The Fire, The Jaguar, The Man, and The Theft

Presented by Inácio Cunha, PhD

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Sunday, August 1, 2021, 4:00 - 6:00 pm PDT (UTC -7)

This program will not be recorded.

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The mythological motif of the “theft of the fire”, usually understood symbolically as part of the process of becoming conscious, appears within stories of the indigenous peoples of Brazil. This presentation will discuss a tale, originating among the Kayapó-Gorotire tribe in central Brazil, about a young boy who stole fire from the Jaguar. The psychological meaning of the aspects of the tale will be discussed within the tenets of Jungian psychology.  

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Learning objectives:   

• Compare characteristics of tales of indigenous peoples to so called “classic” fairytales.

• Give an example of how some motifs, present in archaic tales, have important resonances to our modern lives.

• Understand the archetypal basis upon which consciousness is built in indigenous tales. 

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Inácio Cunha, PhD, is a Jungian analyst, trained at the Research and Training Centre for Depth Psychology According to C. G. Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz, in Switzerland. He has a private practice in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where he also teaches and organizes meetings on Jungian psychology. He has translated into Portuguese three books by Marie-Louise von Franz, and has published in English the book The Lower Limbs in Jungian Psychology: The Girl with Her Big Toe in Her Mouth. He has published two other books in Portuguese: The Feminine Entrapped within a Fruit, and The Costs of Consciousness.