How to find answers when your problems feel unsolvable

[@gabl1459]

For me, this brings up the idea that “love is pain” - the process of love (extension of self or other for some sort of encompassing development - bell hooks, ‘All About Love’) is inherently full of suffering, coming to terms with these struggles to birth something new. Very dharma-pilled

[@Betwixt_App]

Yes, I love that. I think it’s certainly true that love and pain and creativity and rebirth (or just birth) are all in the same place, which makes these things much, much harder than we like to believe.

[@JaneNewAuthor]

I find that the more I'm aware of these things, the more I confront them, the better I get at the whole process. They've become skirmishes rather than wars. A few hours or a day lost, rather than weeks or months. Thanks for this, a timely reminder. ❤

[@Betwixt_App]

Yes, I have a similar experience (well, mainly. Some things still trip me up royally). I definitely think we learn the process of dealing, though. Our internal space expands, too, meaning that we can carry more.

[@JaneNewAuthor]

@@Betwixt_App still thinking about this. I wonder if the magic white horse, who carries Good Ferdinand on his quest, is the Divine or the Spiritual in all of us? Or, if we don't believe in that, our instincts and hunches. The unexplainable.

[@Betwixt_App]

@@JaneNewAuthor​​⁠Yes, I think the horse is definitely representative of deep wisdom (either spiritual, unconscious or both), and it turns into the re-birthed self at the end, too, which is interesting - it’s not GF who takes over from the noseless old king, but the prince who’s born out of the benevolent animal.

[@JaneNewAuthor]

@@Betwixt_App yes, that definitely resonates with me. Thank you!

[@jennyhanson3061]

Man alive... This is GOLD. You're awesome, thank you 💚💚💚

[@Betwixt_App]

🤩🤩🤩 Thank you!

[@Paul-eb2cl]

Honestly, as a very Ni type, this channel is like catnip. I just cannot get enough of it. May the gods look favourably on you, HG. You are truly a light in the darkness. 🙏

[@Betwixt_App]

Thank you so much! I’m super glad to be your NI catnip, and I know exactly what you mean by that, too 🤍

[@TheSeaItIsStillViolent]

Thank you, Hazel. I admit I was side-eyeing my screen a bit when the story ended the way it did, abruptly and seemingly nonsensically (which is, I've learnt, how most German-language fairytales end, by the way!). But you explained everything beautifully and what you said resonated a lot with me and the inner struggle I've recently started getting out of. Betwixt (plus therapy) was my princess in this situation, by the way, so double thanks! It feels really good to know those seven years weren't a waste of seven years, but a necessary struggle for a new and better version of myself to be born.

[@Betwixt_App]

Oh, I’m so glad to hear you’re coming out of that difficult time (seven years is a long spell, but also a remarkably common period of time for a hard stage, by the way!) And yeah, ha ha! I did my own side-eying about this story, and even thought “well I’d never choose this tale to put in a book” when a first read it. Yet, here I am… 😂

[@laverdeerin]

Wow, thank you Gale. Your explanation really illuminates the truth in no pain, no gain. Learning to be okay with discomfort.

[@Betwixt_App]

I’m so glad it helped! 🖤

[@cobalius]

i'll go with "look for the basics" and "baby steps win races"

[@Betwixt_App]

🖤🖤🖤

[@donfelder93]

I think your content is well made with useful messages

[@Betwixt_App]

Thanks! 😊

[@douggy3222]

I love this so much. The idea of "finding our own Princesses" makes me think of this famous line from Super Mario Bros for the NES, when you defeat Bowser at the end of every world (except for the final one) : "THANK YOU MARIO! BUT OUR PRINCESS IS IN ANOTHER CASTLE!" Interpret that how you will.

[@Betwixt_App]

Hahahhaha! Yes!! I mean, it’s all based on the same stuff - myth, fairytales, disney, other movies… same motif. They’re all about retrieving the lost feminine principle.

[@kittymitts40]

I sorely needed to hear this. I’m going through a period of stuckness and this has cast some light on what is going on. The idea that it is not the “devil and angel” narrative and who wins out that is the be all and end all but the journey through it and how a sudden and different perspective is the thing that changes things 😮 You could well be the princess/bride in my story 😊 Being autistic stories are a great way for messages to get through to me. So glad I discovered your YT channel ❤

[@Betwixt_App]

Oh, I’m so, so glad this helped you to see your stuckness in a different light!! I have had so many conversations in life about the devil/angel or good/bad duality, I think it’s one of the most paralysing things we can do to place values on these different perspectives as we so often do. Almost always, the two options can be understood as the protection option vs the growth option - we see one as the route to safety and the other as the route to change, and we can’t reconcile the both. That is, of course, until the princess shows up. Good luck with this!

[@maria-sinverguenza]

@@Betwixt_Appthis comment makes the video even better. Thank you

[@Betwixt_App]

@@maria-sinverguenza🤩🤩🤩

[@wintermatherne2524]

Brilliant! This explains perfectly why I feel like I’m having a whole existential crisis every couple months. Very enlightening.

[@MarLindaPerez-s1i]

Loved your video, seems to explain my life right now. Tough chapter of change, which I am aware but it's really hard to get through alone. Thanks for the positive reinforcement. 😊

[@asafranko]

Thank you❤️

[@Betwixt_App]

🖤🖤🖤

[@linhur3084]

Thank you for making this video, I watched it. I know it is helpful for a seemingly unsolveable problem.

[@mariaalexandrazamite4395]

I needed this so much today. Thank you

[@Betwixt_App]

You’re so welcome 🖤

[@anselmcs595]

I love these storybound explorations of everyday psychological phenomena. They really help me to understand my journey as more than just random events but as steps in a revealing of purpose. Thank you

[@Betwixt_App]

Ah, yes, that’s perfectly put! There are so many ways of describing this process and they always sound a little threatening/big - Clarissa Pinkola-Estés talks about the life-death-life cycle, and how it’s a fundamental part of the Wild Woman archetype (to be able to grasp the concept and walk the path). I find it all so mysterious and fascinating 🖤

[@drebugsita]

love that! helpful to have a structure/framework to remember

[@terrywalters9178]

This was very helpful,thank you so much.

[@Betwixt_App]

@@terrywalters9178 You’re so welcome 🖤

[@silversprout4586]

very insightful as always

[@Betwixt_App]

Thank you so much 🖤

[@bertiebassat5545]

A bright star in the darkest of skies ❤

[@Betwixt_App]

✨✨✨

[@vikrantvijit1436]

Thanks for the Deep Psychological insights. Yet symbolic, mythic and religious imagery are highly manipulated to suit life changing experiences, which ultimately shapes our perspectives in both future self and other worldly affairs.😊❤

[@natdahat]

This was particularly uplifting and I am not ashamed to say my productivity goes down a wee bit whenever you release a new video :D I love how you keep pointing to the importance of story for understanding human thought processing. Have you come across Terry Pratchett and his concept of 'Narrativium' which is (in the Doscworld at least) the element that sits at the bottom of all stories? And I don't suppose I could put in a pitch for you to do a mini-series on the pschological significance of the Tarot which seems to be a long-standing place where narrative and archetype join at the hip. I would watch the hell out of that...

[@Betwixt_App]

Ohhh! So much to say in reply to this! First, I’m so glad you enjoy my vids and that this one felt uplifting. I just love this stuff! Second, I have the first Discworld book on my TBR. I’ve been meaning to read it for ages but keep getting waylaid by non-fic. I really, really need to get there! Third, YES, I’d love to do some stuff on the tarot. We have actually been exploring tarot symbolism behind the scenes for a while and may be using it for a new Betwixt project, so I’m very interested in it indeed! Thanks for this comment. It made my day 🖤

[@natdahat]

@@Betwixt_App It is so kind of you to say. I envy you deeply. I wish I had yet to dive into the Discworld! Minor word of warning is that the first three or four books in the sequence are him still finding his feet but plough on because then each book gets better than the last for...like...thirty books becoming in the finest English language satire since *before* Wodehouse. Also: Do you have a recommendation for a *fiction* book (or series) that illustrates in narrative the Tenderfoot/Warrior/etc model (Mine is the Earthsea Trilogy by Le Guin)? Ever since I watched your six-parter on that - and for placing The Hero with a Thousand Faces into a faaaaaar better context for me thank you kindly ;-) - I've been trying to come up with others.

[@kikijewell2967]

I second a series on the Tarot! I'm a science-minded person and found the Tarot to access the subconscious in a way no introspection can. 🎉💜

[@Betwixt_App]

@@natdahatI’m not so sure about book _series_, but virtually every book I’ve read and program I’ve watched since learning about those six arcs have demonstrated one or two of the archetypal journeys. For series that see a character progress through multiple archetypes, the best examples I can think of are Buffy and Harry Potter (the creators of both these things having been defamed since their release, of course!)

[@Betwixt_App]

@@kikijewell2967Ah, yes! I love hearing this and have had a similar experience!

[@salivadriven]

I really needed to hear this today. Thankful.

[@Betwixt_App]

You’re so welcome!

[@pawelkapica5363]

Thank you, I needed that. ❤

[@Betwixt_App]

You’re very welcome ☺️

[@OldGreyMare]

Well, I sure hope you're right, because this would be good news! (It does feel true.)

[@Betwixt_App]

I really hope you find the most incredible solution to whatever you’re going through! 🖤

[@OldGreyMare]

​@@Betwixt_App Bless you! Your content has been a real gift! I so appreciate both the subjects, and honestly, the energy and clarity with which you unpack all these fun ideas. It's a real treat, and also helpful. Tx.

[@Eduardado]

Fascinating!! Loved the tail the dissection and implications. Could you recommend a book on this topics?

[@Betwixt_App]

Yes! Anything by Marie-Louise von Franz. The book this came from is “Shadow and Evil in Fairytales” (referenced in the comment, too, along with Jung’s “Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious”. Enjoy!

[@Eduardado]

@@Betwixt_App Thank you so much!

[@Betwixt_App]

@@Eduardado Enjoy!!

[@AstridPerellon]

Can you talk about how Jung stated this are collective archetypes and how can this apply to different cultures? I feel like some culture in the East or Australia or someplaces would react a lot different to white horses, noses and sudden appereance of women

[@Betwixt_App]

It’s interesting, isn’t it? I’m not so sure, to be honest. Firstly, these archetypal meanings aren’t consciously obvious to us either, so there is a chance they could literally be universal in terms of their unconscious meaning, which is what Jung believed - he understood archetypes as universally accessible/known motifs that exist as noumena in the unconscious mind (see: Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious). However, I’ve heard people talk about the _expression_ of archetypes varying from culture to culture, even if the noumena themselves don’t change. Either way, it’s fascinating.

[@margmurnane4356]

Excellent 🙏

[@Betwixt_App]

Thanks! 🖤

[@IM-gx7un]

If smell = intuition...what could it mean if someone is hypersensitive to smells like fragrance, smoke, etc?

[@Betwixt_App]

Oh, the sense of smell doesn’t equal intuition literally. The connection is metaphorical/archetypal - the King’s lack of intuition and self-connection is symbolised by his missing nose.

[@papersock]

So, the solution is to keep struggling until you eventually break through... somehow?

[@Betwixt_App]

I wouldn’t put it that way. The solution is unknowable for me as it’ll be unique to every situation, but it’s arrived at by finding a way to see things differently (creatively), and by letting go of old, faulty methods.

[@melusine826]

Hmmm, unimpressed by the patriarchal archetype/ tropes, as many wouldnt pick up the nuanced interpretation. Many would just see the bride as a fickle, superficial liar who's either 1. weak enough to be "lost", but strong enough in magic to bring someone back from the dead. 2. A liar I suspect I would like to read the original story (or as original as a tale can be), because this version doesn't give me that meaning at all. Funnily enough,I have also been an innovation officer (unsuccessfully) because of my drive for creative but strategic solutions (there's plenty of applied theory and tools out there on seeing things differently. 7:59 also- no fair, 😂I want a rocky transformation montage😊! This one didn't land for me, but even THAT is something to mull over and ask why is that so? Thanks!

[@wintermatherne2524]

For this you have to be self aware and open minded.

[@m.o.f8720]

OK interesting, but what about the horse truning into a prince?? And are the "good" and the "evil" Ferdinands still around and continuing the struggle albeit perhaps in the background or, as somehow implied by "victory" do they disappear, absorbed into the "prince," what? Thanks

[@Betwixt_App]

Yeah, there is so much more to say about this odd tale but I had to be selective to make it fit into a short enough video. Here’s a little more: The white magical horse represents either a kind of higher self or divine spiritual guidance. It leads good Ferdinand throughout the story providing help in passing all of the trials set for him by the King (at the behest of bad Ferdinand). When it turns into the prince at the end, this motif symbolises the birth of a new consciousness, or new order. The prince takes over from the old noseless King, implying the new self born is an evolved, wiser, more connected self (usually, we would expect good Ferdinand to become the prince or king in the story, so it’s interesting this one promoted the horse). As no part of the psyche ever truly dies, I would imagine the two Ferdinands would still be around under the new king’s reign but probably in different capacities, especially bad Ferdinand. When an “evil” character is killed in a fairytale, it’s usually recycled in someway - it’s energy redistributed and used for a different, better purposes (e.g. Blue Beard being killed, scattered and eaten by scavenger birds).

[@aliceragoi]

Is the king in this story similar to the King archetype of psychological development?

[@Betwixt_App]

@@aliceragoi Yes, absolutely! One and the same 💯

[@mariapapadopoulou4499]

What about the horse? 😂

[@claudiamanta1943]

6:04 Dunno… the horse? 🤔

[@aninterestingconversation]

You are such a gem in this space. 🙏🏻🤍

[@Betwixt_App]

@@aninterestingconversation Thank you so much! ☺️

[@kd2623]

It is helpful, thank you! I just wonder why humans were made in such a way that they feel pain while growing, and not pleasure instead🥲

[@Betwixt_App]

I know. I’ve wondered about this, too. I genuinely think that, without the pain, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate pleasure, love, purpose, etc. So I guess it’s necessary for even more than growth, but it is seriously hard all the same!