The Moon Palace Chapter 2 The Refusal of Suitors.

 

The Moon Palace.

Chapter 2 The refusal of suitors—Issues with father- finding a Head to talk to.

For the full narrative click here:

The narrative: The mother and the father were very concerned that the daughter did not have a young man in her life, and they wondered what would become of them in their old age. 

The daughter for her part did not seem interested in the young men that were around the village, in fact, she found them quite stupid and generally unattractive. 

 One day the young girl was walking along the tundra and what did she find on the ground but a head.  She was amazed to see ahead lying there on the ground obviously alive and so she began a conversation with the head. 

They spoke for a short time or long time or for however long that takes.  They had such a wonderful conversation that the girl decided to take the head home. She bent down and picked up the head and put it under the arm.  And so, off they went walking across the tundra talking together in this manner.

In stories of this nature, there are sometimes themes that are expressed in a story such as. “The refusal of suitors”. “The daughter for her part did not seem interested in the young men that were around the village, in fact, she found them quite stupid and generally unattractive.

The question here is in comparison with whom? Well? The girl grows up with her father and her mother as usual. There is a special relationship between the father and his daughter. While a father may see his sons very clearly, and see through their hidden agendas and Shadows they use to manipulate their mother. Somehow this vision is lacking between fathers and daughters. The reverse is true of mothers and daughters, mothers can see right through their daughters’ wiles but not so with her sons. Anybody who has children will confirm this.

The father does not see his daughter clearly, her Shadows, and this can be dangerous for the daughter and the father. There are Shadow issues between fathers and daughters. Lots of projections, and wishful thinking. The father is the daughter’s first emotional lover. A father needs to be well-centered in his masculinity and his role as a father, and strong in his relationship with his wife to interact appropriately with his daughter. The daughter will test her wiles against her father. Always testing the boundaries, testing the response to her sexuality and requests.

If the relationship between the mother and father is a strong one, the father will remember his role in this father/daughter relationship. The mother will see through the daughter’s flirtations and allow that. Otherwise, there is the risk of the daughter coming between the mother and the father. The daughter will have a good experience with males and be ready for more relationships with males in a good way. This is the ideal anyway. 

As the narrative sets out in the beginning The mother and the father were very concerned that the daughter did not have a young man in her life, and they wondered what would become of them in their old age. This would be the natural order of things. A young man would come into the house and hunt for the family. The girl would transfer her projection from her father to the young man and life would go on for all of them.

The Status-quo. A society with its beliefs and ideology is not the “good father”

The collective father of the Status-quo does not want to let go of the girl to pursue her own path, her own individuation. He wants to own her and run her life. This leads to the possession of the girl, women, and the feminine. There is then a violent reaction if the Girl/woman shows any signs of rebellion. Gender-based violence is a worldwide issue and has its roots here.

In relation to the collective, we are all his daughters. Men and women, we are bound to its ideals by the beliefs and ideas we have accepted as ours which we put on like an outer garment over our original selves, our Soul. Like the Parsifal story in the Fisher King version, Parsifal kills the Red Knight and puts the captured armor on over his homespun clothes. We too have put on the protection the Status-quo offers, the armor of the Red Knight, over our homespun without any integration or awareness.

Bound now by the agreement we (our Ego) have willingly made to be loved and accepted by our collective father the Status-quo we refuse all other possible relations ships even the relationship with our deep self, our Soul. “The refusal of suiters.” When putting on this required puter garment becomes too much for us to handle our Ego can dissociate from life to protect our inner selves, our Soul.

However, in this story, her father is not the  ‘Good” father. If you have read the narrative right through, we are told that the “Head” told the girl to go back to her father and sort out her issues with him before continuing their relationship. Secondly, we are told that there was something not working in her feelings as she didn’t feel the heat of the earth as she descended towards the earth from the Moon Palace and failed to “Fall” the last couple of feet.

“She found them ( The Boys) quite stupid and generally unattractive.”  

Generally, we know that girls and women mature more quickly than boys. Women’s bodies initiate the girls into womanhood at the onset of their menstrual cycle. This should make a huge difference in the way that girls see the world, as opposed to boys. Assuming that within the community this information is passed on to the girls. Considering teenage pregnancies at school in South Africa this is obviously not happening. There are many reasons for this in South Africa, Blessers, Marks at school, cultural pressures and norms, and a refusal to give girls adequate sex education.

From that moment of her first period, she is capable of giving birth. She looks around her and sees the great responsibility that giving birth brings, in a world often hostile to women and children. From then on, from her point of view, the world is a very different place. Boys of her own age could seem quite stupid (no sense of gravitas, not father material) and generally behave in unattractive ways. Older men (such as her father) may seem more attractive in their surety and ability to provide a home.

“She found them (The boys) quite stupid and generally unattractive.” 

That’s how it usually goes. The girls are looking for more maturity in the men she interacts with. The boys generally are being “ugly around the house” and it is time for them to go to the mountain or the wilderness as laid out in the “Lizard in the fire” story.

The father is firstly a representative of society and the Status-quo as the ultimate authority. Secondly, there is the Status quo itself as a Divine father and lover.

There is a much older story that also covers the same territory of the psyche “the refusal of suiters” and the special relationship between Father and Daughter and how the daughter is in our lives as an archetype expressing itself through us.

In the Greek story of the birth of Athena, which was a creation, a wholly male creation without the aid of a female is called Parthenogenesis. A wholly male creation.

However, this is not quite true. In myth, there was a Titaness called Metis the goddess of prudence and wisdom who was also an accomplished shapeshifter. Zeus was enamored with her and pursued her even though she kept changing shapes to escape his attention. Eventually, he trapped her and make her his wife, and made her pregnant. Though he did not know that when he heard the prophecy of Gia.

The prophecy was that he would have two children from her, a girl and a boy who would grow up to be stronger than Zeus and would overthrow him.  As Zeus had overthrown his father Kronos who in turn had killed his father Uranus, Zeus was very frightened by this prophecy. Fearing the prophecy Zeus then asked Metis to transform herself into a drop of water and then swallowed her, not knowing Metis was pregnant. The child grew to adulthood inside Zeus until Zeus was suffering from terrible headaches.

He complained of a headache to Hephaestus the blacksmith God. Hephaestus struck his head with an axe and out sprang Athena with a clang of her spear and shield on the ground fully dressed in her armor. This surprise entrance “With a clang” is where she gets the prefix, Pallas, to her name. So, Pallas Athena, whose animal familiar is the Owl. This is how in western myth the Owl is associated with wisdom.

This idea of creation without the Feminine is what the Status Quo indulges in all the time. The creation of corporations rather than incorporating (with the feminine).  This is not to say those masculine pursuits are wrong, it just needs to be balanced. Much of the misery in our world stems from the unchecked and unbalanced expression of the Status Quo through Ego.

If you side with the wrong Status Quo your life can be put in peril by a more powerful Status quo as we see in the Ukraine war right now. Two powerful ideologies at war.

This war takes us right back to the story. Because of the special relationship between the daughter and the father she was not entertaining the local boys into her life. However, like Pallas Athena who came out of Zeus’s head, she meets a Head on the tundra. That frozen place of no feelings just intellectual talk, head stuff, like her father but different. She takes the Head home to continue the conversation.

We should note that if the father is Russia and Ukraine is the daughter then NATO is the talking head and as we follow the story the  ”talking head” will not be much help for her as the story progresses. If you have read the narrative right through you will know that the daughter never introduces the Head to the parents. The father waits until the daughter is out, goes into the daughter’s room, and sees the head on the pillow. He (Russia) is so enraged at what he sees he hits the Head in the eye with his ice axe.

The narrative tells us. One day the young girl was walking along the tundra and what did she find on the ground but a Head.  She was amazed to see ahead lying there on the ground obviously alive and so she began a conversation with the Head. 

They spoke for a short time or long time or for however long that takes.  They had such a wonderful conversation that the girl decided to take the Head home she bent down and pick up the head and put it under the arm.  And so, off they went walking across the tundra talking together in this manner.

The parents are pleased they heard them talking, finally, she has brought somebody home.

TO Chapter 3    The talking heads.