Marrying a burning head

The Embodied Soul & The Thinking Soul Introduction to 'On the Soul'  Joe Sachs

Here we are prepared about the soul's relation to the material it inhibits and influences. We are asked to think of the the relationship not as two different things where the soul and body are separate. The soul here is meddled with the body even though it has a distinctness of its own that can be elaborated on. We also hear about a material point of view that neglects the soul which is refuted.

There is also the quality we associate with the soul which is thoughtfulness and the author briefs us about Aristotle's approach to the general and particular uses of thought. He views thought in a divided way which don't conflict each other but one causes the other and the other gives content. We consider things as whole but there is an alien quality to this way of thought. It seems to come from without us and is most evident when we contemplate without focusing on perception which gives it a passive quality while still being active. The other end is when we consider things in particular parts and this is active and requires us to perceive outside ourselves.

The author also wants us to consider the role of thinghood in the way Aristotle would like us to. While we consider our surroundings for usefulness as tools, contemplating the souls of others has a different goal. Seeing thing as a complete thing focuses on the thing itself in a pure way that does not lead to goals other than understanding it as itself.

Nodey Russian Fairy Tales Aleksandr Afanasev

This particularly strange tale gets set in motion by a errant burning head. This head is put in a box, mistaken for a gift and then licked. The person who licks the box gets pregnant and fast birthing the child in a matter of days. The child has abnormal strength that tames wild things that a normal person wouldn't dare but at the same time his strength would destroy a village. He ends ups being banished

It's hard to miss the fairy tales psychological references while we read although it's not exactly clear what the stories seem to be referencing.