Mythologically this is one reason why she did that. But psychologically, the writer will explain it later in the last part of this chapter.
4. The Separation with the Self Archetype
It has been said that there are three phases in the process of initiation in human life journey; they are separation, transformation and return. From Psychology
aspect and also following mythological plot, the first phase from symbolic journey of Molleen’s life was the separation with her father. Her father was dead in the sea
during harvesting mackerel. Molleen was not ready with her father death, so she felt shock.
Her separation with her father was not only physically, but it also her separation with her Self archetype, the center of her psyche, and this separation that
brought her psyche to unstable state. Father was acted as her psyche balancer. It can be seen when she had to lose her father, she became hopeless like stopped speaking
and started to daydreaming. So father had become her Self archetype. Because of this separation, her ego, that was her grief, appeared to the surface and controlled her
conscious. This ego took over her social life and acted as the center of her personality, just like the story said:
Molleen Mohr had adored her own father. After he drowned during the run for mackerel when she was six, she stopped speaking and gave herself over to
daydreaming, laying on the pallet on the floor all day, staring up at the ceiling, captivated by what she was moving across her field of vision. McBride 2005,
27
Based on the entropy principle, the energy must be distributed in order to make the psyche stable. Molleen’s grief toward her father death made her psyche
energy decrease, it can be seen when she stopped speaking and started to daydreaming after her father’s death, or in another words, all her physical systems
was run down, and so the energy must be distributed. In order to stabilize her psyche, based on the entropy principle, Molleen must replace or distribute the energy to the
conscious. Because the replacement or the distribution of the energy was disturbed so it will be repressed and went to the unconscious. By transporting the energy to that
place, the unconscious will be much stronger than the conscious ego. Molleen was an introvert who preferred her internal world of thoughts,
feelings, fantasies, and dreams, so her ego was dominant toward the collective unconscious and the archetypes. Molleen voluntary muteness at six was the
replacementdistribution of the energy to the inside of her psyche that is toward her unconscious, or in another words, the energy was repressed in her unconscious. This
condition is what they called symbolic death. The definition of death here is not physically, but it is symbolically. It is not the human separation with his spirit. Death
here means someone who loses his energy and has no willingness to act or to react. Just like Molleen’s condition after her father’s death where she would not speak and
started daydreaming. Molleen’s meeting with Macdarragh who was mute brought her ego back to
conscious. Macdarragh was a substitution for Molleen’s father position in her life, which was as the Self archetype. Macdarragh was the person who could make
Molleen’s psyche stable again. Molleen started to speak again and socialized with her environment. She acted as Macdarragh mouthpiece and in the same time as his
guardian. According to Jung, father is a symbol of stern, powerful, and controlling, and
that was missing from her life, so when Molleen saw Macdarragh had an illness, she acted as Macdarragh guardian. After that day my mother Molleen and Macdarragh
were always together. McBride 2005, 28 Her companion toward Macdarragh was one of her manifestation of father figure. She thought that she was powerful enough
to protect Macdarragh. The meeting between Molleen and Macdarragh was one form of collective
unconscious. They could recognize each other like old friends who had not been meeting for a long time, and they just fitted in each other. Just like the story said:
From the first moment Molleen Mohr met Macdarragh face-to-face near the Way of the Dead, a pure recognition was evident between them. And if the
constrains of society and propriety had not held, they might have conveyed themselves into each other’s arms like long-lost friends. So strong was the
sympathy between the two that some even said that Molleen’s voluntary muteness at six anticipated Macdarragh’s coming. McBride 2005, 27
In the creation of humankind myth, Adam and Eve were the first couple that
God created. They lived in heaven at first and they were one soul. But Adam made mistake by eating the forbidden fruit, so God sent Adam and Eve to the Earth. God
sent them to different places. They were separated. In order to be reunited, they must search each other. They must find their soul mate. And their reunion created the
humankind.
Adam and Eve were our ancestors, and that memory settled in every humankind‘s mind. Just like what happened to Molleen, Macdarragh was her soul
mate in the past. Macdarragh was a new comer in that island. So they were reunited after they met each other for the first time and Molleen’s voluntary muteness is what
anticipated Macdarragh’s coming. Molleen experienced symbolic rebirth when she saw Macdarragh who was
seized by a fit and fell. Molleen felt come back to life when she saw that Macdarragh was struggling against his illness and felt like a hero who comes from battle. Molleen,
more alive than ever since her da’s passing, descended the hills supporting him in her arms. McBride 2005, 28 From this sentence, we can conclude that she had
experienced symbolic death and rebirth. The symbolic death was when she was left by her father and the symbolic rebirth was when she saw Macdarragh struggling from
his illness. This boy, Macdarragh who was a substitution for the father figure in
Molleen’s psyche, was also dead in the sea. This incident was almost like the separation with her father. She had to lose her Self archetype once more and she lost
her energy again. For almost three years, Molleen did not walk to the hill where she had taken her lover Macdarragh to that place.
After that she got marriage. The marriage with Liam did not bring happiness to her life. Her husband could not fill the emptiness in her heart.
They loved each other, but they wanted so much from each other. Neither believed enough in the other’s love. They flailed and fought…….it could be
terrible between them, the way they hurt one another. McBride 2005, 141
The writer has mentioned earlier that sea is Molleen’s enemy in this story.
The sea and Molleen had in conflict and that was the reason why her husband could not substitute her father position because her husband confronted her about the sea by
kept going to the sea for fishing. There was anxiety that her husband would leave her just like her father and Macdarragh.
From the description above, we can see that the first phase of Molleen’s life journey was the phase of entering the collective unconscious that was projected by
her separation with the Self archetype and sea that became her fear. Her union with her unconscious contents also reveals the ego-conscious fused and become part of her
unconscious.
5. The Transformation
