*Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109443*

community mores about mothering. This is directly in opposition to individual development of the mother's skills in caring for their specific baby in relation to the current time, place, and context. Writers such as Winnicott have spoken about expectations of mothering where the concept of being a "good enough mother" to the specific child cuts through expectations of perfection [106]. The fact that this client can express disinterest and turn her back on this overt comparison suggests an inner resilience in her own development as a mother.

Immediately following this comparison/assessment of her mothering abilities, a Caveat appears focusing on a Castle and Babies (C-1). The babies become more and more multiplied in the gray castle with windows with many heads and more needs. The client expresses feeling overwhelmed by more needs than she can take care of, which may link to her everyday experience of the demands of mothering. The gray of the castle may also suggest a sense of depression, and the context of the castle being up high suggests a sense of unreachable, unattainable high standards in caring and motherhood.

The Dwarves in this fairy tale are variously described as "mid-height fairy creatures" and elves, and they are described as having an asexual nature (E-5a, E-5b). Engagement occurs through dancing with them, and they circle around her with a similar multiplicity to the many heads of babies in the previous Castle imagery sequence (C-1). Interestingly, they also take on a wide range of colors, perhaps suggesting the release of emotion and feeling tones. In contrast to the overwhelming multiplicity of baby needs, the client now wants to "replace them with kids" with the implication of greater individuality. Such children are clearly older than babies and may suggest a desire to move forward from the demands of early mothering. This also serves as an opening into the next section, about a little boy.

The little boy wearing red overalls and in a red motorized pedal car appears as a Caveat to the Snow White tale (C-2), and as such holds considerable significance. He is understood to likely be a further manifestation of grieving and resolving a previously lost ectopic pregnancy. This little boy previously wore red sneakers (shoes) in a previous sequence of 8 GIM sessions, where he appeared in sessions 2, 5, 7, and 8, the last session being some 6 months prior to the current session [100]. In the current session, the client sighs, suggesting a letting out of emotion as the little boy appears. The client notes smoothness and speed of movement without effort, within a peaceful ongoing journey which is also under her control for slowing down. Her sensitivity to the little boy's emotions is indicated by "he thinks it is just great", and her mothering relationship with the boy extends into the next section by sharing some chocolate with him within her journey.

The element of the Apple in the Snow White fairy tale appears for this client as symbolized by poisoned food that is harmful (E-6a, E-6b). Given that as a mother she is nursing/breastfeeding, she is acutely aware that foods and substances she ingests as affecting the growth and development of the baby. One such food is chocolate, where the inherent caffeine has the potential to affect the baby via the lactation process. The client images an extremely large chocolate bar (4 feet = 122 cm high) which is accompanied by a man forbidding her by saying "forget it" and her own reflection, "I cannot have it because of nursing." However, she arrives at a solution that she can eat it "if someone else feeds my daughter." She then engages thoroughly with the chocolate, eating a lot, smearing it on her face, and likewise sharing it with her little boy.

As with the poisoned Apple in the original fairy tale, ingesting forbidden chocolate leads to an opening into a transformative state of consciousness (E-6b). This is

indicated by feeling drawn away from the earth into the clouds; flying, flowing, and floating with bright colors with rich soft satiny materials. Her passive movement is followed by the sense of a cocoon, dark and not able to see, which echoes the coffin of the fairy tale but there is also a sense of inner growth in the purple and green upward spiraling movement.

Suddenly, the client experiences a slowing down and downward spiraling movement (E-7), being "jerked back by a force", and actively steps onto a platform to go down some stairs as she awakens in the Revival to a new context of light with different "layers" and "levels" of people. She identifies a pervasive feeling of "grumpy" in the people, and this emotional tone suggests that more inner work is in process of emerging.

Through focusing on the many different people, a male emerges who could well be described as the Huntsman (E-4b), with a beard and mustache. He is less grumpy than the other people and transforms into a benevolent older man, which the client says significantly, "he is taking me back to where I was." He encourages her to slow down, functioning as a guide figure for her (in line with the myth of the hero's Journey) and re-orienting her to motherhood, as shown in the next section.

Once more, a Caveat appears in the Snow White fairy tale, this time the client's baby daughter who is happily and safely playing with wild animals (C-3). In the imagery, she anticipates the growth and development of her baby into a child and teenager. Having a wreath on her head and walking toward the castle church suggests marriage and union, and here the imagery crosses over into the inner growth and development of the client. This section is punctuated by hearing "a noise" and the image changes completely.

The Happily Ever After section of the fairy tale (E-8) is depicted with a man and woman dancing in harmony together, ultimately walking into the emerging new light of the sunrise toward the horizon with a sense of happily ever after. It is interesting to reflect on the clear changes seen in the imagery from a single childless woman dancing alone to the man and woman dancing together as a seeming integration of opposites within the sense of family and motherhood. In this imagery, clear progress has been made from the single childless woman dancing alone and then eventually the man and woman dancing as an integration of opposites and also symbolic of the family.

In focusing on the role of the music within the client's depiction of the fairy tale, as has been useful in other contexts [107], and assuming that music and/or rhythm is inherent to any mention of dancing, we note the effects of music and sounds of dancing with the dwarves, the childless woman dancing alone, her daughter hearing a noise which leads to a complete change of imagery, and the man and woman dancing closely together. In these instances, the music of dancing clearly embodies psychic movement which happens together with the imagery process itself.
