THE MYTH OF PSYCHE AND EROS
by Maya Raykova
Psyche was a woman gifted with extreme beauty and grace, one of the mortal women whose love and sacrifice for her beloved God Eros earned her immortality. She became, as Greek word "psyche" implies, the deity of soul. To modern days, the myth of Psyche symbolizes a self-search and personal growth through learning, losing, and saving the real love.
Living her ordinary life, Psyche became famous because of her beauty that the whole world rushed to see. Being jealous due to men's admiration for Psyche, Goddess Aphrodite asked her son, the powerful master of love, Eros, to poison men's souls in order to kill off their desire for Psyche. But Eros also fell in love with Psyche and was completely mesmerized by her beauty.
Despite all the men coming her way, Psyche stayed unmarried, but she wanted to marry the man she would love. Her parents became so desperate because of their daughter's destiny and had no choice but to ask for an oracle, hoping that they would manage to solve the mystery and give a husband to their daughter. Eros guided Apollo to give the oracle that Psyche would marry an ugly beast whose face she would never be able to see, and he would wait for her at the top of the mountain.
It was not what Psyche's parents were hoping for; on the contrary, they were completely devastated, as their daughter was not supposed to have such as fate, but they decided to go on and arranged the wedding of their beloved daughter with the beast. After the wedding, Psyche was able to be with her husband only at night. His tenderness and the enormous love he showed to her made Psyche happy and fulfilled beyond her expectations and dreams. She talked about her happiness with her sisters and confined in them how sad she was she couldn't see his face.
Hence, the jealous sisters persuaded Psyche that her lover is not only an ugly beast but also a monster who would eventually kill her, so she should kill him first to save herself. With the oil lamp and knife in her hands, Psyche one night was ready for murder, but when she enlightened the face of her beast-husband she saw the beautiful God Eros. Caught by surprise, she spilled the oil on his face. Eros woke up and flew away telling Psyche that she betrayed him and ruined their relationship so that they could never be united again.
Psyche started searching for her lost love, and finally was suggested to beg Aphrodite, who imprisoned Eros in the Palace, to see him. Aphrodite gave her three impossible tasks to accomplish in order to prove her love.
Driven by her desire to reunite with Eros, she was fearless. After accomplishing the first two tasks, Psyche had to go to the Hades (Underworld) and bring the box with the elixir of beauty to Aphrodite, who ordered her not to open the box. Instead of the elixir, there was Morpheus (the god of sleep and dreams) hiding in the box and since the curious Psyche opened it, she fell asleep.
Eros found out what happened, run away from the Palace, and begged Zeus to save his Psyche. Amazed by their love, Zeus went even further – he made Psyche immortal so that two lovers could be together forever.
http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/psyche-and-eros-myth/
"The story of Eros and Psyche has been passed down through the work of a Greek initiate in the Eleusinian (or Isis) Mysteries...The tale has great psychological value since it reveals the development of the initiate's relationship with his anima as a result of the initiatory process. For the female initiate, this myth represents the deepest experience of the female "ms.teries" of the Self. For the male initiate, it means a progressive integration of the anima which then leads to an experience of the Self.
The story of Eros and Psyche on various arcs concerns such important human areas as anima (for a man) and animus (for a woman); it is also a paradigm of developing relationship, and bears a strong message regarding developmental tasks in the natural process of women's (or feminine) consciousness raising.
The action of the archetype of anima/animus means that we project our unconscious idea of the All-Woman or All-Man onto an individual in whom we see this ideal essence. No single person can be the carrier of all the divine attributes or qualities we project onto them. When they fail to live up to our unconscious expectations, the process of consciousness raising begins.
The story of Eros and Psyche reveals a process of deep metamorphosis and renewal where all the values of the feeling function, emotional life, and moral standards gradually gain new significance and purpose.
There is a "change of heart." Eros moves from sexual objectification toward soulful love; Psyche from projection of her masculine qualities toward empowerment. Emotionally, they act out the dynamic of the puer/puella immature relationship in the meantime. This naturally leads toward active introspection on the mental level, which results in spiritual consciousness raising -- a renewed sense of empathy and compassion." ~~ Iona Miller, 1mind1heart.blogspot.com/2007/11/eros-psyche.html
