Myth of Psyche

According to psychologists Jean Shinoda Bolen and Robert Johnson, there are very few stories that describe the psychology of feminine, rather than masculine, development. 

The myth of Psyche is one of them.

Psyche is a mortal woman who wants to find her estranged husband, Eros, God of Love and son of Aphrodite. Aphrodite, whose jealous fit led to their meeting and falling in love in the first place, holds the key to their being reunited: it often happens that whatever has wounded us is instrumental in our healing.

To become who she is – to accomplish all that she is meant to – Psyche needs to not only love and nurture and care and connect, she also must learn to sort through and prioritize her possibilities, obtain power without selling her soul, keep her eyes on her prize, and say no.

May I now share with you Mallika Sundaramurthy's original Myth of Psyche illustrations?

Task 1:  Sort the seeds - Sift through and prioritize possibilities

Task 2:  Gather the fleece -- Get things done

Task 3:  Fill the flask -- Accomplish a goal

Task 4:  Fill a box with beauty ointment -- Learn to say no

Which of these four tasks is most difficult for you?

What can we learn from the men in our lives as we complete our hero's journey?

What can men learn from us?

If you think these images are as wonderful as I do, please take a moment to let Mallika know.  She may even be willing to sell a print to you  -- I know I'm going to want one.

All images are copyright by Mallika Sundaramurthy and Whitney Johnson, 2008. 

P.S.  Mallika is the artist who designed my pOstcard for the Oprah contest last year.  It's fabulous, isn't it?

Related posts:
Stories we love and live by
A Hero's Journey
Psyche and choice
Learning to say no
The Galadriel test

Comments

[Benzion Chinn]

I love the C.S Lewis version of the Psyche myth, Till We Have Faces.

[Peggy]

actually i don't think i have ever done task 4 in my entire life.

the fear is this:

if i say no- those same opportunities will never come again. if i say no- people will stop asking... and i NEED to be asked. it's my validation!!! i need to be needed!!!

or do i?
and really? they will stop asking?
has that ever been true???

learning this the hard way, i have found myself in very important situations and i find that i had the short end of it because i didn't say no when i should have.

next time- i'm going to do it- just try me!

[Janna]

For me, learning to say no is related to sorting through and prioritizing possibilities. When I fail to prioritize, it makes saying no very, very difficult. The reason is that when I don't know my priorities, it is difficult to determine whether to say no. In other words, I can't determine whether what is being asked of me supports or detracts from my goal. If it detracts, I feel that I have a better leg to stand on when saying no. (Although, sometimes that better leg is legitimately, "I don't feel like it.")

Generally, I think men are good at making the connection between priortizing and saying no. When I am puzzling over whether to do something, I find the men in my life go straight to, "Well, does it get you what you want?" Boom, done. The answer is clear.

I think women, however, are skilled at bringing to light the complexity and richness of possibilties and priorities. We are good at presenting many iterations of projects, choices, and ideas. We are powerful "creators," which makes the generation and discussion of the possibilities fun and exciting.

As a side note note related to Whitney's questions, I love the joyful feeling of the "Gathering Fleece" image. Actually doing the work is often viewed as tiring and plodding, and I like this perspective of energy!

[Benzion Chinn]

A few weeks ago I wrote a series of posts on Till We Have Faces, defending Lewis against the charge that he was arguing for blind, unthinking submission. Here is the first part: http://izgad.blogspot.com/2008/02/till-we-can-face-god-of-cs-lewis.html

[tracy ho]

All task look great to me ,

happy to reach your recent post ,

Tracy ho
wisdomgettingloaded

[Steven Davies]

She also must learn to sort through and prioritize her possibilities, obtain power without selling her soul, keep her eyes on her prize, and say no.
I can add that she must learn how to play the piano.

[Malcolm Campbell]

Wonderful art!

Malcolm

[Julia]

I am not so good at the prioritizing or the saying "no" but I really love #2 and #3. There is something so satisfying about working on something you care about and finishing. It is cleansing and validating to me.