Received: October 27, 2012 Accepted: November 1, 2012
Abstract
This study is an analysis of the symbol of the Little Mermaid that appeared in the subject’s sandtray. It explores the process for a woman in her early forties of developing her femininity through the Little Mermaid and the archetypes that appear in the fairy tale of the Little Mermaid according to Jungian psychology. The process of the development of femininity that appears in the sandtray is examined through four types of female archetypes and four types of male archetypes. The therianthropic Little Mermaid is not a complete human form but a symbol of chaos and a symbol of the role of a medium between consciousness and unconsciousness. This study examines the reasons why the somatizing syndrome that the woman had experienced from her childhood was perceived through the Little Mermaid, and how the journey of her unconscious femininity toward conscientization through encounters with the symbols of masculinity was expressed in the sandtray.