History as a Partner in Story – Part IV: Its Roots

Roots of Story

The sub-structure of story, if it to have the capacity for any real meat on its bones, must be rooted in ancient origins. In her book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes Ph.D. describes this sub-structure with metaphor, in keeping with the same method she uses throughout her book for communicating important truths. She creates an image of a woman standing on the shoulders of an older woman, who in turn is standing on the shoulders of an older woman yet…on the shoulders of an even older woman, and so it goes. This depicts the nature of stories that have innate strength and power because of the connection with the ancient through generations. She speaks of a “towering column of humanity joined to one another through time and space.” She closes these thoughts saying, “If there is a single source of story and the numen of story, this long chain of humans is it.”

The origin of a thing is what gives it heft. It’s not merely knowledge about the origin, but the actual origin itself, the essence of a thing, the source of its being, the wellspring of all subsequent blueprints and explanations. Origin in some cases may be only an idea, existing before the actual being of something. Perhaps it is as yet unarticulated, the pre-materialization of a thing, the metaphor of a thing, the root. This is what gives story weight.

One of the roots for the story I’m working on that may fit well with its intent and content is the concept and material use of the mirror. The record of the concept of mirror goes back at least as far as Narcissus, who in Greek Mythology fell in love with his own reflection in the spring waters. The term “narcissism” comes down to us from this ancient source and describes a pathological self-absorption.

But the concept of mirror has a much wider scope and a much greater diversity of application encompassing many eras and many cultures. In the 1500’s Venice was at the forefront of glass making and in turn the making of mirrors, though Bohemia, Flanders and Germany were also vying for the spotlight. According to Sabine Melchior-Bonnet in her book, The Mirror: A History, it was the “artisans’ experience accumulated over hundreds of years” that was the secret of “the superiority of Murano mirrors.”

This breadth and depth concerning the mirror is in itself is worthy of deep-rooted story. Add to that the psychological and metaphorical implications and the fact that the story I’m working on takes place in the 1500’s, the same time period as the development of a high quality mirror. All of this makes including this deep root of mirror a must.

What root would you like to follow down to its source?

Writing Prompt for the Week: Numen of Story