The underlined words of the plot interpreted:

Two kingdoms

• Two realms: Woman and Man. [S. Feminine and masculine, Spirit and matter (father and mother), The Unconscious and the Conscious and the Unconscious (King and Queen).
• The realm of the moors: The feminine side that begins in the realm of the spirit (s. The Way of the Woman).
• The realm of the power of men: The masculine side, which begins in the realm of matter (s. The way of the man and the masculine into the spirit).
• The fairy: a spiritual figure, a "goddess", a Anima-figure.
• Horns and wings: signs of female power (s. Maleficent as goddess of fate).

The gemstone and the ring

• Gemstone: symbol of female seductive power (as also in the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic Journey to the Sea or in Aladdin and the Lamp, the Cave of Wonders). In both, gemstone trees appear instead of fruit trees. These are beautiful to look at, but they do not nourish.
• The stream: Water as a female symbol flows down the mountain (also a feminine symbol as an elevation to "Mother EARTH"). The gemstone sinking into the water - seduction becomes the reality of sexual intercourse (the shared water).
• Iron: Power through suppression. Iron is obtained by heating and burning EARTH, more precisely ore, by FIRE. FIRE is the symbol of male physical passion. EARTH is the symbol of the female body. Scorched earth is a symbol of abuse of the woman. (For it burns when WATER is absent, the symbol of the soul, which extinguishes fire and makes the earth fertile, see. FIRE AND ICE, Fundamentals of the Dynamics of the Elements..)
•  The ring: reference to completed sexual intercourse (penetration, s. on Stele of Ur-Nammu: Kingship and Burney relief - Lilith or the Queen of the Night).

Two empires at war

• War of the king against the moors: The man wants to subjugate the woman in order to be able to dispose of her body, her life and her spirit (her miracle-working love, "VIRGIN").
• Maleficent'sdefence of the moors: the woman fights back.

Comment: Power instead of love produces destructive reality.

The problem is the lack of love. The feminine as reality-birthing matter is by its nature designed to realise the impulse ("seed") of loving consciousness and thus bring forth new, living reality.

[S. Male and female, the two primordial forces of creation.]

But when love is lacking and power is instead demonstrated through oppression, the feminine reacts according to the same principle with negativity. Instead of loving acceptance, frustration, rebellion, pain and anger lead to a negative reality ("thorns").

[S. The body of pain (the negative animus as devil or animal)..]

The Curse: Dying Woman

This section of the film illustrates the love that has died in all three areas of the woman's life: body, soul and spirit.

• Body: Sex instead of love
• Soul: negativity and lack instead of love
• Spirit: Power instead of love

The individual symbols

• The mistress of the moors: "wetlands" as the feminine side (WATER and EARTH as the two "feminine" elements in contrast to FIRE and AIR, the masculine, see. The four elements).
• Kingship in responsibility or exploitation: love or power?
• The wings - with ease in the realm of the spirit: in the power of love or in the AIR, i.e. in the realm of the male soul (e.g. through seduction). In other words as goddess of love or harpy and mistress of the underworld (s. The dark fairy as goddess of fate.).
• The severed wings: Destruction of the woman's spiritual strength and power through separation from her power of love. This happens through devaluation and violation as well as robbery and exploitation of her life through unlawful (loveless) sexual intercourse ( The Woman 3-in-1).
• Walking on the earth - dedication of one's life: The woman as queen of the earth gives life through her body (blood) and heart blood. These are not flights of fancy, but faithful persistent service: step by step, day by day. (S. The heroic path of the woman and Female wholeness - the Goddess, White / Red / Black.)
• The Curse: Dying of Love in Power
• Sleep: unconsciousness of the feminine from violation and negativity (see Original Sin as a Collective Human Problem and The Pain Body of Woman - Dark Ruler in the Shadows).
• True love's first kiss - sign of unconditional devotion: Kiss: a gesture of tenderness with the lips - words too?
• The burnt spinning wheels: The taboo, the dark secret in the cellar (see Dark secrets as a curse).

The Anima Obsession of Man and the Quest for Power

• Iron: Symbol of power through oppression. The goal is domination over the woman and the feminine (matter) in order to be able to take (instead of having to surrender).
• Talks with Maleficent's wings: The female spirit, his inner woman, seduces him for sex, money and power (s. The negative anima as WHORE or SNAKE.).

Negativity in women: between depression and aggression

• The thorn hedge: prickly defence
• The "other" woman is sick in bed: depression

The thorn hedge: fear of further injury

• Raised far away from the castle: The young woman grows up without a positive relationship with men and has no idea about couple dynamics.
• The good fairies overwhelmed: Kindness alone is not enough to get through this world safely.
• Protection by Maleficent: Clear boundaries are also needed, even if they are perceived as a defence (thorns).

Maleficent as Fairy Godmother and the Realm of the Moors

• Maleficent as a fairy godmother: strong, self-determined femininity
• The realm of the moors: harmony between the female body (earth) and the soul of the woman (water, which moistens earth, see. The four elements).

The prince on his way to becoming king

• He triggers something in the princess on a mental and physical level. So, figuratively speaking, she ends up in Maleficent's realm, while he is on his way to kingship.

[For the different energies s. Woman as Goddess and Man as Her Hero King.; The Conscious and the Unconscious and Male and Female - the two primordial forces of creation].

The Hidden Secret: War Between the Sexes

• Consent of the good fairies: NO, because there are certain problems lurking in the shadows. These must first come to light. But they trigger excessive demands, fear and resistance in the young woman.
• No time - war between the two forces and lack of fatherly love: he goes about his "business".
• The spinning wheel in the cellar restores itself: the next victim of the debacle. Precisely because she has no idea, the curse can come true, because she does not know what she has to fight against. This is: (s. The poisoned apple - abuse as a collective reality).

Philip's ineffectual kiss

• Philip's kiss, however, does not "work": for it is a problem that the young man does not yet have "true" love. He must first integrate it as the feminine side of the spirit in order to break through to "father love" (cf. The Way of the Man and The integration of the anima).

Maleficent's kiss: The woman begins to love herself (integration of weakness).

• The woman has true, namely unconditional love from the beginning. But she has lost it. Through love for her (inner) daughter, the woman begins to accept and love herself in her weakness and wounded innocence. Thus she rises again. (This is also the case in Sumerian mythology, see The Rise from the Underworld. )

Stefan's means of power: iron as a symbol of oppression

• Stefan's war machine - power through oppression, symbolised by the iron: The man tries to subjugate the woman in order to be able to take her life force for himself (see in detail in Aladdin and the magic lamp).
• Stabbing from behind in the tower room: Submission is by loveless intercourse (see last section: s. The spindle).

Maleficent's Liberated Wings: The Power of Love

• The liberated wings mean that Maleficent is reconnected with her spiritual power. Through love for her (inner) daughter and compassion for the plight of many women, she integrates and reconciles her own feminine weakness.

Diaval: Maleficent's inner man (Animus)

• Diaval as a dragon: He symbolises raging anger of the woman over experienced pain that burns like FIRE in her inner being. In the power of her negative animus (pain and anger) she stands up to fight against oppression.

The fall from the tower

• Love for himself carries the woman (often in a first step out of the relationship). This causes him to hit hard on the ground of the reality he has created. (This sets in his wounding, which initiates his journey to becoming the true king; see. The sacred wound).

The Animus: Diaval - "Devil" and Servant of the Lady of the Underworld

The name Diaval is derived from the Greek diabolos, with which the word "devil" is also associated. In fact, in fairy tales and lore, the devil is a servant or functionary of the ruler of the underworld.

A young man ready for service

The woman's body and life force are identical with her inner man. She integrates her masculinity by developing it from an immature macho into a loving father (s. The Integration of the Animus).

Different shape: raven, bear or dragon

The fact that he can change his shape is a clear indication that he is a spiritual aspect. As a raven, he symbolises Maleficent's ears, which are everywhere. In particular, the raven is also considered a bird that can fly back and forth between the world and the underworld. As a bear, it symbolises the mother bear's passionate struggle for her cub. As a dragon, it symbolises femininity, which races with anger and rages destructively.

When Raven was almost beaten to death by a farmer

In fact, farmers used to receive money when they brought killed ravens to the local administration. Mythologically, one can interpret this image in this way:

1. The man who blocks out the reality of the unconscious figuratively "kills" the raven as a symbol of the connection to the underworld. By refusing to confront his shadow in this way, he is little better than a clumsy peasant. Therefore, he does not deserve to be given kingship over a woman's life and love.
2. The woman who wants to get through to such a man with her request must convince him in a manly way, namely with strategy or with power and strength. Only then will he let her live.

Negative femininity: intrigue or violence (drama)

Maleficent tries to hide her true identity by wearing a thin black veil, reminiscent of the headdress of the pious woman. But this does not last long. At the latest when she is provoked and thus her Body of Pain activated, her spiritual power is expressed instead in the form of frenzied, destructive rage.

Poisoned love and projection of the shadow

Ingrith symbolizes the "evil woman world" which the negative anima as a snake represents (s. The poisoned apple). She brings Maleficent to frenzy by denying her fight for justice and love and accusing her of murdering her brother. Thus, she activates Maleficent's body of pain through "cunning" female intrigue. By making her go berserk and thereby putting herself in the wrong, it is easy for Ingrith to now blame her for her own problems. This is, by the way, a common strategy that men - in the grip of their negative anima - can also use against women.

The red powder: the pain body and the scapegoat mechanism:

Just as Maleficent is made the "scapegoat", woman has also been repeatedly blamed as the sole cause of humanity's misery (cf. The Fall of Man Report). Moreover, for many centuries this was seen as the legitimisation of the oppression and exploitation of women. From the accumulated negative experiences, a collective female body of pain has formed, which is represented in the Maleficent films by the poisonous red powder. It symbolises the subliminal spiritual reality of anger and rage of women and also of the people (as the great feminine) against men and the prevailing order. This is the effect of the "powder" that kills the fairies (as an image of the spiritual power of love).

Negative couple dynamics and the powerlessness of the man

As Maleficent's destructive power erupts, King John also swoons. This is the logical consequence of the negative couple dynamics. For the man reacts to the woman's negativity with paralysis and blockage, unable to continue to "stand his ground". This is the work of his negative inner woman, the snakewho paralyses him with her poison (see Animus and Anima in Interaction).

The consequence of this is dead love and destroyed relationships.

The fall into the sea and the hidden cave: the unconscious

The sea is a symbol for the collective unconscious (as the great "mother" from which life emerged). From here Maleficent continues in a kind of near-death experience. She enters a gigantic cave underground, where winged and horned beings like her live in harmony with nature. Her wings are an indication that they are spirit beings, while the horns stand for power and propulsion in matter (s. The Animus and Maleficent as a deity of fate).

(Primitive peoples and religions that venerate the mother deity give this force a place in their everyday life, for example through shamanic or animistic rituals, and count on its work. Interestingly, the animus is called "Shamash" in the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic "Shamash").

Hidden personality traits and resources

The beings banished in the Shadow The beings banished into the shadows represent repressed personality traits (and thus those qualities that the person does not like about himself or is ashamed of). With them, resources are also locked away, in this case strength and assertiveness, which help to win.

The Phoenix: spiritual power and strength

The phoenix is a bird that is burnt to ashes by fire and yet rises from it again. It can be seen as a symbol of spiritual resurrection power (but if it still means victorious power in the context of negative conflicts, see below).

The poisonous iron powder - activating the pain body as a weapon

The iron powder causes the fairies who come into contact with it to turn to ash. It is made from the flowers that grow on the graves of the deceased fairies. The fairies symbolise spiritual power. This is destroyed when it is directed in a destructive direction through pain and anger. Thus the iron powder represents the collective body of pain which is activated by suppression (see above). The powerful sounds from an organ can make a person feel "very small". And powerlessness in a next step gives way to rebellion, which leads to revolt, which in turn has to be suppressed ... Thus the vicious circle of power through suppression is further fuelled (see black magic).

Aurora's hero's journey back to freedom

Aurora's experiences describe in short form a summary of the Woman's heroic journey:

1. Awareness: Wholeness and Unity as the Goal (Wedding)
2. Initiation (the first step): Aurora has already moved into the castle before the wedding.
3. Desert: Conventions and coercion that bind the woman are indicated on the one hand by her hairstyle and clothing, and on the other hand by the fairy kingdom that is imprisoned in the church (cf. The poisoned apple - abuse as a collective reality).
4. Success (getting up to Self-efficacy): Aurora roams the castle and thus discovers the truth.
5. Trial by fire: The struggle for freedom means the integration of the shadows (weakness, powerlessness, pain and anger). But these are also a resource, because they contain strength that can help to win.

War between the spiritual forces, male and female

The phoenix is a bird that is burnt to ashes by fire and yet rises from it again. It can be seen as a symbol of spiritual resurrection power, which nevertheless signifies victorious power in the context of negative conflicts. For as a bird, the phoenix is associated with the male element of air and the realm of the spirit. For example, it is regarded as the powerful symbolic animal of the Empress of China and stands opposite the Dragon which is the symbol of the emperor. However, both archetypes, the phoenix as well as the dragon, belong to the (negative) dynamics of power (see animus and anima in interaction), which has brought forth war.

The Feminine with Wings: Power and domination in the realm of the spirit

Mythologically, femininity, rooted in the spirit and wielding power, is repeatedly represented by winged figures. Examples are Lilithbut also Isis as a falcon, the sphinx, the harpy (see the last unicorn) or just also Maleficent. They are, like the phoenix, an image for the woman whose body has been "burned" by male-bodily and fiery passion.

The healing power of love and "grounding" women

But love, symbolised by Virgo or in this case Aurora, shows the woman a different path. She seeks wholeness through the integration of the shadows and through reconciliation. Thus the woman becomes anchored again in her body and in material reality (s. The feminine path).

The path through the underworld: integrating weakness

The path to wholeness leads through the underworld, as is vividly thematised in Maleficent's story.

The way to the light

While Ingrith represents female power in the grip of the negative anima (seduction and delusion), Maleficent succeeds in wrestling her way to mercy towards her enemy. Thus she integrates the love of her father and becomes like him (see below).
But love makes vulnerable. The inner daughter, who stands for pure love and has just been saved, now weeps over all that has died inwardly and broken outwardly.

[S. The path through the underworld and The integration of the shadows.]

Mourning is the gate from negativity back to love in the light of loving consciousness. It does not shy away from the truth, and so what is becomes visible: There is great physical power, symbolised by the bear, and great spiritual power, symbolised by the phoenix - the power of the woman!

The Prince: Reconciliation - also in the relationship

But this spiritual power must be channelled and used for good. This is where the prince now comes into play as the loving consciousness (symbol for the positive masculine parts of the woman, the animus as Christ-figure). He makes peace between the realms and so the struggle can finally end.

King John: The Loving Father

As the good "King Consciousness", King John was weakened and fainted by the intrigues of the serpent (s. The Third Eye and the King's Treasure). The goal for man, however, is for the loving consciousness to take the sceptre. Its wisdom, kindness and friendly warm-heartedness motivate both man and woman to good deeds.

With this, nothing stands in the way of the wedding, which symbolises the integration of the unconscious into consciousness (s. The sacred wedding).

Freedom and peace

Figuratively, the fairy tale says at the end: A goat is that woman who wants to live power instead of love, and thus pushes forward the struggle instead of seeking peace.

For a woman's true strength and power is her love.