December 21, 2022

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the season of light. Happy Winter Solstice. The days will finally begin to grow longer and the nights will grow shorter. We made it through the darkness once again.

Have you ever heard a well-known song covered in a way that completely changed your relationship to it?

I had that experience with Tori Amos’s take on Good King Wenceslas, which is a bonus track on her album Midwinter Graces.

Prior to discovering the Tori Amos version, I had mostly heard GKW in the church of my childhood, where—to my ear—it had always sounded slightly pompous, almost self-important. I’d occasionally heard GKW outside of church, where it was usually sung boisterously, almost like a drinking song or something chanted at a sporting event. Either way, GKW had always felt hyper masculine to me, devoid of nuance. Honestly, I originally found GKW kind of annoying.

Tori Amos slows it down. Her simple piano-and-voice arrangement yields a much more intimate and feminine experience that allows us to not only ponder the lyrics more deeply, but also feel the emotional intensity of the song and the complicated, intertwined humanity of its three characters.

I encourage you to check out the Tori Amos version of Good King Wenceslas, which I often listen to on repeat for hours at a time, especially whenever I mistakenly begin to believe that I have nothing left to give.

In my Jungian work, we try to maintain the symbolic attitude, which means not simply taking things at face value, but constantly looking for a deeper symbolic meaning.

As we enter into the season of light, I thought we might take a symbolic look at the lyrics of Good King Wenceslas and see what gifts are waiting for us. Let’s unwrap them stanza by stanza.

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shown the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel

We have a good king who—during a religious holiday—sees a peasant. The king is well off. The poor man is collecting sticks in the freezing cold. There’s inequity. That’s what literally happens at the start of the song.

But what if we take a symbolic view and imagine the scene as a psychological drama playing out inside of each of us?

There is a good king inside of every human being. And there is also a peasant in need. There are parts of us that are divinely appointed. And there are parts of us that are of this earth. Bits of us are whole and therefore spiritually wealthy. Bits of us hunger for transcendence. The two-sided coin of inequity is in all of us. Within us are both riches and poverty.

Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest’s fence
By St Agnes’ Fountain

Moved by the plight of the peasant, the good king calls his page, most likely a child or teenager, and asks for more information. That’s what literally happens. The king wants to know who the peasant is and where he lives. The page has this information and shares it freely.

We’ve previously been introduced to the inner good monarch and the inner peasant. Now we are introduced to the inner page, or child. It’s interesting that the good king needs the page to supply him with information about the peasant. It’s often the case that in therapy and analysis we need to ask our inner child for information about past traumas. We have to get in touch with our inner page, so to speak, so we can find the places inside of us that are in need—our inner peasants. These peasants are usually far away in the shadows of our inner forests and mountains. Reaching them often requires courage and making a treacherous psychological journey deep within.

Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bare them thither
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather

Literally, the good king and the page gather up a feast for the peasant and then head out to deliver the riches (or medicine) where it is needed most. Page and monarch brave the elements to complete the task.

My analyst teaches me that archetypal forces are inexhaustible. Our inner good monarchs—be them kings or queens—have a limitless supply of resources for us. And it is our job to connect with such spiritual and psychological forces. It is often the younger parts within us that are best equipped for this job. Blessed are the children within us. We came into the world already knowing how to do this. But then we forget as time goes on. The king needs his page and the page needs his king.

Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how
I can go no longer
Walk my footsteps good, my page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly

The snow and the cold night begin to wear down the young page here. He has a limited ability to withstand the elements. But the good king has miraculous powers and tells the boy to walk boldly in his footsteps in order to feel warm again and find the strength to carry on.

Symbolically, this is the dark night of the soul. The inner boy’s ego strength can only take him so far before he begins to run out of energy. This is something many recovering and recovered alcoholics know quite well. We need to rely on higher powers when ego strength fails. We must always combat the archetypal with the archetypal. Our humanness is no match for such greatness. Luckily, those higher forces reside within all of us. We have access to the good king and/or good queen always.

In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing

We end with a miracle. The boy finds heat and strength in the Saint’s footsteps. And then this is linked to Christianity and masculinity and a reminder that we should take care of the less fortunate. We absolutely should take care of the less fortunate. But the miraculous forces within are, of course, not exclusively available to Christian men. They are accessible to all human beings, regardless of religious beliefs or gender. The Christian religion is only one of many ways to access these psychological and spiritual forces.

While we should definitely help the marginalized and struggling people of the world, we also need to take care of the marginalized and struggling parts within ourselves. And maybe this is the first task we should complete. Spiritual and psychological poverty have nothing to do with how much money one has in the bank or what property one might own.

So literally, we have a story about the importance of helping less fortunate people. And symbolically we have a reminder that we need to be mindful of the spiritual and psychological poverty within ourselves. The good news is that there are inexhaustible sources of spiritual wealth that we can access at any time and psychological health is something that we all can address right now if we are bold enough to do so.

So let's all be good to ourselves, okay?

Rally the good king and queen within you. They are inside always. My analyst teaches that every human being has access to these archetypal forces. Walk in the good monarch’s footsteps boldly. Feed the poor within you. And keep your inner page believing in miraculous powers. May you see the light that is everywhere and may it guide you well in the coming year. Let’s all keep walking boldly together.

When I was a boy, I was taught that every December you say Merry Christmas to the people you love most in the world. So I will say Merry Christmas to all of you.

Merry Christmas, MPL Readers.

If you were taught to say I love you a different way, I would be happy to hear it. I welcome all love as love.

Okay, friends.

Until the 21st of January 2023, please remember that wherever you are in the world, whatever your current battle may be, your man in Coastal NC is sending you good vibes. Always.

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MATTHEW

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