Tale about the Goldfish

One of the most famous Russian fairy tales, thanks to the genius of Alexander Pushkin, is the Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish.  Although it seems simple and obvious, this tale is full of deeper meaning and sacred symbols, easily missed by the average reader.

What comes first to the mind of the ordinary reader? The old woman, greedy and unlimited in her desires,  did not know when to stop and lost everything the fish had endowed. Moreover, the fish endowed not her, but Her husband. Hence the moral of the fairy tale, which is quite clear to any reader’s understanding, is to be able to stop in time in one’s desires, ambitions and claims.

But this moral, correct and obvious as it is, does not explain many other mysteries of this short fairy tale. Why is it all about an old man and an old woman? And who are those old man and old woman? Why had the old man fished exactly for 33 years before he caught a goldfish? What is the goldfish? Why did the old man throw his net three times but not one or, say, five times? And why were not there even simple fish the first two times, but only seaweed? Why did the old man refuse the redemption offered by the fish the first time he caught it? Why does the fish meekly satisfy all four desires of the old woman and only at the fifth one does it get angry and take away everything at once? After all, usually in fairy tales there are three wishes allowed to be fulfilled at once.

Let's try to figure it out, without claiming, however, for the God’s truth. When an old man and an old woman appear in a fairy tale, they, as a rule, symbolize a man’s Spirit and Soul. But only in case they have children. Usually they have three sons, symbolizing the three lower bodies of man. One is strong (physical body), another is cunning (astral body), and the third one is smart (mental body). But in this case we have a childless couple. I am tending to think in this case, the old man symbolizes INTELLECT, and the old woman – feelings and emotions.

Fishing in the ocean is an attempt of the intellect to become the Mind, that is, to find a connection with the Soul. After all, an ocean (sea) usually symbolizes the World Soul in fairy tales, in which, according to the legends of our ancestors, all humans’ souls float.

For thirty‑three years the old man had been fishing. One could say that this is an allusion to the age of Christ. However, most Russian folk tales have much more ancient roots than Christianity, like the  practice of numerology itself. Rather, the age of Christ was chosen not by chance, but symbolically. In numerology, 33 simplifies to six. Six symbolizes balance between

“Light” and “Darkness”, as well as the spiritual choice that everyone makes in his or her life. But 33 is also 3 x 11. 11 symbolizes the solar activity cycle. It is not by chance that the number 11 is  so prevalent in the symbolism of all Masonic Orders and Lodges. In turn, the 3 is a symbol of the Trinity of the embodied world. That is, in the number 33, the Triune human spirit is connected with the natural cycles of the Universe. And 33 is also often understood as 30 x 3 = 90. The number 9 is a symbol of the  completion of a path or of one of its stages, which precedes the transition to the next level. The numeral 0, like the letter O, is the symbol of the Almighty. Thus, the number 33 is also the achievement of the maximum possible result at a particular stage, which makes possible a certain “bonus”.

Putting it all together, we get that the life of the old man preceding the beginning of the tale had led him to a certain result of  spiritual value, at which point he was to make a choice. And this choice is presented to him through the appearance of the “goldfish”. But to make contact with the Soul, to hear her “voice” is not that easy. That is why the first two times only mud, symbolizing empty thoughts, gets into the net. And only the Old Man’s (the Intellect’s) persistence  ultimately brings  about the opportunity. The fish is the first conscious contact of the Intellect with the Soul, at which point the Intellect is to choose either  the needs of the body (eat the fish), or those of Spiritual development (let it go). The old man (the Intellect) makes the right choice and becomes the Mind. Which is confirmed, in particular, by the fact that he does not ask for anything in return for saving the fish. But when coming home (coming out of the meditative state, as they would say now), the Intellect meets with emotions, which have much more prosaic, mundane problems. And immediately there arise claims and desires.

Considering that the completion of the preliminary path requires a serious bonus and allows the realizing of almost any desire, the fish meekly fulfills all the demands of the Old Woman, not even paying attention to the fact that the old man's Mind is becoming increasingly overwhelmed with emotions, and is not only unable to control them, but cannot even keep his equal status. And the story continues until all desires belong to the material sphere of life. Matter is illusory, and therefore for the fish – the Soul – it is no problem to satisfy any of the Old Woman’s wishes. But as soon as the Old Woman desires to reign over the spiritual world (become the Sovereign of the Sea), then immediately the contact of the Intellect with the Soul is severed, unable to withstand the ordeal. The Mind was obliged to block those last desires of the senses, which were beyond their competence. But it failed to do so. And again it descended to the level of the simple Intellect, which does not have the power to handle material illusions. And therefore, everything returned to its original state.

Read Russian fairy tales. They are immensely full of sacred meaning.