The Story

From Martina Petkova, "Scheherazade and the Art of Weaving a Tale":

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"Once upon a time, a Persian King who had been betrayed by his wife decided to exact revenge on all women. He would marry a virgin and, after their wedding night, have her beheaded. The next night, he would repeat this with another virgin. Three thousand virgins died as his wives but his blood-thirst was just as insatiable. Until one day Scheherazade, the Vizier’s daughter, volunteered to spend a night with the King.

In his chambers, Scheherazade played her first of many tricks. She asked to say goodbye to her beloved sister. The sister came into the room and, as previously instructed, asked Scheherazade to tell her a story. The King listened. Before he knew, dawn was breaking. But he was so transfixed, he wanted to know how the story ends. Scheherazade had bought herself another day.

The following night, she finished the first story and began a new one. Again, the night ended before the King could hear the end. On the third night, the same thing repeated. This little dance lasted one thousand and one nights. By the end, the King was a new, transformed man and in love with Scheherazade.

They lived happily ever after. And we, the real audience, have the classic collection of stories known as 'One Thousand and One Nights,' 'Arabian Nights,' or 'The Nights.' " (Petkova, 2020).

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From Jonathan Baldie, "Jungian Psychology for Storytellers":

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"Throughout this period of uncertainty, Jung turned increasingly to stories and mythology... [He] found himself greatly comforted by the stories in great novels and ancient myths. He found that his patients would relay a story to him, and he would encourage them to go further...

He realised that myths were stories that helped people to understand common psychological patterns and the way their psyche develops on the person’s journey through life...

...These characters began appearing in his dreams, notably Siegfried, the hero from classical Germanic myths. Siegfried had rescued the princess by bravely fighting off a dragon with a sword...

But unexpectedly, Jung’s dream began featuring him killing Siegfried repeatedly! This induced profound feelings of guilt in his heart, and the first time it happened he cried and felt he was having a nervous breakdown... He’d killed the very character he’d so strongly identified with. But gradually Jung decided that this was his unconscious explaining to him that he needed to walk away from the past—perhaps kill it—and start a new journey...

In one instance, he had a recurring dream where we would hold lengthy conversations with the gnostic sage Philemon... In his dreams, Philemon explained to Jung that we do not generate our thoughts; they instead rest in the deepest parts of our psyche...

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Shadow Work as the Basis for All Stories-

Both mythic legends and great modern stories feature something like this: the character believes in a 'lie', then their world is interrupted somehow by a villain, and the character is forced to deal with this threat. In the course of the story’s journey, the character learns lessons that reveal his faults to him, and he is forced to use his own skill and cunning to move past this and learn the 'truth'. Stories, particularly those centred around the Hero myth, all mirror the process of psychological development...

Like the hero who knows he has no choice but to face down the dragon, only we can take responsibility for confronting the most frightening aspects of our psyche. People can help us in a limited sense, but we cannot merely rely on their help. Become the hero of your own journey. As Joseph Campbell said, 'The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.'

Pick up your sword and charge in." (Baldie, 2019).