The Way of Myth: Stories’ Subtle Wisdom
Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D
Introduction
Like that statue, a book gives physical form to invisible presences, gives to the angels in words a local habitation and a name. May both the readers and the angels be pleased to linger a while longer. James Hillman, Revisioning Psychology xiv.
We read stories, listen to stories, watch stories on screens, tell our stories and recall our stories because all of these forms of being nested in narratives shed light on our identity, our purpose and our reason for being in this precious life of ours.
Stories define us; some of them try to deny us; others bolster our sense of ourselves and our relation to others. Pay attention to the kinds of stories that draw you into them, as into an interactive field, and you will garner indications of who you once were, are now, and aspire to be. Stories aid us in remembering ourselves as well. How often in reading a story--ancient, classic, popular, or modern--a long-forgotten memory will suddenly loom up with such insistence that you may stop reading the current plot on the screen or in your hands, and pivot into this personal slice of your history to contemplate it through the prism of the story you are presently attending to.
see Jung and the World Podcast with Dennis Patrick Slattery on Youtube: