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Natural Humans
“…But the forest is the place where things begin to turn and grow again; it is a healing regression. Thus the girl was forced to go into the forest and there met the angel.
If there is such a zero point where life is reduced to absolutely nothing, the fairy tale says that one should then go completely into nature, and, in my experience, this is often the right thing. Frequently women say that the only way in which they can enjoy life a little and not feel so bad over their difficulties is by taking long walks in the woods, or by sitting in the sun. This is a genuine tendency, for it seems as though only nature in its virgin beauty and essence has the power to heal in such a case.
Women have a very deep relationship to nature in its positive form.
Relationship to animals can also effect the cure, and many women make a relationship to a pet, which at that time may mean more to them than anything else because its unconscious simplicity appeals to the wounds within them. Relationship to a human is a differentiated task; but relationship to an animal is simple, and in feeling for it, the lost tenderness may be discovered.”
von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Feminine in Fairy Tales
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