Author's note: The meaning of "autonomous complex" given by Dr. Carl Jung is different than the meaning of the term as used by Aulden. In Psychological Types, Jung wrote, "The term is meant to indicated the capacity of the complexes to resist conscious intentions, and to come and go as they please. Judging from all we know about them, they are psychic entities which are outside the control of the conscious mind." In other words, the complex is autonomous from you. When Aulden uses the term, he's referring to a complex that has no paradoxical counterpart. For example, in a previous story, the iconic figure made a mess and the priest cleaned up after it. The iconic figure and the priest were both complexes, operating in a paradoxical partnership. If either one was alone, it would be autonomous from any other complex. Aulden agrees, of course, with Jung's definition, while using the term differently for his own purposes.

He looked down the long avenue and said, "Anyone who is coming with me, follow along." Even as he spoke The Wind moved to his side. Martha, Janice and Poseidon went with him, as well. The others stayed behind.

Forty blocks from where they began, they came to a bridge over a chasm. The site reminded Aulden of the Snake River Canyon, which he'd crossed long ago. This crossing was different, however, because on the other side of the bridge they felt something inside, as if they'd crossed over into a different attitude; a different psychic region.

They continued walking along the avenue, increasing the speed of their pace. Aulden could hear music - a piano playing. "Can you hear that?" he asked. Poseidon said, "I know this song. Petula Clark."

Janice began singing the lyrics as she walked:
"When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go
downtown."

Aulden could see that Poseidon was silently mouthing the lyrics as they traveled down the avenue, and the sound of the piano was growing louder. When they reached the part of the song that, to be honest, was Aulden's favorite, he joined Janice and sang:
"The lights are much brighter there,
you can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go
downtown…"

Their gaze remained forward and their pace continued to be steady. The buildings around them were taller. They were out of the residential district. The music faded out. They came to a city park.

"This is the place," Aulden said, mostly to himself. He went to the middle of the park and sat on a bench. From there he could view the multi-story brick buildings surrounding the park and the shops lining the streets on the ground floor of those buildings. He could see a jewelry store and shops with clothing and shoes, a theater alongside an alley and a restaurant sign pointing into the alley. A toyshop, a bakery, a newsstand, a bookstore, and more than one restaurant surrounded the park, and people: children were playing in the park, and shoppers were all along the sidewalk.

Aulden sat and surveyed the situation. He'd been considering an idea for several weeks, and this seemed to be the time for it. His idea was juvenile and greedy and full of faith and curiosity. He wanted to experiment and see whether he could find an archetypal figure who could help him win the lottery.

He remembered the words from The Secret of The Golden Flower, "The most important things in the great Tao are the words: action through non-action," and, "In what does this spiritual Elixir exist? It means forever dwelling in purposelessness." He asked for the archetypal figure of lottery-winning to come to him. His plan was, then, to turn away from his intention to win the lottery. He would sit and wait without purpose, and see whether this archetypal figure would appear. According to von Franz, there were countless archetypes. Along with desire and greed, Aulden displayed naivete in his idea. If Aulden had been more of a scholar he wouldn't have tried such a thing, but then if he'd have been a scholar he might not have come this far.

Aulden asked The Wind, "Am I wrong to just sit here?" The Wind answered, "You're never wrong to just sit."

They waited, and eventually an armored truck stopped at the nearby traffic light. Aulden sprinted to the truck and stood on the running-board. A driver and a guard sat inside. He asked the driver, "Do you know anyone who can give me advice about the lottery?" The driver answered, "No!" and drove away. Aulden, after jumping from the running board, returned to the park bench.

Martha sat beside him and said, "Winning a large sum of money comes at a price." Aulden understood that she meant a price of the psyche - a psychic price. He didn't feel concerned about the price as he considered the armored truck, "There must be an archetypal anti-type of the guys guarding the money." Then he said, "Wind, I'm terribly restless."

The Wind answered, "As you should be," and advised to be silent and wait, with a simple, "Sh..."

Aulden asked, "Do I need to wait for the person I seek, or should I walk around?"

Poseidon motioned with finger to lips, and said, "Sh…"

Aulden pondered out-loud, "I need to have non-intention. How do I have non-intention?"

Janice this time said, "Shush!"

He sat on the bench for several days, refusing to leave during the night world of his meditation. In his day life he worked at his job, delivering mail, but in the back of his mind he was on that park bench.

The five of them sat on a circle of benches. A proper Jungian would have said that Martha was the archetypal Great Mother. Poseidon was Aulden's inferior function, the extrovert sensing type. Janice was the feeling function. The Wind was Aulden's thinking function. Aulden was the introvert intuitive, but Aulden was not a Jungian. He was a letter carrier for the Postal Service and he was waiting for the archetype of lottery winning.

Aulden glanced up and noticed a light in a window at the top of a building to his left. He said to himself, "Let go of day-world worries: companionship, money. Look to inner-callings." He said to his companions, "Let's go to that upstairs apartment." Aulden had a dream that night. He dreamed of a rattlesnake under a chair.

On the ground floor of the building was an Indian restaurant. The sign above the door read, "Patanjali's." They decided to eat there before going to the upstairs apartment.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was dark and exotic. Poseidon rubbed the palms of his hands together, and said, "I love Indian food." A woman with long black hair led them to a table. Aulden asked, "Why do all the women lately have black hair?" Servers brought a variety of dishes to the table.

The chef came to welcome them, and introduced himself as Patanjali. "Are you the Patanjali," Aulden asked him, "The one who wrote the Yoga Sutras?"

"Yes, I am Patanjali," the chef assured him.

"I'm surprised," Aulden replied, "That you haven't ascended beyond where you could talk with us."

Patanjali answered, "Don't concern yourself with my path."

More food was delivered to the table: tofu in the shape of the Devil's Tower in Wyoming. As the others dished up servings Aulden said to Patanjali, "I'd like to see what's upstairs. I saw the light upstairs and was attracted to it."

Patanjali answered, "Of course. But first, one more dish." A platter was placed on the table and, when the server lifted the cover, Aulden was face to face with the rattlesnake he'd seen in his dream. Patanjali told Aulden, "The two of you need to have a conversation."

Aulden asked the snake, "Why did I dream about you?"

The snake answered, "You called me to you."

Aulden didn't match up the fact that he'd called anyone at all, and asked, "How did I call you?"

The snake demanded, "Bring me a duck."

"I won't bring you a duck," Aulden argued, "How did I call you?"

The snake insisted then on another object, saying, "Bring me a lamb."

Aulden answered, "I won't bring you a lamb. How did I call you?"

This time the snake gave an ultimatum, telling Aulden, "Then you will live in poverty."

Aulden was undaunted, and countered, "I won't live in poverty unless God designs. His choice and not yours or mine. How did I call you?"

The snake finally answered the question, and stated, "Want of money."

Aulden understood. This was the archetypal figure he'd been waiting to meet. He said to his companions, "See how full of desire and purpose and intention I am! How do I let go of that?"

Patanjali came, holding a wicker basket, and said, "If I may, put it in this wicker-basket."

Aulden carefully put the cover back on the platter and slid the snake into the basket.

Patanjali said, "I meant for you to put your desire, purpose and intention into the basket." Aulden responded by wiping his arms and face with his napkin and, as he did, objects that appeared to be balloons or pillows came off of his skin. He then placed those into the basket.

Patanjali said, "They will be in the basket, along with the snake. You must deal with them later. For now we will go upstairs." Everyone at the table stood, but Patanjali said, nodding toward Aulden, "No, only you."

Aulden followed him up the rickety wooden stairs. The stairs creaked as they walked. Aulden opened the door at the top. Inside were two kettledrums at the foot of a bed. A man was sleeping in the bed. Was he ill? Aulden wasn't certain.

Aulden asked, "Who is this man sleeping in the bed?" Patanjali watched silently, not answering. Aulden then asked, "What's with the drums?"

Patanjali responded, "To wake him up!"

Aulden was cautious and said, "Tell me about him first."

"Wake him up!" Patanjali encouraged him, "What are you waiting for?"

"Maybe I'm afraid he'll change everything," Aulden answered. "Maybe I'm afraid he won't change anything!"

Patanjali shook his head, and Aulden laughed, saying, "Okay, I'm going to wake him up. Is there anything I should know first?"

Patanjali said to Aulden, "Sit with me."

Eager at the idea of sitting in meditation with Patanjali, Aulden replied, "You're the ascended master!" But Patanjali shrugged that off, saying, "Bah! It's no big deal."

Aulden turned his attention back to the sleeping man and asked, "Is he an aspect of Self?"

Patanjali answered, "Of course! You've met them before."

"Is he the True Self?"

"That's not it," Patanjali responded with advice, "Look at him."

Aulden studied the sleeping man. "He's wearing a Scottish kilt and he has red hair. Should I wake him up?"

Patanjali answered, "I already told you to wake him up."

Aulden stepped up to the drums and banged on them until the sleeping man woke and sat up. The man was apparently bothered to have his sleep so rudely disturbed, and spoke in such a thick Scottish dialect that Aulden couldn't understand him.

Aulden introduced himself, "Uh… Hello Sir, my name is Aulden."

He answered, "My name is MacTavish."

"Who sent you here, MacTavish?"

"I wasn't sent," the Scotsman replied. "I've been sleeping here for a long time."

Aulden felt as if this was building up to something. He asked, "Why are you in my life right now?"

MacTavish leaned forward, and said, "I don't know. Do you have any dollies?"

"Dollies?" As odd as that question was, Aulden remembered and said, "Yes. I have one."

MacTavish told him, "Go and get it and bring it to me."

Aulden knew his way around his own head well enough by now that all he needed was to imagine himself back to the Cabinetmaster's shop and he was there.

The frightening little Barbie doll - the one that Aulden called "the autonomous complex" - with wild, frizzy hair and a toothy grimace was still in the drawer where they'd stored it away, it's arms and legs tied with a strand of hair. The Cabinetmaster handed it to Aulden, saying, "Finally time to take care of this one." Aulden nodded, "Finally time," and he returned to MacTavish and Patanjali in the upstairs apartment.

"I have the Dolly," he informed them.

MacTavish instructed, "Set her on the floor in the middle of the room."

Aulden, Patanjali and MacTavish sat in a circle around the doll. She struggled frantically against the bonds of Detail's hair. MacTavish said, "Well, she's all bound up. We could release her."

Aulden asked if releasing the doll would be safe. MacTavish asked, "Do you want to keep the doll bound up inside your head?"

Aulden understood, and asked, "Patanjali, could you lock the door?" The ascended master answered, "Of course!"

Then Aulden settled in and declared, "I don't care how long it takes, I will stay here until I understand this dolly." He then untied her. Released, she ran about the room, looking for escape.

Aulden asked his companions, "Do you know who sent her here - to this land inside my head?" Patanjali handed Aulden a book, and said, "The answer to that is here." The title of the book, on the cover, was "Rose and Thorns."

He took hold of the book and flipped through the pages. As he did, he thought about the symptoms of his most pressing psychological complex: stomach pain, obsessive thoughts about his ex-wife, feelings of love, fear and anger jumbled together. The pages of the book had only images of roses and thorns.

The doll was still looking for an escape. Aulden wondered, "Is she the complex who makes me love women who are kind of … feral?"

Aulden spoke to his companions, "MacTavish, Patanjali, a thought just struck me! If I come to terms with her, she's going to transform away from being a complex figure and into an archetypal figure, and then maybe she won't be all wild and feral. And then maybe I won't be attracted to women who act like her."

His companions gazed at him, waiting for his final thought. Aulden said, "Maybe I don't want to stop loving women who act like her." He thought about this for a moment, and continued, "But… it's time. Little doll, tell me your name."

The doll said her name, "Woo," or maybe she said, "Wu."

Aulden's stomach pain increased, and he could only associate that increasing pain to the presence of this doll. Aulden asked, "Wu, what do you need from me?"

The doll growled at Aulden and took a defensive, threatening stance. Aulden was a bit unnerved by this, and he sat still, watching the doll. MacTavish said to her, "Settle," and at that Wu relaxed and stood cautiously behind a chair leg. MacTavish turned to Aulden and said, "I can help," and to Wu he repeated Aulden's question, "What do you need from him?"

Wu screamed, "Leave me alone!"

Aulden asked, "Is that what you need?" She nodded in affirmation. Her answer, however, confused Aulden. What solution is this? He asked her, "Wu, I can leave you alone, but tell me, how do I recognize you so I'll know to leave you alone? Like, if some other woman I meet is the same as you? How will I know?"

Wu explained, "I'll growl at you. I'll hiss."

Aulden asked, "Tell me this: Tell me what you're busy doing when you need to be left alone."

Wu responded, "Ah! My work!"

"Yes! Tell me about your work! What is your purpose in my life - your work?"

Wu replied, "I'm too busy to talk to you."

"Please tell me," Aulden begged her.

She answered, "I mess things up; tear things apart."

"Why?"

She continued, "Don't you know? Tear down to build up!"

Aulden asked, "What gift do you bring me? What can you give me?"

"You need a little wildness in your life," she told him.

Aulden knew that "Wu" is the Chinese word for "without" in the Taoist phrase "wu wei" - "action without action," or "actionless action." When she screamed, "Leave me alone!" this made sense to Aulden, because he related her name to "without action." His friend Ferdinand also wanted to be alone, so Aulden helped him to move into an isolated cabin in the mountains. But Wu's cry to be left alone felt different to Aulden, and called for a different solution.

Aulden noticed that the doll "Wu" - "Without" - didn't have the counterpart "Wei." Her solitary status is why Aulden called her an autonomous complex. She's missing her counterpart. Could the "Wei" - "Action" - be MacTavish as the counterpart to this autonomous complex? Why does Wu appear as such a chaotic and wild image?

Aulden asked her, "Is this what you mean when you say leave me alone: Do you mean non-action?" Wu simply sat and smiled a hideous toothy grin of satisfaction.

Aulden continued, "I see I need to take you more seriously and less like a child's doll. I need to take non-action more seriously. I'm going to have Paanjali unlock the door and you'll be free, Wu, but if you want to stay with me for a while I would love to have you with me to talk together more."

She hugged Aulden - hugged his leg, that is, because she stood only as tall as a Barbie. She still had the appearance of a wild, ratty-hair creature.

"Will you become a Barbie again?" Aulden asked her. She replied, "No, I can never be her again." Then Wu transformed into a woman - a Chinese woman in a conservative business suit. She sat and said, "I will stay with you for a time." Then the four of them sat in meditation together: Wu, Aulden, Patanjali and MacTavish.

Aulden broke a lengthy silence by saying to Wu, "I want to understand more about you, Wu, and about action through non-action."

"Sh! Don't ask! Listen," she told him.

MacTavish asked her, "Why don't you tell us, Wu?"

Aulden asked, "Are you restless, MacTavish?"

He answered, "No, no. You're restless and you're putting it on me."

Aulden turned his attention back to Wu and asked, "Why does my stomach hurt around you, Wu? Is there something wrong in our relationship?"

Wu told him, "Enthusiasm for life, without action."

Still trying to piece this together, Aulden asked, "How do you fit into this, MacTavish?"

"Well, I do have an enthusiasm for life."

Aulden asked him, "What do you need from me?" and MacTavish's answer came in metaphor. MacTavish said, "Aw! The Question! Talk with an accent - the accent of someone who is alive, awake - of someone who gives a care!"

Aulden spoke to both of them, "Are you two…?" and even as he asked, Wu and MacTavish were gazing at each other with affection: Wu, the "leave me alone," and MacTavish, awakened and enthusiastic. The task, in Aulden's view, seemed to consist of uniting MacTavish and Wu, uniting the action of awakeness to Wu's actionlessness. Aulden speculated that this might have been his most important task since the day he fell and got lost inside his own head.

Aulden invited them to come with him to meet the King but they declined. They were interested in each other. Wu reminded him that she'd been tied up in the cabinet for a long time, just as MacTavish was asleep for a long time.

Aulden asked Patanjali, "Should we go back downstairs then?"

As Aulden descended the wooden staircase his traveling companions stood. Poseidon raised his glass and announced, "A toast!" The others at the table raised their glasses and faced Aulden. Poseidon called out, "Enjoy! Live!"