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Psychological Perspectives: AQuarterly Journal of JungianThoughtPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/upyp20

Evagrius the WeaverDennis Patrick SlatteryPublished online: 01 Sep 2010.

To cite this article: Dennis Patrick Slattery (2010) Evagrius the Weaver, PsychologicalPerspectives: A Quarterly Journal of Jungian Thought, 53:3, 378-379

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2010.501239

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Psychological Perspectives, 53: 378–379, 2010Copyright c© C. G. Jung Institute of Los AngelesISSN: 0033-2925 print / 1556-3030 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00332925.2010.501239

Evagrius the Weaver

Dennis Patrick Slattery

The old monk, Evagriussought among the reeds for enoughfood to carry him to the village below.A knife his only possessionhe entered the forest of reeds andbegan to cut each one in a seriesof lengths that memory softened.

There he sat for part of the clearmorning into the cloudy afternoon,his knife sharp and full of measuredwisdom.

He trimmed the reeds, made some coilinto tight sounds of a basket’s shape.There Evagrius sat beside themarsh and crafted a beautiful basketwith elegant weaves and soonbecause he had made so manyit was finished.

And the knife pilgrimaged once moreinto the sunny forest of slender stalksand brought out the disordered shapeof another basket.

Soon, along the road came a merchantOn his burroand when he saw the loveliness of reed

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DENNIS PATRICK SLATTERY � EVAGRIUS THE WEAVER 379

in basket shape he offered the old monkmoney for them.

But the monk hungry yet with no appetitefor money, exchanged his reed basketfor a light meal and the merchant was filledand pleased nowwith the monk’s wares.

So the merchant and the monksmiled at one another and departedeach appetite filled to overflowing.

But what of the reeds and their desires?What did they gain?Sunlight and space because they begangrowing so close together that many reedslost their elastic basket strength andlanguished among more flexible friends.

So the reeds sighed and moved apart a tinyspace and breathed in strength from space and sunfor the old monk had blessed them with hisdiscerning eye and picked just those whichwould relieve the crowded swamp to makeroom for more of them to dream of theirplace in the pattern of weave.

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