Das Glasperlenspiel tells the story of a young student called Josef Knecht, who is asked to serve the elite, fictional pedagogical province of Castalia at the young age of twelve or thirteen by the Musikmeister because of his exceptional musical ability. Knecht allows himself to be groomed as he is attracted to the scholarly pursuits of the Castalian Order which involves the complex study of “das Glasperlenspiel” and as a result he eventually attains the highest position as Magister Ludi or Master of the Glass Bead Game at the age of forty. Having integrated his conversations and experiences with his archetypal images of the Musikmeister, Plinio Designori and Pater Jakobus into his psyche, Knecht decides to leave Castalia behind and starts to long for the freedom of the outside world and to become individuated by experiencing the Nietzschean concept of self-excess, which should eventually lead him to discover a more dynamised idea of his Self archetype that is constantly reinventing itself.