🌙 The Tale of The White-Bear Prince

(inspired by ATU 425A: Animal (Monster) as Bridegroom — e.g., East of the Sun and West of the Moon)

Once upon a time, in a humble village nestled under northern stars, lived a young woman named Inga. She was kind and good-hearted, but she carried a secret sorrow: she felt that who she was on the inside was somehow hidden from the outer world. She felt unseen and small, as though her inner self and the outer world were strangers to each other.

One evening, a great white bear appeared at her father’s door. The bear spoke with a voice like distant thunder, offering riches in exchange for Inga’s hand. Though fearful, Inga agreed, believing that perhaps something as yet unforeseen might come of it. The bear carried her away to a magnificent castle that rose above the clouds, where golden halls gleamed under frozen skies. Every day, Inga tended small chores in the castle — she fed the hearth fire, and spoke kindly to the silent rooms. At night, a human voice would whisper to her, gentle and warm, but Inga never saw its face. Each dawn, a bear’s roar called out..

One night, driven by longing to see the face behind the voice, Inga lit a candle even though she had been warned never to do so. In the flicker, she caught sight of a prince beneath the bear’s fur — a prince cursed by some ancient enchantment. At that moment, his trust and pride dimmed, and the castle’s brilliance seemed to shudder and fade. The prince was suddenly gone, farther than the eye could see, to a distant realm “beyond east of the sun and west of the moon,” where his outer form was locked in stillness.

Inga set out to find him. She crossed dark forests and craggy mountains. Along the way she met three wise women. Each gave her a golden gift — an apple, a comb, a spindle.

At last she reached the realm where the prince waited. In the hush before dawn, she polished the apple, combed the bear-man’s tangled hair, and drew threads of hope from the spinning wheel… and by her steady, inward resolve, the enchantment was broken and the prince then stood fully human before her.

At that moment, the world around them reorganized itself: winds sang, frost became gentle dew, and what once was distant and fragmented drew into unity. Inga understood that the seeming outer realm — castle walls, enchanted paths, distant horizons — had always been shaped by her inner perceptions, whether of fear and limitation or of courage, patience, and vision. And the prince, once seen as some mere part of her, can be acknowledged both as an autonomous other and as mirror of her own evolving soul. They return home and wherever they walked together thereafter, the valley bloomed into life.

This variant of the myth of Cupid and Psyche is very different, or apparently so, from the Greek version as told by Apuleius. Inga is helped by the three crones wheres in the Greek version Venus sets a series of incredibly difficult and even impossible tasks which seem so punitive that there’s a whisper about whether its all a matter of jealousy. ..

M.L.von Franz observed that these tasks were in fact more detailed amplifications of the golden apple, sacred comb, magical spindle, in so far as the now more differentiated symbols which give us clues about the dangers and ways forward in relationship with ‘the Other’. The tasks also seem progressive, as though they were stages of development towards conscious reunion with Cupid.

At first glance Venus seems vengeful. It is her impossible demand that Psyche sort out a pile of mixed seeds. Of course, she couldn’t do it and Psyche wept bitterly…. whereupon a great army of ants suddenly arrived and sorted it all out for her.

Next, Venus ramps up her seeming fury by sending Psyche to gather the golden hair of wild and savage solar boars in the forest which will surely tear her to pieces. In despair she is ready to throw herself into a nearby stream when a reed spontaneously begins to speak, telling Psyche exactly what she needs to know. She must wait till the cool of evening when the boars are calm and then gather only the golden hair from thorns and branches.

Next she has to fetch waters from the source of the Styx, river of Death, flowing from a towering rock face guarded by snakes. Again, she is faced with the limits of herself, though Jupiter suddenly appears as an eagle and helps her scoop some up.

The fourth task is even more perilous, she must descend to the underworld and ask Prosperina, Queen of the Dead, for some of her beauty. Psyche again despairs, there is no return from the `Underworld. She climbs a tower, prepared to throw herself down when the tower speaks, ‘Stop. There is a way to go about it.’ The Tower instructs her, ‘speak to no-one, take coins in your mouth for the ferryman and spiced cakes for the watch-dog of the Underworld, Cerberus. Only then may you make safe passage.’

Each one of the tasks are initiatory, giving Psyche the opportunity to have successive learning experiences which develop her sufficiently to be able to meet Cupid again. Venus is not simply a villain. She is an agent of transformation. On the surface, Venus appears purely destructive. It’s as if she only wants to break Psyche. But the voice from the reed reveals something deeper.

The tasks are not arbitrary cruel. They are structured challenges which compel Psyche into alignment with deeper reality by facing her limitations, as well as her dependence on and gratitude for loving help received. Nature herself supports Psyche’s development—once she listens. Venus is a psychopomp, both the humbling force and the guiding helper which supports and directs Psyche’s journey.

These sequences follow the famous maxim of Uber-alchemist Maria Prophetissa (c. 100–200 CE), “Out of the One comes Two, out of the Two comes Three, and from the Third comes the One as the Fourth.” This odd quote describes, in as condensed a way as possible, a process of differentiation and reintegration.

The One divides into Two. This is the emergence of polarity, light/dark, spirit/matter, conscious/unconscious, male/female. The original unity becomes duality. From Oroboric self encapsulation there is now I and Thou. It’s like the Big Bang of Consciousness, suddenly there is ‘between’. Presiding over this is the Third, Venus, the Three old Crones, who gift the kind of life lessons necessary to develop a sufficiently propitious attitude to bring about the fourth, a conscious relationship between ego and self in which the former is neither inflated nor washed away by the latter.

Maria Prophetissa’s formula describes the basic pattern of transformation:

unity
division
interaction
reintegration

This pattern appears everywhere in alchemy, myth, psychology, and cosmology.

The first stage is a transition away from having the world simply Ready-at-hand (Heidegger’s zuhanden) where objects and people are barely distinguishable from our use of them as mere tools seamlessly integrated into action and experienced as invisible, functional equipment in the background of our engagement with the world which now exists in its own right. Psyche intrudes upon Cupid because she is still in some considerable degree of unconscious identity with the Other and like a careless lover, takes him for granted, disregarding his sovereign dignity, treating him as an object of her intellectual curiosity. His response is to disappear across the event horizon, back into the undifferentiated, unknowable.

Reparation requires the skilful intervention of Venus as the Principle of Relatedness as well as the co-operation of Psyche who gradually learns how to take advice, the value of respect and that she is worth helping.

The four tasks of Psyche correspond not only to cosmological layers, but to the four historical modes of consciousness through which humans have perceived the universe. Each task reflects a different quality of relationship between observer and reality.

This is the gradual separation and reintegration of psyche and cosmos. In intellectual history, it is the evolution from participation mystique to quantum relationality.

Let’s describe them carefully…

First Task: Sorting the Seeds. This mode of consciousness is Animistic and is characterised by unconscious identity with Nature.

At this stage, Psyche is still embedded in the world. She does not stand apart from it. This corresponds to what anthropologist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl called participation mystique — a state where subject and object are not clearly distinguished. Margret Mead emphasized that in animistic thinking, the line between humans, animals, plants, and natural phenomena is fluid, undifferentiated.

In animistic cosmology rocks, animals, plants, and humans share consciousness. Intelligence exists everywhere. Everything is meant. There is no detached observer. To this massa confusa must come some order. The ants represent this distributed, separating, intelligence which begins to differentiate self from other.

Second Task: Gathering the Golden Wool

This mode of consciousness is represented by Pre-Copernican cosmology. Here Psyche encounters the solar sheep — embodiments of divine cosmic power. She cannot confront them directly. She must wait patiently and gather what they leave behind. This corresponds to the medieval and ancient cosmology where the cosmos is hierarchical, celestial bodies are divine and dangerous, humans must approach indirectly through symbol and ritual.

In this geocentric system, Claudius Ptolemy established that Earth is the center, the heavens are perfect and divine and that humans are subordinate to cosmic order. Knowledge comes through revelation, not direct intervention. As yet there is no Jacob’s ladder. Humans do not yet evoke cosmic forces. They only receive them.

Third Task: Fetching Water from the Styx

This mode of consciousness is the Galilean/Scientific Revolution. Now Psyche must obtain water from a precise, inaccessible cosmic source. She cannot do it herself. The eagle of Zeus retrieves it. This marks the emergence of a new principle, Reality operates according to universal, abstract laws. This corresponds to the breakthrough of Galileo Galilei and later Isaac Newton. Nature becomes lawful, measurable, objective. The universe becomes governed by consistent laws whilst renouncing being at the center. The observer stands outside and studies the system. This is the birth of objective science.

Fourth Task: Descent into the Underworld

This mode of consciousness is commensurate with Quantum physics. This is the decisive transformation. Psyche must enter the underworld herself. She becomes both observer and participant. In quantum theory, as developed by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, the observer affects the observed, the act of observation changes reality. Reality includes the observer intrinsically. Space and time are dynamic. This returns Psyche to conscious participation. Not unconscious animism, but conscious relationality.

The progression forms a complete cycle:

Unity (unconscious identity)
Separation (hierarchical cosmos)
Detachment (objective science)
Reintegration (conscious participation)

Quantum physics reveals something ancient myths already knew symbolically. The observer cannot be removed from reality. Psyche must enter the underworld herself. She cannot remain outside. The soul must participate in the structure of the cosmos. The inner and outer are no longer separate domains. They are reflections of the same underlying reality. At-one-ment.

I’ve often wondered about a line in the apocryphal book of Thomas, amongst the many others emphasising that the kingdom is both within and without. It is the bit where Jesus takes Thomas aside… ‘and spoke three words’. When Thomas returned, the others asked him what was said. Thomas replied, “If I tell you, you will pick up stones to throw at me, and fire will come from the stones and consume you.”

I wonder what those three words were… Then I imagine a lively group gathered around a crackling desert fire discussing interesting stuff. Two of the group peel off and step beyond the circle of the fire momentarily for a leak, gazing now up at the night sky. The Milky Way arcs across the Deep. Vast and still. The one turns and whispers to the other, ‘thou art that.’

The full progression.

Task	Psyche’s action	Cosmological model	Relationship between observer and universe
Sorting seeds	Passive, ants help	Animistic	Observer identical with nature
Golden wool	Indirect approach	Pre-Copernican	Observer subordinate to cosmos
Styx water	Eagle retrieves	Galilean / Newtonian	Observer detached from cosmos
Underworld descent	Psyche herself descends	Quantum physics	Observer participates in reality

Adonis and the Spornosexual.

‘Spornosexuality’, the cut and shut love child of Sport and Porno, is the latest fad in male beauty. It is Narcissism on steroids, but the bodies beautiful are strangely asexual; more metro than macho and absorbed with themselves rather than each other or the opposite sex.

‘‘Capitalism has transformed our bodies into accessories. By toning and perfuming and recording every ripple with Facebook selfies, they’ve converted their bodies into their own masturbatory aids.’, Tim Stanley.

The Spornosexual icon is Adonis; gorgeous, hench and aloof. Different versions of the Greek myth, from Ovid to Shakespeare, agree that his relationship with Venus was characterized by indifference.

She does her best to point out, as politely as possible, that he has an issue with his mother..

‘‘Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel, Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth? Art thou a woman’s son, and canst not feel what ’tis to love? How want of love tormenteth? ‘ W. Shakespeare

Of course it was his perfect right to refuse her but he does so on the basis of boredom rather than the healthy fear of divine retaliation for so bold an aspiration or making an informed choice.

So Venus gets aggrieved ..

‘Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone, well-painted idol, image dun and dead, statue contenting but the eye alone..ibid

and withdraws her protection from him.

Adonis then comes to a swift death. Supposedly, he dies from an injury to the ‘knee’, gored by a boar while hunting. My guess, given that no-one ever died of a mortal knee wound, is it’s a euphemism for having his groin torn out. Even the usually bawdy Shakespeare demurs, referring to the wound in his ‘soft thigh’.

This polite double entendre is the least complicated aspect of Adonis’ death, a demise well worth a bit of detective work given the prevalence of this archetype in the Collective Psyche and its shortlisting among Hansard’s top ten gruesome ways to die.

Adonis’ death is not an accident. In fact, the more the story unfolds the more it seems like an episode from the Sopranos. The boar has been sent by Artemis, Goddess of the Forest and the Hunt in revenge for the killing of one Hippolytus, a faithful and chaste devotee.

Artemis holds Venus responsible for Hippolytus’ death since it was the madness of love and lust that led to his murder. So she takes Venus’ favorite down in vengeful retaliation. Poor Hippolytus had certainly not deserved his fate. His step-mother Phaedra tried to seduce him and when he refused her advances she accused him of rape, persuading her husband Theseus to use a wish given him by Poseidon to destroy the boy. When Hippolytus is next out riding his chariot on the beach, Poseidon sends sea monsters to terrify the horses which then drag him to his death.

Adonis is killed because of what happened to Hippolytus. Their fates are linked. So are their pasts. Both are sons of incest and have their destinies came at them in violent, monstrous forms.

The symbolism of incest has to do with having your destiny hijacked by someone else. Adonis’ parents are father and daughter, Theias and Myrrha. He comes from a world where people’s stars are inappropriately mingled, so he can’t tell his feelings from other people’s, which makes it way too scary to have any at all. They have to be packed away, along with the carefree uncomplicated spontaneity and belonging-in-Nature personified by Hippolytus, whose wish to have his own destiny gets him killed.

Hippoltus’ fate represents..

‘the terror of dissolution which a baby experiences when, for lack of good enough maternal care, he cannot separate out from the mother and feel that he exists in his own right.” R Ledermann.

Psychoanalyst Masud Kahn’s concept of Symbiotic Omnipotence further amplifies why it is that increasing numbers of lads feel emasculated and attacked by the world, swallowed up by Poseidon’s monsters, or dragged to their death by their own instincts.

Symbiotic Omnipotence is a scenario whereby a frustrated and suppressed mother lives out her unmet needs and unexpressed passions through her child, compensating for absent preoccupation with shared specialness that kills off the boy’s instinctual life. Any efforts to escape this otherwise pristine arrangement are exemplified by Hippolytus’ terrible end, psychopathic gaslighting , the paranoia of being swallowed up or pulled apart.

On the surface everything is ideal. The pair are awash in mutual admiration and overstated affection, exaggerated gestures and shared secrets..

Gradually it emerges just how exclusive this ideal situation is..

”It excluded other phase adequate relationships and actively discouraged, through collusion and indulgence, cathexis of other objects as valuable or nourishing.” M Khan.

Google translate..”The child is deliberately isolated, then forced to collude with such deprivation by joining mother in her scorn of the world.”

Her own destiny having been denied, mother’s unfulfilled potential spills over into the unwitting child who then takes it for his own….

This has severe consequences for the boy. He can never live up to the archetypal expectations placed on his young shoulders. Moreover, the secret shame of wanting to lead his own life, the suppressed desire for love and affection, the feeling of having betrayed some sacred pact by daring to become his own man, all this can then make intimacy seem overwhelming.

‘I know not love,’ quoth Adonis, ‘nor will not know it, unless it be a boar, and then I chase it. ‘Tis much to borrow, and I will not owe it;My love to love is love but to disgrace it; ibid

In other words..

“I don’t know anything about love,” he said, “and I never want to. All I care about is hunting boars. Love sounds like a lot of work that I’m not willing to put in. All I can say about love is that I love to reject it.”https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translations/venus-and-adonis

Venus points out this checks all the boxes in the DSM5 under Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

‘‘Is thine own heart to thine own face affected? Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left?Then woo thyself, be of thyself rejected, Steal thine own freedom and complain on theft.”

But Adonis is impervious to the last. It has all been too much. He strolls off in contempt, oblivious of the fate about to overtake him. He says to himself that he just didn’t fancy her but if truth be told he couldn’t cope. It felt too much like mother’s..

”over cathexis of the child (being in his face, which leads to..) an early bias that they are special and cannot be understood, so communication is futile.” M Khan.

This leads to the blanket objectification of others and ultimately, of himself. His secret porn addiction is not about misdirected lust or desire, nor even the objectification of women. Its the ‘booby’ prize, given the pointlessness of actual relationships.

This capacity to despair over relationships whilst contemptuously dismissing them is a fancy piece of dissociation which carries quite a price tag. It costs him the healthy aggression which wants to make its own way in the world. He has had to split it off in order to maintain the omnipotence promised to him in the symbiotic small print of his contract with mother…

….split off aggression that has now grown tusks and wants nothing more than to tear into his ‘knee’.. for want of an autonomous life.

Its easy to judge Adonis for being a self destructive jerk, but he hasn’t been able to separate from a mother who was never ‘there’ enough to separate from. Myrrha was depersonalized by the Patriarchy to begin with and turned into a tree just before Adonis was born, so not a lot of ante-natal care for him, except as a fruit that must not fall too far from the bough..

The secretly feared consequences of becoming his own man, exemplified by Hippolytus’ dreadful betrayal and summary assault by maternally invoked sea monsters, seems way too great a price to pay. He’s better off taking his chances with the boar, locked in eternal conflict with that which would feed him, if only he would feed it.