How to love the unlovable: The story of The Lindworm (transcript)

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Episode Transcript:

Lian (00:00)

How can those traits that we find so unwelcome, so hard to be with, so hard to accept about ourselves, these particular aspects of ourselves that we've either been shown very viscerally that other people don't appreciate, or we've been conditioned to recognise that our culture doesn't value them?

These could be our sensitivities, neurodivergence, certain sort of strengths of character, ways of expressing ourselves, all of these different aspects of ourselves that we have a sense of these aren't welcome, these aren't wanted. And so we push them away. And then as the story of the Lindworm shows us, these then turn inwards, become monstrous, or in the words of Jung, become primitive.

And then we're left to face them in this new form, which is so much harder to be with than the original trait that we pushed away very innocently. We may not even been aware that we've done that. So again, the Folk Tale, the Lindworm that I take you on a shamanic alchemical journey with in this episode shows these themes so clearly and what it also does.

It shows us the way to love those monstrous traits, to love the unlovable. So this is an episode I am really excited to share with you. I've already had some really wonderful feedback about how people that experienced this episode journeyed with it and the real treasure they found within it. I hope the same is true for you too.

Let's dive in.

Lian (01:54)

Hello and welcome to June's All The Everything and this is a special edition that I'm planning to make a regular feature which is magical story time with me and this is story time perhaps not as you know it when I'm going to be working with story in the way that I will be today it's going to be very much a shamanic alchemical journey together. So for that reason I'm going to ask you to prepare in a couple of ways before we even begin. Firstly is I will be after I after I tell the story I'll be inviting you to work with whatever has arisen for you as you've listened.

So it's not so much that I want to capture you to capture your thoughts as I'm telling the story. My invitation for you is just to be fully present and in the story. But afterwards, I'll ask you questions and my invitation will be that you capture whatever arises for you in response. So simply put, have some way of doing that, whether it's a pen and paper or if you want to record electronically.

Whatever way I would really suggest you have some way of writing down whatever arises in response to the questions I'll ask you after I tell the story. The second thing is...

The way that we're going to be working with this story is likely to have many people, not everyone, to go into some form of altered state, what we might call a trance.

That could be a very light trance or if you're very particularly open and sensitive it could actually be quite a deep trance and so for that reason I would very much suggest you listen or watch this when you are not driving or in other ways have sort of demands on your awareness and attention and of course it'll be even better if you can create an environment where you're not going to be disturbed and you can go fully inwards and really get the most from this experience.

But certainly I very much would advise not driving. But if you can go, you know, all the way to create this really beautiful space for yourself, which is private and undisturbed, even better. Okay. So this is a Folktale that is one of my favourites.

I must admit I have many favourite folk tales and myths but this is definitely up there as one of my absolute favourites and I hope you understand why once I tell you and as with many, if not all fairy tales, myths, folk tales. There have been many, many different tellings, many versions, including one by Hans Christian Andersen. There's also a version I absolutely love that's in this book. If you're watching on video, it's a fabulous book, more than true. The Wisdom of Fairy Tales by Robert Bly.

That's a version I especially love and have been very influenced and inspired by personally as you'll get to experience in my telling. And really, whoever is telling the story, they will bring it to life in their own way. And this is how it's meant to be. Although we absolutely can and do write stories down. In fact, I just showed you a book in which they are, the...

The tradition of... is really an oral one. It's meant to go from mouth and heart to ear and heart. That's the way the tradition is meant to be. It's a very ancient tradition, probably predates us even being able to write these stories down. And so each time we tell the story...

We're not going to be remembering it word for word. And even if we could, we likely wouldn't just memorise it and sort of tell it by rote. We're allowing the spirit of the story to move through us and to morph and change and alchemise and weave as it's meant to in that moment. Stories are alive. They really are alive. If there was one thing I wish, I wish we knew in this modern culture is...

There are spirits and ways that the life of this world interweaves in places that we just don't, we're not equipped to look for and listen to and experience anymore and yet we can reclaim this. and so again they are meant to be alive, they're meant to change.

There's a couple of quotes that speak really well to this. They're basically saying the same thing as often, you know, the best quotes do. We'll hear the same thing said many different ways. And so, Sallustius in the fourth century said, "Myths are things that never happened, but always are". Myths are things that never happened, but always are." And then Joseph Campbell, much more recently said,

"A myth is something that has never happened, but is happening all the time". A myth is something that has never happened, but is happening all the time." And that is really speaking so beautifully to what I was just saying, this alive nature. The stories are not old, dead, kind of like...

happening in a past time and we're just now membering it. This is something that is happening right now. Each story is alive in our lives, in our psyches and we're bringing them to life in the telling. So again, This story that I'll tell you is absolutely an unashamed interweaving of different examples of this story, different versions of this story that I've personally been touched by and it's made anew for this telling today for you.

Okay, so we are going to take a magical journey into the woods together, to gather around on log stumps.

It's a sunny day and there's dappled sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees and we're gathered here to enter the magic of story together.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a King and a Queen. And this was a very beautiful, good King and Queen. They were loved by everyone in the land. They were so happy together. They really were that model couple that everyone looks to as what a marriage can be. And yet there was one thing wrong. However hard they tried, however long they tried, they were unable to have a child.

And over time this caused so much pain, particularly for the Queen. She went from being so vibrant, so full of life, so full of joy, to becoming withdrawn and starting to wither, starting to look older than her age. The sadness was written all over her body.

And yet they didn't know what to do. They just were unable to have a child.

And then one day the Queen decides it's time to try something completely different. She goes into the woods and she goes to the cottage of the wise woman and she knocks at her door.

The wise woman comes to the door and she looks much as you'd expect.

possibly more like a witch than a wise woman, certainly an elder, certainly a sage. And she looks at the Queen with kind and knowing eyes and she says, I know why you're here. And it's okay. I can help you.

The Queen is delighted. She smiles a radiant smile for perhaps the first time in months. And she says, tell me, tell me how can you help? And so the wise woman told her what she needed to do. And she said, I can show you how to have not just one child, but two, but you must listen carefully and do exactly as I say.

Go home and have a bath. And then once you've had your bath, throw the water underneath the tub and there you'll find two onions. Peel them carefully. Peel them carefully. Eat them. And then you'll fall pregnant with two children. So the Queen is overjoyed, full of hope.

And so she thanks the wise woman and goes home. And of course, the very first thing she does is has the bath. To waste no time. She wants this, this magic to be in her life, be in her world, to fill her marriage and the land with joy again. So she has the bath. After the bath, she pours the water underneath the bath, just as the wise woman said. And then suddenly there are the two onions. So she grabs the first onion and eats it down. And then as she does so, she remembers she forgot the wise woman's words. And the wise woman had said, peel the onions before you eat them.

So the Queen thinks, well, I've done everything else right. Surely it's not going to matter too much, but I will make sure I do peel the second onion. So she peels it. She peels off seven layers, layer after layer, seven of them in total. And then once the onion's peeled, she eats that one down too.

Very soon after, in the way that women know these things, she already knew she was pregnant, way before those first obvious signs happened. And so she grew in joy and in size with the carrying of these two babies. The husband, the King, was also overjoyed and they watched her grow and bloom and grow ever more healthy until the day nine months later when it was time for her to give birth. So they called the midwife and they went up to a chamber at the very top of the castle and the Queen went into labour.

It was an easy labour. An easy labour. Surprisingly so, because she was carrying so big and they'd said she probably was having twins.

The midwife was there ready to help the Queen as she gave birth and the first baby came out and yet it was no baby that the midwife had seen before.

It looked more like a snake or a worm. It was this white slimy thing about six inches long, nothing like a baby at all. The midwife thought to herself, well, I don't think that's worth mentioning. Why worry her? It was obviously never was a baby, not meant to be a baby. And she just threw it out of the window and didn't mention it. Soon after the second baby came along.

and this was a beautiful golden hair cherub of a child, a healthy baby boy. The midwife was so relieved and delighted and she scooped it up and placed this baby boy on the Queen's chest and everyone was happy.

20 years went by and now that boy, that golden hair cherub is a handsome man and he's ready to marry. So he sets off into the kingdom with two horses and a gilded carriage to go find his bride. He sets off down the road and he gets to a crossroads.

And there, rearing up in the road, is this huge dragon, like snake, like monster, blocking his path. His horses rear up, the Prince is like, what on earth is this? And then the monster speaks. It says, where are you going?

And the Prince somehow finds his voice and says, well, it's not your business, but I'm off to look for a bride. And the monster, the Lindworm, replies, no, a bride for me before a bride for you. I am the eldest son. Eldest sons marry first.

The Prince turns white and just turns tail. He's a brave man, but not that brave. He turns around and heads back home. He gets home and goes to the King, his father, and says, this is what happened. Have you any idea what he means about eldest sons marry first? Was there an elder child? Was there an older brother before I came along? And of course the father doesn't know.

So he says, no, not that I'm aware of. So a couple of weeks later, the Prince plucks up his courage to set out again. And so he takes a different direction this time. He's like, I'm not going to chance meeting that beast again. I'm going to go a different way. So he does. And he gets to a different crossroads this time, but is met.

by the same creature. There is the Lindworm blocking his path and the Lindworm says, no, a bride for me before a bride for you. I am the eldest son. Eldest sons marry first.

The Prince turns tail immediately, doesn't even have a conversation. He gets home and he thinks, I better ask my mother now.

But the Queen is just as mystified as the King. She says, I've got no idea. I've not had, we tried for years to have you. We certainly didn't have a son before you or a child before you. But then she thinks, I'll go ask the midwife just in case she's heard of something like this before. And she goes to the midwife and she says, this sounds crazy. This sounds absolutely crazy. But this is the experience that my boy has now had twice and tells her the story of being met by this beast, insisting he is an older son.

Do you have any idea what this might be? And the midwife immediately has this knowing written all over her face. So she can't even pretend she doesn't know what's being talked about here.

And so she hangs her head and says, I do know. Before the beautiful Prince came along, there was this strange little worm thing and I threw it out the window. I didn't think it was worth mentioning. So of course, now we all know that little worm thing has managed to find its way to grow up in the wild. It is now huge and monstrous and of course very unhappy about being thrown out the window, discarded, abandoned whilst his younger brother was being treated like a Prince.

The King and Queen realised that what the Lindworm said was true. He was indeed their son. And he was also right that in their land the custom was the first son marries first. And so the King and Queen did something that perhaps not everyone would do. Not everyone would find it in their heart to do, but they decided to honour the custom, to honour their responsibility to the Lindworm and to do what they could to give him that bride, to allow him to have that...

That prerogative of being the elder son. So the King reached out to his friends in other lands, the Kings and Queens of other lands and said, obviously didn't tell them the whole truth, but said, my son has come to that time where he's ready to marry. Would one of your princesses like to come marry my son? And first person that responded was delighted and said, yes, I'm sending my beautiful daughter over to marry your son. So another custom in this land was that unlike the way that we typically do things in this part of the world, in that part of the world, in this far off land, it was customary for a bride and groom to spend a night together before they marry.

You would spend the night together and then you'd wed in the morning. So as per custom, the bride to be arrived hadn't yet seen the Lindworm, but understood that she'd be taken up to his bedchamber to spend the night with him. So she went up the stairs and met the Lindworm at the door, which of course was not what she was anticipating. She was expecting a fairy tale Prince.

But before she could do anything, the Lindworm wound his tail around her, pulled her into the bedroom chamber and slammed the door behind him.

The courtiers heard screams, they heard thumps, they heard bangs, and then they heard silence. No one dared to go in there until the next morning. When they did, bits of princess everywhere. No bride for the Lindworm to marry.

A few weeks later, the younger son, our original Prince, set out again thinking, well, my parents tried, surely now I'm safe to find a bride. And yet again, he went down the road, there was the Lindworm, and yet again he hears, no, a bride for me before a bride for you. I am the eldest son and eldest sons marry first.

The Prince goes home and says we have to find a bride. We have to find a bride for the Lindworm if I'm ever to marry. So the King tries again, goes through the same invitation, another princess is sent.

That poor princess is wound around by the Lindworm's tail pulled into his bedchamber. There are screams and thumps and bangs and the next morning all that's to be seen is the Lindworm and bits of Princess. So at this point we have a stalemate. There is no way forward. The Lindworm is just munching his way through princesses.

The King is like, I've now made an enemy of two great Kings who have sent their daughters here as brides. How on earth can I bring a third? You know, rumours are starting to get out. People are hearing the tale of bits of princesses and screams and this monster. I don't think there's going to be another princess going to come. And that means you're not going to be able to marry too.

And then out of the blue, someone contacts them. It's a stepmother of a girl that she's saying is willing to be the bride of the Lindworm. Of course, as stories and fairy tales go, this is a wicked stepmother.

And she is jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty and goodness and she has heard the tales of this Lindworm that has been eating the princesses and she's thinking to herself this is a perfect way to get rid of this thorn in my side, this stepdaughter.

So she hatches this plan. The King is so desperate he agrees to allow her to try to marry the Lindworm.

The stepdaughter of course has also heard the rumours and is terrified. She does however have the wisdom to go to the woman in the woods. She knocks at that same door the Queen has knocked at 20 odd years ago. The wise woman comes to the door and again she knows exactly why that girl is there.

So she says, I can tell you how to survive this, but you must do exactly as I say.

When you go to the castle to spend the night with a Lindworm, dress yourself in seven snow white shifts. Snow white dresses, one laid on top of the other, seven layers of them. Take a pot of lye. Take three scrubbing brushes and ask for a pot of milk to be set beside the fire. And then...

You'll know the time when all is over, you must take the Lindworm in your arms and hold him against your heart. So you can probably imagine how the young girl is feeling about this, particularly the last part, the idea of taking this beast and holding him against her heart is not exactly something she wanted to hear. And yet she thinks, I've got no choice. I'll do exactly as the wise woman says.

So that night she goes to the castle wearing her seven snow white dresses. She is taken up to the Lindworm's chamber and despite her fear just before she gets to his door she remembers what the wise woman told her. So she asks for that pot of lye and then asks for a pot of milk to be set before the fire.

The King and Queen are thinking, it's a very strange last request before probably you're going to die, but let's meet her wishes. And so they bring those things. The Lindworm opens the door, wraps his tail around her and carries her into the chamber.

He sees her in those seven dresses and says, undress yourself.

She says, you undress yourself first. Now, no one has ever uttered a command like that to the Lindworm and he was so surprised. He did what he was told. And he reached down with his claws and found a little opening in his enameled skin and ripped it open and pulled off a skin.

There it was, laying on the floor. And when she saw that, she took off one of her layers. He then said, undress yourself. And she said again, you first. And so they went on, skin and dress, layer after layer, until all seven had been dropped to the floor.

At this point, the Lindworm was this white formless mass, something a man fears most. He no longer had his enameled skin and his big claws. He was helpless. He was disgusting.

At that moment, the girl picked up the scrubbing brush and she dipped it in the lye and she scrubbed him. And he was screaming because she was scrubbing him raw, but she knew that was what she had to do.

When that was done, she then bathes his sorry self all over with the warm milk, soothing and softening and cleaning. At this point, he has just given up. He's not even screaming anymore. He is this helpless mass. And then when she's done, she does the last part of the wise woman's...

words. She takes him in her arms and she carries him into the bed and she holds him to her heart. And then she fell sound asleep.

The next morning, very early, you can probably imagine the whole court are abuzz by the fact that they heard no screams, no thumps. And so they snuck up to the chamber and they opened the door and they looked. There were no princess parts all over the floor, but there they saw the girl looking beautiful, fast asleep, radiant, happy, healthy, whole, and beside her lay not the Lindworm, but the handsomest Prince that anyone could wish to see.

So they go ahead and they marry just like the custom says the eldest son married first the younger brother then set off and found his own bride and they all lived happily ever after.

So that's the end of the story.

What I'd love to know now is what occurred to you with each of these different beings, archetypes, figures that we met during the story. So if you have your pen and paper or whatever you're planning to write with ready, I'm going to ask you some questions. And as you do so, as you go inwards and really listen to that question, what it's evoking,

You don't need to necessarily make it need to make sense in a kind of logical, rational way. Just notice what arises in terms of thoughts, feelings, symbols, colours and write those.

So the first one is.

The King King Queen were who we met first. What do they symbolise to you? What do they evoke? When you think of the King Queen, what comes up for you? Write that down.

What is the midwife, represent to you? The midwife who threw the Lindworm out of the window and thought there's no need to mention that. What does she bring up for you?

How about the mid the wise woman, sorry, how about the wise woman? It's interesting to notice my mind merged together a midwife and a wise woman because often they are the very same person. But in this story they weren't. So what does the wise woman evoke for you? What does she symbolise?

And I appreciate I'm going quite fast. So just allow yourself to capture whatever you need, it could be three words. It could be one word. It could be a quick doodle.

What does the Lindworm symbolise?

What does the Lindworm bring up for you?

And lastly,

What does his bride, the young girl, the stepdaughter, what does she symbolise?

Wonderful. And there are so many other symbols and archetypes in this story, but I think that gives us plenty to be going on with. So I'm going to ask you one more question and then we will journey deeper. So looking back at everything you've captured there, those words, maybe doodles, things that perhaps don't make any sense. When you look at, your own life, your own being, your own mind, your relationships.

Where do those things you captured, where are they showing up? Where are they showing up in your own world? As I said at the start, stories like this, myths perhaps never happened, but they always are. They're happening all the time. The trick is to know how to look to see how they're happening all the time.

So we're now going to go on a shamanic journey for you to see more about how those beings, how those symbols are showing up in your own world. So the intention for you and allow this to focus in your mind and then drop down into your heart and then let go.

and allow it to be met in whatever way it needs to be met. You don't need to keep clinging onto that intention and focusing on it just for the moment. Focus on how are those symbols showing up in my own life? That's your intention. Allow it to focus in your mind, drop down into your heart and for it to be met in whatever way it needs to. And if you haven't been on a shamanic journey before like this,

You might find it shows up in all kinds of ways. You might see things, you might feel things, you might hear things, or it might come in a knowing where you just know something. Whatever way is right for you, allow that to be. There is no better or worse in these things at all.

and please also feel free to lie down, sit down, stand, dance, whatever is most comfortable for you.

DRUM JOURNEY TAKES PLACE

Slowly coming back. Take your time, floating back to join me.

Perhaps give yourself a big stretch.

Be here, now, fully present, fully awake, fully alert, feeling clear and good.

And now before you do anything else, I invite you just to capture anything you were shown during that journey, anything at all. And again, don't need to overthink it. Don't need this to be logical or rational. Allow yourself to capture whatever feelings, symbols, noises, sounds, whatever happened for you. Capture that, honour that, is yours.

And again, we all receive these things in different ways and there can be times where we haven't yet learned the language of how spirit speaks to us and we can dismiss it. And so my invitation to you is to allow yourself to honour the way that spirit speaks to you.

I'll give you a moment or two to do that. And then I'm going to share with you. And again, I've waited till the end to do this because I really don't want you to think that what I'm saying is right. And it's like there is no other way for you to interpret some of the important symbols in this story. My invitation is for you to listen to what I'm about to share and see how what you've captured is a way of you making contact with those symbols in the right way for you.

Okay, so, and again, because there is so much in this particular story, we're really going to just scratch the surface with some of the really important and significant and big obvious symbols. There's so much more, so much deeper we could go with this, and I would invite you to do that at the end too, but for the moment, I'm going to just speak about some of the ones that...

I would say are the most important and obvious as we begin to work with this folktale. But of course you may have others and I really recommend you honour wherever you were shown too. So the story begins obviously with the King and Queen who in every way appear to be happy and healthy and thriving. And yet there is this infertility which we could also describe as or be it there seems to be this movement towards union that's happening between them, really there can't be full union. When we look at, you know, these things are very much like as above so below.

So if we look at this in a kind of more physical lens of say, for example, a man and a woman coming together in conception, a sperm and an egg coming together in conception, that is full union. But what this in terms of looking at through an archetypal lens is really the coming together of two things in union. And when we're looking at this through the lens of where these things are showing up in our lives, we can be very inclined to kind of look out there and look at this, how this is showing up in relationships, particularly intimate relationship. But really the place that union has to happen first is within ourselves.

So this part of the story, this lack of full union, despite the very real longing intention, is really all of us, all of us, before we step foot on that path of intentional individuation and union. And so they don't know that there is what the issue is, they can just feel there is something coming between them, and that becoming whole, becoming united. And again, the way this is happening for each of us is a lack of union of parts of ourselves. So at the simplest level, you could say between the kind of human and the divine, but it could also be different aspects of ourselves. And we're going to talk about this in a moment. So then, of course, the Queen goes to the wise woman.

And in this, in this again, in actually many myths and fairy tales, the wise woman in this story was perhaps a little bit less obviously witch -like than, for example, the tale of Vasilisa and Baba Yaga, but she very much represents that symbol, that part of our world and ourselves that is perhaps a bit other, wild, mysterious connected to the mystery.

This is the place of intuition. It is the place really of entering a shamanic journey. It's this being willing to take, take wisdom from a place beyond the known. So that's, that's the, that's that journey that she took. She journeyed into the woods and she met that wise woman and she asked her, she threw herself on her mercy and said, please help me here.

So that's the way that we can invite in this knowing from somewhere else. And of course, the guidance was given and it was magical and wise as these things often are. Of course, the Queen then, in her excitement, and there is something interesting about that too, the way that we can get so caught up in that desperation, in the fear of not having the thing that we want, we forget to listen to the very guidance we asked for. It's a really important part there where the Queen has the guidance, but in her sort of gripping and focusing in a way that is coming from desperation and fear, she forgets the vital part and she forgets to peel the first onion.

And then there's the part where of course she gives birth to the Lindworm and the midwife chooses to cast it out. And so this is, this is the, the part of us, the person in our culture that deems something as being other, ugly, nasty, unwanted, unwelcome, useless. And so she just casts it out.

and she doesn't see is worth mentioning. So that again is something that we are all doing all the time to other people, to other beings. We particularly do treat many types of animals and insects in this way. We often treat plants and trees in this way, but fundamentally we treat ourselves in this way. Parts of ourselves, those parts that we see are useless, ugly, unwelcome, unwanted.

Then of course we have the the golden child grows up and goes out to seek his bride his fortune and then we have now the Lindworm fully grown and it become monstrous and this is so beautifully captured by one of Jung's quotes which says,

“Every part of us we do not love will regress and become more primitive”. “Every part of us we do not love will regress and become more primitive”. And this is such a true but such an important quote in that it doesn't say every part of us that we do not love will just sit there and you know quietly waits until one day we're perhaps welcome, ready to welcome it in. No, it will regress and become more primitive. And of course, primitive in this sense, isn't meant in a kind of like, it's just, you know, primordial or natural, original. He means very much primitive in terms of, becomes monstrous, becomes dangerous, becomes destructive.

So that's that's a really important part here this this Lindworm wasn't actually dangerous and monstrous at the point it was first thrown out the point it was first loved but as he's grown he's regressed and become more primitive and now is a thing of terror really important part of this.

Okay, so then we go through the whole like how we how can we just ignore it deny it like just keep trying to send the Prince out to find a bride try and ignore that this whole thing's happening which again we we do psychically in our lives when I say psychically I don't mean as in psychically in terms of telepathy I mean as in like in our psyche we do this all the time we try to ignore we disassociate we dismiss the thing that we're being shown, particularly when it's something hard to be with, when it's bringing up shame and fear and pain, we will often try to ignore it's happening. So that's what's playing out at that part of the story. Then of course, we have the stepdaughter who is now the one who is going to be presented to the Lindworm.

And yet again, we've got that same arc of the story. And again, I've chosen one particular version. And to be honest, I've mashed together several different parts of different versions of the story, because they're the ones that I find personally most potent. And so sometimes, and I do actually really like this version too, but in this instance, I decided to go with the wise woman. In one version of the story, the stepdaughter actually goes and asks to spend a night at her father's home before she gets taken to the Lindworm and she goes and lies on her mother's grave and cries and in her sleep her mother gives her the advice that in this telling the wise woman gave to her and I really love that version too but I chose this again for whatever reason to go with the the wise woman in both parts of the story here. I liked the, that reputation, that repetition, that going back, which is, you know, a really important pattern to notice in ourselves in life. So she goes to the wise woman, which again is being open to knowing, to wisdom from somewhere else, somewhere beyond the known, beyond the rational, really important part of this. She remembers what to do.

So even though she's got every reason to be gripped by fear and to forget, aspects of it she remembers and she follows the wisdom exactly. So there's something really important in that, like being shown. However it doesn't make sense, like being told to wear seven dresses to take this lye and the scrubbing brush is, lye if you don't know is a kind of form of like a cleaning agent let's say, an old -fashioned cleaning agent.

you know, it makes no sense. Why is she being told to take these things? The milk. What's she going to need milk for? How on earth is she going to hold this monstrous beast to her heart and, and, you know, show him any care? And yet, even though it makes no sense, she does what she's told. Really important part of that. She then, obviously, goes to the Lindworm and does what she was told and right to the point where she actually, no before I get there again there is in different tellings there's a different number of layers different number of dresses sometimes it's 10 I like seven it's my it's my magic number and it's often shown over and again in like an archetypal magical way in stories so I went for the version with seven shifts and this repetition again this is doing the same thing over and over again like through seven layers.

There's another quote by Jungian, again, not Jung himself, but by Jungian, and it says, repetition is excellent grounding for somebody with too airy a nature. Repetition is excellent grounding for somebody with too airy a nature. And I love this. I particularly love it because I have a very airy nature. In fact, most of my astrological chart is air. I have a stellium and Libra.

so I am like air on steroids and so I really understand, kind of resist and dislike this aspect of repetition but also really see the necessity for it to keep doing that thing, to keep embarking on the same rituals, the same going back to the same places and see what else we've left there. There's something very important about that too.

So they work their way through those seven layers, seven layers of his skin, seven layers of a shift. And then of course they are there naked, vulnerable, real, true. There are no armor, no mask, no layers that lie between them. There is this complete truth. This absolute naked formless potential.

And again, really important part of this for anything to come together in union. In fact, if we look at its fruit and our chemical lens before we can come together, before we can coagulate, we need to dissolve. There is we it's solvay a coagula that dissolving has to happen first. This is the really important part where where everything gets merged down, lost.

we come to this like formulous, formulous, I didn't mean to say that, formless swirl of possibility that is necessary. So that's where they both are. And then possibly my favourite part of the whole story. And sadly, this isn't included in every version, including I mentioned at the start, my favourite version is probably the one in the book that I mentioned, Robert Bly's More Than True.

And it's actually missed in this version, but it's my favourite part. It's the part where she takes this, at this point, this worm, this like, like wet, limp, helpless worm and holds it to her heart. And not only that, takes it to her bed. And this also is a repetition of a previous arc in the story.

Can you think of what arc in the story is this like welcoming something in, seeing that it belongs? So you may have seen this, it's the King and Queen's choice earlier with the Lindworm where he was saying, I am the eldest son and they acknowledge him. That choice, that choice they made is one of the most fundamental choices of the whole story.

they say yes, I mean they may not invite it in in terms of like brilliant yay we've got this like monstrous beast as a son but they do acknowledge they they say yes you have a place here you have a place in our home you have a place in our lives you have a place in the kingdom you can have a bride really important so that arc of the story is repeated when the stepdaughter takes the Lindworm in our arms and holds it holds him to her heart.

and there is a beautiful quote. I don't even know who this person is, this author is, but I saw this quote years ago and I it's one of those ones that comes up for me over and over again because it's so beautiful and it goes like this and you'll also see how the arc of the arcs of this story that's referenced also mirror the Lindworm. There is the great lesson of beauty and the beast that a thing must be loved.

before it is lovable. There is the great lesson of Beauty and the Beast that a thing must be loved before it is lovable. So this is and again this goes to the title I chose for this this very show, How to Love the Unlovable. This is possibly the most powerful thing any of us can choose.

To welcome in those parts of ourselves that we see as unwelcome, as ugly, as dangerous, something that we do not want to have. And like the King and Queen did at the beginning, they may not have been like fully like wonderful, you know, please come back to us, but they did at least kind of open the door. They let the Lindworm back in and then the stepdaughter goes the whole way and she wraps her arms around him.

She says, you have a place here, you have a place in my heart. And that again, is the most powerful thing we can do when it comes to healing, to bringing those parts of ourselves back into union.

So I think that's everything. I think that's everything that we can journey with today. I hope you were able to experience some of the magic and the healing magic, the medicine of the Lindworm.

I would love to know actually. Please do reach out, share in our Facebook group, email me, comment on YouTube, let me know what showed up for you. And the invitation I have for you is firstly, if you did feel an experience to see some things in this, like choose to honour and work with them. Work with the Lindworm, the archetypes of the Lindworm, work with those parts of you. See if you are ready little by little to welcome them back home.

And remember too, that lesson of the wise woman, how important it is that we open ourselves to wisdom that comes from somewhere, that in our culture, we've deemed completely unnecessary, silly, fantastical. Why on earth would we seek that wisdom from the wise woman? It is essential if we are devoted to becoming whole. And then lastly,

Please, if you have enjoyed the way that we have journeyed today in this kind of shamanic, alchemical, mythical way, do come join us at our Academy of Soul, UNIO. We work in all kinds of beautiful, magical ways. It really is a true community of the heart where, you know, very much what we've talked about here in the Lindworm is happening all the time in UNIO.

We have a monthly ceremony where we open into a new mythical quest. In fact, we've just begun one. So if you are watching or listening to this today, at the beginning of June, come join us and you can embark on that mythical quest with us. And then we also have, sorry, I've got a dog at the door that I'm trying to get some help with.

And then we also have a guidance circle two weeks later where we meet anyone in their kind of request for guidance questions that are coming up as they journey with that musical quest or indeed anything else that's arising for them on their path of soul. So do come join us if you have found something in this for you, this way of working, please do come join us at Unio. It is intentionally.

our most accessible way of working with us. It is currently £47 per month. So do come join us. and the URL for that is bemythical.com/Unio. You'll be very, very welcome to join us. I think that's everything. I think that's everything for now. This has been a wonderful way to begin my day. I hope it has been for you, whatever time you are watching or listening to this.

Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure to take you on this magical journey.

Lots of love.

Bye bye.

Lian outro (1:08:16)

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Lots of love for now.

See you again next week.

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