'THE GIANT WHOSE HEART WAS NOT WITH HIM'

                        LECTURE/DISCUSSION SERIES ON THE FAIRY TALE

                                                                          Presented by Louis A. Deshotels, LCSW

                                                                                   Six Sessions - June - September 2019

 
                 A series of lectures/discussions (6 Sessions), June - September 2019 on the Fairy Tale, “The Giant whose Heart is not With Him,” 

        was presented by Louis Deshotels, LCSW  to teach and encourage participants: 1) To think symbolically; 2) To engage Wisdom aspects

        of soul vis a vis this fairy tale; 3) To take the fairy tale as a mirror given to us from the psyche of a Norse storyteller in which individuals

        may obtain glimpses of the inner world of reality given to them in the resonance of their own life history with the structure of archetypal

        themes as described in the fairy tale. Each of these goals is different from the methods in which we have been educated.   Along the way

        we will also explore and discuss the symbols and various understandings that may come to us regarding this fairy tale.  We will be

        practicing, hopefully, relationship with the psyche, using both conscious and unconscious, and data extracted by Jung and others.

                 The fairy tale begins in a kingdom where the feminine is absent.  It goes on to describe the difficulties and obstacles in the attempts

        to bring the feminine into the kingdom.  The Giant, whose heart is not with him, is the obstacle.  A prince is the strange hero.  He rides a

        decrepit old horse, at first.  Three animals, a Raven, a Salmon, and a Wolf are helpful in this process.  And so is a Princess who lives with

        the giant.  The giant has stopped the movement of the fairy tale by turning the prince’s six brothers and their brides to stone!  Our task

        will be to bring this archetypal story into the vicinity of our modern awareness, so that we relate to it, to see ourselves with more clarity!

                 Encountering the fairy tale, feeling its drama, meeting its figures, may offer us an engaging, emotional field of reference.  Since we

        live in a patriarchal society where the feminine is absent, the fairy tale could apply to all of us.  Giving attention to these archetypes and

        our unconscious reactions evoked by the fairy tale, may open us individually to a resonance with the fairy tale, but also to Wisdom and

        Feminine aspects of the soul, which are exactly what the kingdom of the fairy tale is missing. 

                 Emotions, Jung suggests, indicate the presence of unconscious content within the individual.   Fascination, for instance, may be the

        result of Eros moving between an ego and the fairy tale, to bring them closer together, to enhance conscious understanding.   Through an

        unconscious convergence between the individual’s life and the archetypes of the fairy tale, an individual may catch a glimpse of himself

        and his own inner life, as in a mirror, which may enhance consciousness and enlarge awareness—Deo Concedente.                                                                    

                 Louis Deshotels is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been in private practice in Lafayette, Louisiana since 1985.  His

         interest in Jung goes back to the early 1970's.  He is a member of the Board of Directors and the Treasurer for The C. G. Jung Society

         of  Lafayette, Louisiana.