The article discusses aspects of blindness in the social unconscious as reflected in two literary products: fairy tale and short story. The discussion includes analysing the texts themselves and the analysis of a group's reaction to such text. This examination helps in learning about both the somatic and metaphoric level of the social unconscious. Focusing on a group of Israeli participants, this article presents the functions of blindness in dealing with the aftermath of collective trauma and guilt in the Israeli social unconscious.

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Relying on the idea that fairy tales are part of the foundation matrix, and that the phenomenon of realization of idiomatic expressions (often appearing in fairy tales) helps to reveal the affinity between concrete and metaphoric layers of the mind, this article focuses on the realization of idiomatic expressions found in fairy tales dealing with the earliest mother-son relationships in order to explore the different modes of expression in the social mind. Focusing on the folk tradition of eastern European Jews we exemplify the affinity between primary levels of mental organization, which are relatively universal, and social-cultural aspects with which a certain ethnic community is pre-occupied.

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After describing the role of sensations in the primary levels of mental organization, this part of the article suggests viewing somatic idioms as the language's way to connect with these levels. We seek to exemplify the qualities, meanings and functioning of idioms, since they serve as a basic key in investigating the different layers of the mind. Examples taken from clinical cases, as well as from universal literary products, such as fairy tales, provide useful contributions to this argument.