Once upon a time there were two brothers: one rich, a goldsmith with a hard and envious heart, and the other poor, an honest broom-maker with twin sons. One day, while gathering brushwood in the forest, the poor man discovered a wondrous golden bird. He struck it with a stone, capturing a single shining feather, which he took to his rich brother, who bought it for a good price. Soon after, the poor man found a golden egg and later the bird itself, each time selling his treasures to his brother without knowing the bird’s magical power: whoever ate its heart and liver would find a piece of gold beneath their pillow every morning.

The goldsmith planned to eat the bird himself, but as it roasted, the poor man’s hungry twins tasted two fallen morsels—the heart and liver. From then on, gold appeared beneath their pillows each day. Envious and cunning, the goldsmith told their father the boys were cursed and under the Evil One’s power. Fearing misfortune, the poor man abandoned his sons in the forest.

There, the twins wandered until they met a kind huntsman, who took them in, raised them as his own, and taught them the art of hunting. When they came of age, the huntsman gave each a gun, a faithful dog, and a share of their saved gold. As they traveled, the brothers spared several forest creatures—a hare, fox, wolf, bear, and lion—who, grateful for their mercy, each gave two young offspring in return. Eventually, the brothers parted ways, dividing the animals equally, and marking a tree with a knife whose blade would rust if one of them died.

The younger brother came to a sorrowful kingdom draped in black, where a seven-headed dragon demanded a yearly sacrifice of maidens. Armed with his beasts and courage, he climbed the dragon’s hill, discovered a magical sword, and slew the monster after a fierce battle. He saved the princess, kept the dragon’s seven tongues as proof, and unknowingly set into motion a long, perilous journey involving betrayal, death and rebirth, enchanted forests, a false hero, and the unbreakable bond between two brothers.

‍Working with Fairytales

For Jung, fairy tales reflected the anatomy of the psyche. According to Marie-Louise von Franz, fairy tales represent “the purest and simplest expressions of the processes of the collective unconscious.” Stripped of the cultural, historical, and personal layers that often obscure myths and legends, fairy tales offer the clearest window into archetypal patterns at work within the psyche.

In each session, working with a fairy tale involves four steps:

1. Reading the tale — engaging directly with the narrative.
2. Exploring the imagery — identifying the key symbols and motifs.
3. Psychological interpretation — understanding the archetypal meaning and its relation to the collective unconscious.
4. Personal reflection and application — discovering how the tale’s message relates to one’s own life and individuation process.