The Esoteric Interpretation of “Pan’s Labyrinth”
http://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/the-esoteric-interpretation-of-pans-labyrinth/
“Pan’s Labyrinth” is a profound movie telling the story of a young girl’s quest to escape the cruelties
of Spanish Fascism. The movie also contains a great amount of occult and archetypal symbols telling
another story: one of esoteric illumination through test of character and ritual initiation. We will
look at the occult and archetypal symbolism found throughout the movie and their relation with
Ofelia’s quest.
Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish title: El laberinto del fauno) is a Spanish language fantasy film written and
directed by Guillermo del Torro, director of The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy and Blade II. The movie’s
compelling storyline, rich mythological background and strange fantasy world caused many movie critics
to consider it as the best movie of 2006.
Like many fairy tales, Pan’s Labyrinth is an allegorical story that can be interpreted in numerous ways and
on many simultaneous levels. While researching this movie, I came across psychological, sociological and
political interpretations of Pan’s Labyrinth, but almost none relating to the occult symbolism permeating
the work and I’ve found almost nothing regarding its underlying esoteric story of initiation. This came a
surprise as Del Torro himself described the movie as a “parable” and the numerous references to occult
mysteries certainly point this way. We will therefore look at the mystical and archetypal symbolism found
in the movie and see how they fit into this rich story of esoteric initiation.
One of the reasons why the movie deeply moves its viewers is probably the presence of archetypal myths
and symbols that deeply resonate in the collective and personal unconscious:
“Indeed, once upon a time is a good place to start with a film like Pan’s Labyrinth. It is a fairytale above
all, an especially dark one too that contains all of those classic mythical archetypes of Jung’s collective
unconscious. We think of, for instance, the evil king, the heroine in distress, parallel universes, chimerical
creatures, and the marching battle between good and evil as portrayed in the story. These are all universal
themes, patterns and character types we see in classical fairytales over and over again; the type that led
Jungian analyst Donald Kalsched to assert that “When human resources are unavailable, archetypal
resources will present themselves.” The same can be said of our lead princess, Ofelia. A girl stripped of
humanity, crushed by grim realities and forced to draw upon the archetypal myths of the collective human
imagination.”
– Psycho-Critical Analysis of “Pan’s Labyrinth”: Myth, Psychology, Perceptual Realism, Eyes &
Traumatic Despondency
Movie Overview
The faun protecting Ofelia from the world’s cruelty
The movie takes place in the mountains of fascist Spain at a military camp fighting against the rebels.
Ofelia, a young girl with a wild imagination, obsessed with books and fairy tales, travels with her weak,
pregnant mother to meet her new stepfather, a merciless captain of the Spanish army. Upon her arrival, she
discovers a labyrinth, and meets a faun that tells her that she is a princess from the “Underworld”. He
promises her that she can go there and be reunited with her father as long as she completes three tasks for
him. In her attempts to complete these tasks, Ofelia is forced to deal with the reality of mortality, the
absurdity of war and the meaning of self-sacrifice.
The tale revolves around the juxtaposition of the harsh and oppressive nature of the real world with the
magical and sometimes disturbing fairy tale world of the little girl. The faun (named Pan in the English
translation) is a horned beast that guides Ofelia through her initiation process and shows her the way to
depart from the absurdity of the material world to re-enter the glory of the spiritual plane, where
illuminated beings live: the Underworld.
Having “Eyes to See”
Placing back the faun’s missing eye
At the beginning of the movie, Ofelia is almost instinctively lead to a mysterious monument depicting the
faun with a missing eye. She finds the missing eye and places it back into its socket. A magical insect/fairy
suddenly appears: Ofelia’s magical quest can begin. There is a great importance placed on eyes and sight in
the movie and this scene tells the viewers, right from the start, that Ofelia’s quest is occult in nature as not
many have the “eyes to see” the invisible world she is about to experience.
“Having mentioned sight, the film has much to say about it. Guillermo Del Toro almost
seems to presuppose that the viewer needs a third “Zen” eye to capture the quintessential
truths buried deep within the film’s archetypal margins. As Derrida posited, the most
important meanings are not in the text itself, but “in the margins,” or subtext. In other
words, scientists and secularists need to leave the theater. When Ofelia returns the eye of
the statue to its rightful place, her fantastical journey immediately begins. Her eyes allow
her to see things both visible and invisible, real and unreal, which starkly contrasts with
the fascist villain, Captain Vidal, one who punctures the eyes of others and believes not
in what cannot be physically seen.”
– Ibid
The importance of the Eye is of the utmost importance in occult symbolism and can be dated back to
ancient Egypt with the myth of Horus’ eye being restored by Toth. While the right eye is associated with
the perception of concrete and factual information (male side of the brain), the left eye of Horus perceives
the mystical, the spiritual and the intuition (the female side of the brain). By placing back the eye in its
place, Ofelia restores the all-important balance needed to embark into her alchemical transformation.
Ofelia soon realizes however that the adults surrounding her certainly do not believe in what cannot be
physically seen, making her quest quite a lonely one.
The Oppressive Father-Dictator and the Cronus Complex
Captain Vidal cursing at Ofelia
Once she has arrived at the war camp, Ofelia meets with her new step-father, the cruel and sadistic Captain
Vidal. The character is a representation of Spanish Fascism and, on a philosophical level, of the oppressive
material world most people abide in without questioning which prohibits the full emancipation of the being.
This phenomena is known as the “Cronus Complex”, Cronus being the Greek mythological figure
representing time, death and harvesting.
Cronus devouring his child by Goya
“The Cronus Complex is not a murderous tendency per say, since Cronus did not just got
rid of his offspring, but a destructive ingestive process which hinders the child’s capacity
to exist separately and autonomously from the parent. In consuming his child, Cronus
does not only aim to annihilate him but does so by making him part of himself. According
to Bolen, since ancient times, the Cronus Complex is a tendency through which male
oriented cultures have maintained power. That is evident is systems such as Fascism, one
of the most radical mutations of patriarchy.“
– John W. Crandall, The Cronus Complex
Cronus is also known as “father time”. Captain Vidal is often shown looking at and
maintaining his watch, time being the most damning limitation of the material world.
Ofelia—and everyone around her—is terrified by Captain Vidal but, in order to complete
her initiation, Ofelia will need to emancipate herself from this oppressive father figure
and, most importantly, get in touch with her oppressed feminine and magical side.
Restoring the equilibrium of duality is a necessary step in alchemical transformation.
The Faun and his Labyrinth
Disgusted by her new life, Ofelia is led by a fairy to an overgrown labyrinth where the Faun steps out of the
shadows. When she asks him “Who are you?”, he replies “I’ve been called so many names that only the
wind and the trees can pronounce. I am the mountain, the forest, the earth. I am … a faun.” He then
continues: “It was the moon that bore you. And your real father waits for your return, but first, we must be
sure that you have not become mortal”.
In ancient mythology, fauns, satyrs and the Greek god Pan were somewhat similar as they all bear the
hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat. Pan is a prototype of natural energy and is undoubtedly a phallic
deity, representing the impregnating power of the sun. The faun becomes a sort of spiritual guide to Ofelia,
helping her through the actual and figurative labyrinth she must go through. Despite the faun’s monstrous
appearance—which leads viewers to think at first that he is the “bad guy”—he is actually the only being in
Ofelia’s life that understands her desire to “become more” and to reach her full potential. The actual “bad
guy” in the movie is not the hideous creature, but the cruel step-father.
The Labyrinth
“Labyrinths and mazes were favoured places of initiation among many ancient cults. Remains of
these mystic mazes have been found among the American Indians, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians,
and Greeks.” – Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages
Found in the initiation rites of many ancient civilizations, mazes were symbolic of the involvements and
illusions of the lower world through which wanders the soul of man in its search for truth. Pan’s Labyrinth
is mostly a figurative one as Ofelia must avoid the pitfalls and the dead-ends of the material world in order
to be reunited with her true father.
The First Task: Finding the Sacred Feminine
The first task given by the Faun to Ofelia is to retrieve a key from a giant toad who is sucking the life out of
an ancient fig tree. There starts the quest of “returning to the womb” and the rekindling the oppressed
feminine. The interior of the tree is damp and moist, symbolizing once again the womb-giver of life. The
tree itself looks like a uterus.
Ofelia wearing a black version of the dress of Alice in Wonderland. Also, a picture of a uterus, in
case you forgot what one looks like.
Ofelia’s trauma/fascination with the feminine principle is expressed many times in the movie, mainly
through her weak and pregnant mother who ultimately has to give her life to give birth. In one disturbing
scene, Ofelia sees in her Book of the Crossroads the outline of a uterus that becomes red, predicting her
mother’s complications.