Chapter 14, La Selva Subterranea: Initiation in the Underground Forest Summary and Analysis

In this chapter, the author begins with a term from psycho-therapy—"projective identification." She introduces the idea of how stories must have a receptive mind in order to make an impact. By the end of this chapter, Estes applies a technique that she has already interpretively used. Estes points out, though, that even with the interpretations offered about the following story, one must avoid the foolhardy, unhealthy fantasizing of which the Little Match Girl indulged.

A father accidentally sells out his own daughter to the Devil for material wealth. He does not do so intentionally, and would not have noticed but for the fact that his wife pointed out to him what he had agreed to do. The parents are truly sad about what...