Embodying the Spirit

Digital Jung Season 3, Episode 16 (The Iron Stove, part 3)

Jun 18, 2023

If you are a regular listener of the podcast, you will have noticed that the last few episodes have been coming out at a faster pace than usual. I have been releasing one every week recently instead of the usual interval of every other week. This is a temporary change as I begin to wrap up this third season and prepare for a summer hiatus.

The current flurry of episodes are all part of my ongoing series on the Grimm’s fairytale ‘The Iron Stove.’ This past week I released part three of the series — an episode that looks at the importance of deliberate and concrete action in the work of the symbolic life.

Referring to the poem “Just as the Winged Energy of Delight” by Rainer Maria Rilke, I describe this aspect of the work this way:

“The ‘winged energy of delight’ must ultimately be transformed into something more solid and lasting. The initial flight of the miraculous must become the grounded miracle of a lived reality through what [Rilke] calls a ‘clear achievement that is earned.’”

The central symbol in the tale for this quality of grounding is that of the toad. The King’s Daughter, the hero of the story, comes to a house in which there live several toads. These, I note, play the role of the “helpful animal” in the story. This is a common motif in fairytales. The helpful animal is an important figure that provides the main character with the advice or with specific objects that will help her to resolve the challenges she encounters on her journey.

*“Then the little toad went and brought the box…”*

The toad as a symbol is associated with the element of earth. Whereas its cousin the frog tends to be seen in relation to both water and land, the toad, though it is also an amphibian, is considered to be more earthbound. That the helpful animals in this story are toads, then, suggests the need for the solidity, stability, and steadiness of earth. Reflecting on this image, I begin to look at the relation of the spirit to the body. As I say in the episode:

There is an important and subtle interplay in all of this between intention and instinct, the conscious and the unconscious, spirit and body.

In the next installment, I will be bringing this series to a close, and with it this third season of the podcast. The theme for the next episode will be “What is the goal of the symbolic life?” Look for it to be released on Thursday, June 29th.

I hope you enjoy this latest offering from Digital Jung. You can find this episode wherever you listen to your podcasts or simply by clicking this link: Embodying the Spirit: The Iron Stove, pt. 3.

Remainders

As I mentioned above, I make use of part of Rilke’s poem “Just as the Winged Energy of Delight” in the episode. It is definitely worth reading all the way through, however, so I am including the full poem here:

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Just as the winged energy of delight 
carried you over many chasms early on
now raise the daringly imagined arch 
holding up the astounding bridges.

Miracle doesn’t lie only in the amazing
living through and defeat of danger;
miracles become miracles in the clear
achievement that is earned.

To work with things is not hubris
when building the association beyond words;
denser and denser the pattern becomes —
being carried along is not enough.

Take your well-disciplined strengths
and stretch them between two
opposing poles. Because inside human beings
is where God learns.

(translated by Robert Bly)