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Puer - The Eternal Child Archetype

Other names for the archetype: The Innocent (Dreamer, Puer Aeternus, Puella Aeterna, Peter Pan)

Definition: Unspoiled, faithful, sometimes childlike character. Modest and calm. Desires happiness and simplicity. Upholds traditions. Often naive, but is also a symbol of renewal. Refuses reality, mortality and responsibility. Leads a provisional life.

Main goal: To remain in a safe environment; never having to decide or be responsible for anything

Main work goal: Safe, undemanding and stable work

Strengths

Symbolizes novelty, renewal, potential for growth, hope for a better future

Weaknesses

An adult child who refuses to grow up and take responsibility for their life and assume a role in society. Doesn't want to face the difficulties of adult life, and waits for "something" to happen that will solve all their woes.

Symptoms

  • never wants to grow up, ground themselves in reality
  • still lives with parents or is dependent on their financial support
  • has an overly protective mother or absent father
  • has great difficulty finding the "right" job
  • secret wish to save the world one day
  • rich internal dream life
  • fear of committing to one place, partner, career
  • everything is provisional; nothing is yet the "right" life for the Puer;
  • their life's meaning will come one day, but what they have now is not it
  • their partner is not the right one; is provisional; a better one will come in the future
  • considers marriage literally as prison/imprisonment

The Puer is excellently depicted in the following short film: `vimeo: 341493187`

Characteristics

#### Puer Puer is the Latin word for child, forming the basis for the English words puerile and puerility. Dictionaries define "puerile" as something "foolish, which an adult should not say or do; childish". The word carries the assumption that adults should not behave like children.

But Puer is not entirely negative. When we are young, this archetype plays a key role in developing the ability to play, as it is the main mechanism for acquiring experiences about the world. If we remain connected to our inner Puer, it allows us to maintain a youthful view of the world. When Buddhists speak of "beginner's mind," they mean the Puer's fresh, naive view of reality that allows the Puer to see reality as it truly is. The extreme version of the Puer is Puer Aeternus.

#### Puer Aeternus Puer aeternus (Latin for eternal child) is a neurotic state in which the mental development of character is suspended in puberty. It is characterized by an inability to "take root" and ground oneself in life - today this archetype is very noticeable among young people.

They are unable to manage their finances, live in debt. They have no boundaries, no will and are afraid to commit to one direction (especially something that smells of boring routine and requires perseverance and tenacity). This extreme Puer cannot stand boundaries and limits, likes to take risks and has trouble with delayed gratification - what they want, they want right now. If it's not fun, why do it?

In some publications, Puer Aeternus is also referred to as "Peter Pan Syndrome". Not only is this state a tragedy for the individual possessed by it, as they risk wasting and squandering their life, but this "ungroundedness" in reality is also a massive risk for our civilization.

Puer is a child god, forever young. In psychology it denotes an older man whose emotional development remained in puberty, usually also in combination with dependence on the mother, father, or both (Oedipus complex).

Puer leads a so-called provisional life because they are afraid of being "caught" in a situation from which there is no escape.

The circumstances of their life are rarely as they themselves wish, and one day they will do something about it - but not now.

Future plans constantly slip into fantasies and imaginations of what could be, can be and what they might become, while taking no action that could realistically lead to this change. They enjoy independence and freedom, mock boundaries and limits, and all restrictions are unacceptable to them.

Common symptoms of Puer's mental state are dreams of imprisonment or similar symbolism: chains, bars, cages, traps, being bound.

The Puer perceives life itself as a prison.

Essentially, they are afraid of life.

Suppressing this feeling doesn't stop it, but only pushes it deeper into the unconscious. This only internalizes the problem. Puers sometimes exhibit xenophilia - an obsession with everything foreign. At the same time, they may disparage their own culture, but this is just a projection of their own feeling of inadequacy.

There are several states of mind similar to the Puer; in Freudian psychology it is Oedipal narcissism, in Jungian it is precisely the Puer.

Marie-Louise von Franz analyzes Puer Aeternus in her book "The Problem of the Puer Aeternus" and approximately half of this book analyzes the work The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry, which is an almost perfect symbolic representation of the Puer's state of mind (he prefers the rose over a real girl (as Peter Pan prefers the fairy over Wendy); literally floats through space and refuses to settle down; is a maximum idealist; Exupéry himself was a pilot and Puer Aeternus; a womanizer; died in a plane crash, which is a fate similar to many Puers (adrenaline sports, ungroundedness) as Franz suggests)

You can predict what Puer Aeternus will look like and how they will feel. They are just the archetype of eternal youth and have all aspects of this god: they have a nostalgic longing for death, think of themselves as someone special; they are the only sensitive one among all those crude sheep. They will have problems with the aggressive and destructive Shadow, which they will not want to integrate and experience and therefore will project onto others. There is nothing unique about a person possessed by the Puer. The more a person is possessed by the Puer, the more they will arrogantly think of themselves as someone special and gifted, while being less individual. They will just be possessed by the archetype, so their reactions will not be individual or interesting at all.
- Marie-Louise von Franz, The Problem of the Puer Aeternus (translation from eng.)

The Puer has no desire to learn and therefore never becomes a master of their field. They don't want to specialize, that would limit their immense potential (which they really do have, they just refuse to use it - it therefore remains undeveloped). Many politicians, journalists and psychologists are controlled by the Puer.

The main characteristic of the Puer is their aversion to grounding themselves in reality and "becoming something". Instead, they levitate above the ground like a balloon. Although the Puer is often able to perform their work, they are unable to find passionate pleasure in it. For them, it is always just "temporary work". In case they get married, it is also just a provisional marriage.

The Puer is not interested in today's civilization or culture, as they are essentially incapable of love. Behind their facade, they feel no responsibility for maintaining cultural heritage. They may suffer from oikophobia, which is "fear of heritage and home" - it is a phase that the adolescent brain normally goes through. This can also manifest in combination with xenophilia, a fondness for foreign cultures.

It is peculiar that it is mainly Puers who are torturers and establish tyrannical and murderous police systems and states. The Puer and police state have a secret connection between them. Nazism and communism were created by men of this type - the real tyrant and organizer of torture and suppression of individuals is thus revealed - their origin is an unresolved mother complex.
- von Franz, The Problem of the Puer Aeternus (translation from eng.)

The phenomenon explained in the quote above explains why Puer Aeternus so often uses the term "fascist" as an insult - because they project their own Shadow. Nazism, communism, Islamism and fascism all fall into the Puer's Shadow.

Another symptom of the Puer is the feeling that they are something special, or that they have a unique destiny. When a person feels this way, it is difficult for them to focus energy on ordinary life and earning money in boring work. Compared to what awaits them, this ordinary daily routine is beneath their level. All this is a symptom of so-called psychological inflation, which is specific to feelings of superiority and "specialness", but at the same time is complemented by an internal feeling of inferiority. When the Puer feels so unique, how could they ever stoop to doing something so ordinary and boring?

The Puer is unfortunately often so disconnected from their true feelings that they don't know what to do, or who they really are. Therefore, it often happens to them that when they find something they enjoy and is simply "exactly for them", it can become the most boring activity for them in a month.

The Puer who is on the path of individuation, however, recognizes these archetypal aspects of themselves, and is often (correctly) very suspicious of all epiphanies and feelings that arise under the influence of addictive substances (alcohol, etc.).

A life that is not lived here and now, and is instead taken as something provisional, is extremely unsatisfying and leads to neurosis. The Puer's unconscious is therefore in a state of constant irritation.

Cure for the Puer

For the Puer to become more integrated, they must bring discipline, order and organization into their life. All this is the prerogative of the archetype of the Sage - Senex and the King.

Jung proposed a simple yet brilliant solution to this. Work. Hard work.

- Step 1: Work. Find a job and devote yourself to it. To which the Puer often replies "But I don't know if it's the job for me or what I really want to do". That doesn't matter. Find any job and devote yourself to it, do it honestly and carefully. Jung thus tells the Puer to grow up and take responsibility for adult life.
- Step 2: Recognize the root of the problem. It often points back to childhood; parental complex. In some cases, Jung identified cases where the father was too "good". Too supportive, paid their rent, got them out of trouble and tried to participate in their hobby activities - all these actions allow the son to remain an immature and dependent boy.
- Addendum: In the first half of life, leading a provisional life leads to a dead end. Only in the second half of life, when we approach old age and death, discovering one's inner child and living a provisional life can bring a second wind and a new perspective on life.

Hillman, on the other hand, suggests a cure in this way:

  • stand for something (Warrior archetype energy)
  • overcoming the inertia of one's own habits (homeostasis) (Warrior archetype energy)
  • decisiveness and action (King archetype energy)
  • reading and knowing more and more (Magician archetype energy)
  • gaining muscle mass and gaining competence in the world of men (Warrior and King archetype energy)

Von Franz also adds a very valuable note, namely:

In my experience, the unconscious often tries to find a compromise, that is, to direct consciousness in some direction where some enthusiasm would be found and where psychic energy would flow naturally, as it is easier to devote oneself to work that is in harmony with one's instinct. This is not as difficult as working completely against the current of one's own energy and against one's own grain. Therefore, it is appropriate to wait a while and find where their energy flows naturally and try to find a vocation in that area.

And finally, her analogy to "felling a tree" (definitive decision about career; self-investment)

... if you suggest to the Puer that they make a definitive decision, they will object that it would limit their perspective and possibilities too much. They would have to give up their wishes and fantasies, their masturbation, etc. They would be just a poor worker who goes to work in an office, etc. They couldn't bear such limitation!
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But that's not true. If they had the courage to devote themselves to one direction and get rid of their false inner "greatness", it would come again, but in a better form - the perspective and possibilities of life would expand and not narrow, as the Puer expects. If they only knew how much more comprehensive their life would be if they gave up that inner "greatness", they might do it.

Mythological Representations

Mythologically, Peter Pan is linked to the god of youth who dies and is reborn... just like the god Mercury/Hermes/Dionysus/Icarus; psychopomp, who is the messenger of the gods, and moves freely between the realm of gods and humans; and of course the God of Everything (the forest, potential), Pan - which is why in early versions of the Peter Pan story, Peter is depicted with a flute and goat horns. Pan is the god of nature, wilderness, shepherds, mountain beasts and is often also associated with sexuality. Pan is well depicted in director Guillermo Del Toro's film, Pan's Labyrinth.

!Guillermo Del Toro depicts Pan in his Pan's Labyrinth