Column 23 - Anne-Clarisse Demontagne (Lissa)
At the end of the first chapter of A Circle of Dreams four year old Lissa says, "I think I’m too small to do it all by myself." She is talking about something she perceives about the needs of her little brother. We don’t comment on this statement but under the circumstances the reader can feel the child’s burden and distress.
And further along in her young life it is clear that she continues to be a very burdened child. Lissa knows too much, feels too much, perceives too much. She feels she is the one who must help her distressed brother and feels it is her responsibility to set it to rights. While her sister, Yvie, is troublesome, Lissa takes too much responsibility onto her young shoulders.
Yvie envys Lissa her position in the family because Lissa is so close to the mystical side of the family. But Yvie fails to perceive her sister’s burden and that her powers are not felt to be a blessing.
Lissa’s senses are acute and lead her to perceive things others cannot see. Virtually alone she must decide what to do with what she sees. It would never occur to her to use her powers in negative ways. Rather, she feels an almost instinctive selfless commitment. A carefree childhood is not something that describes her life.
If Yvie is chaos, then Lissa is order. It seems that these twins are virtually a living form of yin and yang. Each will have to find their way to different futures.
No doubt there are many people who envy children such as Lissa. She is talented academically. Adults have confidence in her intelligence, abilities and reliability. How nice for the adults. Lissa is never so sure about herself. It is difficult for Lissa to get support and understanding from other people because too often other people do not begin to understand her. Adults often wonder how such a bright, capable and seemingly self assured girl could possibly need support. Nobody except possibly Bertille can truly understand the world in which Lissa lives.
In the second article about the theories of Carl Jung we discussed the wheel of personality and how it begins with a core function which is developed and that the wheel in its entirety continues to rise and develop over time. Ideally over a lifetime a person will gain increasing command of the whole.
While Lissa exhibits a stable personality from the beginning, what is not readily apparent is the fact that she has command of the totality of personality from a young age. Her personality grows richer with time and more complex. While other girls may dimly perceive their animus, a rudimentary member of the opposite sex within themselves, Lissa has a highly developed animus. This male being is so highly developed that he can take on substance outside of Lissa and can become a confidente. At least, then, there is someone close at hand who can understand her and give her support.
It is hard not to like Lissa. She has so many positive virtues and she is not a troublesome child. Equally it is hard for us to understand how difficult her life must feel to her. And we can only guess at the pain she must feel as she attempts to make her way in the world among people who too often will fail utterly to understand her. And then as she becomes a woman, how can she share intimacy when to be intimate with her is to risk coming into contact with a frightening intensity and inner power?
Come visit us at www.annierogers.com
At the end of the first chapter of A Circle of Dreams four year old Lissa says, "I think I’m too small to do it all by myself." She is talking about something she perceives about the needs of her little brother. We don’t comment on this statement but under the circumstances the reader can feel the child’s burden and distress.
And further along in her young life it is clear that she continues to be a very burdened child. Lissa knows too much, feels too much, perceives too much. She feels she is the one who must help her distressed brother and feels it is her responsibility to set it to rights. While her sister, Yvie, is troublesome, Lissa takes too much responsibility onto her young shoulders.
Yvie envys Lissa her position in the family because Lissa is so close to the mystical side of the family. But Yvie fails to perceive her sister’s burden and that her powers are not felt to be a blessing.
Lissa’s senses are acute and lead her to perceive things others cannot see. Virtually alone she must decide what to do with what she sees. It would never occur to her to use her powers in negative ways. Rather, she feels an almost instinctive selfless commitment. A carefree childhood is not something that describes her life.
If Yvie is chaos, then Lissa is order. It seems that these twins are virtually a living form of yin and yang. Each will have to find their way to different futures.
No doubt there are many people who envy children such as Lissa. She is talented academically. Adults have confidence in her intelligence, abilities and reliability. How nice for the adults. Lissa is never so sure about herself. It is difficult for Lissa to get support and understanding from other people because too often other people do not begin to understand her. Adults often wonder how such a bright, capable and seemingly self assured girl could possibly need support. Nobody except possibly Bertille can truly understand the world in which Lissa lives.
In the second article about the theories of Carl Jung we discussed the wheel of personality and how it begins with a core function which is developed and that the wheel in its entirety continues to rise and develop over time. Ideally over a lifetime a person will gain increasing command of the whole.
While Lissa exhibits a stable personality from the beginning, what is not readily apparent is the fact that she has command of the totality of personality from a young age. Her personality grows richer with time and more complex. While other girls may dimly perceive their animus, a rudimentary member of the opposite sex within themselves, Lissa has a highly developed animus. This male being is so highly developed that he can take on substance outside of Lissa and can become a confidente. At least, then, there is someone close at hand who can understand her and give her support.
It is hard not to like Lissa. She has so many positive virtues and she is not a troublesome child. Equally it is hard for us to understand how difficult her life must feel to her. And we can only guess at the pain she must feel as she attempts to make her way in the world among people who too often will fail utterly to understand her. And then as she becomes a woman, how can she share intimacy when to be intimate with her is to risk coming into contact with a frightening intensity and inner power?
Come visit us at www.annierogers.com
posted by Roger | 2:36 PM
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