The Healing Image: A Journey Into the Language of the Soul

In his book, The Uses of Enchantment, psychologist Bruno Bettelheim states that fairy tales provide children with imagery that gives form to their anxieties and grief while always offering a happy outcome, a resolution the child may not be able to imagine on their own. This idea, echoed by Albert Einstein's famous quote about the importance of fairy tales for intelligence, suggests that stories are a powerful medium for navigating loss. For both children and adults, stories provide a symbolic roadmap for the psyche, guiding it on a journey to restore a sense of wholeness after an experience of loss.

The Primacy of the Image

“The soul speaks in an image” Aristotle said. “All thinking is preceded by an image,” Emmanuel Kant said. Philosophers like them throughout the ages have recognized the fundamental role of the image. The image is a somatic experience; it's a silent, felt sensation that originates in the body. When a word is heard, it is symbolically matched with an image that resonates within us. This internal process allows us to engage with complex emotions that are often difficult to articulate verbally. The metaphor becomes a container for awareness and relatedness. The third person narrative gives distance to self-reflect safely and project our own experiences into the action and onto the characters. In Jungian psychology, this approach is particularly effective because it bypasses the conscious mind's defenses, allowing an individual to process pain on a deeper level.

The Archetypal Journey of Grief

According to Carl Jung, the psyche has a self-regulating nature. When a person experiences a profound loss, a significant portion of their emotional energy "sinks into the unconscious," where it activates deep, universal patterns known as archetypes. These archetypes, which Jung described as original imprints, are the symbolic language of the soul. As the poet Rumi said, "The sun is the sun behind the veil," suggesting that the essence of things—the archetypal reality—lies behind their manifest form.

Healing occurs as this lost energy is re-integrated into the individual's personality, a process Jung called individuation—the journey toward psychological wholeness. The imagery found in stories and creative expression plays a crucial role in this process. By engaging with this symbolic language, rather than avoiding the pain, an individual can navigate the dark parts of their psyche and reconnect with their inner resources. This is especially helpful for children too young to fully understand and reflect on their lives and emotions. Storytelling and imagery lead the way.

Imagery as a Container for Emotion

Fairytales and myths are rich with archetypal imagery that offers a cultural roadmap for navigating grief and loss. These stories function as powerful metaphors, providing a container for the chaos of grief. They suggest that the journey through sorrow is a universal human experience with the potential for transformation.

Symbolic expression that enables externalizing internal grief through creative acts like storytelling, movement and dance, painting, drawing, or writing is highly therapeutic. The image created becomes a tangible container for the overwhelming emotion, making it manageable. For example, creating a "memory garden" on paper or in one's imagination or by telling stories about them can be a symbolic act of honoring the loved one while envisioning a path toward a new beginning. Stories told orally become the container for this creative engagement allowing the individual to actively participate in their healing process, moving from a passive state of being overwhelmed to an active state of integration and growth.

The psyche doesn't distinguish between reality and imagination. This means that both children and adults can use their imagination to create new, hopeful outcomes, guided by the stories they hear and tell. Engaging the symbolic, right side of the brain helps balance the logical, left side, leading to a sense of wholeness and a fresh start in the cycle of life and death.

If you’d like to learn more from Sydney about Storytime Yoga, grief, and healing movement, she has an upcoming workshop in collaboration with the Conscious Dying Collective called Storytime Yoga: A Lifeboat and A Compass

Bibliography
Bettelheim, B. (1976). The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales.
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Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and his symbols. Dell Publishing.
Jung, C. G. (1961). Memories, dreams, reflections. Vintage.
von Franz, M.-L. (1972). The feminine in fairytales. Spring Publications.
Jacobi, J. (1959). Complex/archetype/symbol in the psychology of C. G. Jung. Pantheon Books.