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

It is helpful to have an understanding of certain Jungian concepts before reading this book; however, enough is explained that it can probably stand well on its own. For those familiar with the Myers-Briggs type indicator, Johnson mentions that the goal of this book is to "search out the loss - or woundedness" - of the feeling function, which he defines as "the capacity to value or give worth to something. People who have a finely differentiated feeling function bring grace and good feeling with them; one feels valuable in their presence." According to Robert Johnson, the sensation, intuition and thinking functions are all important but none can provide the function of VALUING, which is unique to the feeling function. In our Western world, the feeling function is considered inferior and the thinking function is considered superior. Johnson references the poverty of the English language in terms for feeling and love: while Sanskrit for example has 96 words for love, English has only one. This is where he brings in the relevance of the two myths that are in the title of the book: The Fisher King and The Handless Maiden. They both tell of the wounded feeling function, and Johnson also suggests the reader search out Gertrude Nelson's book, Here All Dwell Free, which speaks from the feminine perspective on the discussion of the wound, admitting that he has some trepidation about how he covers the feminine dimension in his book. Both myths are relevant for both genders and the rest of the book explores the stories of the myths and their variations and later the diagnostic significance of the myth and the prescriptions given in the myth for healing. This is where his interpretation feels rich to me, even though it's not very detailed and may feel limited to some readers, I found that Johnson's handling of the cure for the Handless Maiden was skillful and not lacking despite his own concerns of speaking as a male on this aspect. I will leave the rest of the descriptions and the healings for you to discover on your own; I don't want to deprive you of reading those parts of Johnson's slim volume.

Johnson uses two myths, The Grail (Fisher King) and The Handless Maiden, as insights into how western man's technological advancements have been achieved to the detriment of his feeling function. J. does this on three levels--archetypal, cultural, and personal. I'd wished J. would have focused more on the personal level--(after all, anyone who picks up a book like this is really interested in healing his/her own Amfortas wound/restoring his/her own hands). Still, the book possesses Truth, which, when meditated on, will help you on your quest for wholeness.

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.

I love all Robert Johnson's work. I find him easy to read and understand.

"This book is about our wounded feeling function, probably the most common and painful wound which occurs in our Western world. It is very dangerous when a wound is so common in culture that hardly anyone knows there is a problem." Johnson opens his book with these provocative sentences. The first thing he does is convince the reader that the problem exists, and is of considerable scope. For example, our modern English language is not really adequate for a full description of the problem, having the vague and much abused word "feeling" and only one word, equally vague, for "love". Johnson, a Jungian analyst, explores the problem using myths -- the Fisher King and the Handless Maiden, to demonstrate the wounded feeling function in, respectively, masculinity and femininity. Through the myths, Johnson not only diagnoses the problem, but makes practical suggestions for healing. This wonderful little book, scarcely 100 pages long, can be read in an afternoon, although its insights could change the directions of a life.