Active Imagination and The Legend of Zelda: An Unlikely Source of Modern Mythology

Jung often stated that one must find one’s myth and that children would manufacture their own mythology if left to their own devices. Video games are a common part of childhood today but are often maligned and conflated with pathologic addiction. In this paper, I present the case of “R,” who played games in The Legend of Zelda series during his childhood. In R’s present therapy, these games have taken on a new significance. He has revisited the characters and stories of the series, and we have considered its potential psychological impact in our sessions. On reflection, playing video games in The Legend of Zelda series helped him to navigate his childhood and adolescence after a difficult time with an emotionally abusive childcare provider. In this paper, I present the game series as well as the four specific games R played. Using a combination of his and my reflections alongside other academic investigation, I suggest his playing of the games were a way of accessing a mythology that felt relevant to him and was in truth a form of active imagination. One can withhold the material content of primitive myths from a child but not take from him the need for mythology, and still less his ability to manufacture it for himself. —Jung (1967, para. 30)