Spiritual
Fairy Tales with a Mexican Twist - Stories for the Soul
Published: 04 September 2023
User Rating: 5 / 5
Dr Jacqueline Gerson explaines that fairy tales convey life’s magic, reflecting the deep psychological themes that govern the outcomes of our lives. Written in simple language, these stories take us along soul’s path once more, revealing how the issues of today can still yield new restorative meanings. This fresh set of tales introduces characters who invite the reader to think the unthinkable, explore the unknown, and feel what is irreconcilable—resulting in a deeper experience of life itself. Staged in remote corners of the world where healing mysteries can be summoned when life’s dilemmas emerge and right and wrong are no longer clear, Dr. Jacqueline Gerson’s fairy tales show that there are still Gods and Goddesses who can intervene when humans lose their way on life’s journey. In simple language, deep psychological themes concerning the soul’s path are illustrated through new fairy tales which bring up life’s magic into often present everyday issues.
According to Dr. Jacqueline Gerson "FAIRY TALES WITH A MEXICAN TWIST (FTWMT), is a book written for anyone interested in his or her quality of life. "It’s an inspiration for posing and reflecting on how have I been living my own life, and question if there are more possibilities." She explained that because the title includes a reference to 'fairy tales', FTWMT has been associated with a book for children, although it is actually intended for adults. Dr Gerson believes in the existence of magic in everyday life: "Children are in contact with that magic, but we as adults seem to have lost it, but it is there. FTWMT brings that magic in the stories it tells."
We asked Dr. Gerson: Where is the Mexican twist coming from? She explains: "I was born in Mexico but I consider myself multicultural. My parents came to Mexico from Europe and Russia and I am first generation born here. I am Jewish and I am Mexican. I am a Jungian analyst and while studying Jung, I not only discovered the richness of Mexico's Mayan and Nahuatl mythologies but I became a lover of mythology and fairy tales".
"When I traveled around Mexico I began asking questions, finding out about local legends, and looking into the oral tradition that people still keep alive passing Mexican culture and mythology from generation to generation. It is the most interesting material which I wanted to incorporate into my writings. FTWMT is a compendium of specific stories where you can clearly see in some of them aspects of the Mexican legends incorporated."
"As a Jungian analyst I have wondered many times how can we offer access to therapy to more people. I believe that through these stories there is a possibility to find yourself reflected among the many characters that appear in the book, giving readers an insight into their own life as they follow the stories. The process regarding the illustrations in FTWMT was very interesting. Once I had finished writting the stories I felt the need to illustrate them so I invited artist Saúl Kaminer. I read the stories to him in Spanish. While I was reading and translating, he was painting. It was a simultaneous pocess, we read and painted the fairy tales. Saúl was feeling my emotion and I was sensing how touched he was while hearing the different stories. His insights were being translated into his drawings. I believe that this same process can happen to other people while going thru the stories. We, Saúl and I, have thought in creating a workshop where we can invite people to experience this amazing process."
"Band Aids"
"The story of “Band Aids” was written because I believe we all have a wound that at times needs a band aid, sometimes, more than one. Human beings are not perfect. Neither were our parents nor our grandparents and neither are we. We all have a wound. The question is to determine what are we going to do about it and how are we going to live with the wound each of us has. This is a story about how some specific wounds can be transformed when accepting one’s own nature and knowing that our specific wound, which constitutes part of our most intimate nature, makes us unique in this world. That in itself, I believe, is an important way to transform what is causing suffering."
"Uayamon"
“Uayamon.” is actually a Hacienda in the southern part of Mexico which has been converted into a hotel where I had the privilege to stay. The experience of being there and getting to know the actual Ceiba tree inspired me to write this story. It is the most special ancient tree which has been standing there for centuries."
Hacienda Uayamon - Campeche, México
"As part of my research, I interviewed some of the local inhabitants regarding their legends. Very kindly, they told me that while they have a large amount of legends, they felt ashamed to talk about it because many people do not believe in them anymore, although locals do. They asked me if I really wanted to hear the stories; I responded that I would love to hear them."
"This is how I got the most interesting and magical material that I was able to incorporate into the story of the Ceiba that grows in "Uayamon." This fits with Jung's "collective unconscious" theory. It refers to the idea that a segment of the deepest unconscious mind is genetically inherited and is not shaped by personal experience".
An Ancient Ceiba Tree in Vieques Blooms Once Again After Puerto Rico’s Devastating Storms
Bringing Hope to the Island Inhabitants
Jung's concept of syncronicity, which refers to meaningful coincidences, can be best illustrated by recent reports from Puerto Rico. It’s been a year and a half since hurricanes Irma and Maria pummeled this tiny island off Puerto Rico’s eastern coast, and still many homes lay in rubble, electric wires hang precariously from poles and a crippled cargo ferry system causes shortages of groceries. Yet an ancient ceiba tree Viequenses consider sacred is staging a remarkable comeback, one that symbolizes the resilience of the island itself for some residents. It’s the island’s oldest tree, estimated to be upward of 400 years old, and stands as Vieques' third-most popular tourist attraction after a 174-year-old Spanish fort and a bioluminescent bay that boasts the brightest glowing dinoflagellates in the world.
Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico
For Puerto Ricans it’s a symbol of hope that we can continue, that things may get hard but if we stand strong we can make it. It’s easy to see why ceibas like this one occupy such a unique place in indigenous mythology. For Gerson, this is an example of what she calls "the magic one can find in the world."
Uayamon, Campeche's Ancient Ceiba Tree
In Maya culture, ceiba trees marked the center of the Earth, and the young branches ― covered in spikes like sharpened chainmail ― were believed to serve as a ladder allowing the spirits of the dead to ascend to the afterlife. It connected multiple worlds in the Maya universe. It connected the worlds so souls could climb from this world up to the heavens.
Dr Jacqueline Gerson - Author FTWMT
"When I began writing stories with a Mexican twist I did not know I was writing a book. It was actually my way of expressing what I was hearing, living and observing in the world. Through writing the stories I discovered that there are new ways of understanding the same matter. The stories taught me possibilities that I had not contemplated before. I wondered myself where are the stories coming from, but i realized that I did not have an answer to that question. I have also seen that occuring in my practice. Many times when looking for answers, we pose the question and then something happens, which I have felt like magic, and we get some light into how to continue in our path, in what used to look so dark and painful. Something happens that helps people transform their lives in order to have a more meaningful existance, and this happened to me while writing FTWMT".
The Story of an Ear
“Once upon a time there was an "Ear," an "Ear" that became so important in the Body Kingdom that he became the subject and main character of this story. It all started one day when "Ear" got plugged. For many years "Ear" had been faithfully fulfilling his duty in the Body Kingdom without occurring to him to do anything else." The story goes on until we reach a paragraph where "Ear" managed to mumble “I want to be heard, would you please help me, "Voice”?
Polarities - Ying Yang Web
"Standing in one polarity gives us a very narrow view of life and a very poor understanding, lacking empathy towards differences which in the world we live now is very important to have. In "The Story of an Ear", where "Ear" and "Voice" interchange roles each experiences the other getting a more compasionate way to releate to the other, the opposite, as well as the other in oneself."