Myth

Throughout the centuries, myths and archetypes have served as the great guardians of the lessons learned by the collective conscious of humankind. These stories in their utmost simplicity succeed in capturing the innermost and intimate dwellings of human psychology. Such is the case with the stories of Parsifal and Psyche whose quest for perfection is filled with intricate details of feminine and masculine way of thought and action. The journey to wholeness is a life-time adventure which is accomplished through the discovery and eventual harmonious co-existence of inner feminine and masculine traits.

Perhaps no one else has excelled the genius of Carl Jung in his mastery of animating the ancient archetypes and relating them to the psychological trends of modern times. Certainly, an important element contributing to his success was his ability to identify with his ancient archetypes. Thus, a closer look at Jung’s life will reveal the close parallels existent between Parsifal and his own challenges on the way to perfection.

The feminine archetype represented by Psyche has a universal appeal of similar magnitude. Modern women from different walks of life can identify with the innermost and intimate feelings of Psyche. To validate this argument, all one has to do is to look at the turbulent lives of many public female figures whose path to perfection mirror the tribulations essential to Psyche’s eventual discovery of happiness. One such figure who embodies a significant portion of Psyche’s characteristics is Princess Diana. Her treacherous journey to individuality was marred with many internal conflicts which essentially occasioned her eventual rise to the level of total self-control and self-assurance.

The early years of Jung’s childhood has its distinct similarities with that of Parsifal. Jung’s mother had a tremendous impact upon him whose indelible influence becomes a burdensome challenge to overcome throughout his life. During the early years of his childhood, Jung’s mother mysteriously disappears for a period of few months which propels Jung to write “ I always felt mistrustful when the word love was spoken. The feeling I associated with woman was for a long time that of innate unreliability” (Jung 15).

Princess Diana’s comfortable upbringing in the high society certainly resembled the story of Psyche and her early beginnings. Lady Diana soon became an object of adoration as a potential bride for the oldest son of British monarch. Her beauty, elegance, and humility earned her venerations of mythical proportions.

Jung’s father had a great influence in his interpretation of the Fisher King and his wound. From the early years of his childhood, Jung noticed that something of substantial nature was torturing his father who was a “poor country pastor” (Jung 16). Jung was convinced that his father suffered from religious doubts. He regarded his father as the Fisher King, the guardian of the holy Grail, himself a priest, yet doubtful of his own religious convictions. He notes “my memory of my father is of a suffered stricken with an Amfortas wound, a “Fisher King” whose wound would not heal” (Jung 91). Jung believed that his father's intellectual faith was not based in experience and was different from his unconscious belief. Jung's father expected his son to accept faith on authority, without discussion which caused a long lasting rift between the two. Jung also drew connections between Fisher King’s wound in the thigh and his father’s unsuccessful marriage suggesting his wounded relationship with the feminine, to nature, to the instinctual. A young knight, a Parsifal, was needed to restore both the Fisher King, and the kingdom, which has become a waste land.

The next stage in the life of lady Diana opens with her marriage to Prince Charles. This marriage bears close resemblance to the marriage of Psyche to death. Despite Charles' twelve year seniority and his unattractive physical appearance, the core of Diana’s unhappiness resided in Charles’ infidelity and his secret admiration for another woman. The royal high society was highly intolerant of any negative exposure preventing Diana to question matters of infidelity with her husband. The conservative and controlling Royal Family considered Diana’s questioning a matter of disloyalty and refusal to enjoy the “paradise” created for her. Johnson in She, states that for a modern woman, the inner turmoil begins once she starts to see the truth which elevates her to a new level of consciousness and marks the beginning of a new chapter in her life (7).

The next significant chapter within the life of Jung opens at the age of twelve when he begins to visualize unholy images appearing on the walls of the cathedral which essentially signals the beginning of his departure from his father’s strict dogmatic theology. He discovers that God works through