Anne Skyvington
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Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
Emotions and HealthMythos

Pandora’s Box

written by Anne Skyvington August 22, 2013
pandora-painting

It is striking how ancient myths link up with modern-day thought, concerns and religious ideas. For the ancient Greeks, Pandora represented the first woman, part of a creationist myth, comparable to Eve in the creation myth of Abrahamic religions.

Symbol of the three Abrahamic religions.

Symbol of the three Abrahamic religions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like the artist Dante Rossetti’s interpretation of Pandora in the feature here, as it highlights the fact that she was not a real woman, but an archetype or metaphor representing a paradoxical idea.

According to the myth, Pandora was given a box, or more correctly, a jar by Zeus, who commanded her not to open it. When she did so in secret, out flew all the ‘evils’ of the world, leaving only ‘hope’ in the bottom of the jar. This is a simplified version of the parable, as I’m interested mainly in its relationship with human thought–and with wanting to know–and its implications for humankind. I see Pandora as a symbol of duality: male/female; desire to know/need to love; heaven/earth; good/evil; spirit/flesh and life/death.

We all know when we  employ cognitive skills that we, as subjects, are doing so; Descartes, in the seventeenth century,  said “I think therefore I am.” But no-one has been able to satisfactorily explain for me the phenomenon of conscious thought. My first introduction to philosophy in 1963-64 was through the study of the ancient Greeks, Socrates and Plato. I often wonder if Plato was right all along when he saw the material world as just clothing for the real world. The ancient Greeks, especially the Platonists, advised people to look to the harmony of the universe, so that by venerating its grandeur they might forget their immediate afflictions.

I’ve always been drawn to the ideas of Carl Jung, who re-invented terms such as ‘archetypes’, ‘projection’ and the ‘shadow’ to describe psychological phenomena that touch us all as humans. Perhaps as a writer, I prefer the mystical/mythical way of seeing reality.  For a time I studied Buddhism in an attempt to find meaning in the universe, but soon learnt that the ideas of karma and reincarnation were just as beset by dogma as most religious ideas are. According to Gnostics, Karma at best can only explain how the chain of suffering and imperfection works. It does not inform us in the first place why such a sorrowful and malign system should exist. However, as soon as one adopts or ‘invents’ a religious idea,  freedom ‘goes out  the window’ and one is bound to a way of thinking like a captive tied by ropes and cords.

“In the Gnostic view, there is a true, ultimate and transcendent God, who is beyond all created universes and who never created anything in the sense in which the word ‘create’ is ordinarily understood. While this True God did not fashion or create anything, He (or, It) ’emanated’ or brought forth from within Himself the substance of all there is in all the worlds, visible and invisible. In a certain sense, it may therefore be true to say that all is God, for all consists of the substance of God. By the same token, it must also be recognized that many portions of the original divine essence have been projected so far from their source that they underwent unwholesome changes in the process. To worship the cosmos, or nature, or embodied creatures is thus tantamount to worshipping alienated and corrupt portions of the emanated divine essence.” (Wikipedia)

It is preferable, therefore, to remain open to the ineffable: some things can only be experienced, without their being fully understood. Words are too ‘cluncky’ or inadequate to transfer them onto the page. Take fear, for example. We all experience, at different stages in life, relative degrees and amounts of fear. Nightmares are probably the projected images of this ubiquitous human emotion trying to get ‘heard’ and challenged by the psyche at night. Once looked at, and perhaps analysed, these fear fragments are often exorcised for what they really are: parts of the imaginative psyche at work trying to get our attention while we sleep.

Without conscious thought, we would not be human; and with it comes the challenge of becoming stronger and less afraid as we advance through life. Without accepting challenges and the chance of pain, there can be no opportunity for developing courage and for achieving those goals of which we are capable. And perhaps of experiencing the ineffable.

I like the fact that, what was left in Pandora’s box, after all the negatives flew out, was hope.

René Descartes at work

René Descartes at work (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung ...

English: Hand-colored photograph of Carl Jung in USA, published in 1910. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sa...

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing Plato (left) and Aristotle (right) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1...

Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1st century), perhaps a copy of a lost bronze statue made by Lysippos. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles
  • Exploring Plato’s Republic
  • What Do You “Gnow” about Gnosticism? (And Does it Matter?)
  • Descartes, Socrates, and Certainty

Pandora’s Box was last modified: October 14th, 2018 by Anne Skyvington
Carl Jung and his legacy to psychology and mythologychallenges to overcome feargnostic views on religionpandora as a symbol of dualityPlato viewed this world as a mere reflection of the real worldthe shadow as a jungian term and concept
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Anne Skyvington

I have been a reader/writer all of my life as far back as I can remember. Blogging has opened me up to another world, where I can share my skills and continue to create through word and picture. Writing is about seeing the world and recreating it for others to see through different eyes.

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1 comment

What is your favourite myth? | Anne Skyvington October 14, 2018 at 2:13 pm

[…] myth of Pandora’s Box that flew open and allowed to escape all the ills of humankind has also resonated with me. The […]

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Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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