Joseph Gergen Works

Right below the surface of “Theo and Spout,” a seemingly simple gender-bending coming of age story, lies an exercise in Inner Work and the Shadow. While Theo is just Theo, Sprout is clearly or not so clearly many things.

On the surface she is his spirit guide, there to help him through adolescence, give him courage and advice when encountering an intimidating world. We all need guidance sometimes.

But there is also a dialog going on that is much like Inner Work. During these dialogs, Sprout is sometimes Theo’s Anima, providing him insight into his feminine side. Theo is aware of some of the feminine traits and some he is not. And since Theo is surrounded by the masculine (as so many of us are), Sprout is there to say it’s okay to embrace the feminine.

And sometimes Sprout is Theo’s Shadow, that connection to the Collective Unconscious that is there inside of us no matter who we are. Sprout tells Theo to trust his intuition, to trust that knowledge that comes from inside even if he doesn’t understand where it comes from.

So Theo goes on a journey of self- discovery that both encounters the outside world and the inside world and is hopefully the better for it.