The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden: Understanding the Wounded Feeling Function in Masculine and Feminine Psychology

This was a little adventure. I will read it over and over again!

I have read this book twice, with many years in between.In my youth, I thought Robert Johnson understood the myth of the Fisher King exceptionally well, but did not really understand the handless maiden. I attributed this to his gender bias, which he mentions at the beginning. He understands men better than women, from personal experience. I re-read the book again recently. I have been researching sexism, and I now understand things I simply was not aware of before. This time when I read the handless maiden myth, I was astounded. One of the things Robert Johnson talks about are the silver hands the king has made for the maiden. This is a metaphor for technology! And I was previously so enamored of technology that I could not even see the metaphor.The highlights of the book are Johnson's re-interpretation of foundational mythology.In the Fisher King, he tells the story of a king who is wounded in his feeling function. In modern terms, we would say he is damaged in his ability to experience emotions -- to relate to other people. He has respite from his pain only when he is fishing, hence the name. He lives in the castle of the holy grail. Direction to the castle are critical: the fisherman tells Parsifal (the youthful hero of the myth) that he should go "just down the road a little way, turn left, cross the drawbridge, and you will be my guest tonight." Johnson interprets these directions for us. "The specific instructions are to go down the road -- whatever road one is involved with at the moment -- turn left, which is to say go toward the unconscious or the world of imagination and fantasy, cross the drawbridge -- the division between our conscious world and the inner world of imagination -- and one will be in the grail castle, the miraculous place of healing." The book Johnson wrote -- all his books in fact -- are verbal guides to this process.The story of the handless maiden is about a young girl whose hands were cut off as a consequence of her father's unwitting bargain with the devil. In modern terms we would say she is denied agency, just as men are denied emotional connectivity. But the story is so much more than that! A king falls in love with her and marries her. He had silver hands made for her, and these hands are widely admired in court. The silver hands stand for the technology we use as a barrier between ourselves and our deep persona -- specifically that place that is "down the road a little way, turn left, cross the drawbridge". The agency the maiden particularly lacks is the agency to access this process. She, like many modern people, relates more closely to her iPhone than to her companions. Silver-handedness is unbelievably attractive, even addictive. (Johnson wrote this book in 1993, so his illustration of silver-handedness is more mundane: a lavish hotel with silver dinnerware and fawning servants. Johnson would have recognized our current technology as more a more telling example.)Johnson mentions that Jung was asked "Will we make it?" -- meaning will we survive as a civilization. Jung replied "Only if enough individuals do their inner work."This book is a part of that inner work.

The author brings two stories in dialogue with human experience. The existential wound of the feeling function healed by the narrative. I recommend it with enthusiasm. A must-read book to understand the human soul.

I purchased this book because the Handless Maiden myth resonates for me, my having first been introduced to it through a dream and then through Clarissa Pinkola Estes book 'Women Who Run With Wolves'. I felt I had more to learn from this myth, and Johnson's book put the Handless Maiden myth in a matrix that helped me to understand it more personally, as a metaphor for the feminine in contemporary society. Placing it in a context I could understand so well brought this myth to life, and was the greatest value of this book for me.The only off-putting thing, which changed it from 5 to 4 stars, is a small thing but which strikes to the heart of the issue. The author apologised in the beginning for perhaps not being able to do justice to the feminine wounding myth as much as the male myth. It was honest and ethical of him to state such concerns, which makes me respect his integrity, but he is alas, correct. As wonderful as his assessment of the Handless Maiden is, he still put a great deal of emphasis on the male value and aspects of it, which he did very little in reverse for the male Fisher King myth. The section in The Handless Maiden where he abandons such careful integrating of the masculine is the section which resonated most for me. I'm not sure why he did this, but if one goes through both chapters and counts instances of other-gender applicability you'll see what I mean. In one paragraph I almost felt like this myth was being ripped from my "hands" and given to the male, a dynamic of the actual myth.Nevertheless, the author put the myth into a powerful and broad matrix of understanding for contemporary women, something which 'Women Who Run With Wolves', as much as I love it, didn't allow me to see as clearly. What I would suggest is first reading Johnson's book, and saving Clarissa Pinkola Estes interpretation for last, when you can appreciate it more, in all its profound and subtle complexity.

Although most of Mr. Johnson’s books are very short, they are packed with profound wisdom which offer insight into one’s own life. I really enjoy this author and have read all of his books, this being my last. I will likely go back and read them again. His body of work is essential reading at midlife.

Great book! Robert A. Johnson uses myths and legends to show the issues that normal people face in developing their personal lives. Also, using myths and legends, it helps one gain an appreciation for earlier literature, stories, etc. These two myths are part of larger myths and are used by other "psychology" writers. I enjoyed this book and read each section in one sitting because it was so engrossing and informative. I have read other books by Robert A. Johnson and have found all of his books to be entertaining, informative and helpful.

My trans personal therapist suggested this book...I highly recommend it for an excellent story based breakdown of the masculine and the feminine journey but to remember to take your time and be gentle with yourself.

This is a book I return to in the dark hours and in the light: it helps me understand the age we live in through its two myths, which Robert A Johnson chose for giving contemporary man a way to understand the psyche. In an age made increasingly aware of the vulnerabilities of man-made systems, this book's two myths serve to remind us of the inner resources of our psyche that we either ignore to our peril, or use for the benefit of our own growth and the benefit mankind.

Interesting to read but it kept a bit to close to the Christian versions of the stories and not digging further into pre-Christian origins. I felt, especially with the handless maiden, that more consideration could have gone into gender analysis and power relations.Although, to be fair, he does mention at the start that it is not his area of expertise...

This is a deceptively simply little book that contains powerful and deep truths that I will need to work on. I bought the book months ago, waiting for the right moment to read it. The moment came, with all sorts of synchronicities to herald the reading of a book I shall recommend to all seekers.

Concise, but with a flood of information that can take a lifetime to consider and implement. Read when you are calm and open to possibilities. Read again when you need to.If you take even a small portion of the powerful metaphor in this book and it's application in personal and societal ways,you will be the better for it

Still reading this little book. My advice is don't rush it. There's a lot to think about in here.

very good