Jungian Ecopsychology: Cinderella and Iron Hans: Archetypal Feminine and Masculine in Fairytales

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Cinderella and Iron Hans: Archetypal Feminine and Masculine in Fairytales

Working with fairy tales is one of the best ways to develop an archetypal and symbolic perspective. I taught two on-line Zoom courses to Chinese Jungian trainees in the winter and spring of 2024: The Deep Psychological and Ecopsychological Dimensions of Grimm’s Cinderella and Iron Hans—Restoration of the Distorted Masculine.

After a brief introduction to fairy tales and methods of interpretation, the five lecture Cinderella course was worked in depth with one of the most universally popular tales as it deals with issues of abandonment, grief, and envy. The Grimm’s version emphasizes the masculine distortion of the feminine.

The five lecture course on Iron Hans explored the tale Robert Bly used to found a men’s movement. It compliments Cinderella for in Hans the feminine plays a significant role in distorting masculine energy.

Significant ecopsychological aspects of the tales are highlighted. Many references are made to the I Ching, a Chinese book of wisdom, the yin/yang symbol, and the Tao.

Here are the links to the lectures on my YouTube channel. The Chinese translations were removed from the English-only version of the lectures.

Cinderella English only

1. https://youtu.be/5TaW8vbjte8

2. https://youtu.be/T3fW2Q9uEEs

3. https://youtu.be/fb3MNzT10vA

4. https://youtu.be/8UXeT_Fhwnw

5. https://youtu.be/inOvXLV7NEg

Chinese translation

1. https://youtu.be/Hmj3kkfIUd4

2. https://youtu.be/bHOV9ueLgvA

3. https://youtu.be/MexaFrbbH3k

4. https://youtu.be/MexaFrbbH3k