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The Golden Goose
Tale of the Brothers Grimm translated by M. Hunt [1884]
Interpretation by Undine & Jens in green [2024]
We continue with the symbolism of the goose. After the goose girl comes a goose boy, but only with a single goose, which is a golden one. So, we want to try to interpret this fairy tale from a spiritual point of view, even though it is usually presented as a comedy. And basically, it is perhaps the comedy of our lives, which takes place inside of us and which we can only laugh at, because: “He who laughs last, laughs best.” Here we go!
There was a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called Dummling (Simpleton) and was despised, mocked, and put down on every occasion. It happened that the eldest wanted to go into the forest to hew wood, and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful sweet cake and a bottle of wine in order that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst. When he entered the forest there met him a little grey-haired old man who bade him good-day, and said, “Do give me a piece of cake out of your pocket, and let me have a draught of your wine; I am so hungry and thirsty.” But the prudent youth answered, “If I give you my cake and wine, I shall have none for myself; be off with you,” and he left the little man standing and went on. But when he began to hew down a tree, it was not long before he made a false stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm, so that he had to go home and have it bound up. And this was the little grey man’s doing.
After this the second son went into the forest, and his mother gave him, like the eldest, a cake and a bottle of wine. The little old grey man met him likewise, and asked him for a piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son, too, said with much reason, “What I give you will be taken away from myself; be off!” and he left the little man standing and went on. His punishment, however, was not delayed; when he had made a few strokes at the tree he struck himself in the leg, so that he had to be carried home.
Then Dummling said, “Father, do let me go and cut wood.” The father answered, “Your brothers have hurt themselves with it, leave it alone, you do not understand anything about it.” But Dummling begged so long that at last he said, “Just go then, you will get wiser by hurting yourself.” His mother gave him a cake made with water and baked in the cinders, and with it a bottle of sour beer. When he came to the forest the little old grey man met him likewise, and greeting him, said, “Give me a piece of your cake and a drink out of your bottle; I am so hungry and thirsty.” Dummling answered, “I have only cinder- cake and sour beer; if that pleases you, we will sit down and eat.” So, they sat down, and when Dummling pulled out his cinder-cake, it was a fine sweet cake, and the sour beer had become good wine. So, they ate and drank, and after that the little man said, “Since you have a good heart, and are willing to divide what you have, I will give you good luck. There stands an old tree, cut it down, and you will find something at the roots.” Then the old man took leave of him.
The fairy tale begins with three sons, in whom we can see the general triangular relationship of the spiritual forces that usually work in nature. Then the two eldest represent the opposites of the ego of “I” and the “other” or “mine” and “yours”, which swing back and forth relatively uselessly and only hurt themselves in the process. In addition, a developmental direction appears in the youngest son as a reconciling and balancing force, which then also becomes the meaning and message of this entire fairy tale. That is why he is also called Dummling because, from his parents’ point of view, he is not as “prudent and reasonable” as his brothers to seek his personal ego advantages as an opposing being in a world of separation. Father and mother thus represent the witnessing spirit and the giving birth nature of an external world as we usually know it. And for this reason, the two older sons also get the tastier food from their mother, because external nature naturally loves, nourishes and promotes opposites, and with them also egoism.
What does wood mean? In practical terms, it is used for heating, cooking, baking and roasting in order to maintain life in this external world. It is therefore energy, especially solar energy, that has been accumulated and grown in the form of trees in external nature. From a spiritual point of view, we can also see in it, in the broadest sense, consciousness, which can contract, hold on, accumulate and embody itself. And all living beings and of course all other things live from this energy. The axe would then be a tool or means with which we want to access this energy, just as from a spiritual point of view our conceptual mind divides, separates and chops the whole into tangible portions that the spirit can then annex in order to live from it. We thus find a profound symbolism in the trees, and we could say: The ego mind of the two older sons is trying to cut down the tree of life with this axe, only harming and injuring itself and in the worst case can even kill itself. Yes, this is how we usually live and die in our external world.
Who is the little grey man? In contrast to the parents of the external world, we can see in him the ancient inner being of nature, a male spirit of wholeness, neither white nor black, which can be found everywhere in nature and constantly tests us and the motivation behind our actions. And the effect we experience through our actions is accordingly. So, the Dummling, who works without the wilful and stubborn ego mind, does not learn how to “get prudent from adversity”, but rather how he “suffers no adversity without prudence”. For he allows himself to be guided by the holistic spirit of nature, shares his food, refines it in the process and in doing so does not cut down the tree of life, but the “old tree” that the ego mind so gladly spares because of its tasty fruit, namely the tree of the knowledge of opposites, so that the opposites of an external world disappear more and more. And what this means can be read further.
Dummling went and cut down the tree, and when it fell there was a goose sitting in the roots with feathers of pure gold. He lifted her up, and taking her with him, went to an inn where he thought he would stay the night. Now the host had three daughters, who saw the goose and were curious to know what such a wonderful bird might be, and would have liked to have one of its golden feathers. The eldest thought, “I shall soon find an opportunity of pulling out a feather,” and as soon as Dummling had gone out she seized the goose by the wing, but her finger and hand remained sticking fast to it. The second came soon afterwards, thinking only of how she might get a feather for herself, but she had scarcely touched her sister than she was held fast. At last, the third also came with the like intent, and the others screamed out, “Keep away; for goodness’ sake keep away!” But she did not understand why she was to keep away. “The others are there,” she thought, “I may as well be there too,” and ran to them; but as soon as she had touched her sister, she remained sticking fast to her. So, they had to spend the night with the goose.
What do we find in the root when the tree of knowledge of opposites has been felled? A “golden goose”, of course. The gold symbolically reminds us of the truth, and the goose of a living whole (“Goose” means in German “Gans”, and the likely spoken word “ganz” means “whole”.). And where does the Dummling go now? Of course, not back home to the external world to his external parents, but to an “inn” where he spends the night. Here we can see the first path into an internal world, namely into our own body, in which we spend our spiritual night as in an inn. There he again finds three active forces, but now on the female side of nature as three symbolic sisters. They are “curious” and reach for the golden feathers, that is, for the external forms of truth, as our sensual and mental perception does, while the Dummling has the whole goose. Through this grasping they naturally cling to the forms, and yet always remain connected to the whole, even if they do not want to and repel each other. In this way, the three sisters can remind us of sensual desire and hatred with the associated thoughts and must now spend the spiritual night in their attachment as long as they want to live and work separately in the “inn” of a body.
The next morning Dummling took the goose under his arm and set out, without troubling himself about the three girls who were hanging on to it. They were obliged to run after him continually, now left, now right, just as he was inclined to go. In the middle of the fields the parson met them, and when he saw the procession he said, “For shame, you good-for-nothing girls, why are you running across the fields after this young man? is that seemly?” At the same time, he seized the youngest by the hand in order to pull her away, but as soon as he touched her, he likewise stuck fast, and was himself obliged to run behind. Before long the sexton came by and saw his master, the parson, running on foot behind three girls. He was astonished at this and called out, “Hi! your reverence, whither away so quickly? do not forget that we have a christening to-day!” and running after him he took him by the sleeve, but was also held fast to it. Whilst the five were trotting thus one behind the other, two labourers came with their hoes from the fields; the parson called out to them and begged that they would set him and the sexton free. But they had scarcely touched the sexton when they were held fast, and now there were seven of them running behind Dummling and the goose.
If you then look out of the inn of the body with the golden goose in your arms and back to the external field of the world, you find two more male or spiritual principles, namely the holistically seeing reason and the conceptual understanding, which should serve reason. The parson could thus stand for reason. Yes, even if not every parson has been able to maintain his good reputation, it is actually his task to proclaim a divine and thus holistic view. And the sexton should serve him and take care of worldly things. Just as the parson does not want the girls to run after the boy in the field of the world, holistic reason also tries to free the spirit from attachment to physicality in an external world. In this way, reason is of course also connected to true wholeness or the golden goose, and mind is attached to reason, which likes to remind reason of its duties. Accordingly, christening also reminds us of the Christ child as a holistic consciousness that should be born in us and baptized with the Holy Spirit. In this we also find a profound wisdom: It is better for reason to concern itself with the birth of the holy Christ consciousness in the spirit than to fight against the feminine or sensual desires of the body.
The two farmers with their hoes from the field remind us again of the play of male or intellectual opposites in the external world and thus also of the two older brothers of the Dummling, who cling to the conceptual mind and can never chop or separate with their hoes or all their opposing power something that is in truth an inseparable whole.
The fairy tale tells us that even the most reasonable person must live in this world of physicality with the help of his conceptual mind, on which worldly contradictions depend, but can still be fully aware of true wholeness, that is, let reason rule over mind. Just as the Dummling has the golden goose without worrying about everything that depends on it and is connected with it, and without trying to separate himself from it. In practical terms, that means living without desire and hatred. Because: wherever he goes, left or right, he can never lose anything in wholeness. So, whoever has the golden goose of true wholeness has everything and has no longer to fear suffering any lack.
Soon afterwards he came to a city, where a king ruled who had a daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh. So, he had put forth a decree that whosoever should be able to make her laugh should marry her. When Dummling heard this, he went with his goose and all her train before the King’s daughter, and as soon as she saw the seven people running on and on, one behind the other, she began to laugh quite loudly, and as if she would never leave off.
So, the development of consciousness continues, and the small inn becomes a large royal palace, a busy city and a vast kingdom. Now we ask ourselves: Who is this princess who was so serious? As in our last fairy tale interpretations, we would like to think here of the pure soul of nature, who is sad and unhappy because of her separation from the pure spirit. But when she sees the youth with the golden goose or true wholeness, with which everything is connected, the maiden becomes happy again and begins to laugh, because she now knows that he is her bridegroom. She is already looking forward to the big wedding, in which every separation between spirit and nature ends. In this way she is not laughing at the wholeness, but in the wholeness, and that is a highly liberating laugh when one realizes that every separation was only an illusion:
“When Buddha found enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he laughed.”
Buddha also found wholeness at the root of the tree. And it is said that this joy is indescribably great and complete when our soul comes from the dark and sad world of separation and death back into a holistic consciousness full of love, as into a pure light of eternal life.
And who is the king who makes his own laws? He reminds us of the sensual and intellectual mind, which, like the witch on the glass mountain of “The Drummer”, must first be convinced and overcome before he releases the pure soul and marries her with the one who can really free her from her separation so that she becomes completely happy. And in a similar way, the youth must also fulfil three tasks to convince the king that he not only has wholeness, but can also realize it.
Thereupon Dummling asked to have her for his wife, but the king did not like the son-in-law. He made all sorts of objections and said that he must first bring him a man who could drink a cellar full of wine. The Dummling thought of the little grey man, who could help him, went out into the forest, and on the spot where he had cut down the tree, he saw a man sitting who had a very sad face. The Dummling asked what he was taking so much to heart. He answered, “I am so thirsty and cannot quench it. I cannot bear the cold water, I have indeed emptied a barrel of wine, but what is a drop in a bucket?” - “I can help you there,” said the Dummling, “just come with me, you shall have your fill.” He then led him into the king’s cellar, and the man set about the great casks, drank and drank until his hips ached, and before a day was over, he had drunk the whole cellar.
This task is also reminiscent of the first task of “The Drummer” on the glass mountain, when he had to empty the lake of memory. Here it is the wine stored in the cellar of the subconscious that has to be drunk. And here too the Dummling only makes the beginning by thinking of the little grey man who, as the holistic spirit of nature can fulfil this task, and not the ego-mind. For only this is the realisation of wholeness, when there is no longer a separate, self-willed and obstinate person within us, but rather the whole of nature acts and works as a whole.
The big question is: what kind of man is it, he found at the place where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was cut down? Who can perform such “supernatural” tasks? What is the root of the tree of the knowledge of opposites that is revealed when this tree is cut down and not only gives the golden goose but can also grant all wishes? Well, the fairy tale speaks of a man, a spiritual being, who can apparently take on different forms, and thus touches on one of the biggest questions in the world: what is the source of everything, of the whole and of the entirety? Well, actually the entirety itself, which does not need a name, just as the universe does not need a name because there is only one. And yet the mind wants to distinguish and think something, and so we want to speak here of pure consciousness or pure information, which itself is formless but can take on any form or “inform” and can be found everywhere at the base of nature and spirit. The Bible also says: “In the beginning was the Word.” And just as the tree of life grows from it for reason, the tree of opposites can also naturally grow from it for the mind, which our Dummling cut down. Our mind could conclude from this: If consciousness or information is the cause, spirit the effect and nature the form, then one can recognize the holistic source of everything in their trinity. And yet it remains only dubious intellectual knowledge that we would first have to realize in order to convince the king and win the pure soul.
The Dummling again demanded his bride, but the king was angry that such a common fellow, whom everyone called a Dummling, should carry off his daughter, and he made new conditions: he would first have to fetch up a man who could eat a mountain of bread. The Dummling did not think twice, but went straight out into the forest. There sat a man in the same place who tied his body together with a belt, made a grim face and said: “I have eaten a whole oven full of grated bread (a hard-baked wheat bread from which the crust has been grated), but what good is that when you are as hungry as I am? My stomach remains empty, and I must only tie myself up if I am not to die of hunger.” The Dummling was glad about this and said: “Get up and come with me, you shall eat until you are full.” He led him to the court of the king, who had brought together all the flour from the whole kingdom and baked an enormous mountain of it. But the man from the forest stood in front of it, began to eat, and in a day the whole mountain had disappeared.
Just as on the glass mountain of “The Drummer” the forest of ideas was cut down, chopped up and burned, in a similar way a mountain of bread must now be eaten and digested, baked from the flour of grains that the ego-mind has gathered from all over his kingdom. Here we could think of the karma seeds of accumulated deeds, which are, so to speak, ground up, digested and burned in the digestive fire and redeemed. And here too the Dummling relies on the pure consciousness that he finds where he has cut down the tree of opposites and found the golden goose or true wholeness. And because pure consciousness can take on any form, it also accomplishes this great work as a holistic spirit or man of nature, for which our ego-mind is far too weak, limited and immobile. So, the wholeness could drink all the wine and eat all the bread, and yet it did not become fuller or more whole. Similarly, pure consciousness is said to remain unchanged, no matter what form it appears in. What is missing now to convince the mind of wholeness?
The Dummling demanded his bride for the third time, but the king once again sought an excuse and demanded a ship that could sail on land and water. “As soon as you come sailing in it,” he said, “you shall have my daughter as your wife.” The Dummling went straight into the forest, where the old grey man, to whom he had given his cake, sat and said, “I have eaten and drunk for you, and I will give you the ship too. I do all this because you have been merciful to me.” So, he gave him the ship that sailed on land and water, and when the king saw that, he could no longer withhold his daughter from him and the wedding was celebrated. After the King’s death Dummling inherited the kingdom, and lived a long time contentedly with his wife.
Finally, the third task is mobility beyond the usual limits, which also reminds us of the mystical saddle of “The Drummer” who could take his rider anywhere at will, but now appears without selfish drive as a ship in the pure wind of the holistic spirit.
The soul is the ship,
Reason is the rudder
And truth is the harbour.
(Turkish proverb)
This ship of limitless mobility is also given to him by the holistic spirit of nature in the forest of the world, because the Dummling is merciful, loving and trustful and does not cling to the ego-mind. From a Christian perspective, we can also think of the biblical Lord’s Supper and the resurrection with regard to the symbolism of these three tasks, because here too it is not the ego that should drink the wine, eat the bread and rise above worldly boundaries, but the holistic Christ consciousness as pure reason, love and mercy.
In this way, all obstacles are finally removed and the mystical wedding is celebrated, spirit and nature are reunited, and after the death of the ego-mind, the Dummling as holistic reason inherits the entire kingdom and lives for a long time, perhaps even forever, with his wife. Because what death should separate the united couple in true wholeness? - Happy ending!
And why do we still call him “Dummling” - Simpleton? Should we now accumulate and hold on to knowledge, or should we digest it and let it go? Yes, it is a strange story with our human knowledge and especially with “science”, because: to know holistically means not to know. As Socrates said: “I know that I do not know.” Or, to put it more modern: the sum of all information is no longer information. Yes, this is how the tree of opposites can be cut down and the golden goose or true wholeness can be found.
That is why a master says: If a person is to do an inner work, he must withdraw all his powers, just as if into a corner of his soul, and hide himself from all images and forms, and there he can work. In doing so, he must come to forgetfulness and unknowing. If this (divine) word is to be heard, it must happen in stillness and silence. Nothing can serve this word better than stillness and silence; then one can hear it and understand it properly: in that unknowing. Where one knows nothing, it shows and reveals itself... So, your unknowing is not a defect, but your highest perfection, and your suffering is thus your highest work. And so, in this way, you must abandon all your activities and silence all your powers if you really want to experience this birth within you. If you want to find the born king, you must overcome everything else you might find and throw it behind you... (Master Eckhart, Sermon 58)
Informatism - A religion of our time?
(A way to slow down. - This article about the “Informatism” of our modern world was written in 2005, has waited nineteen eventful years for its appearance without losing much of its relevance, and may now find its place as an epilogue to this wonderful fairy tale of “The Golden Goose”.)
Motivation:
Politics, science and religion are somewhat at a loss in the face of this world. Much has been achieved, but what should we do next? Which politician should we believe? Which of the thousand laws should we follow? Which of the thousand norms should we observe? Which of the thousand news is true? Which of the thousand medicines can cure me? Humanity is suffocating from information. But the wheel of time cannot be turned back. We live in this information society, and technical development will continue. Man has become rich and powerful, but content and happy? Science has developed material things enormously, but the spiritual is lagging behind. This cannot be grasped with formulas and callipers. How could a modern person think about this world so that he can find a fulfilling life, inner peace and contentment even with a car, computer and microwave, so that he can recognize his place in this universe, so that he remains a master and does not become a slave? That seems to be the main challenge for the future. Our society needs a stable spiritual foundation again. We live in a good time for this task. There are the necessary freedoms and a practical world that is in wild movement. Anyone who wants to see it can clearly recognize the effect of spiritual laws.
Science is also of great importance for this further path. Intellectual development cannot ignore it. Scientists in particular should recognize their historic task here. If companies in the economy have to worry about the disposal of their products, scientists and all other information providers should also do the same. We must learn how to handle information, how to digest it healthily and how to follow a sensible diet.
Principles:
The highest obligation is to the truth, for the benefit of all beings.
Only when this power fades do political or economic obligations arise, then the zenith has already been passed, the flower begins to wilt.
The people of our information society need a spiritual foundation again in order to turn to the truth, to find a healthy concept of virtue and honour and to avoid the path of lies, hatred and greed.
Many people no longer have deep trust in the spiritual values of the old religions because they do not find their way of life and thinking reflected there. So why a new religion? In every meadow, new flowers are always blooming, often very similar to the others.
The great thinkers of our time need a spiritual culture in order to bring their energy to fruition, to use their power for the benefit of society.
A religion must be supported by a certain spiritual elite. This should create a healthy balance with society.
The world should change from within. A good spirit produces good fruit.
It is not about destroying something external, changing this world with new laws or violence. You won’t get pears if you press the fruit of an apple tree into a pear shape. If you want pears, you should plant a pear tree and it needs time to grow.
The focus is on deep reflection on the nature of spirit and information.
The term “information” plays an enormous role in the lives of our people, consciously or unconsciously. Reflecting on the deeper nature of information is very healing, answers many current questions and opens up a view on the fundamental laws of this world. This should also bring the importance of spiritual forces back into the horizon of our society and create a healthy balance to materialism.
Possible thoughts:
Information can be endlessly combined and designed.
The possibilities for arranging information are practically endless and the world of diversity is created.
The sum of all possible information is the one truth, the unity behind the diversity.
This whole colourful world is diversity. Our view is reflected in the diversity, and the forms emerge, reflect our thoughts, and the names emerge. When the diversity becomes transparent, the view opens to the unity, to the truth, and the thoughts stop reflecting. Just as you can see to the bottom of a still, clear body of water.
Every information is only part of the truth, a one-sided and relative view.
This is where illusion arises when you consider one information to be the absolute truth. This statement also calls into question all knowledge about the information itself. No, you will not find any absolute truths in this text either, nothing that you can hold on to in the long term. That is difficult to start with, but the better path is always the one that is difficult at the beginning and becomes easier at the end.
Information is always composed, conditioned by causes.
You could ask for the smallest unit. Perhaps like in a computer 0 & 1 or in life true & false, good & evil, desire & rejection, greed & anger, etc. These small opposites are perhaps the axis around which this whole world revolves, all life and death.
Information always contains opposites, opposites are information.
Where there is light, there is also shadow. Without light, there is no shadow.
The mind can endlessly create opposites between what is and what could be.
That seems to be the game of life, and everyone can play along.
Anyone who sees information as absolute reality is moving away from the truth.
Perhaps that is one reason why many people of our time move so far away from the truth and end up entangled in endless worries, fears and other suffering.
As such information accumulates, one moves further and further away from the truth.
The opposite path then leads back to the truth. Then one moves to this mystical point where the truth increases, but the information about it approaches zero. That is probably how it has to be. Perhaps one should not give this point a name. Some attempts have already been made (God, Nirvana, Tao, Brahman...). In the end, ignorant people argue about it and stave in each other’s heads. If only they knew how far this point is from their reality! If it absolutely has to be, then let it be called “God”. That is perhaps closest to our tradition, and in the end, we cannot avoid purifying this name of all burdens anyway.
Information gives the mind a face.
Just hypothetically, suppose there is only mind and information. Then mind would be the carrier, and information creates names and forms. Just like genes give cells and organisms their form. So, if genes are a kind of software, what is the hardware that interprets and implements this information? All phenomena in this world are combined information, even a law of nature is perhaps ultimately just information.
Information is energy.
Knowledge is power. Information is a creative force, whether as potential or as effect. By accumulating information, you create the potential for the future. This is reminiscent of the terms sin or karma. Anyone who expects a happy future should also collect good or healing information. For this, an appropriate ethic is necessary.
Information is food.
Information can make you hungry or painfully overeaten, thirsty or get drunk. Information can be digested and transformed into reduced information or it can be accumulated excessively. There is not much difference between information and bread or wine.
This provides various aspects for meditating on information and the mind. In the end, the path is as it has been described since ancient times. Deep reflection leads to mindfulness, mindfulness develops deeper insight and wisdom. With wisdom comes great power. In order for this power to work for the benefit of all beings, an appropriate ethic is necessary. Without ethics, without purity, this power quickly turns against you. Intelligence alone is not enough here. Awareness is a path to the inside, a coming down. At this point, the human being must exceptionally work more on himself than on the external world. OM
• ... Table of contents of all fairy tale interpretations ...
• Allerleirauh - (All-kinds-of-Fur) (topic: sick mind, dying nature and healing)
• The Origin of Stories - (topic: material and spiritual world)
• Hans Stupid - (topic: realize wishes)
• The Drummer - (topic: Mind and path to salvation)
• Swan Prince - (topic: soul, spirit and salvation)
• The Six Swans - (topic: senses, thoughts and expansion)
• The poor Girl and the Star-Money - (topic: poverty in spirit)
• Death and the Goose Herder - (topic: geese and wholeness)
• The Fox and the Geese - (topic: mind and wholeness)
• The Goose-Girl at the Well - (topic: spirit, soul and nature)
• The Golden Goose (topic: recognize true wholeness)
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[1884] Grimm's Household Tales. Translated from the German and edited by Margaret Hunt. With an introduction by Andrew Lang, 1884, Vol. 1/2, London: George Bell and Sons |