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

82 Chicken Little: The Inside Story
the difference between the Philosophers’ Stone and a stoned philosopher.”
D. was busy taking notes. Arnold was cleaning his nails. Norman
was sorting things.
“It was a humbling experience,” said Brillig. “Indeed, ‘deflating’
would not be too strong a word, for it meant having to acknowledge
my limitations. I was all blown up, you see; I thought of myself
as somebody special, a common affliction of those who lack a
psychological perspective, and symptomatic, as you well know, of
that ubiquitous phenomenon we call the puer. Norman?”
He handed Brillig a tattered notebook.
“Here’s something I wrote from a lofty height”—
Darwin’s Applecart: There is no essential physiological difference
between men and other animals.
Nietzsche’s Ethic: Self-realization. Man has a unique position in
the animal world because of his additional potential. Anyone may
raise himself above the ordinary, the animal level, by cultivating his
true nature: “The man who would not belong in the mass needs only
to cease being comfortable with himself; he should follow his conscience
which shouts at him: ‘Be yourself! You are not really all that
which you do, think, and desire now.’ ”
Accepting Darwin’s view, Nietzsche recognized that the significant
gap is not between ordinary man and the animals, who differ in
degree only, but between ordinary man and that higher form of man
who indulges in essentially human activities—art, religion and philosophy.
This is the “supra-animalic triad” within which, claimed
Nietzsche, a man may most fully explore his potential.
“Well, there you are,” said Brillig, and stopped. He pulled his
Tilley over his eyes and began to chant.
I didn’t know what to think. A glance at D. and Arnold told me
they were no better off. Norman was rocking on his heels, smiling.
Sunny gave me a quizzical look and rolled onto her back, legs flailing;
she does that when she doesn’t know what else to do.
“I’m lost,” I said, to no one in particular. “Where are we?”
Brillig peeked out one twinkling eye.
“Dear lady,” he said, “I thought you’d never ask.”
He stood up on the chair. Tossing his Tilley to Norman he did a
little jig. Then he sat down and pulled his legs up so they almost