Chicken Little: The Inside Story (A Jungian ... - Inner City Books

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28 Chicken Little: The Inside Story “Here’s another,” said Rachel, and read: Nothing so beguiles the mind as the manner in which Chicken Little came into the world, except perhaps the enigmatic way in which she left it. She comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. That is the beauty of Ms. Little. 34 “Sounds like he was heavily invested in this stuff,” said Rachel. “From his letter,” said Arnold, “he still is.” I nodded. “Where Chicken Little is concerned, it would seem that Brillig is what we’d call complexed,” I said. “A cognitive psychologist might say his reactions are ‘over-determined,’ but it comes to the same thing: he can’t leave it—or her—alone.” “Obsessive-compulsive, perhaps?” suggested Arnold. “Call it what you want, I’ve been there—utterly consumed by thoughts of Chicken Little. Before that, when I was ten, it was my stamp collection, then Captain Marvel, then science fiction, then girls, then Kafka, then Jung, then elephants, then Rachel, then . . .” “What’s lu-min-ous, is nu-min-ous,” sang Arnold. He had found a bottle of Cointreau I’d been saving for my father’s birthday. He poured himself a healthy shot. “The point is,” I said, “we all have complexes. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 35 “I don’t think that’s in dispute,” said Rachel, looking at Arnold. Arnold yawned. “The question is,” said Rachel, “will we cooperate with Brillig—collude, encourage, whatever . . . ?” She looked at me. “Well?” Silence fell on our party of three. I don’t know what was going on in them, but personally I was of two minds. I am not adventurous. I hew to known ground. I haven’t camped 34 “The Kraznac Tablets in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Harvest Historical Review, vol. 14, no. 3 (Summer 1960), p. 38. 35 I trust this bald dinner-table remark among friends, to make a particular point, will not be held against me. In fact, complexes are probably the root of all evil. See Jung, “A Review of the Complex Theory,” The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, CW 8, or my Jung Lexicon, pp. 37-39.
The Letter 29 since the morning in Brittany when I was faced at daybreak by a cow. I don’t like hiking. My life was already full. I had the publishing business, a small practice and a few close friends, a garden to work in and a summer retreat. The books took a lot of time, but I could usually manage a few hours off to play snooker. Though Arnold might characterize my life as “a bit tight”—as that very afternoon he had—I liked to think of it as nicely contained. To me, Brillig’s proposition spelled chaos. What if he wanted to haul me off to Carpathia? I didn’t even know where it was. Nevertheless, the feeling that overtook me before opening his letter was still around: Maybe I did need a change. In my mind’s ear I heard Jung saying what I myself have quoted to others more than once: “The good is always the enemy of the better. . . . If better is to come, good must stand aside.” 36 Rachel spoke first. “He’s an old man. Don’t we at least owe him the courtesy to hear what he has to say?” I looked at Arnold. “You know where I stand,” he said, fumbling for his shoes. “Say, could I trouble one of you to drive me home?” I didn’t phone Brillig because I wanted more time to chew on it. Rachel and Arnold were clearly interested, but I was still ambivalent. True, I respected what I knew of Brillig’s scholarship, but what if he was nuts? Being an analyst is a guarantee of nothing. Like Chicken Little, Jung attracts a lot of wierdoes. Brillig had a Diploma, so what? I have reservations about many of my colleagues. Arnold goes further: “They’re all crazy except you and me. And I’m not sure about you.” On the other hand, even if Brillig was quite sane, why would I put my energy into something so . . . so open-ended? I’m a distinctly linear man. Going from A to B in a straight line is just my cup of tea. Oh, I wouldn’t deny the value to others of meandering, the goalless pleasure of the byways, going with the flow and so on. 36 “The Development of Personality,” The Development of Personality, CW 17, par. 320.
Page 2 and 3: Chicken Little
Page 4 and 5: CHICKEN LITTLE The Inside Story A J
Page 6: Contents Chicken Little: Messiah, M
Page 9 and 10: Chicken Little: Messiah, Meshuggene
Page 21 and 22: The Letter 21 had a joint. The feel
Page 23 and 24: The Letter 23 could use some spice.
Page 25 and 26: The Letter 25 chel about Brillig’
Page 27: The Letter 27 the difference. She h
Page 31 and 32: The Letter 31 her, was written at a
Page 33 and 34: The Meeting 33 Well, strictly speak
Page 35 and 36: The Meeting 35 “Rachel,” I said
Page 37 and 38: The Meeting 37 “May I?” he aske
Page 39 and 40: The Meeting 39 tain-climbing goods
Page 41 and 42: The Meeting 41 Arnold furtively sli
Page 43 and 44: The Meeting 43 things, ‘of shoes
Page 45 and 46: 3 An Unveiling I awoke at 5:30. Tha
Page 47 and 48: An Unveiling 47 had been through th
Page 49 and 50: An Unveiling 49 six hours there and
Page 51 and 52: An Unveiling 51 sensuous mate befor
Page 53 and 54: An Unveiling 53 still devout, and a
Page 55 and 56: An Unveiling 55 I felt a twinge of
Page 57 and 58: 4 Search for the Self After we’d
Page 59 and 60: Search for the Self 59 “Jung spok
Page 61 and 62: Search for the Self 61 concerned to
Page 63 and 64: Search for the Self 63 “I also sa
Page 65 and 66: Search for the Self 65 I looked at
Page 67 and 68: Search for the Self 67 Rachel looke
Page 69 and 70: Search for the Self 69 “You could
Page 71 and 72: Intermezzo 71 town and sent to the
Page 73 and 74: Search for the Self 73 Alchemical l
Page 75 and 76: Philosophers’ Stone 75 next door.
Page 77 and 78: Philosophers’ Stone 77 zine these
Page 79 and 80:
Philosophers’ Stone 79
Page 81 and 82:
Philosophers’ Stone 81 only in hi
Page 83 and 84:
Philosophers’ Stone 83 circled hi
Page 85 and 86:
Philosophers’ Stone 85 fours and
Page 87 and 88:
Philosophers’ Stone 87 how does i
Page 89 and 90:
A Stitch in Time 89 as I can say wh
Page 91 and 92:
A Stitch in Time 91 “Good, bad, w
Page 93 and 94:
A Stitch in Time 93 The prodigal so
Page 95 and 96:
A Stitch in Time 95 “Well,” I s
Page 97 and 98:
A Stitch in Time 97 as I dare say t
Page 99 and 100:
New Dimensions 99 had a session wit
Page 101 and 102:
New Dimensions 101 I was afraid I
Page 103 and 104:
New Dimensions 103 Night after nigh
Page 105 and 106:
New Dimensions 105 culine God-image
Page 107 and 108:
New Dimensions 107 Adam smiled at m
Page 109 and 110:
New Dimensions 109 Adam had said ea
Page 111 and 112:
The Experiment 111 No team of mount
Page 113 and 114:
The Experiment 113 “The major por
Page 115 and 116:
The Experiment 115 While Rachel and
Page 117 and 118:
The Experiment 117 It took some tri
Page 119 and 120:
The Experiment 119 From the Great A
Page 121 and 122:
The Experiment 121 “Hear, hear,
Page 123 and 124:
The Experiment 123 While I scooped
Page 125 and 126:
Bibliography Birkhäuser-Oeri, Siby
Page 127:
Bibliography 127 _______. The Pregn
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