits. They're each others' animus.

I know you're thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie You're out for blood But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love

Out for love, love Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be Out for love, love You're gonna fight without gloves, long as you're out for love

Vaggie actually always wears gloves, but fingerless ones, symbolic of how she's partially letting Charlie in but still keeping part of herself back. Except now the truth is out there.

So in the final battle, it's fitting that she has new gloves. It's not practical to fight without them, but she has new ones to reflect her internal change.

Fuel yourself with the fear of losin' That somebody who's your reason to live Harnеss your heart, and you can't help choosin' To fight with all you can give

She's also wearing a harness over her heart, literally taking Carmilla's words to heart. Plus Charlie's in a dress and Vaggie in armor, showing again integration following their reconciliation.

Out for love, love Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be Out for love, love You're gonna fight without gloves And when that push comes to shove Yeah, you just might rise above, long as you're out for love

If you're out for love you might rise above... to heaven, like Sir Pentious.

Anyways continuing with my argument that Hazbin is actually theologically fascinating for Christians as a work, the focus on love also is very, uh, Biblically sound, considering 1 John says "God is love," and, well:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

So yeah. Literally angels might have power and be in "heaven," but without love, they are nothing. Which we see in the end when Adam gets stabbed by literally the lowliest at the hotel.

[inbabylontheywept]

The Mormon Heretic, and the Leviathan

I have decided to make an explanation of how a Mormon heretic gave me the idea for my short story, Leviathan. It is very long explanation, mostly focused on the fascinating theology the heretic created on accident. The explanation of how it led to the story will only be at the end. You have been warned.

So, a short explanation of the heretic: He was a seminary teacher of mine that had deep dived into theology and Jungian analysis and the views that he'd come out with were just... fascinating. He didn't really consider this stuff heresy, because he didn't think it wasn't directly disagreeing with normal doctrine, just adding stuff into the margins. I think that his definition of Godhood and the nature of God was so alien that it was essentially an entirely new religion wearing the same terminology as the old one like a skinsuit. Calling it Christian would be stretching the word to the point of meaninglessness. And without further adieu, his beliefs: He was big on the idea that Jesus/God and GOD/Elohim were separate entities. He based this on the fact that Elohim refers to a plurality, while there are later words for God that are purely singular. He'd envisioned this sort of weird cycle where the God Cluster (Or Big God, or Elohim, or the Monad, he used a lot of terms for it) is this sort of outside-of-time entity that encompasses everything in an unconstrained sense. To exist in this way is to be incomprehensibly lonely, because there is literally nothing in the world but you. So it would, occasionally, go mad and cut out a temporary pocket of reality where it could not go. Sort of the "God creating a rock so heavy that It could not lift it" moment. This God-Cluster would then manifest a sort of physical reflection of itself in these constrained spheres, a self-that-was-not-the-self. That physical unself would go through apotheosis as a rite of passage, to create something different enough from the Monad that it would temporarily alleviate the isolation of being everything. So the God that there was with Eve and Adam was basically just a fetus-demiurge, and the reason that paradise failed was because it was still learning how to not suck at being a God. That was Lesson 1. Lesson 2 was the flood, which was really important because it was, according to Heretic Teacher, the first time that God felt shame. It had not blamed itself for the loss of Eden, it had blamed us, but this time it knew that it had overreacted. After Lesson 2, it spent a couple thousand years mulling over why it kept failing to predict humans and decided to try being one. That was Lesson 3, and the experience went so unbelievably badly that it decided it wasn't going to keep micromanaging us until it got its own shit together. It also gave it quite a bit more sympathy for us in our condition, and basically promised us that it was going to be nice to us, and to please be nicer to each other. This whole little thing relates to the prompt because, in his eyes, the grand cycle of existence seems to be based around the higher powers creating separations within themselves to avoid loneliness, with the goal of each split to be finding a way to reform into the big thing again, thesis-anthesis-synthesis style. We were mini-runs of the demiurge, who was using us to try and understand Itself, and It was in turn a mini-run of the monad, who was using it to try and understand itself and also as a way to pretend that it is two things, because being the only thing is very lonely. In this context, I made the Leviathan as the singular state, and humans as the sort of temporary split within it. That's why it eats people. We were always part of it. We were just a weird embarrassing stage in its life cycle.

As for why the flood is a recurring motif, that teacher talked a lot about the flood. He was fascinated with it, considered it the primary sin of God against man, and in turn, a sin by God against Itself. That one day, as we progressed back to unity with mini-God, all of our pain would become Its pain, and that as it progressed back to unity with the Monad, our pain would because its pain, and that in this way, even the Gods would be held accountable for forcing us to deal with some amateur hour schmuck of a deity for the first several thousand years of our existence. The universe is just a lonely god trapped in a room, arguing with a sock puppet, and occasionally getting so heated that it punches the sock puppet into the wall and hurts itself.

I don't even know how he came up with this number, but he'd estimated that something like a trillion people died in the first flood, which was comparable to how many people had died since. Even as a teenager, I had this weird realization that the synthesized proto-monad of our world was going to be comprised mainly of drowned, which was unsettling. Our world was the world of the drowned God.

I could write more about the weirdness of this guy. He was fucking fascinating, both because of his beliefs, and also because he genuinely viewed himself as a normal Mormon. But this is how that guy accidentally helped me write cosmic horror. By truly and genuinely believing in one.

[wellofdean]

Re: Dean, the MoC, Amara & Mary (Part 1)

Post 1 of ? (I'll go back and make this navigable later, because it's going to be long.)

I've been reading about Mary on my dash again today, and readers of my blog probably already know: I LOVE HER, and her resurrection is probably one of my favorite things that happens on Supernatural. What I want to address here, is what Mary is FOR, narratively, and why Amara gave her back to Dean, because IMO, I don't think the issue Amara was addressing by bringing Mary back was Dean having a whole perfect mother fantasy about Mary that involved white nightgowns and saintly home-making, that he actually in any real way WANTED that, or that anyone could deny that his life would certainly have been easier and softer if Sam hadn't been targeted by Azazel, she had lived, and John hadn't gone berserk, because that is obvious. It wasn't about these external things. It was about Dean.

Amara's point wasn't (imo) that Dean needs to correct his wrong ideas about his mother, it's that if everything that happened to Dean hadn't, Dean wouldn't BE Dean. He would not be the person he is, and the Dean Amara sees is the man whose soul is a bomb, and who was unflinchingly willing to sacrifice himself for all of humanity, and who, in the end, brokered peace and healing between elemental cosmic dualities with the power of his empathy and his innate understanding of what it means to love, and suffer with love.

I mean... Dean DID THAT.

The fact is, Dean is, in the context of the story, remarkable. He is deeply, deeply human and humane. He is an undeniable force for good and for love, no matter how many mistakes he makes, or how imperfect he may be because love is his constant guiding star. And importantly, HE IS WHAT HE IS. He can't be other than he is, as much as he may wish for it. Unfortunately, Dean does not recognize himself as these things. He does not see in himself what Amara sees. It's not that Dean can't accept Mary, it's that his immense, self-castigating guilt obscures him from himself, and means that he is not the full owner of himself.

But before I go on, I think it's important to think about the lead up to Amara and to think about who and what Amara is, because from the time Dean takes the Mark of Cain and contends with his shadow self via a curse that amplifies the parts of him that are angry, id-driven, uncompromising and violent, it kind of became gloves-off-obvious that Supernatural is telling a Jungian individuation story with Dean at its center.

"The aim of individuation," Carl Jung says "is nothing less than to divest the self of the false wrappings of the persona on the one hand, and the suggestive power of the primordial images on the other." It's a psycho/spiritual process that involves divesting oneself of the ill-fitting social mask/persona constructed by the ego in the formative years, and in the early stages of becoming a self (Stanford Dean, anyone), and also of unconscious influences of collective archetypes (Chuck? Amara? Mother? Father?). By doing this, a person becomes their authentic, individuated, and fully integrated self.

(Now, you can think that it's all bullshit as a concept, that's fine! Take it up with Uncle Carl! But, what I would argue about the text of Supernatural is that it's nigh on impossible to argue that these are not very transparently the bones this narrative is very intentionally hanging on from the MoC on, and that analyzing the relationships between characters that are central to that facet of the narrative without acknowledging their symbolic content results in frustrating and partial understandings. It's fine if you don't like it, in other words, but I think it's useful to at least acknowledge what the text is actually doing.)

So, a speedrun intro? For Jung, individuation has three phases:

Coming to understand and integrating The Shadow (or, contending with the personal unconscious)

Understanding and integrating Anima/Animus (contending with the archetypes of the collective unconscious)

Integrated, realised, individuated holistic Selfhood.

So MoC Dean lives with his shadow as a brand on his arm, which is also, it's important to note, humanity's shadow - Cain is the father of violence and murder. Jung said the shadow is the disowned self that is pressed into unconsciousness and unknowining, and disavowed in childhood when we create a social persona trying by to be 'good' and in so doing, subsume everything -- impulses, desires, truths, behaviors -- that we learn are are unacceptable or wrong and then suppress them. Elements of the Shadow can be both destructive or constructive -- a person who is brutal may have gentleness in his shadow, for example. As children and young adults, it goes, we suppress these things without fully understanding them in a desperate bid to be what is required of us, but all of those things are still part of us. Unacknowledged, they fester and make us suffer, and most importantly, must later be encountered, understood and reintegrated into the personality.

The MoC brings Dean's shadow to the fore, and under the influence of it, Dean is still himself, still guided by love, but when the shadow is controlling him, he is selfish, vengeful and punitive, angry, excessive in his violence, and straightforward but unfeeling about his desires.

At the same time, it's not an accident that when he is aware of it, but not being controlled by it, we find him making conscious, avowed peace with some of his own truths:

And making some informed and deliberate choices about who he is:

(Oh my god that second gif. It is so devastatingly intimate and expresses something so significant that it almost feels voyeuristic to even look at it. Anyway. Fuck, I love Supernatural!)

Finally, after a relapse to the control of the Mark/Dean's shadow self, in which he indiscriminately kills all the Stynes, comes very close to killing Cas and is pushed to kill Sam to save himself, Dean refuses that influence. And, just for the record, it's particularly brilliant that so much of Dean's shadow violence is so gendered -- he responds LIKE A MAN to protect vulnerable women, but he goes too far. He dominates other men gleefully. He preens about how he's too sexy! He tears apart motel rooms in fits of rage and misery! He hurts himself to his very soul by not letting Cas love him.

It's just...SO LOUD that Supernatural is saying something very pointed about patriarchal roles and how damaging and unconsidered they are.

Anyway, it's in the moment of Dean's refusal to kill Sam and save himself that Rowena casts the spell that frees him from the Mark, and from then Amara is born OF DEAN, and presents the even greater challenge of facing and integrating Anima, which is what Amara personifies.

(...to be continued. Sorry, if I carry on here, the posts will be too long!)

GO TO PART 2

[kemetic-dreams]

                THE IFA CONCEPT OF SOCIOLOGY

Yoruba culture has used the Ifa paradigm of the cosmos as the basis for building their major cities. The structure of the Yoruba Nation was a federation of city states. Each city was ruled by an Oba. In ancient times the Oba was never seen by his subjects, so he became the invisible nucleus of the circle that formed the city. He was surrounded by a female council of elders called Odu and a predominantly male council of elders called Ogboni. The city itself was supported by male and female work parties who tended to divide their labor along gender lines. The men were traditionally farmers and the women traditionally controlled the market place. Both men and women participated in craft guilds that preserved the techniques used in the arts. The cities were built in a circular formation with the compound of the Oba at the center. The symbolic image of Yoruba culture appears as follows:

There is some archeological evidence in the Yoruba cities of Ile Ife and Oyo that suggests that this design was used as the basis for the actual layout of those cities. The extent to which this occurred in other cities has not been thoroughly researched. It does appear that this structure was used in pre-colonial times as the basis for establishing political and religious institutions both of which were built upon the cosmological model found in Ifa.

Variations on this structure involved the system of establishing the location for sacred shrines. The system is called Gede which is a very old form of astrology. In Gede the path of solar bodies and planets is marked in relationship to the ways that they transverse the landscape. Celestial bodies are believed to enhance the ase (inherent power) of natural forces that arise from the Earth. By correlating the influences of Olorun and Ile, the ancient diviners were able to consecrate their shrines in places that reflected the essence of specific Odu.

Earth (ile) was considered a reflection of Heaven (Orun) and the layout of Yoruba cities was designed to make them mirrors of the cosmic order. The religion of Ifa originally comes from the city of Ile Ife. In lfa scripture, Ile Ifa is described as the original home of humans. The words: "Ile Ife” translate to mean; "Spreading Earth." So Ile Ife is a city and it is any place where land formed on Earth that allowed for human evolution to take place. Ifa scripture also refers to Ile Ife as a Spiritual place. It is the home for those ancestors who have returned to Source.

D. THE IFA CONCEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Perhaps the most accessible manifestation of Odu is through the portal of individual consciousness. Ifa teaches that Odu represent the energy patterns that create consciousness. They are analogous to what Carl Jung called archetypes of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that there exists a set of primal patterns that form the content of self-perception and place the self in relationship to the world. According to Jung, these patterns remain abstract until the unconscious gives them a cultural and personal context. In both Jungian psychology and the Ifa concept of consciousness, Odu (archetypes) can be revealed through dreams, where they take on personal qualities and manifest as mythic drama. By grasping this particular manifestation of Odu, Ifa teaches that it is possible to create internal balance which is the foundation of living in harmony with Nature.

Ifa psychology is linked to the concept of ori. The literal translation of ori is "head." This is a limited definition because ori also implies consciousness and Ifa cosmology teaches that all Forces in Nature have ori or consciousness.31 Because Ifa believes in reincarnation, every ori forms a polarity with ipori. The ipori is the eternal consciousness that exists in Orun (Heaven).32 It is the ipori that forms the link between past and future lives. If a scripture describes the ipori as the perfect double of ori. According to Ifa cosmology, every ori makes an agreement with Olorun prior to each incarnation.33 This agreement outlines the type of life that is to be lived and the lessons that are to be learned in a given lifetime. At the moment of birth the content of this agreement is lost to conscious thought. Part of the process of establishing internal balance is viewed as the task of remembering the original agreement between ori and Olorun.

This agreement is the source of individual destiny. Because divination is considered a method for discovering destiny, all divination based on Ifa is related to the question of enhancing the alignment between ori and ipori.

The link between ori and ipori lies within ori inu.35 The Yoruba words; "ori inu" translate to mean; "inner head." This is a reference to what Jung called the individual consciousness or self. Ori inu is the nucleus of that circle of Forces that creates self-awareness.

In addition to the polarity between ori and ipori, ori inu is the center point of the polarity between ara and emi. Ara is the physical body. Ifa psychology includes the heart (okan) and the emotions (egbe) as part of the physical self. According to lfa, the nature of one's ipori can only be grasped if the head and the heart are in alignment. In other words, the mind and the emotions must be in agreement if spiritual insight is to occur. Similarly, Jung understood that a conflict between the mind and the emotions is one of the sources of mental illness.36 In Ifa this conflict is called ori ibi. It is difficult to make a literal translation of ori ibi, but the term suggests a lack of alignment between ori and ipori. When the ori and ipori are functioning as one, it creates a condition called ori ire. A literal translation of ori ire would be; "wise head." .Jung referred to this condition as individuation, which was his basis for defining mental health.37

Ara or the physical body exists in polarity with emi. The Yoruba word emi means; "breath.” Ifa teaches that the breath of life comes from Olodumare and contains the eternal essence of consciousness. Emi in this context would translate to mean; "soul." The Ifa symbol of self would appear as follows:

[sag-dab-sar]

Enheduana Was A Strategic Priestess

She wasn’t just a priestess who became famous for her beautiful literature. She wasn't a woman of low birth who dedicated herself to Inana solely out of love. Or any other romanticized story. She was, in the beginning, a strategic royal tool of conquest.

I'm writing this because I came across "Inanna: Lady of Largest Heart" by Betty DeSheong Meador. She is a Jungian analyst, she says she studied under an Assyriologist (I have a bone to pick with Jungian analysts but whatever) I noticed this on page 7:

...she was now elevated to the supreme position in the Sumerian pantheon. There is no way to know why Enheduanna made the painstaking effort to elevate Inanna above all the great gods. Perhaps it was simply an act of dedication to her goddess.

There is evidence. It wasn’t just an act of dedication.

🔹Why Inanna Was Elevated🔹

Ištar was the tutelary Goddess of Sargon of Akkad [1] [2]

From a legend of him:

Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me. When I was a gardener the goddess Ishtar loved me [3]

Sargon conquered many Sumerian cities. He instilled his daughter Enheduana as priestess of Nanna and Inana at Ur— one of the most powerful Sumerian cities [4].

Why? To use religion to legitimize his reign [5]. Sargon respected Sumerian culture [6] so it makes sense to try and legitimize his reign via appeasing the Sumerians themselves— using religion was an extremely common tactic for conquerors [5]. The Gods were the ones who appointed Kings and punished them when they did wrong.

Nanna was the tutelary God of Ur [7]. Making her a priestess of the most important God put her in a position of power to elevate Inana and equate her with Ištar [8] a good political move.

This is where the false idea that "Inana is a moon Goddess" comes from; people seem to cut out the Moon God Nanna when telling her story. Enheduana was priestess of both of them— and held the role of Ningal, Nanna's wife, in some ritual settings.

After being exiled from Ur and receiving no help from Nanna, she turns towards his daughter, Inana, to seek help. And raises her even further above the Gods in the hopes of gaining her favor and assistance; it was a personal cry for help by Enheduana while she is in exile. [11]

I’m not trying to say she did not love Inana and it was just a royal duty or some sort of bribe, I am stating her actual origin and reason for being a priestess.

She is described in the Disc of Enheduanna

Enheduana, priestess of Nanna, spouse of Nanna, daughter of Sargon, the king of the world, built an altar in the temple of Inana-Zaza at Ur and named it Altar, the Table of Heaven” [9.1]

[Right: Original Disc [9.1] | Left: restored version at Penn Museum [10] ]

🔹Inana's Importance🔹

No doubt Sumerian Inana and Akkadian Ištar was one of the most important Goddess throughout Mesopotamia and eventually neighboring regions. Many local Goddess were identified with her at various dates (even if originally separate).

But was Inana actually placed above all other Gods?

Yes, in two literary compositions (as of right now). The Exhaltion of Inana & Inana C. Two literary compositions do not equated to the 3000+ year history of Mesopotamian religion and I wish more people who wrote on this topic acknowledged that.

To be the "Queen of all the me" was to hold the cosmos in one's palm. Crucially, this was not a universally accepted view of Inana. Though she was of course a celebrated goddess in Sumerian culture, she was generally considered inferior to the main male deities of the pantheon: Enlil, An, and Ea. The Exaltation sets out to change this by making Inana supreme among gods, and this aim is emphatically announced in the first three words of the text. [11 page XIX]

It is often stressed that the plethora of myths & hymns from cultures with more literature available (and popularity) such as Greece & Rome do not always reflect the totality of their ancient beliefs—it is the exact same situation when it comes to Inana.

🔹Better Source for Enheduana🔹

If you want to read these same hymns in a way that is presented for a modern audience I suggest the version done by the Assyriologist Sophus Helle, who has a passion for Edheduana, in his book "Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author"

Google Books — LINK

Companion website to the book - LINK

Enheduana on his personal website — LINK

Helle actually has Maedor's work listed in the bibliography of the companion website (albeit I read the entire website and can't find where it is used) [9.2], but translations coming from an actual Assyriologist are a better option for those who want to know Inana.

On each of the companion pages—The Exaltation, The Hymn, and The Temple Hymns—he mentions other translations of the literary compositions that are also reliable but he never suggests Meador's translations. Additionally, his book is 2023, hers is 2000, so his will have much more updated information about Enheduana & Inana, and he mentions that more updated info will naturally continue to come forward.

You can also explore them in a very literal translation on the ETCSL.

ETCSL Inana Hymns— LINK

Exaltation of Inana / Inana B — LINK

The Hymn / Inana C — LINK

🔹Sources🔹

[1] The Two Steles of Sargon: Iconology and Visual Propaganda at the Beginning of Royal Akkadian Relief by Lorenzo Nigro in Iraq Vol. 60 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200454?seq=1

[2] A Tribute to King Sargon of Akkad by Agulyas from Mott Community College Historical Faculty https://history.mcc.edu/wordpress/history/2014/04/04/a-tribute-to-king-sargon-of-akkad/

[3] Ancient History Source Book: The Legend of Sargon of Akkadê, c. 2300 BCE from Fordham University https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/2300sargon1.asp

[4] 095. Tell Maqayyar (ancient: Ur) from Colorado State University https://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/iraq05-095.html

[5] Sargon of Akkad: rebel and usurper in Kish by Marlies Heinz http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_spanier/Teaching/documents/CP2.0HeinzSargonofAkkad.pdf

[6] Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Stephen Bertman.

[7] Nanna/Suen by Adam Stone at Oracc and UK Higer Education Academy http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/nannasuen/

[8] A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology by Gwendolyn Leick

[9] Enheduana . org "Authorship" https://enheduana.org/authorship/

[9.1] "Disc of Enheduana" https://enheduana.org/disk-of-enheduana/

[9.2] "Bibliography" https://enheduana.org/bibliography/

[10] Penn Museum https://www.penn.museum/collections/object_images.php?irn=293415

[11] Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author by Sophus Helle

I have a working draft on the Inana's importance section, that I removed from this post because it was getting too long and off topic. Will I finish it? Literally have no idea.

Originally written February 9th, 2020, complete overhaul in 2024 due to access to Helle's commentary and resources. And wanting to be more concise. So I don't think this counts as a repost 😬.

[kaddyssammlung]

Sundowning

– Transcript from Revolver Sleep Token Special Edition

Sleep token formed in 2016 in the UK. They self-released their debut EP “One” in December of that year, before signing to Basic Records for their 2017 three-track follow-up “Two”.

From the beginning, there was a mystique about them: The image of four anonymous musicians in cloaks and ornate-looking masks, their exposed chests and arms, daubed in the thick black paint, invited questions. At first, Sleep Token answered those questions if cryptically but soon they would begin declining all interviews. In the early days, it seems, Sleep Token acknowledged that their story required a little exposition. A commonly held misconception among the fandom is that Sleep Token had only ever done one interview with British music magazine Metal Hammer in 2017, around at that time of the “Calcutta” single release. In fact, the band granted another interview in 2018 to Kerrang and in both of those rare press engagements, Vessel underscored the artistic purpose of their concealed identities.

“How we got here is irrelevant,as irrelevant as who we are - what matters is the music and the message” Vessel declared to Metal Hammer. “We are here to serve, Sleep and project his message”. When asked in that same conversation about the band's genre-defying approach, he said, “life is dark, life is bright, life is ugly, life is beautiful. Don't get lost in genres. They will disorient you, music, as for everyone”. In the Kerrang interview, Vessel doubled down on Sleep Token's philosophy of unhinging the art from its makers. “The true identities behind Sleep Token are immaterial and ultimately irrelevant”. As Vessel said at the time, “art has become entangled with identity...our aesthetic is there to fill the void left by that absence. True to those words, Sleep Token have remained anonymous and eschwed interviews ever since. Instead, they have communicated about entirely through their music and its accompanying visuals. Each song is an apparent offering to the primeval deity known as Sleep.

A once powerful being who, according to the band's lore, promised Vessel ultimate glory if he were to devote himself fully to him. He is now known as Sleep because, as background information shared by Basic Records put it, no modern tongue can properly express its name.

His past saw him wield far greater power than in modern age, bestowing ancient civilizations with the gift of dreams and the curse of nightmares. As insightful fans have noted, Sleep bears a wealth of similarities to the shadow archetype in Jungian philosophy, which is part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, and desires, and the aspects of oneself that are seen as not just unacceptable to society but contradictory to one's own personal morals and values. Is Vessel devoting himself to Sleep by offering him this music as a token or is he appeasing him? The consequences among the fans will have poured their free time into unpacking the overarching narrative in the band's music as that it's the story of a toxic power struggle. Vessel oscillates from a love bordering on obsession to frustration, desperation, and anger at Sleep's apparent indifference or even outright resistance towards him explaining the fluctuations on Sleep token's song to the text. This narrative had already been foregrounded in the band's first two EPs, but it was much more fully realized on the 2019 debut album “Sundowning”, which also marked the first release on Spineform Records. Its title refers to a phenomenon experienced by dementia patients regarding a range of behavioral changes that typically, but not necessarily, begin as the sun is setting and resolves themselves by morning. Those who experience it may become agitated or anxious, sometimes feeling like theyare in a wrong place, like they need to go home despite already being at home.

Sundowning, the album title, might then refer to a feeling of disorientation and distress that comes over Vessel whenever Sleep, presumably a creature of the night, arrives. The lyrics of “the night does not belong to God”, seemingly confirms this. You can remember only till the sun recedes once again. Vessel groans before the chanted hooks come in. The night comes down like heaven. “Sundowning” didn't get a typical album rollout. By the time it was released in November 2019, all of its 12 songs were already in fans' hands. Starting on June 21st, the summer solstice, the band dropped a new track every other Thursday at that time of sunset in the native United Kingdom. Beginning with album opener, that night does not belong to God and proceeding along the tracklist order. From both an artist and a marketing perspective, it was an innovative approach. One of many Sleep token were out to buck tradition, but only did the regularity of the world build a sense of anticipation. But it also kept Sleep Token at the front of fans' minds as they outpaced the speed at which most bands could release singles ahead of a new album.

Brilliantly, the campaign also fit into the band's story. Every fortnight as the sun was setting, Vessel presented yet another offering to Sleep. On “Sundowning”, as well as the band's subsequent LPs, each of these offerings had its own visual identity. In a case of Sleep token's first album, every song is represented by a sigil, a series of interconnected shapes, often lines, triangles, and circles that construct some sort of meaning. It is believed that the symbols have various origins. Some reference the Elder Futhark, (the oldest runic alphabet, which is also referenced in the Sleep token's logo,)

and the Enochian letters (an occult language) while others resemble the symbols for demons in the goetic grimoire Ars Goetia (a 17th century book oof sorcery). The aspect of the sigils that has most fascinated the fans, however, is the connection to alchemical symbology. Alchemy is an ancient tradition that is both philosophical and proto-scientific, and fans have latched onto the alchemical meanings of the sigils as meanings of finding hidden significance written within the songs. For instance, the sigil for the offering features the symbol for a callous or crucible and the symbol for fumes or smokes, suggesting the idea of something being burned as a ritual sacrifice. Within the song itself, Vessel makes this notion more explicit. This is a giving, an offering, in your favor, a sacrifice in your name, he sings.

That's one of the simpler examples. For a song like Dark Signs, the symbology becomes a little more complex. One of the individual symbols in the sigil refers to sublimination, a phenomenon in which someone witnesses something that challenges the limits of human understanding and the capabilities of human comprehension. This may well be that Vessel experiences interacting with sleep. In a chemical context, sublimination refers to a substance transformation from the solid to the gas stage or vice versa, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the transition from being in one's body to being only a spirit. Meanwhile, the symbol for iron, which also appears in the Dark Signs sigil, is traditionally associated with the process of making two opposite chemical components separate from each other. Consequently, it's hardly a coincidence that the song itself establishes a growing sense of the division between Vessel and Sleep. Where we met, there must have been dark signs. Vessel sings while he later contends in the chorus that I hate who I have become, as a result of surrendering himself to Sleep. Vessel's feelings toward Sleep fluctuate so wildly, that the over-aching narrative of “Sundowning” is hard to grasp at first. The album opens by establishing Vessel's devotion toward Sleep in its most straightforward and reverent form. The minimalistic “the night does not belong to God” is practically a modern devotional hymn, presenting Vessel at his most eager to worship Sleep. In contrast, the offering introduces not only heavier riffs but also a fuller picture of the seemingly limitless capacities Vessel believes he has for love. The reoccurring image of biting and feeding is underscored by every repetition of take a bite, suggesting that Vessel is fully willing to lose parts of himself, even violently, to sustain and please sleep.

By the third track, “Levitate”, the foundations begin to wobble with Vessel, now gripped by anxiety over the prospect of being separated from Sleep or of Sleep no longer needing him. I can tell you won't remember my cracking bones. He despairs, eventually asking, will you levitate, where I won't reach you? In the next song, Dark Signs, his fears have come true and he's looking at the wreckage of the relationship, missing the man he was before the first, before the first even again. Yet after the conflict between them intensifies and “Higher”, “Take Aim” finds Vessel so deep in a state of love that he's defiant, almost daring Sleep to come back to him. Make me tear my body, make me yearn for your embrace. He challenges. “Sugar, a couple of tracks later represents the second emotional peak of the album with Vessel in the full throes of desire but with an undertone of darkness and violence. He knows Sleep plays a twisted little game but remains addicted to the pain none of the less. After the romantic dreaminess of “Drag Me Under”,

“Sundowning” ends on a note of frustration with Bloodsport. Once again, everything for Vessel has fallen apart and he's left exhausted by all the sacrifice for limited reward: “I made Loving You a Bloodsport I can't win” he curses, making the second downturn in his mood and fortune on the record. It serves as a lasting reminder, intensified by the singer sobbing over the final thrills of the piano that their bond as a destructive force where Vessel gives and Sleep takes. Musically speaking, “Sundowning” is arguably Sleep Token's softest album. It might be the most pop-oriented as well. Give, for example, has the slickness and the arcing, aerobic shape in the melody of something that might have floated around the mainstream in the mid-2010s while a vibrating synth lands that and trap percussion of “Dark Signs” and “Sugar” evoke the feeling of modern R&B.

On the other hand, there's plenty here that verifies Sleep Token's metal credentials. The bite of the guitars cut through like a surprise attack in the middle of a song, a bait-and switch structure that has become all the more frequent as Sleep Token have evolved. A notable expectation is “The Offering” which melts siren-like synths with noshing guitars and intertwines them tightly rather than handling them as a separate tool. By far the heaviest song on “Sundowning”, however, is called an alternative metal slice of fury that stones and swaggers with greater harshness than anything else on the album. Recalling Death Tones at their angriest as well as Sleep Token's contemporaries in Liverpool metal upstarts “Loathe”. Regardless, it's rare for Sleep Token to stick to just one sound. Even the anger of “God” dissipates for a while with a delicate, twinkling piano bridge. When “Sundowning” was released, Sleep Token were in a promising position. On October 3, 2019, they performed a ritual at the Underworld, a 500-capacity venue in London that often acts as the first rung on the ladder of an up-and-coming band's success.

Plant a flag at the Underworld and it's a sign your band is truly going somewhere.

Later that year, the album brought them to the US for the first time and then they returned to the UK for a headline tour in the early 2020s. Unbeknownst to them, however, the ritual they played at the 900-capacity Islington Assembly Hall on January 31 would be the final one for almost a year and a half. Not even the act of worshiping Sleep could justify gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic. The band did attempt to organize a series of socially distanced shows known as the Isolation Rituals in March 2021, but the virus was still too rampant at the time for them to go ahead. Not even Sleep himself could know how fast Sleep Token might have risen if there hadn't been a pathogen standing in their way. None of the last, when the stacking of ritual was approved by the government again, would neatly coincidence with a whole new chapter for the band. Sleep Token's son was about to rise to another level.

(This text was taken from the Revovler Special Edition Collector's mag; I don't own any of this)

[lightlessentwine]

[ELDEN RING GRAND THEORY REVISION 2.2- SUBJECT TO INQUIRIES AND FURTHER REVISION]

The Narrator in the first DLC trailer opens with the line, "Pure and Radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men.. There is nothing more terrifying." and frankly every aspect of Miquella's role in the Golden Order is terrifying from his perspective. He had to pass judgement in blessing others, which alone can be enough to break someone. It is from here that we may see part of Miquella's original reason in creating the Haligtree. At some point, it's posed that Miquella became St. Trina to guide followers to the Haligtree. Following the trail that Miquella is St. Trina, it is possible to extrapolate on Messmer's identity when applying the concepts of Alchemy and how it translates to a classical understanding of Analytical Psychology via the Jungian model. a lot of this speculation also ties back to extensive study of the world in-game, as well as a bit of real-world religion, history, perspective, chemistry, biology, crest/art analysis, and more. I may use terms that i don't fully explain. i implore you simply look them up on wikipedia and apply that knowledge to what i am saying, or this will be even longer than it already is

We must first establish that literally anything not understood in a binary in Elden Ring actually confounds and terrifies followers of the Golden Order. It in fact worries Corhyn so deeply that he refuses to believe Goldmask as he grovels in the ashes of the Erdtree-- One of the biggest revelations in the entire game is premised around breaking a binary that was never proven to be a binary at all. In other words, the entire Golden Order is based in dichotomies and binaries and there is a fundamental flaw in that regard; it disregards the individual and non-binary aspects of the World to force them into a simpler mold that was going to fall with time, regardless.- Much like with Gwyn's plight in Dark Souls; it was never about the people of the land with him, it was about preventing a coming age and clinging onto whatever control found in preserving the current one forever.

At the basis, St. Trina may have been able to inhabit Miquella's body because of having been born of a single-bodied Rebis, or at least as the Golden Order sees Marika/Radagon, a God. this is an ability only demonstrated by Marika that Malenia seems incapable of. I believe her bestowment from the outer god of Rot is the reason for her lack of other personal identities; she does not have any others to project other than what she is, due to societal perception of her bestowment/affliction and her choice to let miquella ascend to the role she could be in. In the current age, all she has been doing is dreaming (note: trina) and awakens promptly when we arrive; likely to the only movement of air she's felt in ages

I think Miquella is an entity of purity while St. Trina is a Lunar Reflection; or an Animus in Jungian Psychology, which also has heavy ties to alchemy in reference to "Albedo". She's the hero and protector of the people that Miquella often envisioned within himself. Messmer, residing in the shadow realm, represents a deep seated truth within- a sort of cognitive "Rubedo," or a "Truth in Mind," if you will. he is a truth that Miquella hates as much as others fear, and that nobody wants found. Part of this truth must be Marika's fault, and it has left Miquella with a lingering guilt that he sees as a shadow that was torn from himself and trapped away.

Imagine it like this; if St. Trina is Miquella's image of theirself as a blessed, pure caretaker and a sort of christ-like figure, then Messmer is the part of him that represents "Sins of The Father/Mother" Marika's own rise to power and established order themselves are what created a young Miquella. I believe Marika took whatever purity was within Messmer and literally created Miquella from this. It was with time though, and his noted brilliance and ability to "compel affection," that he found a way to break free of his fated identity which meant breaking free of the Order itself.

Applying the Realm of Shadows to this; having been physically separated from the Lands Between by Marika's own mischievous deeds, it is likely that the shadow realm now acts as a cognitive realm of Marika's, of sorts, which could contain the perception or persona of another person within it. (think Mementos from Persona 5, lol)

So.. Without the current Elden Ring there would be no Order, but the current Order hides the image of a serpent at its center. This seems to represent Messmer. this is the same concept as how a pentagram represents a human in alchemy, while being inverted, it represents a goat, or in most cases, Baphomet.

Baphomet is labeled as half-human, half-animal, male and female, good and evil.. he is referred to as a man but is essentially every binary and every dichotomy that arises from them. He is even seen as both a deity and a demon. I believe Miquella and Radagon's work on discovering the Law of Causality is the main hint toward Messmer's presence, which ties into the rest of the alchemy involved. He is a pagan cult deity who represents balance and neutrality, and is almost always depicted doing a gesture signifying "as above; so below" which is a condensed version of the Law of Causality, already known to be associated with Miquella and Radagon, well before the Shattering; "Causality is an influence by which one event, process, state, or object contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object where the cause is partly responsible for the effect, and the effect is partly dependent on the cause."

For clarity's sake, because i figure i'll be asked if not addressed: It's not impossible for Messmer and Miquella+Malenia to have all been the first child of Radagon/Marika with this Theory. Malenia was a twin born at the same time as Miquella, so she would be a first child with Miquella. If Messmer is a diety representing neutrality or, as I expect, a product of the Law of Causality, then he would be a product of Miquella as much as Miquella is of him. this idea lends to the possibility of Miquella actually being the remainder that was left over from a splitting where Messmer's counterparts (possibly both Miquella and Malenia, given their twin nature) are representative of his own aspects.. it does is beg a sort of "chicken or egg" paradox, but before we had a realistic answer to that, many would reply- and almost sarcastically, if not for the fact that it was the best answer we had- that the first thing to appear was "the Universe." The modern answer is, in fact, that the egg came first. (whether any of this analogy alludes to the actual lore or not is something i think we'd just have to wait for the expansion to know)

Marika herself had this Shadow hidden away, and this presents rather well because we know that there was a long period of time after the Night of Black Knives that Marika was still active but becoming more distraught, preceding the Shattering. on top of this, more proof resides in that, within Jungian psychology, it is that one's Anima/Animus comes to them in dreams, much like St. Trina came to people in theirs (who, as an Animus herself, was probably motivated by helping malenia look for her Anima, which perhaps never existed). It is also true that a Shadow Persona is borne of conflict tearing at one's conscious until it becomes its own entity, which i've already presumed of Messmer above.

[aeroblossom]

just got friendship 6 with furina, i didn't think it was possible to love a character even more. i've been thinking so much of her. she's just... so beautiful? so beautifully human?

i thought they may not touch on the part where your personae become merged with your self, but they did. i feel very impressed, especially since the self, the soul and the persona are also showcased as themes within the world quests as well. fontaine is a region that tells the reason behind deception, how one may define oneself, the importance of "i", trickery, blindness, devotion, escapism, guilt, betrayal, sacrifice. furina, through her act, blurs the lines between human and god enough to fool even her closest companion. she talks about how her mask began to merge with her true self and that she couldn't differentiate between them, and i felt that. that is one of the most real feelings ever. through her dramatic showmanship, furina showcases something very true to real life.

i'd also like to mention that furina having the power of both pneuma and ousia goes beyond simple gameplay or as neuvillette's thanks. pneuma, inspired by matter, and the word itself roughly means 'soul'/'spirit', and ousia, antimatter, loosely something like 'material'/'substance'. soul and essence. when the two collide, when matter and antimatter collide, an annihilation reaction occurs. furina's pneuma form is her archon persona, while her ousia form is her true human form. when furina's true self began to clash with her godlike pretense, when the two began to merge, furina experienced ego death. the annihilation reaction of the self, if you will.

> It's described by people who have experienced it as a feeling of losing one's self. It is termed so because it has been reported as feeling like a form of dying in which one lets go of their sense of self and identity.

> Ego death is a "complete loss of subjective self-identity".[1] The term is used in various intertwined contexts, with related meanings. Jungian psychology uses the synonymous term psychic death, referring to a fundamental transformation of the psyche.

furina's subjective self has been reduced to dust, hence her instability. some voicelines are bright, cheerful, eccentric as she was before. others are brooding, grieving, tired. exhausted. she still tries. it seems like occasionally she finds a burst of strength to be her bright self, which then comes crashing down again in minutes. sunshine one moment, thunderstorm the next. her character story mentions the lack of motivation she feels, laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling instead of getting stuff done until clorinde intervened. big props to clorinde btw, it is so crucially important that someone like clorinde be around in situations like this. furina exhibits signs of bpd, honestly.

she is genuinely one of the best characters i have ever seen in media, and i can't wait to see her more. i won't ever forget her.

[adachimoe]

I am well aware of Blah Blah Death of the Author, but honestly... I enjoy reading Atlus's meta / developer commentary on their stuff more than any western fanbase analysis. I think players fall into this trap where they try too hard to stick to Jungian definitions for a lot of this stuff. Like, can we have a little awareness to acknowledge that Jung didn't define Personas as MAGICAL POWERS either, so maybe the people who made the game were playing loose and fast with these words and concepts...?

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! Do you think Alastor and Lucifer are foils?

Hi!

Yes, of course they are!

Alastor and Lucifer's foiling starts in Dad Beats Dad (obviously), where they fight over Charlie's affection. They might seem as opposites throughout the episode, but they are actually the same, as they both try to impress Charlie with their powers:

[ALASTOR:] They say, when you're looking for assistance It's smart to pick the path of least resistance [LUCIFER:] Others say, that in your needy hour There's no substitute for pure angelic power!

Still, Charlie doesn't care and all she wants is for her parental figures to support her:

Charlie: How come he can have faith in me, but my own father can't?

In short, Alastor and Lucifer find pride in their abilities, but need to let go of it, in order to show their love for Charlie. By the end of the episode, they both accomplish this. However, they succeed in slightly different ways, that fit their shared motif of shadow and light. In particular:

Alastor is linked to shadows, as his abilities let him manipulate shadows

Lucifer is linked to light, as his name means morningstar and his powers manifest in light-beams

As a result:

Alastor's development happens in the shadows, whereas Lucifer's in the light - This is true also on a meta-level, as Alastor's arc is the secondary plot-line of the episode, whereas Lucifer's is the main one

Alastor acts as Lucifer's jungian shadow and becomes a catalyst for him to change. Similarly, Alastor himself is challenged to grow by his own jungian shadow, aka Husk

What is the jungian shadow? It is the repressed part of a person. In stories, a character might meet another one, who embodies this hidden part of the self. By integrating with the shadow, the character evolves. In other words, Alastor represents a repressed part of Lucifer and Husk a repressed part of Alastor. Let's see how it all plays out.

ALASTOR, HUSK AND MIMZY

Alastor and Mimzy's bond is unhealthy, as they both enable negative sides of the other. On the one hand Alastor keeps covering for Mimzy, no matter what she does. On the other hand Mimzy feeds Alastor's ego by praising his power and abilities.

So, Mimzy never faces the consequences of her actions:

Mimzy: Thanks for helpin' lil' old me out of a though spot. You're always such a pal.

And Alastor feels respected and appreciated:

Alastor: It's nothing I can't handle. Don't worry Husker. Who in their right mind would cross me?

However, the reality is that Mimzy is using Alastor and Husk points this out:

Husk: You and I both know Mimzy only shows up, when she needs something. That bitch is trouble and who knows what kinda demon she fucked with to come running to you this time?

Not only that, but he openly calls Alastor out on his pride:

Husk: Big talk for someone, who's also on a leash.

Which results in Alastor reacting in anger:

That said, Husk is proven right. It turns out Mimzy has willingly brought chaos to the hotel, so that Alastor could solve things for her. Because of this, Alastor finally cuts ties with her:

Alastor: You deliberately brought danger to this place just to have me clean up your mess. I can't have that here.

This choice is important and it shows how the people around him are slowly impacting Alastor. On the one hand the Radio Demon listens to one of his subjects' advice. On the other hand he acts to protect the hotel. As a matter of fact the moment Alastor steps up as the Host of the Hotel isn't when he sings to Charlie in Hell's Greatest Dad nor when he transforms into a giant and fights. It is when he sends Mimzy away and sacrifices a little bit of his pride to do so. interestingly, this happens as nobody is looking at him, so he isn't really trying to impress nor to trick the others. He acts selflessly in the shadows.

LUCIFER, ALASTOR AND CHARLIE

Lucifer and Charlie's bond is strained:

Charlie: We just have never been close. After he and mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls... sometimes, but only if he's bored or like, needs me to do something.

At the root of this conflict there is Lucifer's inability to show his daughter how much he cares. He struggles to express his feelings and hides them behind a prideful persona:

Charlie: I told you when you called me five months ago. Or did you not listen? Lucifer: No, no, no, no. Just, you know, I just forgot. I've just been really busy, ya know with um... important things.

Instead of openly admitting his depression and sadness he prefers to look cold and uninterested. Even dismissive and condescending, like when he arrives at the Hazbin Hotel:

Lucifer: Wow, this place sure looks, uh... Uh-uh. Yeah. Uh-uh. It's got a lot of character!

Lucifer is initially too focused on what he cares about - meeting his daughter - rather than on what Charlie wants - for him to help her with the hotel. He happily hugs Charlie and then immediately moves on to pet Keekee, Razzle and Dazzle, who are his own creations. Only later he considers the welcome Charlie and the others have prepared for him. Even then, he still misses the point and tries to buy Charlie's love by showing off his magical powers:

Haha, looks like you could use some help From the big boss of Hell himself

Except that what Charlie wants from him aren't champaigne fountains or caviar mountains, but an appointment with Heaven, which he negates her. Not only that, but instead of being honest about his fears, he deflects everything on Charlie herself, by dismissing her plan:

Lucifer: Alright, listen, I love that you want to see the best in people, but these sinners... You know, they're just the worst. I, I don't know how much you can realistically expect from them in Heaven.

Luckily, the Radio Demon is closeby, as he forces Lucifer to show his true self.

On the one hand Alastor brings out Lucifer's insecurity and fears:

I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond You're like the child that I wish that I had I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned It's a little funny, you could almost call me dad

He juxtaposes moments of everyday life and affirmations of affection to Lucifer's materialistic and fancy promises. In this way Alastor highlights the faults of Lucifer, as a father. He points out that Lucifer is never there for Charlie.

On the other hand Alastor embodies the kind of sinner Lucifer despises:

Lucifer: Ya see? What I tell ya? Charlie, sinners are violent psychopaths, hell bent on causing as much pain and destruction as they can. There's really no point in trying.

And yet, such a violent psychopath is more willing to help Charlie than Lucifer himself:

Charlie: Dad, stop! He's defending this hotel. It may be a bit more sadistic than I'd hoped. But he's doing it for me!

This realization leads to a confrontation between father and daughter and to an admission on Lucifer's part:

Lucifer: I just don't want you to be crushed by them like... like I was.

The problem isn't Charlie, but Lucifer himself. It is not that Charlie's dream is silly, but that Lucifer's one has been destroyed. This revelation is important because Lucifer's mask comes off and he shows Charlie his weakest and most broken self. He swallows his pride and has Charlie see who her father really his. In all his mistakes and his hurt. And to his surprise Charlie accepts him. Not only that, but she admires him:

So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for

Symbolically the song More than Anything starts with Lucifer and Charlie in the shadows:

They are repressing a lot and have no idea who the other is. Still, as the song goes on, they get to understand each other:

All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am

And they end the song surrounded by light:

What is initially in the shadow comes to light in three different ways:

Lucifer shows Charlie his true self

Lucifer sees Charlie for who she is

Lucifer exhibits his weakness in front of the whole Hazbin Hotel. He lets the sinners he dislikes so much witness the mess that he is.

His fragility is in full display. It is in the light for everyone to see.

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS! ITTY BITTY LIVING SPACE!

Another similarity Alastor and Lucifer share is that they are two powerful beings that give much importance to free will:

Alastor: You should know better than anyone what a soul can accomplish when they take charge of their own fate.

Charlie: Together, they wished to share the magic of free will with humanity.

And yet, they are both trapped:

Alastor: I'm hungry for freedom like never before The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor Once I figure out how to unclip my wings Guess who will be pulling all the strings?

Charlie: As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel and the wicked.

On the one hand Alastor controls many souls, but his own is owned by someone else. On the other hand Lucifer is the strongest being in all of Hell, but he is regarded as a disgrace by other angels.

Moreover, they both project their unhappiness on others. Specifically, Lucifer blames sinners like Alastor:

Lucifer: Our "people", Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!

While Alastor lashes out on his prisoners, like Husk:

Alastor: If you ever say that again, I will tear your soul apart and broadcast your screams for every other disrespectful wretch who dares to question me.

Still, the point is that Lucifer is exactly like Alastor. He is a gifted creature, who messed up royally and cursed humanity. Alastor instead is exactly like Husk, a powerful overlord, who still finds himself chained. Lucifer is the most hated being in all of creation and Alastor is on a leash. They are both lonely and desperate, but too proud to admit it. In other words, they are both losers:

Husk: There was a time I thought no one could relate To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight! We're all livin' in the same shit-sandwich

Just like everyone in Hell. And yet, this is not bad per se. Even if you hit rock bottom, you can still climb back up, as long as you let go of self-importance and start to earnestly empathize with others. As a matter of fact it is only through community and bonds that a person can be redeemed and heal:

Out for love Love Think of who you care about Protect them and be out For love Love You're gonna fight without gloves Long as you're out for love

This is what Alastor and Lucifer are learning through Charlie.

TWO DADS, ONE DAUGHTER

Season 1 sets up Alastor and Lucifer as two mentor figures to Charlie. They share this role in a way, which makes them almost perfect mirrors. Some examples:

Lucifer gives Charlie the hotel building and Alastor calls it Hazbin Hotel

Alastor helps repair the Hotel in the beginning, while Lucifer assists Charlie in building it anew by the end

Lucifer guides Charlie to Heaven, as he sets up her meeting with Sera and Emily. Alastor instead guides Charlie in Hell as he introduces her to Rosie and helps her inspire the cannibals

Both Alastor and Lucifer believe in Charlie, when she is at her lowest. Alastor does so before the final battle, whereas Lucifer after the fight

Alastor and Lucifer fight Adam (another foil of theirs) in the final episode. Moreover, both belittle his abilities and highlight how he is strong, but unskilled:

Alastor: You lack discipline, control and worst, you are sloppy!

Lucifer: So, this is what you've been up to since Eden? Gotta say, you really let yourself go buddy.

In particular, Alastor is the one supposed to take Adam down, but fails and Lucifer steps in by the end. This is just like in the beginning Lucifer is supposed to support and help Charlie with her project. Still, he is absent and Alastor fills the spot.

In other words, Alastor and Lucifer are unwillingly complementary and so far one has appeared when the other has been incapacitated. We'll see if this pattern continues. As for now, they are clearly framed as key to Charlie's development, so it is possible they will come to embody different sides of her:

Alastor represents the sinners Charlie wants to reach and all their pain and complexity. He is also linked to fear and the unknown. He is the ally she finds by herself. He is the found family Charlie chooses.

Lucifer represents the angels Charlie wants to communicate with. He is also linked to dreams and ideals. He is the legacy she inherits. He is the biological family Charlie wants to re-connect with.

In short, they are both parts of who Charlie is and she needs them to grow into herself. Just like they need her to mature and find redemption and happiness.

[torgawl]

can we talk about sukuna and rika and why the king and queen of curses having a dispute is also narratively fitting? if sukuna is an heian era sorcerer with an antipathy and disregard of human emotions and the weak's will to live, blind to love and unable to comprehend the value of relationships with others then rika, as his counterpart, works especially well. rika is just a kid, or was just a kid. an innocent young girl who ended up dying tragically and saw herself transform into a vengeful spirit after being cursed by love. not only does she represent the weak (remember when sukuna's slaughter of women and children was implied?), she represents love itself. with her feelings lingering after death, she clinged onto her existence with the sole wish of protecting yuuta. it counteracts so well with sukuna's selfish will to kill time before his final breathe, which he admitted to be his will and motivation.

before i move on to my next idea, which let me preface by saying that it might be a little out there and dives into theory territory, i'm going to contextualise it with some information on the symbolism of "king and queen" that might help understand why this thought may make - at least some - sense.

in alchemy the king usually appears in conjunction with the queen, representing the sun-and-moon duality. in accordance with the theory of sulfur and mercury, which together, after alchemist purification, form the philosopher’s stone (also called the elixir of life, associated with rejuvenation and immortality), usually represented by the crowned hermetic androgyne (the union of the complementary male and female, achieving perfection or completion in the human state). according to jung, the king and queen also signify the spiritual conjunction that takes place when the process of individuation is complete, with the harmonious union of the unconscious and consciousness. jungian psychology has subjected the alchemistic tradition to extensive analysis and views the king less as an image of paternal authority and more as an archetype of higher insight and wisdom.

with that in mind, i think it's easy to understand where i'm headed but i want to add something else. remember jjk 0? geto's plan at the time was to obtain rika so he could use her power and move forward with his plan to annihilate all no-sorcerers. he believed her to be the key to achieve his goal and was willing to risk his own life for it. furthermore, the story is highly based on buddhist concepts and one of the core aspects of jujutsu kaisen is the cycles of suffering the characters are subjected to. in buddhism the goal is to become free of the samsara (continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth), eliminate suffering and achieve nirvana (enlightment). this ties withe the name of the series as kaisen is comprised of the kanji 'kai', meaning cycle, and 'sen', meaning battle, which combined with jujutsu (which means magic/sorcery but contains the word curse) describe the story as an endless battle of curses. and in a sense, the story also repeats itself, between generations and storyline-wise with the events circling back to how it all began. yuuta managed to land a fatal strike on geto once again, but now rika is pointed to be in a direct confrontation with sukuna as the queen of curses. now that i went through all the context needed to understand this, is it possible rika is once again in danger of being taken away? the idea of achieving a state of perfection with the unity between king and queen is quite intriguing. sukuna finally addressing yuuji as a worthy rival because of his unshakable resolve and unbreakable soul, is almost directly implying yuuji to be the one with whom sukuna has his last battle. an ultimate power-up (or the equivalent to), would be veyy cathartic before a final fight where yuuji would have the opportunity to finally go all out and have his well awaited and deserved protagonism (in my eyes, at least).

[hamliet]

Syzygy, or Animus and Anima: Weiss and Jaune

Anima-Animus anon, here is your meta. I genuinely do think Weiss and Jaune are one of the best literary examples I've seen of animus and anima, respectively. This is not inherently a shipping meta, although you could read it that way.

Of note: I did talk about Jaune and anima before here in a larger meta about his arc, and about Weiss and animus here. But I want to talk about their arcs because they are complimentary, and really encapsulate how to write anima and animus pretty perfectly.

So let's go over it. What is anima? What is animus? How is Jaune one of Weiss's animuses? How is Weiss one of Jaune's anima? And what does this mean thematically for their arcs and the work of RWBY as a whole?

Jungian Archetypes

I have a whole meta on Jungian archetypes in RWBY. But I just want to quickly go over some of them because I'll use these terms in the meta.

Persona: the part of ourself we present to the public. It's usually somewhat fake, or at least societally acceptable.

Shadow: the part ourselves we repress because we do not want to acknowledge the parts of us that are selfish, hurting, weak. End goal: integration with the shadow and accepting that these are parts of you. In literature, the shadow is often negative or antagonistic if embodied in a character, because facing it requires facing character flaws. However, only by integrating with the shadow do we start to heal. It's necessary to become a complete person. Associated with the Black stage in alchemy, and with Blake.

Anima/animus: the feminine/masculine within ourselves. This can overlap with the shadow in some ways (for example, men often don't want to admit that they're weak). Anima/animus can be positive and negative. Associated with the White stage in alchemy, and with Weiss and Jaune. You don't have to interpret it as romantic, but it often is.

Self: The Self is the end goal of Jungian psychology: achieving individuation, or the fullness of being who you are and knowing your role in the world. Associated with the Red stage in alchemy, and with Ruby.

Syzygy: the union of anima and animus.

Lastly, I want to disclaimer about the terms "masculine" and "feminine" here. Jung was writing at a time when gender binaries and roles were very much a thing. Of course they apply less today (and RWBY deliberately plays with some of these, as we'll see). But when I use the term "masculine" or "feminine" in this meta I mean in the traditional sense Jung is talking about. Masculine=bravery, physical power, fear of the weak. Feminine=beauty, emotions, kindness, etc. Please note this is clearly oversimplified and I am not endorsing this, just explaining a pattern that Jung pointed out in regards to literature.

Jaune and Anima

Between anima and animus, anima is more likely to be romantic in fiction. That's because Jung associated anima with something he called Eros (Greek for romantic/sexual love). A man's anima is also almost always one person at a time. This is not the case with animus, as we'll see.

Hence, the two women associated with Jaune's anima are Weiss and Pyrrha.

The previous meta I did on Jaune's arc makes a strong argument that Pyrrha firstly embodies his anima. She almost perfectly goes through the first three of four stages of anima in regards to how Jaune views her, which are:

Eve (mother)

Helen (romantic interest)

Mary (religious devotion)

Sophia (wisdom, guide to the inner life)

I would also argue that Pyrrha embodies Sophia too here, but the living Sophia is also Weiss. Sophia is Greek for "wisdom," and both the official RWBY Twitter account and the show itself make the connection explicit for us, with the Curious Cat calling Weiss "wise Huntress."

But it's also deeper than just stages here. Jaune's entire arc is about the rejection of toxic masculinity and the embrace of his own role as maiden. Only through becoming a Maiden (in other words, embracing the feminine within) can he become a Knight (the man he was meant to be).

Jaune As The Maid of Orleans

Jaune's allusion is, of course, Jeanne d'Arc. He has a feminine allusion, which tells us to expect his integration with the inner feminine. Joan of Arc was also know as three things:

A spiritual guide to France in wartime

A soldier/knight

A maiden

In real life, Joan of Arc was dismissed because she was just a girl... until she started actually winning battles and her predictions came true. God or not, there's something really powerful and intriguing and eerie about her story. Joan of Arc referred to herself as "Jeanne la Pucelle," or "Joan the Maiden."

But what is a Maiden? In Joan's time, it literally meant "virginity," because there was a prophecy that France would be restored by a virgin. In other words, her virginity was a strength--spiritually, at the time period, her going to war with men yet maintaining her virginity was seen as a sign of righteousness (yes, it was very anti-sex).

In RWBY, a maiden is also hardly a weakness. No, a Maiden is a specific type of power.

It's also associated with martyrdom.

Jaune has had special relationships with several of the Maidens in the series: firstly, Pyrrha, who chooses to kiss him (a nice pro-sex commentary honestly) before dying as a Maiden even though the power had not been transferred to her. Pyrrha ends up a martyr like Joan of Arc, but her legacy, like Joan's lives on. Pyrrha embodies what Jaune should become.

Penny, of course, dies as a martyr too. She is stabbed by Cinder and there isn't time to save her. Jaune, who defines himself as a healer thanks to his semblance, has no choice but to kill her so that Penny stays in control of her destiny. It's tragic, but like Pyrrha, it isn't empty.

Of course, Cinder has now killed Jaune's first love interest, tried to kill another (Weiss), and then made Jaune into a killer via stabbing Penny. Hence, Jaune and Cinder are also linked, and the message of what a maiden should be, and what destiny is--the message Pyrrha carried, the message of choice embodying destiny that Penny carried--is something I suspect Jaune will give to Cinder before the end.

Still, all of these incidents, the three big alchemical deaths of the series--Black Death, White Death, and Yellow Death (Crocea Mors)--involve Jaune and specifically switch the gender of what you would expect from a hero.

The Knight is supposed to protect the Maiden. Instead, the Maiden kisses Jaune and locks him away to save him while she fights Cinder. Jaune is supposed to protect the Maiden, but she (Weiss) gets impaled precisely because he couldn't get over his previous failure to save Pyrrha. This time, though, he saves Weiss.

The thing is, though, that healing is traditionally a feminine attribute. Hence, Weiss lives and Jaune heals because, symbolically, of his ability to embrace the inner feminine.

Lastly, the Knight is supposed to save the Maiden. But instead, saving the Maiden looks like becoming the monster himself, like becoming his shadow (which Cinder is). It shatters his sense of self, as we've been seeing throughout Volume 9.

If a Knight is also a dragon killing a maiden, who is he?

Jaune As The Rusted Knight

Jaune's sword is broken, and he intensely clings to this persona of "knight who saves" the entire volume. But by intensively insisting on saving the Paper Pleasers, he doesn't realize he's repeating what Ironwood et al did to Penny: refusing to allow them their own right to choose their destiny. He also fails to save Alyx.

Jaune's "knight who saves" persona has been a key part of his character since the first season. He cheats to get into Beacon because he wants to be a hero and carry on his family's legacy. He's embarrassed to be so weak, but the only way to become strong is to rely on women. Team RWBY, Pyrrha, even Nora and Ren (who don't fit gender stereotypes themselves).

Pyrrha literally trains Jaune. Notably, whenever Jaune relies on male advice, he fails. In fact, his knight persona is precisely why Weiss doesn't like him at first (not just romantically; like, at all.)

Weiss: (separating the two) Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?

Jaune: Not in the slightest, snow angel.

Jaune: I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong? (accepts Ruby's offered hand and uses her to lift himself back up)

Yang: "Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best start.

Jaune's confidence and understanding of women coming from his dad instead of like, actual women, means he's going to make an arse of himself. And he does. At first.

But, Jaune starts to integrate with the feminine through not just Pyrrha training him physically, but also through doing things like dressing up as a princess and going to the dance like that to honor his word to Pyrrha. He gets closer to Weiss by talking to Neptune about feelings rather than by impressing her through feats of strength. He then saves her life via delving into a traditionally feminine power. And in the end of Volume 9, he is restored to his young self via Alyx, the girl he thought he couldn't save.

Weiss and Animus

Oh boy, animus.

Okay, so... Jung did not write nearly as much about animus as he did about anima. Supposedly that's because he's a dude and recognized that he could not actually experience animus. Fortunately, his wife Emma wrote a lot about it, as did some direct colleagues (like Marie-Louise von Franz) who specifically applied animus to its portrayal in fairy tales.

Animus differs from anima in a few key ways. The centrality of the concept--that it's the masculine within a woman--remains the same. However, animus:

is not usually limited to just one person at a time like anima;

doesn't follow stages nearly so neatly (they exist but are a bit... debatable)

is not inherently based on Eros, or a romantic understanding. No, instead animus is based on Logos.

What is Logos? Logos is literally "word" in Greek, but the actual usage is more akin to "mind" or "spirit." Weiss, of course, is a mind character. It can also refer to the principle of the matter. In other words, a woman looks for her masculine traits in a principle she holds dear.

Jung himself said:

The male personification of the unconscious in the woman — the animus — exhibits both good and bad aspects, as does the anima in man. But the animus does not so often appear in the form of an erotic fantasy or mood [as the anima often does to men]…even in a woman who is outwardly very feminine the animus can be an equally hard and inexorable power. One may suddenly find oneself up against something in a woman that is obstinate, cold and completely inaccessible.

Weiss as Princess Snow White

Weiss starts off possessed by her negative animus, the Logos or principle.

What is animus/anima possession? It's specifically a negative manifestation of the animus (or anima) wherein someone behaves overwhelmingly like their masculine side--but in a negative sense. In other words, for Weiss, this looks like a persona of toxic masculinity.

Possession caused by the anima or animus presents a different picture... The animus is obstinate, harping on principles, laying down the law, dogmatic, world-reforming, theoretic, word-mongering, argumentative, and domineering.

I kinda do think this sounds like early-volume Weiss. But it also sounds like... Jacques Schnee.

See, the animus is also often a reflection of a woman's father. Even though Weiss is determined to prove herself without her father's influence by the start of the series, we also see that she is in some ways behaving like him. Of course she's not nearly so ruthless or bigoted, but she does maintain some prejudice about faunus, maintains entitlement (demanding to be leader of RWBY), tells off Ruby for accidents, etc. She's denying her femininity.

But then her development starts, and with this, her animus changes. Who are her animus?

Well, as I said above, animus has multiple presentations, and for Weiss they're specifically unique... because some of them are women. Make of that what you will, shippers and headcanoners. I'm not just going off of nowhere in saying that I think some of Weiss's masculine animuses are women, either; I'm specifically talking about it in regards to Weiss's allusion of Snow White.

You can find numerous fairy tale analyses with animus/anima interpretations. Snow White is one of the most obvious ones. But Weiss's Snow White is genderbent... mostly. Except for her.

See, in the Grimm version of the fairy tale, Snow White's father is alive. He just does absolutely nothing to stop his wife from abusing Snow White. In this story, Willow, Weiss's mother, is the absent one, doing absolutely nothing to stop Jacques from abusing her children. As a result, we have the Shadow develop--in the fairy tale, the Shadow is the Evil Queen. In Weiss's story, it's Jacques. He is who she doesn't want to be, but does have similarities to especially in her persona.

Snow White then meets nine other men. Yes, there are a total of ten male characters, and they are all aspects of animus. In the original Snow White fairy tale (reference this analysis), we can break it down as such:

Absentee dad

Huntsman

Seven Dwarves

Prince

In this, we can see slow progression of Snow White's integration with her masculine side.

Firstly, it's denied to her (she's completely out of balance) because her father refuses to take any action and is never mentioned again.

Secondly, the Huntsman takes action and spares Snow White from the queen, but also doesn't exactly help her. He sends her off into a dangerous forest to fend for herself.

Thirdly, we see reciprocity finally appear. Snow White helps the dwarves, but they also help her. It becomes a mutual relationship in which she learns from all seven of them.

Lastly, Snow White is revived thanks to the prince, who marries her as an equal.

When we compare this to Weiss's arc, we see similarities. Willow is absent, denying her what she needs. Then, Winter play the role of the Huntsman, helping Weiss forge her own way to a degree but still leaving her to rely on herself when she could maybe use a bit more help.

Thirdly, Weiss meets RBYJNPR: her seven dwarves. She learns how to be herself, learns who she is, in great part because of them.

Lastly, this volume we have her developing an attraction to Jaune, whom she knows and who has revived her. She gets to be fully Prince and Princess.

What About Stages?

The stages of animus, when they exist, are loosely defined (as in Jung himself didn't actually say this, but is often attributed as having said it) as:

Tarzan: physical power

Byron: man of action or romance

Lloyd George: man as a professor or orator

Hermes/Mercury: man as a spiritual guide

If we look at this through the lens of Weiss's arc, we do see traces of these. The physical power Weiss is attracted to is embodied in Winter and Pyrrha. I mean Weiss specifically calls out Pyrrha's physical strength when she meets her:

Weiss: So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself! Weiss: This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!

The man of action/romance is embodied in the Rusted Knight persona, and in Neptune, who is notably a giant flirt.

As a professor or orator, I would actually say there are many here. Klein, of course, reminding her who she is. Then there is Robyn, who is probably the most obvious orator in the story. Also Ironwood. Basically, thanks to Robyn having the election stolen from her, Weiss helps take down her dad. As a result, her mother returns to her (the feminine returning) and she is able to get Whitley to help save them all (integrating the masculine).

We also see a little bit of this later on with Jaune, in that Weiss expressly says she admires his maturity.

The technique of coming to terms with the animus is the same in principle as in the case of the anima; only here the woman must learn to criticize and hold her opinions at a distance; not in order to repress them, but, by investigating their origins, to penetrate more deeply into the background, where she will then discover the primordial images, just as the man does in his dealings with the anima.

We're not quite there with Hermes/Mercury, and I would bet that Jaune won't fully become gold or a spiritual guide unless he, well, has something to do with saving Mercury Black. The allusion is too literal not to be used.

Weiss as Knight

Weiss has always been a knight in addition to being Snow White, a maiden princess. Weiss defeats a knight-like creature (Arma Gigas) in the White trailer, and then goes on to be able to summon Arma Gigas as part of her semblance thereafter.

She's exceptionally talented in combat. In fact, the person Jaune calls to save Pyrrha when she's gone to fight Cinder is Weiss. He begs her to save Pyrrha, and Weiss promises him she will.

Sadly, just like Jaune in his attempts to be a knight, she can't, but not for lack of trying.

Later, in Volume 5, we see Weiss receive a power up that comes from her soul (another word for anima). The knight imagery becomes even more part of her semblance, as @aspoonofsugar has written. Notably, she summons Queen Lancer (literally referring to both the maiden-princess and knight archetype) after Jaune heals her in Volume 5. In other words, it's part of her integration with Jaune.

Then, Volume 8 happens, and Jaune again tries to rely on Weiss. He insists to Penny that "Weiss will buy us time" to heal Penny. And she would have tried (and probably died). But Penny tells Jaune that he's the one she needs to do something brave. It's his time to be a knight.

Weiss similarly expresses confidence that Jaune would have done the best he could after she arrives at the Ever After, unaware that he's fallen, too. Even as they go through the Ever After, Weiss affirms her Logos: herself, which is defined by her heroism and her failures.

Weiss: I don't know who you think you are, but let me tell you who I am. I am the granddaughter of a hero and the child of a villain. I am a citizen of a fallen kingdom and an heir to nothing. I will not be defined by my name because I will b e the one to define it. I am Weiss Schnee, and I am a Huntress.

And then we have the finale of Volume 9. Here, Weiss is the one to give Jaune words of wisdom, to encourage him after the Paper Pleasers return as jewels and Jaune realizes that he was not only holding them back, but holding himself back (literally, Jaune, despite being older, has not grown at all emotionally; he's stagnated. He's not a 40 year old in a teen's body; he was a teen in a 40 year old's body). Weiss tells Jaune what she told her younger self:

Jaune: I wanted the rush of rescuing someone, and I got that here.

Weiss: I think you're asking too much of yourself. We've been telling ourselves that failing means we're no good. But I can guarantee even the best Huntsmen in history? They've all lost. But they were still incredibly brave. And good.

In response to this, Jaune starts to cry (a traditionally feminine trait!), and Weiss asserts again what her Logos is: being a knight and a maiden, being brave and good, even when that means you can't save everyone.

So then they fight together, again.

But it's another reversal. The princess, instead of being saved by the knight, almost kills the knight with fire in a scene that comments on what happened with Pyrrha, Jaune saving Weiss, and Penny.

Integration of Knight and Maiden

What's interesting about the Pyrrha-anima-animus connection is that it is Weiss who introduces Jaune to Pyrrha in the first place. Weiss wants to be Pyrrha's partner, actually. She deeply admires Pyrrha, as shown as she says about her and Pyrrha in that first meeting:

Nothing can come between us now!

What immediately comes between them is Jaune. Literally.

But it's not Jaune coming between them in an icky two girls can't get along because of a boy love triangle way. No, instead it's the three of them united because of their relationships with each other.

In that same scene, the very first, we have Weiss literally asking Pyrrha to intervene and get Jaune away from her by throwing her spear... which she does. The symbolism of Weiss asking Pyrrha to throw her spear into Jaune is uh. It's Freudian. Let's leave it there.

In fact, Jaune's feelings for Pyrrha start to develop as a result of her training him physically and encouraging him about his crush on Weiss. Hence, Weiss has been a part of Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship since the start of it; all three of them have an inextricably intertwined relationship.

Then, when Pyrrha says goodbye to Jaune and kisses him, it's right before shoving Jaune into a locker, the same as the ones she met him in front of. This time, when Jaune's in trouble, he calls Weiss--understanding that he needs someone else to save Pyrrha, and trusting that Weiss can do it. Jaune calls Weiss, because she's a knight. Unfortunately, she can't save her.

In Volume 5, Jaune saves Weiss precisely because his grief over Pyrrha contributes to Cinder impaling Weiss. Pyrrha is central to Weiss and Jaune's bond. Pyrrha and Weiss have always been intertwined as Jaune's anima, and if they do end up going with romantic White Knight, they would never have happened if it weren't for Arkos.

While I often see early-volume!Jaune's feelings for Weiss dismissed as shallow, I don't think they actually are. I think they're immature, sure, but look at what he tells Ren about Weiss:

It's Weiss... I'm completely head over heels for her, and she won't even give me a chance. She's cold, but she's also incredible. She's smart, and graceful, and talented-- I mean have you heard her sing? I just wish she take me seriously, y'know? I wish I could tell her how I feel without messing it all up.

Jaune clearly always did see the actual Weiss, not just her beauty, physical strength, or name. Yes, he was initially attracted to her persona, but the undercurrent was always real. Even Snow Angel.

The problem is that Jaune could never be with Weiss if he remained in his Knight persona, expecting her to take the princess role. No, instead, they both have to be knight and princess.

Knight and maiden have never been more clearly integrated than in Volume 9's portrayal of Weiss and Jaune. Jaune is the legendary "Rusted Knight." But, he turns out to still be a Maiden literally waiting around a tower/house for rescue in the form of Team RWBY.

When the Jabberwalker comes, Jaune and Weiss fight together just like Bumbleby fight together; this is explicitly paralleled. (Also, Weiss kind of ignores her fighting partner, Ruby, which contributes to Ruby's feeling lonely; this isn't inherently wrong because they like, needed to stop the Jabberwalker, but it still, well, is, and is also emblematic of Ruby feeling left behind).

During this fight, Jaune tosses his sword to Weiss, who expertly wields it despite it being broken and then gives it back, therefore symbolizing that Weiss can be the knight, that she can be the masculine one, and letting her do so is actually not emasculating for Jaune. Instead, it's realization of his potential in being both knight and maiden.

(And, let's not get into the very very basic Freudian symbolism 101 of a woman using a man's sword.)

The Maiden, instead of being saved by the knight, almost kills the knight with a baptism of fire.

In fact, in Jung's own writing on the philosophical tree (yes, really), he notes this:

The lapis signifies the inner man... the natura abscondita which the alchemists sought to set free. In this sense the Aurora consurgens says that through baptism by fire "man, who before was dead, is made a living soul." ... The genuineness or in-corruptibility of the stone is proved by the torment of fire and cannot be attained without it. This leitmotiv runs all through alchemy.

What is funny here is that Jung uses "lapis" here to mean the philosophical stone, which is most commonly called a ruby. But it can be a sapphire, or apparently a lapis lazuli. Go google the color lapis and tell me that that is not exactly Weiss's dress color.

Like Joan of Arc, Jaune is consumed by the fire. He is coagulated after the dissolution of the Paper Pleasers. But instead of coming forth as ashes, he comes forth as gold... with some growth still ahead and with some white streaks in his hair, symbolizing integration with the feminine (white=feminine in alchemy and Jung).

So where do Weiss and Jaune go from here? Jung provides a clue:

“Just as the anima becomes, through integration, the Eros of consciousness, so the animus becomes a Logos; and in the same way that the anima gives relationship and relatedness to a man’s consciousness, so the animus gives to a woman’s consciousness a capacity for reflection, deliberation and self-knowledge.”

C.W. Vol 9. Part II: Aion. The Syzygy: Anima and Animus

Both Jaune and Weiss have done this for one another thus far, and will continue doing so. Neither Weiss's nor Jaune's arcs are entirely over, either: Jaune still needs to fully embody the spiritual guide, and Weiss needs to embody wisdom and they are both so close but still have a bit more to grow.

[uptoolateart]

Fairytales - All of us are our own Prince Charming

A few years ago, I attended this workshop about storytelling and the ancient legends of Great Britain (where I live), and the host said that as a society we are suffering from a ‘crisis of metaphor’. What he meant was that we tend to take things too literally and therefore miss symbolic significance.

An area where I see this happen over and over again is our interpretation of fairytales - namely, this idea of a princess being saved by a prince, and the modern notion that it teaches little girls they need a man to rescue them.

This is valid, but only because we fail to teach little girls (and boys!) the true meaning of such tales. In fact, the most well-known fairytales date back not just centuries but millennia, because they contain elements of older myths. For instance, the three fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty are the three fates found in Norse and Greek mythology - who also appear as the three witches in Macbeth. The notion of an apple of temptation in Snow White, too, has its origins in ancient Greek legend - not to speak of its allusion to the Garden of Eden.

The reason such tales have persisted in popular culture for so long is that they speak to something deep inside us, and this goes well beyond just promoting the idea of a girl needing a man to save her. For this reason, there are books out there psychoanalysing classic tales as if they were dreams, from both a Freudian and a Jungian perspective. We also got taught to analyse stories in this manner in my English degree, once upon a time.

As a brief example, I’ll return to Sleeping Beauty. As a little girl, she's hidden away and protected from all eyes, especially men’s eyes, as if trying to keep her young forever. Her parents refuse to allow her to touch that magic spindle, which is a symbol for puberty and awakening sexuality. I mean...a needle, and a bloom of blood?? However, this growth is inevitable. Despite how much they try to keep her from being exposed to the outside world, Aurora finds the spindle anyway and falls into a deep sleep.

This sleep not only affects her but the whole kingdom. Everyone goes unconscious, other than the witch / dragon. The prince then has to fight through thorns to reach the princess and defeat the dragon. A crucial question is: why would he do this? Surely there are easier princesses to win! And if we look at the Disney rendition, he literally just saw Aurora talking to squirrels and owls and immediately fell in love with her, instead of thinking she was a bit odd. All of this tells us we can’t take it literally.

The dragon and thorns are the internal defensive measures to try to keep out the prince, who represents everything that was being repressed - the awakening moment that will bring Aurora into the adult world the parents and fairies were so keen to hold her back from. In this sense, we can say that the witch and the prince are both other aspects of the princess. In other words, there is no girl in need of saving by a man. The man is part of the young woman. She is saving herself. There is no kiss to wake her up magically - this is symbolic of her emotional awakening and transition into adulthood. This is why she is named Aurora, a reference to the dawn.

We can look at every popular fairytale in this way and see that each character is an archetype. Each of us, male or female, holds all these archetypes within us. So, fairytales are not merely stories but ways of symbolically exploring growth experiences and journeys we all go through. In this way, even a little boy hearing one of these tales can relate to the princess. Every boy is the princess and prince - every girl is the princess and prince.

What is key is making sure that the symbolism is strong. Don’t explain all of this to young kids and ruin the magic. But as our children grow and begin to be aware of the symbols, we can explore it with them and teach them that each and every one of them has the power within to be their own Prince Charming and free themselves from any 'evil spell'.