Submissions for issue 4.2 (“Labyrinths,” 4.1.2021) are now open! In the mythical story, King Minos of Crete commissioned Daedalus to create a structure to contain the Minotaur, to hide its existence from the world. Crete demanded “tributes” from other nations to feed the Minotaur. Theseus, one of the Princes of Athens, was one of these tributes. However, Ariadne fell in love with him and assisted him in navigating the labyrinth with her Golden Thread, enabling him to kill the Minotaur. The Labyrinth today is frequently used to evoke the Jungian concept of the “collective unconscious,” with the Minotaur at the center being symbolic of the shadow self. Theseus must cling to the thread in order to stave off the deadliest effect of the labyrinth: disorientation. Marie von Franz writes of the connection between the labyrinth and the subconscious: “The maze of strange passages, chambers, and unlocked exits in the cellar recalls the old Egyptian representation of the underworld, which is a well-known symbol of the unconscious with its abilities. It also shows how one is ‘open’ to other influences in one’s unconscious shadow side and how uncanny and alien elements can break in.” Here the Minotaur represents our repressed, dark, or perhaps evil aspect. For our “Labyrinths” issue, we are seeking work that interrogates the Shadow Self, that blurs the line between good and evil, work that confronts what really makes a monster.
Click here to submit!
