The Maiden King: The Reunion of Masculine and Feminine

The author of Iron John, together with an eminent psychotherapist, reunite the Masculine and the Feminine. Robert Bly and Marion Woodman interpret the deep psychological insights imbedded in ancient stories, in this instance a Russian folktale about bringing feminine energy back into the world. The Maiden King tells of an absent father, a possessive stepmother, a false tutor, and a young man overwhelmed by a beautiful maiden and her thirty sisters, sailing toward him on thirty boats. His weak response ss her retreating in anger, and to find her once again he must go on a quest that leads to Baba Yaga, the fierce old woman of Russian folk tradition who represents not life in service of death, but death in service of life. The male tency to go to sleep in the face of feminine magnificence, female fear of power and of abandonment that leads to rage, the need to get beyond oppositional thinking en route to the Divine--these are issues the book addresses with wisdom and lyrical beauty. The true heir to Iron John, Bly's number-one national best-seller about men, The Maiden King speaks eloquently to readers of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, James Hillman, and Deborah Tannen.