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It's helpful to think of this story as representative (as many stories are), so I'm not lost in the sadness of a mother having to choose her true self over her family. I enjoyed listening to Dr. Pinkola Estes version, too. I see myself in several of the child archetypes, but it's not clear to me which might be dominant, and maybe that's not important to know. Thank you, Jan.

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This tale is very much a part of my personal mythology. I first discovered it when I was a child and watched The Secret of Roan Inish for the first time. The tale came back to me when I was in my late 20s and a mother for the first time. It is interesting that this tale has mostly been looked at from the feminine perspective but as you mentioned it is a universal story. I tend to see it as relating to anyone who loses touch with their creative self, intuition, inner voice. There is also a selkie story that is about a male selkie who couples with a human woman. Are you familiar with it?

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Beautiful. It’s worthwhile exploring my perspective from the man’s pov. I’ve always seen it just from the woman’s. Here’s an interesting song from that perspective- the person we’ve become, maybe society has had a large hand in the grooming. How to heed the call and allow that part of ourselves to leave , with that society part of us saying “no stay here where it makes sense

https://youtu.be/vMTEtDBHGY4?si=uK5pVLGju2R3LnNP

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You need to give us a “tissue” warning on this one! It’s so sad❤️

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