Blue Fox Shaman

This episode of Mythology Blown Apart will proceed a bit differently. We will attempt to defuse this one carefully, so please take a pair of goggles that Fox is handing out and go behind the concrete barrier. For all its humble appearance, and origins, this one carries quite a bit of explosive power. (Maybe because, with the tales collected by the Grimm Brothers, we get close to what Jung termed the Collective Unconscious.) So, please, do not leave the safety area and keep the children protected. We make no promises. We’ve left instructions for our next of kin, in case.

Actually, you know what!? We could use another few minutes to get set up here and cross-check our procedures. So, if you have not read the story, please go find a version and read it before we begin. You should be able to find a translation of the story online, and we need some caffeine to focus here. It’s a short read and we’ll wait. And if you can find the version from the First Edition, that would be the best…

…

Is Everyone ready? Let’s begin. We’re pulling out the wiring assembly now. The story begins with something that is odd to our modern ears, but is in fact quite ancient–how eating the flesh of the White Snake grants one the ability to understand the language of the animals and birds. We won’t explain this now. Better to experience it yourselves when you get the chance. (We are leaving the Green wire uncut…)

Did I see a hand raised? Yes? … The question was if the ability to understand the language of the birds is a metaphor for something else. Yes, it is a metaphor; it comes from the Shamanic Worldview. We might have to stop there though. Everything is a metaphor for something else. That’s correct. It is, in fact, metaphors all the way down. Let’s continue.

Immediately our hero suffers a false accusation, humiliation, and a threat to his life. But while he contemplates his fate, the gift he has just received shows him the way out. Once he makes the truth evident and has been exonerated, he is offered a better position at court. But (wisely) he wants only to go see the world because his heart is sad (according to the First Edition). (We are cutting the Red wire next… whew!)

Now the real adventure begins. Our hero has three fateful encounters (fateful for what follows). Why three? Why does it always have to be three? Well, here, at least, these encounters involve denizens of the Three Worlds of the Shamanic Worldview:

Fish = Lower World
give: release of the sub-conscious (imagination) from confinement
receive: the ability to find what is hidden in the depths

Ants = Middle World
give: due respect to even the least of our fellow creatures
receive: the ability to gather and organize (through collective effort) what was scattered and disorganized

Ravens = Upper World
give: our own limited self-effort and agency
receive: inspired effort and agency

(We are cutting the White wire next… okay, we’re all still here and remembering to breathe? Good.)

Continuing on his way, he hears of a challenge and a reward, a big challenge and big reward–to marry the King’s Daughter, if he can complete the task that she demands. He decides to try to accomplish what no one before him has been able to do without losing their head (literally). (We are skipping the Blue wire for now. No, trust us, it will be fine… we hope.)

So begins three tasks he must accomplish or lose all. (By the way, was it that “sadness” that prompted him to undertake the impossible without protest, or without any sort of plan, really? Some of you know this sadness that does not lead to inaction and despair, but rather to an almost reckless determination to undertake something worth doing. It is “almost” reckless because it does hold on to a Hope that only true humility can engender.)

We gave a hint just before (okay, more than a hint) as to what these tasks are and how they are successfully accomplished. We’re going to take these quickly now:

1. Recover the ring thrown into the Sea :: the Fish (Here goes nothin’. Cutting the Black wire… hmmm!)
2. Gather the scattered sacks of millet :: the Ants (Cutting the Yellow wire next… yes!)
3. Fetch an Apple from the Tree of Life :: the Ravens (Cutting the Blue… wait! It’s already cut. [Fox: I got impatient so I did that one for you just now. You’re welcome!])

Okay…whew!!! We didn’t explode?! You can all step out from behind the barrier now. Well, that was ea… [Bärchen collapses in a faint]

Fox: Sorry about that, folks. He’ll be alright in a moment. Meanwhile, we just wanted to let you know that, of course, the hero marries the King’s Daughter and they all live happily ever after. Oh, and there are parallels here to the story of Odysseus and his return. Odysseus, too, must suffer with patience the humbling of the Self (as a beggar in his own house), but this leads to the opening that allows him to overcome overwhelming odds against the Suitors–the Competition of the Bow, which Athena (through Penelope) grants him. Anyway, that’s all for this episode. See you all next time. Bye bye!

Fox: Bärchen? Bärchen! Oh, Bärchen… Wake up, sweetie. It’s time to clean up now and go home…