The Dungeons and Dragons of Life

In one episode of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry and his friend Ron go down into the bowels of Hogwarts castle to find Hermione. A troll is on the prowl there in the dungeons. They encounter the troll and manage to drive it into a room and lock him in. Just as they begin to pat themselves on the back for capturing the menace troll, they discover Hermione is also locked in that room.

How like life! We try to get all the pieces of ourselves together and block out the unpleasant elements, but whoops! Somehow down in the depths what we are looking for is lost and blocked off with whatever it is we are trying to avoid or shut out. So, what do we do? Like Harry and Ron, we may find that the only way to recover what we value is to go head on with what we fear or dread.

Of course, in the story our heroic trio manage to KO the troll. But the most significant outcome of the event is that this episode units Harry, Ron, and Hermione in a new way and seals their friendship for all future adventures. Until this point Hermione had been a classmate with whom the boys had to deal - one they sometimes didn't like. Now she is a part of the "team," adding her talent and perspective, which is often somewhat different from theirs, to the mix. From now on their adventures will be met with a more rounded, balanced approach.

Anthony Storr in his book Jung, discussing Jung's idea of the psyhe as a self-regulating system, says, " The capacity for one-sided development is related to man's complexity, and aptitude for dissociation." (p.64) According to Jung's ideas, however, if conscious development of the individual is too one-sided, a neurosis may exist as an attempt on the part of the unconscious to compensate for the one-sidedness. To heal that condition and come to a more balanced consciousness, one must explore the depths, be willing to encounter the "trolls" from the unconscious - really face them, not lock them away, for it may be that the necessary balancing element which needs to be integrated is being unknowingly locked away as well.

Facing our own personal "trolls" is no less frightening or unpleasant than the fanciful showdown in the Harry Potter book.

For me, the monster I had to face seemed more like a dragon. At least, that was how I pictured it before I came to terms with it. Someone once suggested to me that my "dragon" might be friendly; at that time the concept was, to me, totally beyond belief. In time, and after spending time in the "dungeons" wrestling that dragon, I discovered transformation. Perhaps it was my "dragon" that now gives me the fire to breathe when facing difficult situations in life. My one-sidedness previously included an inability to stand up for myself. That is a task I still have to work on, but I am doing better at it.

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