Kalff, Dora
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HARE IN REYNARD THE FOX
Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 1, Number 2, 1991
KEY WORDS: Preface by Janet Tatum, hare, fox, Kalff, East, West, sandplay therapy, symbol, animal.
ABSTRACT: Dora Kalff, the founder of Sandplay Therapy, wrote this article in 1957 for the Journal of Analytical Psychology when she was beginning to develop her theories of Sandplay. The interplay between the fox and the hare is extensively described from the eastern and western perspectives. Both are correlated to the feminine, and symbolizing long life, intelligence and light/dark. In the East, the tales relate a friendship between the two, which was comparable with the West, but during the 1300’s in the West, the relationship of the two changed to that of enemies. Kalff considers this shift to be the time of the separation of spirituality with nature. Sandplay cases reveal these opposing postures of the fox and the hare, as well as the cooperation.