Descriptions:
Video Description
Every fairy tale teaches a different lesson, except for one rule that none ever breaks: never harm the helpful animal. This lecture from Academy of Ideas reveals what that figure really represents. For Marie-Louise von Franz, the helpful animal is the inner voice of conscience — the quiet intuition that tells us which road to take and which to avoid. Most people betray that voice to fit in, but the cost is a peace no crowd can offer. Keeping faith with your own conscience, even when others disapprove, is where true sovereignty begins.
Full Video Transcript
Marie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss psychologist who closely collaborated with Carl Jung from 1933 until his death in 1961.
One of von Franz’s primary topics of interest was fairy tales, for like myths, fairy tales contain timeless wisdom that teaches us about the human condition.
Jung believed that so much wisdom was contained in the fairy tale that he once told von Franz that,
that, when you study fairy tales, you can study the anatomy of man.
After years of interpreting fairy tales from cultures spanning the globe and throughout
all periods of history, von Franz came to an important conclusion concerning the lessons
they teach. No matter the message contained in a fairy
tale, you can almost always find a contradicting message in another fairy tale. Von Franz called
this the Rule of Contradiction, or as she explains,
I can tell you stories which say that if you meet evil you must fight it, but there are just as many
which say you must run away and not try to fight it. Some say to suffer without hitting back,
others say don’t be a fool, hit back. There are stories which say that if you are confronted with
evil, the only thing to do is lie your way out of it. Others say no, be honest, even towards the
devil, and don’t become involved with lying. For all these I could give you examples, but it is
always a yes and a no. There are just as many stories which say the one as the other.
Upon discovering the rule of contradiction, von Franz was disappointed, as she hoped to find
lessons that were timeless and indisputable. But after further reflection, she came to realize that
the rule of contradiction makes sense. The challenges and predicaments of life are countless.
There is no one path that is right for everyone. And when faced with an ethical dilemma, it is in
choosing between contradictory ways of dealing with it, that we become an individual. Or as
von Franz explains, if collective material found in fairy tales is completely contradictory,
if our basic ethical disposition is completely contradictory, only then is it possible for us
to have an individual, responsible, free conscious superstructure over the basic opposites. Then we
can say that in human nature it would be right to do this or that, but I am going to do this,
the third thing, which is my individuality. There would be no individuality if the basic material
were not contradictory. That was my comfort after having discovered the terrible truth
of the contradictory structure. There is, however, one exception to the rule of contradiction,
one lesson that no fairy tale ever went against, and as von Franz tells us,
this exception is that one must never hurt the helpful animal in fairy tales.
In this video, we look at what this rule means in practical terms, why Jung believed it’s
so important to live in accordance with this rule, and how most people break it and suffer
as a result.
According to von Franz, unpacking the meaning of this rule is simple.
The helpful animal in a fairy tale represents the intuitive inner voice that helps us distinguish
between right and wrong, good and evil, and which pushes us towards certain paths in life
and away from others.
to one’s most basic inner being, writes von Franz, one’s instinctual inner being is the
one thing which is more essential than anything else. In all nations and all fairy tale material
I have never found a different statement. The helpful animal in fairy tales, in other
words, represents man’s conscience, and as Jung writes,
The etymology of the word conscience tells us that it is a special form of knowledge
or consciousness. The peculiarity of conscience is that it is a knowledge of, or certainty about,
the emotional value of the ideas we have concerning the motives of our actions.
When faced with a moral dilemma or significant life decision, our conscience often manifests
as strong emotions and gut feelings impelling us towards certain actions and away from others.
Sometimes these emotions will be of a negative sort, warning us not to do something,
at other times they will be positive and encourage us to take a certain action.
In his essay, A Psychological View of Conscience, Jung notes that many cultures consider conscience
to be an expression of God’s will, which reveals the power of this human faculty.
Obeying one’s conscience is easy so long as its commands align with the ethical code of
our society and the expectations of one’s family and peer group. But sometimes our conscience
conflicts with these things, creating a dilemma. Do we obey our conscience, or do we conform to
the moral code of our society and the expectations of our social group? Or as Jung writes,
Conscience, no matter on what it is based, commands the individual to obey his inner voice
even at the risk of going astray. We can refuse to obey this command by an appeal to the moral
code and the moral views on which it is founded, though with an uncomfortable feeling of having
being disloyal. Most people have an innate terror of going against the social grain and when faced
with the dilemma of obeying their conscience or conforming, they take the latter path. But when
we deny the call of our conscience we are often left with a nagging feeling that we are living a
lie. Or as Jung explains, the observance of customs and laws can very easily be a cloak for a lie so
subtle that our fellow human beings are unable to detect it. It may help us to escape all criticism,
we may even be able to deceive ourselves in the belief of our obvious righteousness.
But deep down, he hears a voice whispering,
there is something not right.
No matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or by the moral code.
By spurring the voice of conscience,
we break the one universal rule that von Franz discovered in her study of fairy tales.
The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky went as far as to suggest that
it is our conscience that makes us truly human.
and if we disobey it for too long, we suffer immensely. Guilt, regret, shame, and a feeling
of being an imposter eats us from within, and a sickness of self overtakes our being.
Or as Joseph Frank explains in Dostoevsky, The Seeds of Revolt,
This image of conscience as a natural and instinctive regulator of the human psyche,
whose distortion or perversion leads to a literal sickness of the self,
was to become one of the major themes of the great works of Dostoevsky.
For those who allow their conscience to guide them in the development of their individuality,
Jung offers some words of caution.
Along with a right or true conscience, which prompts us to take actions that better our
life and which helps us properly solve moral dilemmas, there is a wrong or false conscience
which exaggerates, perverts, and twists evil into good and good into evil, and it does
so with the same compulsiveness and with the same emotional consequences as the right kind
of conscience.
Or demons, in other words, can mask themselves as the helpful animal of our true conscience
and lead us down meaningless and destructive paths.
Or as Jung writes, close beside these, beside the positive, right conscience, there stands
the negative, false conscience called the devil, seducer, tempter, evil, spirit, etc.
To avoid being seduced by our false conscience Jung recommends that when faced with a particularly
difficult moral dilemma we slow down and not rush into action. Compulsive urges and a desire to act
in haste are a sign that we are being guided by our false conscience, or as a favorite quote of
Jung’s put it, all haste is of the devil. And as von Franz writes, Jung has observed that if one
stews long enough in the agonies of such a conflict, then somehow an inner line, an inner
development becomes clear, which gives the individual enough certainty to continue on his
way, even at the risk of committing an error. By slowing down, not acting in haste, and giving our
unconscious mind enough time to stew on a moral dilemma, we are more likely to connect to the
signals of our true conscience. But when making a choice as to how to deal with a tough moral
dilemma, we can never be certain beforehand that we are doing the right thing. To move forward in
life, we must take a leap of faith and hope that it is our true conscience that is guiding us.
Or as Jung explains,
rather than give heed to conventional morality.
But even if we are successful in detecting the signals of our true conscience, some may
wonder if it is always worth heeding its counsel.
Don’t we risk alienating other people and in some cases being shunned or ostracized
by our social group?
The South African writer Lorenz van der Post, who was heavily influenced by Jung, provides
a powerful passage in his novel A Far-Off Place that suggests that any costs of following
our conscience pale in comparison to the costs that come to those too cowardly to follow it.
You see, every human being has his own inborn sense of contract with the life. He has, it is
true, an important sense of contract with the community into which he has been born. But above
that is his own special contract with the life itself. This contract is entirely between him
and life and nothing, not even the community, can be allowed to suppress it if it should drive him
into conflict with it. This contract is in the keeping of its own voice, a voice we call
conscience, and no man can refuse to disobey this voice and ever know peace again. Believe me,
this unease, this disquiet and enmity of neighbors that has come into our lives,
because they have found us guilty of having broken our contract with society,
is a peace that passes all understanding in comparison with what would happen to us
if we broke the special sense of contract that you and I have with life itself.
This channel is made possible by individuals like you. If you would like to support our work,
join our membership program and access over 100 videos exclusive to members, including one of our
latest membership videos on The Dumbing Down of Humanity, Stolen Focus. Sign up today at
academyofideas.com slash members for $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Thank you for your support.
Source: Academy of Ideas