The Collective Unconscious in Neil Gaiman's Fairy Tales : The Motif of the Triple Goddess through Symbols and the Manifestations of the Anima Archetype

Abstract: Many recent studies confirm that the fantasy genre is based on ancient myths. Contemporary authors of fiction create new versions of myths, often using ancient “natural” and cultural symbols. Neil Gaiman is one of these tellers of modern myth. His works offer multiple possibilities for interpretation of well-known stories, reworked in a new way and filled with new layers of significance. Using Jungian archetypes as a prism for the analysis, this essay focuses on the possibility to relate the motif of the Triple Goddess, a triad of magical or divine female figures, present in many of the Western Europe mythologies, to female characters from Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples and The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Through a close reading of selected passages of the text, this essay exemplifies how Neil Gaiman uses archaic symbols and the motif of the Triple Goddess to connect his audience to the collective unconscious via manifestations of the anima archetype, one of many aspects of the collective unconscious.