Notes and Quotes Part 2

More of the same...there's a lot...

• Princess A is the anima of the hero. She rides-that is, possesses the three legged horse, which is the shadow, the inferior function-triad of her later spouse. To put it more simply; she has taken possession of the inferior half of the hero's personality. She has caught him on his weak side, as so often happens in ordinary life, for where one is weak on needs support and completion. In fact, a woman's place is on the weak side of the man. This is how we would have to formulate the situation if we regard the hero and Princess A as ordinary people. But since it is a fairy story, played out mainly in the world of magic, we are probably more correct in interpreting Princess A as the hero's anima. pg. 245 Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (ACU)

First off, we see that in our myth this principle can work both ways, whether we regard Mulder as the hero and Scully as his anima, or if we view Scully as the hero and Mulder as her animus. Both work to support and complete the other's weaknesses. Basically, the fairy tale referred to above can be seen as an example of how the hero's anima/animus can be an aid in the journey to the quest goal, but supplementing those weaknesses. Further I will note, the image the the fairy tale includes of the anima's association with the shadow calls to mind Scully's interactions with Mulder's shadow (the syndicate/Smoking Man). This seems to be particularly to be relevant to the episode En Ami, where we find that Scully has a great deal of impact on the Smoking Man and his view of Mulder and in her choosing to go along with the shadow in the hope of finding an important piece of "the truth".

• ...or she meets him only in the dark and may never look at him. The implication is that, by blindly trusting and loving him, she will be able to redeem her bridegroom. pg. 206 MHS

Here is an example of a motif that we regularly encounter in our myth. Scully meets Mulder in the dark both literally in clandestine meetings when they have been separated, and metaphorically in the sense that she journeys with him to face dark forces. And certainly it is through mutual trust and love between the two that Mulder is redeemed as a more functional individual and that same trust and love make him fit to continue in his quest.

• The young swineherd who climbs from the animal level up to the top of the giant world tree and there, in the upper world of light, discovers his captive anima, the high born princess, this symbolizes the ascent of consciousness, rising from almost bestial regions to a lofty perch with a broad outlook, which is a singularly appropriate image for the enlargement of the conscious horizon. Once the masculine consciousness has attained this height, it comes face to face with its feminine counterpart, the anima. pg. 239 ACU

This fable parallels our story in that we see two strong anima personifications first Samantha and later Scully make the "Ascension" (we even have that as an episode tag name) to the heavens when they are abducted. We can then view Mulder's abduction in 'Requiem' as a moment of expanded consciousness in which he finds a new kinship with his anima.

• ...the relationship to the earth and to matter is one of the inalienable qualities of the mother archetype. So that when a figure that is conditioned by this archetype is represented as having been taken up into heaven, the realm of the spirit, this indicates a wnion of earth and heaven, or of mother and spirit. pg. 108 ACU

This further shows the significance of Mulder's abduction experience. Having been conditioned strongly by the Mother archetype he is then taken up by the aliens who we will later explore as the symbol of spirit.

• ...as to correct some sort of original male-female opposition Man's Knowledge (Logos) then encounters Woman's Relatedness (Eros) and their union is represented as that symbolic ritual of a sacred marriage which has been at the heart of initiation since its origins in the mystery religions of antiquity. pg 126 MHS

Once again we see here how our myth reverses many of the traditional qualities associated with the sexes, yet in the end, recreates the same dynamic interaction between those qualities to attain the same 'sacred marriage' to which Jung refers. In this case, Scully is Knowledge (Logos) and Mulder is relatedness (intuition) or (Eros).

• The richly varied allegories of the Mother of God have nevertheless retained some connection with her pagan prefigurations in Isis (Io) and Semele...Teh ascension of Semele, the originally mortal mother of Dionysis, likewise anticipates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. pg. 107 ACU

In our myth we find this symbolism of 'ascension' not in the actual mother of the hero, but in his projection of the 'good mother' onto Samantha and later in the anima figure of Scully, in the latter case foreshadowing her progression to the Marian stage of anima development. Both of these characters can also be symbolically associated with the purity and virtue of the Blessed Mother in that Samantha is literally a virgin child and that Scully's abduction or 'ascension' results in her infertility and the eventual sexless creation of Emily. There is also an element of immortality attached to both characters. Samatha's immortality comes in existing in an afterlife of starchildren/walkins. Scully is associated with the mysterious prediction of the character of Clyde Bruckman, the psychic who can foresee the circumstances of every person's death, who tells her that she "doesn't die".

• Your mass consists of your contemplation of these psychic images that your religious anima reveals to you. pg. 194 MHS

We see in the progression and evolution of Mulder's 'belief' that his interaction with the more traditionally religious Scully brings him to a point where his belief is something akin to hers. ('The Truth' "then we believe the same thing"). His supernatural/paranormal belief system, we find in the end, to be not so different from Scully's more traditional Catholic belief system. This ties back to the key thesis point that belief in the UFOs and the paranormal serves a religious function.

• ...documented in my book Symbols of Transformation..."the loving and terrible mother"...the Virgin Mary, who is not only the Lord's mother, but also according to the medieval allegories, his cross...anima...mingled with the mother image. pg. 82 ACU

We see this paradox actively plague our hero in the immense guilt he carries regarding his inability to save/locate Samantha, his inability to fully understand and forgive his mother's choices, and in the role he has played in the tragic events experienced by Scully. These women are all in this way both a blessing and a cross for Mulder.