The Toys That Want to Change the World
& THE IMPORTANCE OF STORIES
What most of us think of as just toys are messengers from our ancestors, from the past, from Jung’s Collective Unconscious. As moderns, we seem to pride ourselves of trimming away everything we consider unnecessary and just be ourselves in the moment – we know what we know– no need for education, or the arts or even self-reflection. In the past a fairytale was not just a fairytale: they were encoded ways to survive in the world, the results of millenia of experience by ancestors and forebears. The stories taught one how to recognize danger and escape tight spots. The stories also taught one to be wary and see from eyes in the back of your head. The stories taught us that the things you ignore and don’t pay attention to may eventually undermine your entire life or the lives of those around you. Stories were passed on from generation to generation as a legacy and a gift.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STORIES
The toys in our collection embody many of these stories. According to Barre Toelken in his article, “Life and Death in the Navajo Coyote Tales,” The Navajo Indians thought of it this way: stories have four levels - all of them valid:
Entertainment – stories told primarily to entertain children and adults. Stories about Coyote or Bugs Bunny botching up his life again. Disorder is present and there is a story around it, an often humorous drama.
Moral or Evaluative – Stories told to impart a meaning or lesson and how it reflects social values and morality, like Aesop’s fables. Coyote’s inappropriate intrusion into the normal lives of others, or the characters of your favorite TV show or sitcom, is the dilemma of the story.
Medicinal – stories contain elements that are healing to body or soul, essential to dealing with the difficult realities of life, and provide cues as to how to act or contend when evil captures or threatens you or your loved ones or your home. These stories contain vital and essential lessons about life that shouldn’t be ignored, though it is not necessarily obvious, but woven into and throughout the story. One may have to work at it to capture the meaning and input it into your heart and soul and in Navajo culture, this level usually requires a guide and rituals, not unlike psychotherapy.
Witchcraft – when stories containing lessons and medicinal healing are ignored, the body of the story may work against you. When a society ignores vital characters and images and metaphors that could provide healing, the unscrupulous can take advantage and gain power through these lapses. There is a lesson included in many old fairytales that what is overlooked, ignored, not invited or dishonored will come back to haunt you and possibly undo your life and its accomplishments.
Being aware is more important than being smart.
— Phil Jackson, SACRED HOOPS
former coach of L.A. Lakers basketball team
