Marie-Louise von Franz on The Problem of the Eternal Child

In this episode we unpack, Swiss Psychologist, Marie-Louise von Franz's classic book, "The Problem of the Puer Aeternus" from a series of lectures she gave in 1959.

This book explores
-The Eternal Child Archetype
-The Mother Complex (Jungian)
-The Loss of Initiation Rituals in the Modern Age

Links to Reading & Articles mentioned
⁠The Problem of the Puer Aeternus by Marie-Louis von Franz⁠
⁠The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery⁠
note reading is not required to enjoy this episode!

Host: Zach Stehura  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠UnpackingIdeas.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Guest: David Bloome
Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Polyenso⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Time Stamps
0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:24 David’s Story Discovering the book
0:12:07 Characteristics of The Puer Aeternus
0:16:14 Commitmentphobia/Megalomania 
0:23:00 The Mother Complex
0:28:46 Enmeshment
0:37:45 Analysis of “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
0:40:47 Symbolism of the Boa Constrictor choking the Elephant 
0:46:00 Symbolism of the Little Prince Image
0:50:45 Symbolism of The Overgrown Baobob Trees
0:54:11 The Literal and Figurative Crash of Individuals suffering from the Eternal Child Complex
0:58:04 Von Franz’s Antidote to the Problem - Initiation Rituals 
1:02:02 Consequences of the Lack of Initiation Rituals in the Modern Age
1:06:00  The literal and Figurative crash of Societies Suffering from the Eternal Child Complex 
1:08:40 Jung’s Antidote to the Problem- Work
1:17:18 outro