Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 18, 2001, Page 87
were all vulnerable to the same danger coming in below their radar. A retrospective
reflection of the condition of their intuition, signs of danger that were evident, and how they
were missed is one possible topic of discussion related to this story.
Next, the seal maiden has her skin stolen. In this case, by losing her skin, she loses her
elemental self, herself as a creature of the sea. Without it, she is forced to exist in a world
that is not her own, and in a body that is not natural to her. She is forced to do so by the
lonely man, but she agrees only after he makes a promise to her to allow her to eventually
regain her true self. With respect to USCs, these images may represent the loss of self that
members of the community experience by trying to mold their beings into the idealized
forms suggested or demanded by their communities. The lonely man may then represent
either an individual authority (or the community itself) that needs the adoration of the client
to justify the authority‘s inflated role. Alternatively, the images could all be reversed. The
community members, suffering from their own loss of connection (loneliness) place
demands (projections) on the authority that slowly sway him or her from his or her own
humanity and sense of rooted self. Both these perspectives can simultaneously be true.
Returning to the story, the seal maiden apparently learns to love the man and clearly loves
her son. But she becomes progressively more ill and cannot survive giving her love away
without feeding her own soul. She has enough of a sense of her self to know what she
needs. She struggles with the lonely man to achieve her release. For a member of an USC,
the sickness can be both that of the community members with their humanity suffocating
from overemphasized ideals and the authority suffocating by accepting more and more of
the idealized image others have of him or her. The mutual love between the man and seal
maiden is not enough she would still perish if she remains outside her own world. The
lonely man does not have the strength to release her on his own. Instead he can only think
of himself and his need for her. As there is love in the story, for those in USCs there may be
healthy and positive aspects of that community life. There may even be true growth, as in
the image of the son yet, it is not enough. The seal maiden must return fully to herself to
survive. So must we all be strong enough to understand when we are in a place that stifles
our true selves, and to leave.
For the seal maiden, it was through the healthy fruit of the relationship (her son) that she
gained the tools to leave. The other key factor in her leaving was that of her true father in
the sea. So we see her saved by a combination of the fruits of her own efforts and a
benevolent outside strength. The lonely man was not of assistance in this. In leaving the
community, ex-members of USCs may also find that the benefits of their practices were of
assistance along with the help of an old voice, maybe that of the type of call that first drew
them to spiritual practice initially.
The story doesn‘t speak clearly to the transition back to our selves when we choose to move
where our souls demand. But we do see the seal maiden return to health in spite of the
difficulty she has in leaving objects of her love in the unhealthy place. It is no surprise that
ex-members of USCs would also have great loss in leaving communities to which they were
committed. Where are the clients now in the process of the events in the story? Do they (or
we) have our skins back? Are there ways they (or we) feel drawn back (by love) to remain
where don‘t belong? What is the state of our intuition now?
―The Secret of Roan Inish‖ is a version of this story made into a movie that may also be
recommended to clients.
Dracula, the Vampire Myth
The story of the vampire, Count Dracula, is old and familiar to most in our culture. In fact, it
has recently had a revival of sorts with books (Rice, 1977), movies (―Interview with the
Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles,‖ 1994), and TV shows (―Buffy the Vampire Slayer,‖
were all vulnerable to the same danger coming in below their radar. A retrospective
reflection of the condition of their intuition, signs of danger that were evident, and how they
were missed is one possible topic of discussion related to this story.
Next, the seal maiden has her skin stolen. In this case, by losing her skin, she loses her
elemental self, herself as a creature of the sea. Without it, she is forced to exist in a world
that is not her own, and in a body that is not natural to her. She is forced to do so by the
lonely man, but she agrees only after he makes a promise to her to allow her to eventually
regain her true self. With respect to USCs, these images may represent the loss of self that
members of the community experience by trying to mold their beings into the idealized
forms suggested or demanded by their communities. The lonely man may then represent
either an individual authority (or the community itself) that needs the adoration of the client
to justify the authority‘s inflated role. Alternatively, the images could all be reversed. The
community members, suffering from their own loss of connection (loneliness) place
demands (projections) on the authority that slowly sway him or her from his or her own
humanity and sense of rooted self. Both these perspectives can simultaneously be true.
Returning to the story, the seal maiden apparently learns to love the man and clearly loves
her son. But she becomes progressively more ill and cannot survive giving her love away
without feeding her own soul. She has enough of a sense of her self to know what she
needs. She struggles with the lonely man to achieve her release. For a member of an USC,
the sickness can be both that of the community members with their humanity suffocating
from overemphasized ideals and the authority suffocating by accepting more and more of
the idealized image others have of him or her. The mutual love between the man and seal
maiden is not enough she would still perish if she remains outside her own world. The
lonely man does not have the strength to release her on his own. Instead he can only think
of himself and his need for her. As there is love in the story, for those in USCs there may be
healthy and positive aspects of that community life. There may even be true growth, as in
the image of the son yet, it is not enough. The seal maiden must return fully to herself to
survive. So must we all be strong enough to understand when we are in a place that stifles
our true selves, and to leave.
For the seal maiden, it was through the healthy fruit of the relationship (her son) that she
gained the tools to leave. The other key factor in her leaving was that of her true father in
the sea. So we see her saved by a combination of the fruits of her own efforts and a
benevolent outside strength. The lonely man was not of assistance in this. In leaving the
community, ex-members of USCs may also find that the benefits of their practices were of
assistance along with the help of an old voice, maybe that of the type of call that first drew
them to spiritual practice initially.
The story doesn‘t speak clearly to the transition back to our selves when we choose to move
where our souls demand. But we do see the seal maiden return to health in spite of the
difficulty she has in leaving objects of her love in the unhealthy place. It is no surprise that
ex-members of USCs would also have great loss in leaving communities to which they were
committed. Where are the clients now in the process of the events in the story? Do they (or
we) have our skins back? Are there ways they (or we) feel drawn back (by love) to remain
where don‘t belong? What is the state of our intuition now?
―The Secret of Roan Inish‖ is a version of this story made into a movie that may also be
recommended to clients.
Dracula, the Vampire Myth
The story of the vampire, Count Dracula, is old and familiar to most in our culture. In fact, it
has recently had a revival of sorts with books (Rice, 1977), movies (―Interview with the
Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles,‖ 1994), and TV shows (―Buffy the Vampire Slayer,‖
