Nuria Daly's Blog: The Witch as Teacher in fairy Tales, page 3
July 11, 2017
Cenerentola - Ashes and Cinders. What has been burned?
Cenerentola – Ashes and Cinders. What has been burned?
I am very grateful to Nawab’s comment below, as it leads us into an exploration of the question – What has been burned?
‘Thank you, dear Nuria. Yes, it is a very good question, ‘what has been burnt?’ Zezolla has become a ‘cinder’ on the hearth, which could remind us of a sacrifice, the burnt offering upon the sacred altar.
Regarding the urging of Zezolla that her Father should marry her Guardian, in metaphysical terms it is indeed the energy of the ‘soul’ that brings us into physical manifestation–a complete disaster in one way, but also the only gateway to illumination, the Divine homecoming.’
The ashes themselves are a powerful symbol of the sacred, the residue or remains of something – the result of transformation. The sacred ash on Ash Wednesday comes from the burned Palms of the previous Palm Sunday, mixed with olive oil, are applied in a cross-form on the forehead of the believer. This reminds the devout; ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return’. Indeed, the wearing of ashes is a sign of surrender and devotion.
In the Hindu tradition, the sacred ash is made of burned dried wood and symbolises the incarnation of power, and the struggle toward divine achievement, the power of God in man. Devotees apply this sacred ash as three horizontal lines across the forehead and other parts of the body.
What Zezolla has sacrificed is her life in the outer world. From the ‘royal chamber, the canopy of state, splendid apparel of silks and gold’, as it says in the story. This is the gateway to illumination, as Nawab has said – the Divine homecoming. Through her practice and guidance from the Dove of the Fairies, she has achieved this exalted state of ‘nothingness’.
In the Frog Princess story, Vassilisa’s frog-skin is burned by her husband, the Prince, perhaps, as we discussed earlier, because she was not ready or able to do it herself. Her frog-skin represented the ugly skin she was forced to wear by the dictates of outer life. She had to flee to the land of Kashchey the deathless and wait for her redemption. Kashchey is a character which is mysterious but seems to be related to the colour white, like the ashes. The name seems to mean old bones, which also implies death of course. Perhaps he is deathless because he is death. Thus, the Princess Vassilisa must endure the transformation into nothingness, so that she can be reborn. Sufis too must die before we die.
When Zezolla becomes Cenerentola she begins the next part of her journey to become Queen.
I am very grateful to Nawab’s comment below, as it leads us into an exploration of the question – What has been burned?
‘Thank you, dear Nuria. Yes, it is a very good question, ‘what has been burnt?’ Zezolla has become a ‘cinder’ on the hearth, which could remind us of a sacrifice, the burnt offering upon the sacred altar.
Regarding the urging of Zezolla that her Father should marry her Guardian, in metaphysical terms it is indeed the energy of the ‘soul’ that brings us into physical manifestation–a complete disaster in one way, but also the only gateway to illumination, the Divine homecoming.’
The ashes themselves are a powerful symbol of the sacred, the residue or remains of something – the result of transformation. The sacred ash on Ash Wednesday comes from the burned Palms of the previous Palm Sunday, mixed with olive oil, are applied in a cross-form on the forehead of the believer. This reminds the devout; ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return’. Indeed, the wearing of ashes is a sign of surrender and devotion.
In the Hindu tradition, the sacred ash is made of burned dried wood and symbolises the incarnation of power, and the struggle toward divine achievement, the power of God in man. Devotees apply this sacred ash as three horizontal lines across the forehead and other parts of the body.
What Zezolla has sacrificed is her life in the outer world. From the ‘royal chamber, the canopy of state, splendid apparel of silks and gold’, as it says in the story. This is the gateway to illumination, as Nawab has said – the Divine homecoming. Through her practice and guidance from the Dove of the Fairies, she has achieved this exalted state of ‘nothingness’.
In the Frog Princess story, Vassilisa’s frog-skin is burned by her husband, the Prince, perhaps, as we discussed earlier, because she was not ready or able to do it herself. Her frog-skin represented the ugly skin she was forced to wear by the dictates of outer life. She had to flee to the land of Kashchey the deathless and wait for her redemption. Kashchey is a character which is mysterious but seems to be related to the colour white, like the ashes. The name seems to mean old bones, which also implies death of course. Perhaps he is deathless because he is death. Thus, the Princess Vassilisa must endure the transformation into nothingness, so that she can be reborn. Sufis too must die before we die.
When Zezolla becomes Cenerentola she begins the next part of her journey to become Queen.
Cenerentola - who does the Stepmother represent?
Cenerentola – Who does the stepmother really represent?
Cenerentola is a story which works on many levels. It is about the evolution of the feminine, without the aid of a ‘hero’. All the characters in the tale are part of the one being – Zezolla’s father the Prince represents the Heart in Sufi terms, while Zezolla herself is Soul. She is very young and unevolved; there is no mature ‘Mother’ in this story; her Mother is said to be dead. This leaves us with the question of who is the stepmother with her many daughters?
At first I felt that Zezolla’s ‘nurse’, who became the stepmother, was a manifestation of our real or natural mother; the one who cares for us as best she can but who cannot really meet our inner needs as the Great Mother. On pondering this further, I now believe that the nurse / stepmother represents the outer world more generally, and that this story is about the Inner and Outer Realms and the transition and movement between the two. Then the story makes more sense. The outer world is so seductive – when things are difficult, we go shopping, or redecorate the house, buy a new car, but this can only satisfy us for a short time. We look for appreciation, love and happiness in the outer world, but from where do we get the love and nurturing that we really need. It is from the inner realm, as we shall see.
So why does Zezolla encourage the marriage of her nurse to her father, when she already knows that this will be troublesome for her? At the wedding feast a dove comes to her from the Dove of the Fairies in Sardinia, giving her advice as to what she should do when things go wrong. It is much like in some other stories, where the hero does something which is perhaps ‘wrong’ but it turns out to be right. Like when the little humpbacked horse, tells Ivan not to pick up the firebird’s feather as it will bring him much trouble and strife. But he picks it up anyway. Zezolla too knows what she is doing when she persuades her father the Prince to marry her nurse. This will become a great battle for her.
In many ways, the Cenerentola tale is the back story of the Frog Princess and the burning of the frog-skin, as well as showing the evolution of the feminine as ‘One in Herself’. This is a powerful insight into the feminine. Paradoxically, it reflects both the before and the after, while being wholly in the present.
When the Prince marries the nurse, he has taken on the outer world with its many pleasures and seduction. His wife brings with her many daughters who belong to this outer world. We get a picture of this realm from the story – the delicious food, beautiful clothes, and trinkets. He becomes so taken up in this world that he forgets his Soul, his own beautiful daughter – his inner life which he once knew so well, lived, and loved. This is a scenario we are all familiar with – we are seduced by the outer life, by technology, by the speed of our interactions and communications. The sacred, the Soul is forgotten.
So what is it that has been burned? What do the cinders and ashes come from? What has been burnt? Cenerentola place is now among the ashes. Zezolla has gone, she has become Cenerentola. A great transformation has taken place.
Cenerentola is a story which works on many levels. It is about the evolution of the feminine, without the aid of a ‘hero’. All the characters in the tale are part of the one being – Zezolla’s father the Prince represents the Heart in Sufi terms, while Zezolla herself is Soul. She is very young and unevolved; there is no mature ‘Mother’ in this story; her Mother is said to be dead. This leaves us with the question of who is the stepmother with her many daughters?
At first I felt that Zezolla’s ‘nurse’, who became the stepmother, was a manifestation of our real or natural mother; the one who cares for us as best she can but who cannot really meet our inner needs as the Great Mother. On pondering this further, I now believe that the nurse / stepmother represents the outer world more generally, and that this story is about the Inner and Outer Realms and the transition and movement between the two. Then the story makes more sense. The outer world is so seductive – when things are difficult, we go shopping, or redecorate the house, buy a new car, but this can only satisfy us for a short time. We look for appreciation, love and happiness in the outer world, but from where do we get the love and nurturing that we really need. It is from the inner realm, as we shall see.
So why does Zezolla encourage the marriage of her nurse to her father, when she already knows that this will be troublesome for her? At the wedding feast a dove comes to her from the Dove of the Fairies in Sardinia, giving her advice as to what she should do when things go wrong. It is much like in some other stories, where the hero does something which is perhaps ‘wrong’ but it turns out to be right. Like when the little humpbacked horse, tells Ivan not to pick up the firebird’s feather as it will bring him much trouble and strife. But he picks it up anyway. Zezolla too knows what she is doing when she persuades her father the Prince to marry her nurse. This will become a great battle for her.
In many ways, the Cenerentola tale is the back story of the Frog Princess and the burning of the frog-skin, as well as showing the evolution of the feminine as ‘One in Herself’. This is a powerful insight into the feminine. Paradoxically, it reflects both the before and the after, while being wholly in the present.
When the Prince marries the nurse, he has taken on the outer world with its many pleasures and seduction. His wife brings with her many daughters who belong to this outer world. We get a picture of this realm from the story – the delicious food, beautiful clothes, and trinkets. He becomes so taken up in this world that he forgets his Soul, his own beautiful daughter – his inner life which he once knew so well, lived, and loved. This is a scenario we are all familiar with – we are seduced by the outer life, by technology, by the speed of our interactions and communications. The sacred, the Soul is forgotten.
So what is it that has been burned? What do the cinders and ashes come from? What has been burnt? Cenerentola place is now among the ashes. Zezolla has gone, she has become Cenerentola. A great transformation has taken place.
July 10, 2017
'Trust No-one'
‘Trust No-one!’
This essay is in response to Murshid Nawab’s comment regarding Petru’s destruction of the magical device, which allows him to see what is going on back home, in the story ‘Fairy of the Dawn’. As Nawab says – its takes time and preparation to rise to a state where we are able to bear or endure seeing the fates of loved ones, be they family or friends, but the most important aspect, as Nawab mentioned, is for us to see our own blind spots, especially the ones we really love! We so often don’t want to see them, even if we can. These rejected parts of ourselves, of our egos, are represented by Petru’s brothers, in the story of the Fairy of the Dawn. They are fearful, cowardly and have not got the discipline, tools, or strength to fight the fiery dragon at the edge of the realm. But they are also greedy and want the sacred water for themselves – without doing any of the inner ‘work’ of course. On his journey Petru sees how his brothers are trying to influence their father the emperor for their own purpose, and how the Emperor himself is becoming increasingly blind. When our small self or ego gains in power then the Higher Self loses its insight and its ability to hear the Voice within, even while another part of ourselves is on the inner journey. It is extremely difficult for us to ‘see’ and recognise when it is a part of yourself, who is sabotaging you. Our inner and outer life, do influence one-another and it is in contemplation and meditation that we come to realise what is really happening – both inner and outer.
But it is on Petru’s return journey, carrying the sacred water of life from the Fairy of the dawn, that the Goddess Mercury warns him, to ‘Trust No-one’. When he returns to his own land – back into the world again, he is so happy to see his brothers and does not realise that they would do anything to harm him, even kill him, in order to steal this precious water of life.
There is a saying ‘After Enlightenment, the laundry’, but I wonder if there really is any ‘after the enlightenment’. Enlightenment is a gradual process and I do not think that many would feel truly enlightened on their deathbed. Sufis prefer to talk about evolution – about the process of perfecting ourselves. This is never finished in our lifetime – only the One is perfect. Jung has said that evolution is not linear, but is a circumambulating around the higher Self (the Divine part of ourselves).
Just as Christ, experienced temptation after his baptism, it seems to me that when there is a transition to a higher level of evolution or consciousness, there is a temptation to use the newfound wisdom and insight we have learned, for the purposes of the ego.
The ultimate Ideals for a Christian are Truth, Beauty, and goodness (spirituality), which are related to Faith, Hope and Love. So it is also with Sufism. The ‘Devil’ who tempts Christ, tempts him with Hedonism (hunger and satisfaction), egoism (might and power) and materialism (wealth). When Christ refused each temptation, the Devil departed.
Petru was protected from everything except the element of water, which is what he was carrying on his return. So his brothers realised that water would be the only element which could kill him. When we carry within us the sacred water we have won, the ego or small self wants to use that to its own advantage. We can see this sometimes in people, teachers or Gurus who give in to this. Their very spirituality is used by their ego to promote themselves. Spiritual ego is really the worst kind of ego as it is so deluded. So the truth is that we can trust no-one – not even ourselves.
This essay is in response to Murshid Nawab’s comment regarding Petru’s destruction of the magical device, which allows him to see what is going on back home, in the story ‘Fairy of the Dawn’. As Nawab says – its takes time and preparation to rise to a state where we are able to bear or endure seeing the fates of loved ones, be they family or friends, but the most important aspect, as Nawab mentioned, is for us to see our own blind spots, especially the ones we really love! We so often don’t want to see them, even if we can. These rejected parts of ourselves, of our egos, are represented by Petru’s brothers, in the story of the Fairy of the Dawn. They are fearful, cowardly and have not got the discipline, tools, or strength to fight the fiery dragon at the edge of the realm. But they are also greedy and want the sacred water for themselves – without doing any of the inner ‘work’ of course. On his journey Petru sees how his brothers are trying to influence their father the emperor for their own purpose, and how the Emperor himself is becoming increasingly blind. When our small self or ego gains in power then the Higher Self loses its insight and its ability to hear the Voice within, even while another part of ourselves is on the inner journey. It is extremely difficult for us to ‘see’ and recognise when it is a part of yourself, who is sabotaging you. Our inner and outer life, do influence one-another and it is in contemplation and meditation that we come to realise what is really happening – both inner and outer.
But it is on Petru’s return journey, carrying the sacred water of life from the Fairy of the dawn, that the Goddess Mercury warns him, to ‘Trust No-one’. When he returns to his own land – back into the world again, he is so happy to see his brothers and does not realise that they would do anything to harm him, even kill him, in order to steal this precious water of life.
There is a saying ‘After Enlightenment, the laundry’, but I wonder if there really is any ‘after the enlightenment’. Enlightenment is a gradual process and I do not think that many would feel truly enlightened on their deathbed. Sufis prefer to talk about evolution – about the process of perfecting ourselves. This is never finished in our lifetime – only the One is perfect. Jung has said that evolution is not linear, but is a circumambulating around the higher Self (the Divine part of ourselves).
Just as Christ, experienced temptation after his baptism, it seems to me that when there is a transition to a higher level of evolution or consciousness, there is a temptation to use the newfound wisdom and insight we have learned, for the purposes of the ego.
The ultimate Ideals for a Christian are Truth, Beauty, and goodness (spirituality), which are related to Faith, Hope and Love. So it is also with Sufism. The ‘Devil’ who tempts Christ, tempts him with Hedonism (hunger and satisfaction), egoism (might and power) and materialism (wealth). When Christ refused each temptation, the Devil departed.
Petru was protected from everything except the element of water, which is what he was carrying on his return. So his brothers realised that water would be the only element which could kill him. When we carry within us the sacred water we have won, the ego or small self wants to use that to its own advantage. We can see this sometimes in people, teachers or Gurus who give in to this. Their very spirituality is used by their ego to promote themselves. Spiritual ego is really the worst kind of ego as it is so deluded. So the truth is that we can trust no-one – not even ourselves.
A Letter about the Frog-skin in the Frog Princess.
The Frog Princess
Dear Nuria
You asked me what it was about “The Frog Princess” that captured my attention. You asked, in particular, about the frog-skins.
The first thing that captured me was that the princess is transformed into a frog by a king who was jealous of her power. In some versions this is her father. To me this symbolises the fear that the patriarchy have of the power of women, but, more than that, it also shows how the feminine can be forced to assume another guise (disguise) to survive. Although the princess is transformed into a frog, she is far from powerless. This intrigues me. She catches the prince’s arrow in her mouth. We speak of the arrow of desire. But here we see how the desire for union manifests in both the princess and princess.
As you point out in your book, the princess frog is found in the marsh, and the marsh is a crossing place. Her frogskin enables her to move between both the active realm and the inner realm. She takes up her place in the outer realm, in court. Her inner feminine is filled with the deep knowing that you have spoken about in your talks at different times. This is what guides her hand when she makes the beautiful shirt for the tsar and bakes the bread. You have spoken about the rich symbolism of the embroidered shirt and the bread, so need for any further comment here from me.
Although the princess appears as a frog, she knows who she really is. At some deeper level, the prince hears her with his inner ear, because he accepts all that she says and does as she bids him to do. The princess is not perturbed in anyway by the malice of her sisters in law. She knows what it is right and fitting to do. She does not suffer from doubt, but is filled with confidence. Confidence means “with faith” and it seems to me that all that she does, when in this captured state has a certain sure footedness, because she is connected to the deep inner realm. Our own doubt and misgivings can come from accepting the guise of the frogskins, from taking on the guise that the patriarchy, directly or indirectly, makes us wear, as being who and what we are. The frog princess has no such misgivings. She never loses sight of who she is really is – no matter that others do not see this. She does not need the regard of others. She does not dignify the folly and malice of the sisters in law by responding to them by taking taking them seriously, but instead just responds calmly and with good humour.
When she appears at court as a beautiful queen, the white swans that appear symbolise divine harmony. The swan is a symbol of discrimination and union. Her gracefulness and discrimination at the ball – taking a sip of the ceremonial wine, putting the bones in her sleeve – these are the outer signs of her inner grace, of knowing what it is right and fitting.
When she appears arrayed as a queen, the imagery reminds us of Mary as the Queen of Heaven. I think this reminds us that all women have this connection to the wise and powerful feminine, whose beauty is the manifestation of grace.
The burning of the frogskins is a difficult aspect of the story. You mention that you felt a sort of horror. I felt a sense of shock, but unlike in many tales where some irrevocable action takes place – I am thinking of Orpheus looking back and losing Euryidce - in this story the burning of the frogskins is ambiguous. When would she would have been ready to leave her frogskins behind? Three days is a long time in a fairy tale.
First the princess is transformed into a frog by the patriarchy, which can be seen to represent all the harmful aspects of power, the denial and oppression of the other, which in this case is the inner feminine.
The second time, the princess transforms herself into a swan (I think everything in the tale points to her transformation into a swan, rather than a cuckoo). Here, it is as if the next stage in her transformation must be via the outer masculine, the force of acting in the world. So, it seems to me, that the feminine can be harmed by the patriarchy and must learn to deal with the world in a different guise, going about her work without attracting unwanted attention until the time is right. The ripeness is all, as Hamlet says.
When the prince burns her frogskins, but she is not ready, I think that this is just how life is. The masculine principle, by its nature acts in the world, with imperfect understanding, and makes mistakes, and yet it is by this mistake that the frog princess flies into the inner realm for the next stage in her evolution, separate from the masculine. It is by this seeming “mistake” that the prince commences his inner journey. It is the rightness of our desire that transforms our actions.
So, in this story, after I write this, I realise that what shines through is the desire of all of us as seekers, for love and for union with the divine. Whatever the harm that is done to us, as the princess is caught up in the spell of the jealous king, we have to discover our inner, deep knowing and trust in the process, as the frog princess trusts that her beautiful shirt and bread will be known as the work of a princess. Then, when, the prince burns her frogskins, this is like when we find ourselves thrust out without protection, without being prepared, and yet must see and recognise this as a time for reflection and inner growth, just as the frog princess does. Only then can both the masculine and the feminine be united in divine harmony.
Christine
Dear Nuria
You asked me what it was about “The Frog Princess” that captured my attention. You asked, in particular, about the frog-skins.
The first thing that captured me was that the princess is transformed into a frog by a king who was jealous of her power. In some versions this is her father. To me this symbolises the fear that the patriarchy have of the power of women, but, more than that, it also shows how the feminine can be forced to assume another guise (disguise) to survive. Although the princess is transformed into a frog, she is far from powerless. This intrigues me. She catches the prince’s arrow in her mouth. We speak of the arrow of desire. But here we see how the desire for union manifests in both the princess and princess.
As you point out in your book, the princess frog is found in the marsh, and the marsh is a crossing place. Her frogskin enables her to move between both the active realm and the inner realm. She takes up her place in the outer realm, in court. Her inner feminine is filled with the deep knowing that you have spoken about in your talks at different times. This is what guides her hand when she makes the beautiful shirt for the tsar and bakes the bread. You have spoken about the rich symbolism of the embroidered shirt and the bread, so need for any further comment here from me.
Although the princess appears as a frog, she knows who she really is. At some deeper level, the prince hears her with his inner ear, because he accepts all that she says and does as she bids him to do. The princess is not perturbed in anyway by the malice of her sisters in law. She knows what it is right and fitting to do. She does not suffer from doubt, but is filled with confidence. Confidence means “with faith” and it seems to me that all that she does, when in this captured state has a certain sure footedness, because she is connected to the deep inner realm. Our own doubt and misgivings can come from accepting the guise of the frogskins, from taking on the guise that the patriarchy, directly or indirectly, makes us wear, as being who and what we are. The frog princess has no such misgivings. She never loses sight of who she is really is – no matter that others do not see this. She does not need the regard of others. She does not dignify the folly and malice of the sisters in law by responding to them by taking taking them seriously, but instead just responds calmly and with good humour.
When she appears at court as a beautiful queen, the white swans that appear symbolise divine harmony. The swan is a symbol of discrimination and union. Her gracefulness and discrimination at the ball – taking a sip of the ceremonial wine, putting the bones in her sleeve – these are the outer signs of her inner grace, of knowing what it is right and fitting.
When she appears arrayed as a queen, the imagery reminds us of Mary as the Queen of Heaven. I think this reminds us that all women have this connection to the wise and powerful feminine, whose beauty is the manifestation of grace.
The burning of the frogskins is a difficult aspect of the story. You mention that you felt a sort of horror. I felt a sense of shock, but unlike in many tales where some irrevocable action takes place – I am thinking of Orpheus looking back and losing Euryidce - in this story the burning of the frogskins is ambiguous. When would she would have been ready to leave her frogskins behind? Three days is a long time in a fairy tale.
First the princess is transformed into a frog by the patriarchy, which can be seen to represent all the harmful aspects of power, the denial and oppression of the other, which in this case is the inner feminine.
The second time, the princess transforms herself into a swan (I think everything in the tale points to her transformation into a swan, rather than a cuckoo). Here, it is as if the next stage in her transformation must be via the outer masculine, the force of acting in the world. So, it seems to me, that the feminine can be harmed by the patriarchy and must learn to deal with the world in a different guise, going about her work without attracting unwanted attention until the time is right. The ripeness is all, as Hamlet says.
When the prince burns her frogskins, but she is not ready, I think that this is just how life is. The masculine principle, by its nature acts in the world, with imperfect understanding, and makes mistakes, and yet it is by this mistake that the frog princess flies into the inner realm for the next stage in her evolution, separate from the masculine. It is by this seeming “mistake” that the prince commences his inner journey. It is the rightness of our desire that transforms our actions.
So, in this story, after I write this, I realise that what shines through is the desire of all of us as seekers, for love and for union with the divine. Whatever the harm that is done to us, as the princess is caught up in the spell of the jealous king, we have to discover our inner, deep knowing and trust in the process, as the frog princess trusts that her beautiful shirt and bread will be known as the work of a princess. Then, when, the prince burns her frogskins, this is like when we find ourselves thrust out without protection, without being prepared, and yet must see and recognise this as a time for reflection and inner growth, just as the frog princess does. Only then can both the masculine and the feminine be united in divine harmony.
Christine
The Witch and the Angel do not discriminate
The Witch and the Angel do not discriminate.
It has puzzled me for a long time as to why the witch Birscha (in The Fairy of the Dawn story) seems to have aided, not only Petru (our hero) but also his brothers, who wished to steal the ‘water of life’ which had been so hard won. They were prepared to kill him for the power this water would give them over the Emperor their father and the whole land.
Many years ago, an elderly Sufi teacher told me that the Angels do not discriminate; this was why anyone (even the mafia) could pray to Angels and expect their help. Angels are beyond the so-called rights and wrongs of humanity – for them there is no heaven and there is no hell. Thus, the angelic beings must come to earth, to learn about evil – so as to discriminate between good and evil. The angelic beings on earth are therefore faced with great evil, so that they can learn. I found this very comforting as it gave meaning to my own encounter with Evil. Evil is Live spelt backwards so that it is indeed about death, death of body and soul.
The witch Birscha taught Petru so that he could manifest his beautiful and magical horse to guide and advise him on his journey. It was with his horse that he was able to find the sacred water from the well of the Fairy of the Dawn. On his return, he is advised by the Goddess Mercury, to trust no one. This Goddess had previously given Petru a magic device so that he could see and hear what was happening back home with his father, the Emperor. He knew but did not want to believe that his brothers were trying to overthrow their father. He was so upset by this that he smashed the magic device. It was Birscha who told Petru’s brothers that he was returning home with the Water of life. Why did she do that? In pondering this I realised that Petru’s denial of what he had been shown was his last weakness, the last lesson that he had to learn; to distrust even the brothers whom he loved. To heed the warning of the Goddess and his intuition and not be lead astray at the very last minute of his journey.
It was only when he heard the neigh of his beautiful horse, his inner teacher, that he came to his senses and so managed to avoid his own death and destruction, and the loss of his prize, the sacred water. With this he returned to heal his Father and the whole Kingdom.
There is a higher and greater purpose which the Witch and the Angel serve.
It has puzzled me for a long time as to why the witch Birscha (in The Fairy of the Dawn story) seems to have aided, not only Petru (our hero) but also his brothers, who wished to steal the ‘water of life’ which had been so hard won. They were prepared to kill him for the power this water would give them over the Emperor their father and the whole land.
Many years ago, an elderly Sufi teacher told me that the Angels do not discriminate; this was why anyone (even the mafia) could pray to Angels and expect their help. Angels are beyond the so-called rights and wrongs of humanity – for them there is no heaven and there is no hell. Thus, the angelic beings must come to earth, to learn about evil – so as to discriminate between good and evil. The angelic beings on earth are therefore faced with great evil, so that they can learn. I found this very comforting as it gave meaning to my own encounter with Evil. Evil is Live spelt backwards so that it is indeed about death, death of body and soul.
The witch Birscha taught Petru so that he could manifest his beautiful and magical horse to guide and advise him on his journey. It was with his horse that he was able to find the sacred water from the well of the Fairy of the Dawn. On his return, he is advised by the Goddess Mercury, to trust no one. This Goddess had previously given Petru a magic device so that he could see and hear what was happening back home with his father, the Emperor. He knew but did not want to believe that his brothers were trying to overthrow their father. He was so upset by this that he smashed the magic device. It was Birscha who told Petru’s brothers that he was returning home with the Water of life. Why did she do that? In pondering this I realised that Petru’s denial of what he had been shown was his last weakness, the last lesson that he had to learn; to distrust even the brothers whom he loved. To heed the warning of the Goddess and his intuition and not be lead astray at the very last minute of his journey.
It was only when he heard the neigh of his beautiful horse, his inner teacher, that he came to his senses and so managed to avoid his own death and destruction, and the loss of his prize, the sacred water. With this he returned to heal his Father and the whole Kingdom.
There is a higher and greater purpose which the Witch and the Angel serve.
The Structure of the Sacred Teachings in The fairy of the Dawn
The Structure of the Sacred Teachings in the Fairy of the Dawn
There is a part of The Fairy of the Dawn story which demonstrates the search for hidden or lost teachings; so that the hero has a wisdom structure to carry him through the inner realms, and who can advise him on his journey.
When our hero, Petru first comes to the bridge at the edge of his father’s realm, he must fight the terrible dragon guarding the bridge. He is unable to do this because his horse cannot handle the sight of the dragon and neighs and rears up at the mere sight of it. He knows that he cannot fight the dragon as his horse is not steady or strong enough. He must return for a better horse. This horse is a symbol of the structure - of his belief system or religion, which in this case could not quite sustain him. So, he returns to find his old nurse and teacher Birscha eagerly waiting for him at the gate of the palace. She tells Petru that he will never reach the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn unless he rides the horse which his father the Emperor rode in his youth. In other words, he must use the ancient teachings or knowledge base and steed of the Emperor, who is in fact the Heart, according to Sufis. He represents the Divine One. Birscha tells Petru to ask his Father where the horse is to be found, and then mount it and be off.
Petru does as he is told and the Emperor immediately knows that it can only have been the witch Birscha, who has told him this. ‘Fifty years have passed since I was young’, he says. This symbolises the completion of a (7 x 7) cycle – it is a Jubilee, a return to the beginning. A fresh start. ‘Who knows where the bones of my horse are rotting; or whether a scrap of his reins still lie in his stall?’ the Emperor tells Petru. Petru is devastated at this but Birscha understands the hints and symbols he has been given. The bones or structure of the Teachings are still in the horses’ stall somewhere – hidden. The scarps of the reins signify the remains of practices – means of mastery of the ego – like prayer, chanting, song or sound, breathing practice, meditation, and contemplation. These are the reins which control life. Birscha understands and sends Petru to find the scrap of the reins; the place was full of saddles, bridles, and bits of leather, but he picked out the oldest, blackest, and most decayed pair of reins and brought them to old Birscha.
With respect to Teachings and mysticism, it is thought that the Illuminated Souls, who came to earth, like Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Buddha, Abraham, Solomon, Zarathustra, Moses, Jesus, Mahomed and in many others known and unknown to the world, have directly received the sacred wisdom as a transmission from ‘above’. The Wisdom is always the same, but understood through the prism of the culture or times it was received. From this direct vertical transmission, a religion is perhaps eventually formed. Followers of the original Prophet or Teacher are taught, and the religion is spread horizontally over the regions and the peoples of the land, sometimes over hundreds and thousands of years. But the purity of the teachings become diluted or distorted over time, so that they are gradually lost, being constantly re-interpreted. Therefore, many teachers ask that their words are not to be changed under any circumstances. Petru must search in the stable (the Temple of God) for the oldest version of the practice, so to discover their original purity and wisdom.
When he brings the reins to the old woman, she performed a ritual – murmured over them and sprinkled them with incense, before holding them out to the young man. In a way, they are transformed and now carry the real mystery. ‘Take the reins’ said she ‘and strike them violently against the pillars of the house’. The pillars of the house can be seen as the Seven Pillars of Sophia – of the Feminine Wisdom – the Spiritual structure of the Teachings. In the Book of Proverbs (9 1) ‘Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn seven pillars. Sophia calls out to humanity, ‘Let the simple turn in here --- Abandon the company of simpletons and you will live, you will advance in understanding’. (Prov. 9. 4 – 6). The Seven-pillared temple, upon which Wisdom is standing, symbolises Her Church or structure. She teaches and protects. It is very interesting that the central figure seen with Sophia is a man holding a sword above a dragon, signifying strength. This could indeed be Petru. Petru did what he was told, and scarcely had the reins touched the pillar when, to his amazement, a horse ‘whose equal in beauty the world had never seen; with a saddle of gold and precious stones, and with such a dazzling bridle you hardly dared look at it, lest you should lose your sight.’ By striking the reins against the pillar of wisdom, he has manifested his inner guide, his psychopomp – the whole wisdom teaching.
‘Jump on the back of the brown horse,’ said the old woman, and went into the house.
Now the horse tells Petru to ‘sit firmly in the saddle’, and off they go to fight the dragon, cut off its head, and cross the bridge, before travelling deeper and deeper into the other realms; to the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn and back again. We need a teacher like old Birscha, to lead us to our guide, who shows us the way; – the steed who carries us through the realms.
There is a part of The Fairy of the Dawn story which demonstrates the search for hidden or lost teachings; so that the hero has a wisdom structure to carry him through the inner realms, and who can advise him on his journey.
When our hero, Petru first comes to the bridge at the edge of his father’s realm, he must fight the terrible dragon guarding the bridge. He is unable to do this because his horse cannot handle the sight of the dragon and neighs and rears up at the mere sight of it. He knows that he cannot fight the dragon as his horse is not steady or strong enough. He must return for a better horse. This horse is a symbol of the structure - of his belief system or religion, which in this case could not quite sustain him. So, he returns to find his old nurse and teacher Birscha eagerly waiting for him at the gate of the palace. She tells Petru that he will never reach the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn unless he rides the horse which his father the Emperor rode in his youth. In other words, he must use the ancient teachings or knowledge base and steed of the Emperor, who is in fact the Heart, according to Sufis. He represents the Divine One. Birscha tells Petru to ask his Father where the horse is to be found, and then mount it and be off.
Petru does as he is told and the Emperor immediately knows that it can only have been the witch Birscha, who has told him this. ‘Fifty years have passed since I was young’, he says. This symbolises the completion of a (7 x 7) cycle – it is a Jubilee, a return to the beginning. A fresh start. ‘Who knows where the bones of my horse are rotting; or whether a scrap of his reins still lie in his stall?’ the Emperor tells Petru. Petru is devastated at this but Birscha understands the hints and symbols he has been given. The bones or structure of the Teachings are still in the horses’ stall somewhere – hidden. The scarps of the reins signify the remains of practices – means of mastery of the ego – like prayer, chanting, song or sound, breathing practice, meditation, and contemplation. These are the reins which control life. Birscha understands and sends Petru to find the scrap of the reins; the place was full of saddles, bridles, and bits of leather, but he picked out the oldest, blackest, and most decayed pair of reins and brought them to old Birscha.
With respect to Teachings and mysticism, it is thought that the Illuminated Souls, who came to earth, like Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Buddha, Abraham, Solomon, Zarathustra, Moses, Jesus, Mahomed and in many others known and unknown to the world, have directly received the sacred wisdom as a transmission from ‘above’. The Wisdom is always the same, but understood through the prism of the culture or times it was received. From this direct vertical transmission, a religion is perhaps eventually formed. Followers of the original Prophet or Teacher are taught, and the religion is spread horizontally over the regions and the peoples of the land, sometimes over hundreds and thousands of years. But the purity of the teachings become diluted or distorted over time, so that they are gradually lost, being constantly re-interpreted. Therefore, many teachers ask that their words are not to be changed under any circumstances. Petru must search in the stable (the Temple of God) for the oldest version of the practice, so to discover their original purity and wisdom.
When he brings the reins to the old woman, she performed a ritual – murmured over them and sprinkled them with incense, before holding them out to the young man. In a way, they are transformed and now carry the real mystery. ‘Take the reins’ said she ‘and strike them violently against the pillars of the house’. The pillars of the house can be seen as the Seven Pillars of Sophia – of the Feminine Wisdom – the Spiritual structure of the Teachings. In the Book of Proverbs (9 1) ‘Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn seven pillars. Sophia calls out to humanity, ‘Let the simple turn in here --- Abandon the company of simpletons and you will live, you will advance in understanding’. (Prov. 9. 4 – 6). The Seven-pillared temple, upon which Wisdom is standing, symbolises Her Church or structure. She teaches and protects. It is very interesting that the central figure seen with Sophia is a man holding a sword above a dragon, signifying strength. This could indeed be Petru. Petru did what he was told, and scarcely had the reins touched the pillar when, to his amazement, a horse ‘whose equal in beauty the world had never seen; with a saddle of gold and precious stones, and with such a dazzling bridle you hardly dared look at it, lest you should lose your sight.’ By striking the reins against the pillar of wisdom, he has manifested his inner guide, his psychopomp – the whole wisdom teaching.
‘Jump on the back of the brown horse,’ said the old woman, and went into the house.
Now the horse tells Petru to ‘sit firmly in the saddle’, and off they go to fight the dragon, cut off its head, and cross the bridge, before travelling deeper and deeper into the other realms; to the spring of the Fairy of the Dawn and back again. We need a teacher like old Birscha, to lead us to our guide, who shows us the way; – the steed who carries us through the realms.
The Witch Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess
The Witch Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess
When I was pondering on the witch Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess, I realised that she was really an amazing Teacher and helpful to those who know how to approach her. She would be very ‘tricky’ and even scary to those who would not know how to handle such an encounter.
Great Sufi teachers are humble and usually stay hidden and would disguise themselves in their teaching tales. Thus in Sufi stories, the Teacher might well be in the guise of a magician or witch. This made a lot of sense and put the Baba Yaga into perspective for me. She is the archetypal witch and teacher. The Prince (our hero) only encounters her late in the tale when he is in the depth of the inner realm – at the edge of the forest and very close to the end of his quest.
In my book, The Witch as Teacher in Fairy Tales, the in-between place, such as the edge of the forest, is much discussed. Such in-between places are where the outer and inner realms meet. In Ireland these were called the Thin Place, but in therapy could be called an edge space.
The hero (Prince Ivan) is on a quest to find his wife (the Frog Princess) after he has burned her frog-skin and she has flown away to the realm of Kashchey the deathless. After many adventures, he comes to the Baba Yaga’s hut at the edge of the forest. It is turning around on its ‘chicken leg’. This turning around on its own centre is very symbolic. Everything in the universe turns around something else, the electrons around the nucleus of an atom, the planets around their star. There are Sufi practices which have us turning around our own centre – such as the whirling dervishes, or by circumambulating a sacred place. The sacred is dynamic. In ancient times pilgrims, would walk around a great oak tree in a ritualistic way.
There is also no apparent way into the hut even were it to stand still. I think that if a child were to do a stick drawing of a tree trunk it would look much like a chicken leg, so that the hut could be a analogy for a great and sacred oak tree. Prince Ivan has been taught well – he knows the incantation which he must say, to make the witch’s hut turn its back to the forest and its face to him. This is his way of finding his entry into the deep dark forest; the realm of old, mysterious beliefs. He is then able to enter the hut and see the Baba Yaga, who is lying on the top of a stove with her nose pressed up against the ceiling. The stove represents the heart: if you look at a picture or diagram of a Russian stove, you will see that there are channels, vents, and ducts just like a heart. They would take up most of the space within a home. In the small space between the top of the stove and the ceiling is the Baba Yaga. What an amazing image. She asks him why he has come. ‘Are you seeking your fortune or running away from it?’ This is a profound question! But the Prince tells her she is an old scold and asks for food, drink, and a hot bath. This is according to the laws of civility, and she complies. The prince understands the ritual and goes by the book. Perhaps she is testing him. It is only after this that he can tell her that he was seeking his wife. Of course the old witch knows exactly what has happened and tells him how to find the heart of Kashchey the deathless, to kill him. The prince spends the night with the Baba Yaga, I suspect in teaching and meditation, so that he can accomplish his great task and free his beautiful wife, the Princess Vassilisa.
When I was pondering on the witch Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess, I realised that she was really an amazing Teacher and helpful to those who know how to approach her. She would be very ‘tricky’ and even scary to those who would not know how to handle such an encounter.
Great Sufi teachers are humble and usually stay hidden and would disguise themselves in their teaching tales. Thus in Sufi stories, the Teacher might well be in the guise of a magician or witch. This made a lot of sense and put the Baba Yaga into perspective for me. She is the archetypal witch and teacher. The Prince (our hero) only encounters her late in the tale when he is in the depth of the inner realm – at the edge of the forest and very close to the end of his quest.
In my book, The Witch as Teacher in Fairy Tales, the in-between place, such as the edge of the forest, is much discussed. Such in-between places are where the outer and inner realms meet. In Ireland these were called the Thin Place, but in therapy could be called an edge space.
The hero (Prince Ivan) is on a quest to find his wife (the Frog Princess) after he has burned her frog-skin and she has flown away to the realm of Kashchey the deathless. After many adventures, he comes to the Baba Yaga’s hut at the edge of the forest. It is turning around on its ‘chicken leg’. This turning around on its own centre is very symbolic. Everything in the universe turns around something else, the electrons around the nucleus of an atom, the planets around their star. There are Sufi practices which have us turning around our own centre – such as the whirling dervishes, or by circumambulating a sacred place. The sacred is dynamic. In ancient times pilgrims, would walk around a great oak tree in a ritualistic way.
There is also no apparent way into the hut even were it to stand still. I think that if a child were to do a stick drawing of a tree trunk it would look much like a chicken leg, so that the hut could be a analogy for a great and sacred oak tree. Prince Ivan has been taught well – he knows the incantation which he must say, to make the witch’s hut turn its back to the forest and its face to him. This is his way of finding his entry into the deep dark forest; the realm of old, mysterious beliefs. He is then able to enter the hut and see the Baba Yaga, who is lying on the top of a stove with her nose pressed up against the ceiling. The stove represents the heart: if you look at a picture or diagram of a Russian stove, you will see that there are channels, vents, and ducts just like a heart. They would take up most of the space within a home. In the small space between the top of the stove and the ceiling is the Baba Yaga. What an amazing image. She asks him why he has come. ‘Are you seeking your fortune or running away from it?’ This is a profound question! But the Prince tells her she is an old scold and asks for food, drink, and a hot bath. This is according to the laws of civility, and she complies. The prince understands the ritual and goes by the book. Perhaps she is testing him. It is only after this that he can tell her that he was seeking his wife. Of course the old witch knows exactly what has happened and tells him how to find the heart of Kashchey the deathless, to kill him. The prince spends the night with the Baba Yaga, I suspect in teaching and meditation, so that he can accomplish his great task and free his beautiful wife, the Princess Vassilisa.
The Witch as Spiritual Teacher in Fairy Tales
The Witch as a Spiritual Teacher
Sufi teachers are very humble and retiring and have a tendency to disguise themselves when telling stories. Often they appear as a magician or a witch, and so remain hidden. It is the teaching in the story that is important, not the person of the teacher. I only really grasped this when I was attempting to weave the strands of the five stories, which Nawab had given me, into a narrative which could be understood in our present time and place.
I finally understood that the witch in many fairy tales could be seen as a spiritual teacher. Teaching tales of old were passed on orally – there was a great oral tradition which has survived into the early 20th century in Ireland.
When examining the role of the witch in these tales, especially the Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess, it all came together for me. It was like the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place. I could understand at last. The fairy in ancient times, was also considered powerful and wise, much like the witch, and like her, could also be very tricky and often scary. It is only recently that fairies are considered as delicate, beautiful, and magical beings. At one stage my book was to be called ‘The Witch and the Fairy as Teacher in Fairy Tales’, but this misunderstanding of the ‘Fairy’ made me change it.
The Baba Yaga is a powerful and wise teacher for those who know who she is and how to deal with her. One of the first things we learn on the spiritual path is how to behave towards our teacher. There is a story told by Kabir Helminsky, of a Sufi Shaikh or teacher who asked one of his students (Mureeds), to take the role of teacher in the group, so that he could demonstrate for them how they should behave towards their Shaikh. One must first learn how to be a student on the path. When I first became a member of a Sufi group, our leader used to tell us stories about our Shaikh who lived in another city. One of the things she used to say was that we should listen for the ‘hint of the Shaikh’. The Shaikh will never tell a student what to do, but if we listen carefully we will know what it is that he or she is suggesting. This happened to me just after I was initiated. My teacher at the time, started to call me Nuria, but I didn’t notice until I was nudged by the leader and told ‘---just called you Nuria, that is your new name’. Therefore it is better to be silent and listen and watch, ,rather than to ask questions.
Sufi teachers are very humble and retiring and have a tendency to disguise themselves when telling stories. Often they appear as a magician or a witch, and so remain hidden. It is the teaching in the story that is important, not the person of the teacher. I only really grasped this when I was attempting to weave the strands of the five stories, which Nawab had given me, into a narrative which could be understood in our present time and place.
I finally understood that the witch in many fairy tales could be seen as a spiritual teacher. Teaching tales of old were passed on orally – there was a great oral tradition which has survived into the early 20th century in Ireland.
When examining the role of the witch in these tales, especially the Baba Yaga in the Frog Princess, it all came together for me. It was like the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place. I could understand at last. The fairy in ancient times, was also considered powerful and wise, much like the witch, and like her, could also be very tricky and often scary. It is only recently that fairies are considered as delicate, beautiful, and magical beings. At one stage my book was to be called ‘The Witch and the Fairy as Teacher in Fairy Tales’, but this misunderstanding of the ‘Fairy’ made me change it.
The Baba Yaga is a powerful and wise teacher for those who know who she is and how to deal with her. One of the first things we learn on the spiritual path is how to behave towards our teacher. There is a story told by Kabir Helminsky, of a Sufi Shaikh or teacher who asked one of his students (Mureeds), to take the role of teacher in the group, so that he could demonstrate for them how they should behave towards their Shaikh. One must first learn how to be a student on the path. When I first became a member of a Sufi group, our leader used to tell us stories about our Shaikh who lived in another city. One of the things she used to say was that we should listen for the ‘hint of the Shaikh’. The Shaikh will never tell a student what to do, but if we listen carefully we will know what it is that he or she is suggesting. This happened to me just after I was initiated. My teacher at the time, started to call me Nuria, but I didn’t notice until I was nudged by the leader and told ‘---just called you Nuria, that is your new name’. Therefore it is better to be silent and listen and watch, ,rather than to ask questions.
July 9, 2017
The Implication and use of Sound and Music in Fairy Tales
I was much struck by the mention of sound and music in some of the fairy tales I worked with in my upcoming book ‘The Witch as Teacher in Fairy Tales’. This book came about when Murshid Nawab, many years ago, told us an ancient Chinese Han Fairy Tale, as an allegory for Service, at our Summer School. I was so taken with the idea that even ancient stories from other faraway lands and cultures, contained an understanding of mysticism and spirituality, even though this was hidden. So, I begged Nawab to send me the full story of Golden Chisel and the Stone Ram: and I then interpreted it using a Jungian understanding of the symbols but from a Sufi perspective. This was published in Toward the One Journal of Unity in 2007. Following this Nawab sent me four other stories to work with, each one containing an increasing focus on the hero’s quest for the Beloved or Soul. These five stories became the core of my book. When I decided to write a prologue, this expanded into, what became the main part of the book - the Weaving – a weaving of the elements or strands of these five fairy tales, into our modern lives. They are just as relevant now as they were when they were told hundreds and perhaps thousands of years ago. At the same time, I was able to work through some mysteries of my own in relation to the character of the Witch. It was mentioned to me that some of the wonderful Sufi Saints would disguise themselves as magicians or witches, in Sufi teaching tales. When I heard this, I suddenly understood the role of the witch as a Teacher in fairy tales.
Another strand of meaning which I found in the stories, was that of Sound and Music – in fact I quote extensively from Murshid’s book, The Mysticism of Sound and Music. We work with music and sound in our Sufi practices: The Chromatic Zikar especially opens and resonates the various centres or chakras by use of particular sounds, Like a sounding of the chakras.
In Zikar we move and chant to a special rag – a most powerful practice. And of course, we have a practice of hearing the inner sound.
The first story to specifically mention sound, that I came across was The Little Humpbacked Horse. In this, Ivan, the hero, is initially portrayed as singing a merry song to a dark-haired beauty. This dark-haired beauty is the only mention of the feminine, until much later in the tale. Ivan ‘wins’ his little humpbacked horse in a massive battle with a ‘demon’ mare. This little horse became his steed and his guide.
Ivan also sings as he feeds and cares for his magical horses. Our reluctant hero is tricked and forced into catching and bringing the fabled Firebird to the Tsar. Ivan’s little humpbacked horse is, for him a voice of guidance, which always helps and advises him. In a beautiful glade in the forest, the Firebirds come, every dawn, to drink water from the stream. Ivan puts out special food for the Firebirds and waits, but his little horse tells him to ignore the chatter of the birds and seize the nearest one. This he does. In our inner life, one of the first things we must learn is to ignore the chatter of our mind, so that we can focus on the ‘work’ at hand. To catch the Light of the Firebird is our first task in the inner life.
Ivan is again tricked and forced into going on his next quest to find the glorious Tsar Maid for the Tsar. She it is who later in the story becomes the Tsar in her own right, with Ivan as her consort. A female Tsar (not a wife or consort)! She represents the Soul / Beloved in all her Wisdom and Beauty. Ivan, after finding the Tsar Maid on the sea shore, lures her with sweetmeats, laid on a golden service, within a golden tent. He is warned by his little horse that when the Tsar Maid takes up her musical instrument and plays on it, he is on no account to fall asleep, otherwise he will fail to catch her. When we are on our inner spiritual journey (in meditation, or contemplation), we must not be lulled into sleep, by the wonderful music or song of the Soul. But of course, Ivan does drift off to sleep (we all do) and is woken by his horse furiously neighing – yet another sound – a warning! This time Ivan has one more chance and he manages to overcome his sleepiness by becoming angry with the Tsar Maid for trying to cheat him. The energy of anger does have its uses, even on a spiritual quest.
Sound is again used in this story, right at the climax of this great tale: where Ivan is forced to accomplish his final feat of transformation, on behalf of the Tsar. His little horse whistles loud and long three times. This piercing sound has a profound effect on the psyche, directed towards the crown chakra – it becomes the sacred sound of Hu. At this point in time, Ivan plunges in and out of the three cauldrons (one boiling, one icy cold and one just right): he emerges completely transformed, beautiful and handsome. On seeing Ivan’s transformation, the Tsar himself dives into the cauldrons and is boiled on the spot. Ivan had done the inner work, transformed, and thus became the consort of the Tsar Maid.
In the story of the Fairy of the Dawn, Petru, our hero, is on a quest from consciousness, through various realms, towards the Centre, where the Fairy of the Dawn guards the sacred spring, from which Petru must take the water of life and bring it back to his father the Emperor, so that his ‘sight’ will be cured. In the process Petru too has gained a horse – a magnificent brown horse, which now guides him. After many battles he arrives at the copper woods, the silver woods, and the golden woods. In each of the woods his horse guide tells him, that he must not pick the flowers on either side of his path. Each time he cannot resist and must fight a monster – a Welwa, in a fearsome battle. Each time he overcomes the Welwa by gaining mastery over it, and each time the Welwa turns into a beautiful horse – another voice of guidance. Towards the end of his battle with the Welwa of the golden woods, the Welwa ‘uttered a sound so loud that Petru thought he would be deaf for life.’ This loud sound which the Welwa made is one which accompanies a great moment of transformation. It is very real and very loud.
Petru now journeys through the realms of the three great and fearsome goddesses. First through the realm of the female aspect of Mercury – a freezing cold realm, related to communication and intuition. Then through the super-hot realm of the goddess of Thunder, where the sound of thunder and of drumming is so powerful on the inner journey. Finally Petru comes to the realm of Venus / Freya – a place which is neither too cold or too hot, like the three bears story. Here the great and glorious Goddess Venus or Freya, is in the aspect of an old hag; she has been relegated to the depths of our unconscious, when the patriarchy took over. Freya was a powerful pre-Olympian Goddess. When something is repressed, it erupts in a distorted fashion. However, Petru treats her with great respect, as he sees in her the beautiful Venus /Freya that is really is and was. She gives him a tiny flute: whoever listens to this flute goes to sleep and nothing can wake them. He is instructed to play this flute while he is in the land of the Fairy of the Dawn. Here is the final part of the tale where sound is most important. He has control of the great Beings in that most inner realm, by use of sound. As Petru played his tiny flute everything in the domain of the Fairy of the Dawn was asleep – not only the giants, lions, tigers, and dragons, but the fairies themselves who lay among the flowers. At one stage, Petru needed to stop playing the flute, so that a giant would awaken, long enough to be of help to Petru, in getting across the river, and into the magical castle of the Fairy.
Petru finally enters the castle and finds the Fairy of the Dawn in the forty ninth room (7 x 7) – a powerful magical number, deep in the heart of the castle. In the centre of this most sacred space is the Well, and by the Well slept the fairy of the dawn herself. As Petru looked at her, the magic flute dropped by his side and he held his breath. He had been warned not to look at the Fairy as she was terrible to behold. As Petru gazed at her, a mist came over his senses and the Fairy opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. At this stage he completely lost his mind and his sense of himself, but he did remember his flute, and playing a few notes on it, the Fairy went to sleep again. So it is that when we are deep on our own inner journey, it is vital that we have mastery over our self, and of the sacred inner sound. As we are a drop in the ocean of consciousness it is easy to lose our sense of who we are / our sense of dropness and thus become lost for ever. Working with sound, as in the singing Zikar, Wazifas, and the Chromatic Zikar, we learn mastery, so that we too can discover the sacred ‘water of life’.
But the story does not end there. On his way back through the realms of the goddesses, Petru is warned to trust no one. But he cannot believe that his own brothers could betray him and try to kill him, for this sacred water. They wanted their father’s power for themselves. Just as Petru was about to be pushed into a lake and drown, his horse neighs – Petru knows what this means and saves himself, returns home to his father the Emperor, and cures his blindness, so that He and the whole land is healed and in harmony. So at the very end it is the warning sound of his beautiful brown horse, his beloved guide, which saves him. In the same way, we can take the story of this as journey into our own lives and learn from it. To remember the sound of silence and to listen to the inner voice.
Another strand of meaning which I found in the stories, was that of Sound and Music – in fact I quote extensively from Murshid’s book, The Mysticism of Sound and Music. We work with music and sound in our Sufi practices: The Chromatic Zikar especially opens and resonates the various centres or chakras by use of particular sounds, Like a sounding of the chakras.
In Zikar we move and chant to a special rag – a most powerful practice. And of course, we have a practice of hearing the inner sound.
The first story to specifically mention sound, that I came across was The Little Humpbacked Horse. In this, Ivan, the hero, is initially portrayed as singing a merry song to a dark-haired beauty. This dark-haired beauty is the only mention of the feminine, until much later in the tale. Ivan ‘wins’ his little humpbacked horse in a massive battle with a ‘demon’ mare. This little horse became his steed and his guide.
Ivan also sings as he feeds and cares for his magical horses. Our reluctant hero is tricked and forced into catching and bringing the fabled Firebird to the Tsar. Ivan’s little humpbacked horse is, for him a voice of guidance, which always helps and advises him. In a beautiful glade in the forest, the Firebirds come, every dawn, to drink water from the stream. Ivan puts out special food for the Firebirds and waits, but his little horse tells him to ignore the chatter of the birds and seize the nearest one. This he does. In our inner life, one of the first things we must learn is to ignore the chatter of our mind, so that we can focus on the ‘work’ at hand. To catch the Light of the Firebird is our first task in the inner life.
Ivan is again tricked and forced into going on his next quest to find the glorious Tsar Maid for the Tsar. She it is who later in the story becomes the Tsar in her own right, with Ivan as her consort. A female Tsar (not a wife or consort)! She represents the Soul / Beloved in all her Wisdom and Beauty. Ivan, after finding the Tsar Maid on the sea shore, lures her with sweetmeats, laid on a golden service, within a golden tent. He is warned by his little horse that when the Tsar Maid takes up her musical instrument and plays on it, he is on no account to fall asleep, otherwise he will fail to catch her. When we are on our inner spiritual journey (in meditation, or contemplation), we must not be lulled into sleep, by the wonderful music or song of the Soul. But of course, Ivan does drift off to sleep (we all do) and is woken by his horse furiously neighing – yet another sound – a warning! This time Ivan has one more chance and he manages to overcome his sleepiness by becoming angry with the Tsar Maid for trying to cheat him. The energy of anger does have its uses, even on a spiritual quest.
Sound is again used in this story, right at the climax of this great tale: where Ivan is forced to accomplish his final feat of transformation, on behalf of the Tsar. His little horse whistles loud and long three times. This piercing sound has a profound effect on the psyche, directed towards the crown chakra – it becomes the sacred sound of Hu. At this point in time, Ivan plunges in and out of the three cauldrons (one boiling, one icy cold and one just right): he emerges completely transformed, beautiful and handsome. On seeing Ivan’s transformation, the Tsar himself dives into the cauldrons and is boiled on the spot. Ivan had done the inner work, transformed, and thus became the consort of the Tsar Maid.
In the story of the Fairy of the Dawn, Petru, our hero, is on a quest from consciousness, through various realms, towards the Centre, where the Fairy of the Dawn guards the sacred spring, from which Petru must take the water of life and bring it back to his father the Emperor, so that his ‘sight’ will be cured. In the process Petru too has gained a horse – a magnificent brown horse, which now guides him. After many battles he arrives at the copper woods, the silver woods, and the golden woods. In each of the woods his horse guide tells him, that he must not pick the flowers on either side of his path. Each time he cannot resist and must fight a monster – a Welwa, in a fearsome battle. Each time he overcomes the Welwa by gaining mastery over it, and each time the Welwa turns into a beautiful horse – another voice of guidance. Towards the end of his battle with the Welwa of the golden woods, the Welwa ‘uttered a sound so loud that Petru thought he would be deaf for life.’ This loud sound which the Welwa made is one which accompanies a great moment of transformation. It is very real and very loud.
Petru now journeys through the realms of the three great and fearsome goddesses. First through the realm of the female aspect of Mercury – a freezing cold realm, related to communication and intuition. Then through the super-hot realm of the goddess of Thunder, where the sound of thunder and of drumming is so powerful on the inner journey. Finally Petru comes to the realm of Venus / Freya – a place which is neither too cold or too hot, like the three bears story. Here the great and glorious Goddess Venus or Freya, is in the aspect of an old hag; she has been relegated to the depths of our unconscious, when the patriarchy took over. Freya was a powerful pre-Olympian Goddess. When something is repressed, it erupts in a distorted fashion. However, Petru treats her with great respect, as he sees in her the beautiful Venus /Freya that is really is and was. She gives him a tiny flute: whoever listens to this flute goes to sleep and nothing can wake them. He is instructed to play this flute while he is in the land of the Fairy of the Dawn. Here is the final part of the tale where sound is most important. He has control of the great Beings in that most inner realm, by use of sound. As Petru played his tiny flute everything in the domain of the Fairy of the Dawn was asleep – not only the giants, lions, tigers, and dragons, but the fairies themselves who lay among the flowers. At one stage, Petru needed to stop playing the flute, so that a giant would awaken, long enough to be of help to Petru, in getting across the river, and into the magical castle of the Fairy.
Petru finally enters the castle and finds the Fairy of the Dawn in the forty ninth room (7 x 7) – a powerful magical number, deep in the heart of the castle. In the centre of this most sacred space is the Well, and by the Well slept the fairy of the dawn herself. As Petru looked at her, the magic flute dropped by his side and he held his breath. He had been warned not to look at the Fairy as she was terrible to behold. As Petru gazed at her, a mist came over his senses and the Fairy opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. At this stage he completely lost his mind and his sense of himself, but he did remember his flute, and playing a few notes on it, the Fairy went to sleep again. So it is that when we are deep on our own inner journey, it is vital that we have mastery over our self, and of the sacred inner sound. As we are a drop in the ocean of consciousness it is easy to lose our sense of who we are / our sense of dropness and thus become lost for ever. Working with sound, as in the singing Zikar, Wazifas, and the Chromatic Zikar, we learn mastery, so that we too can discover the sacred ‘water of life’.
But the story does not end there. On his way back through the realms of the goddesses, Petru is warned to trust no one. But he cannot believe that his own brothers could betray him and try to kill him, for this sacred water. They wanted their father’s power for themselves. Just as Petru was about to be pushed into a lake and drown, his horse neighs – Petru knows what this means and saves himself, returns home to his father the Emperor, and cures his blindness, so that He and the whole land is healed and in harmony. So at the very end it is the warning sound of his beautiful brown horse, his beloved guide, which saves him. In the same way, we can take the story of this as journey into our own lives and learn from it. To remember the sound of silence and to listen to the inner voice.
The Flying Horse and the Stone Ram, as vehicle, steed, and guide on the Inner Journey
The flying horse, or the stone ram, is ridden by the hero on his or her journey through the realms. It really represents pure intellect, life, and light – all aspects of the Divine. It is in effect a Psychopomp, the archetype which guides the soul through its various transitions – through the inner realms of the journey. Perhaps in Sufi terms, it can be seen as the Spirit of Guidance. Without it the hero cannot proceed in his or her quest.
In each of the Fairy Tales in my book, the hero wins his faithful steed and guide, after a great battle, conflict, or inner work of some kind. In Golden Chisel and the Stone Ram (an ancient Chinese Han Fairy Tale), the hero Golden Chisel finds a brilliant stone, in the centre of the dried-up pond in his village. He had spent the night in the mountains before this, perhaps meditating, so that he could finally ‘see’ the light in the stone shining there. He then had to chisel or carve the stone, which was vaguely in the form of a ram. The Prophecy had said that water would flow from the mouth of a stone ram. So, Golden Chisel spent a long time chiselling the hard stone, into the shape of a ram. When it was finally complete it came alive and the stone ram speaks to him. They make a deal so that the stone ram will bring water from the sacred Yellow River to the village, so that the villagers could have fresh spring water for their tea and their food. Nourishment of the soul. It is the Stone Ram who takes Golden Chisel to the river each night, and who carries the water from the river to replenish the village.
The Little Humpbacked Horse is the true Psychopomp in this story but he also was hard- won. The hero wants to find the ‘demon’ who is trampling the Tsar’s golden corn. This demon turns out to be a white mare (representing the inner Light of the feminine which was totally lacking and repressed in the land of the Tsar). The hero does battle with her, by jumping on her back, facing her tail, and hanging on for dear Life, never letting go. After a long time trying to dislodge him in violent ways, the mare gives up. He has passed the test and now they too make a deal. If he lets her go, she will give him two magnificent horses and a little humpbacked horse with long ears like a donkey. She tells him that he can do what he wishes with the two horses but on no account, must he give up his little humpbacked horse. This will be his guide, friend, and steed, although he has no idea of this at the time. This little horse advises him, takes him to the various realms that he needs to journey through and finally guides him to his goal.
While in the Fairy of the Dawn story, there is yet another way in which a beautiful brown horse, manifests for the hero. At first Petru the hero, rides a horse to the edges of consciousness, to fight the fearsome dragon which guards this bridge between the realms. In trying to overcome the dragon, Petru realises that his horse is not steady enough to hold him, as he fights. He returns to his father’s palace and is met by his old nurse / witch, who immediately knows exactly what the problem is. She teaches and guides him to find the oldest reins in the emperor’s stables, and in striking the reins against the pillar, a magnificent, beautiful brown horse stands before him. There is much symbolism here but the pillars represent the wisdom of Sophia (the Divine Feminine) and the structure which holds this wisdom. This horse carries Petru to the bridge, where he fights and overcomes the dragon, cutting off its largest head. Now he is in the next realm of consciousness, where his horse advises, and explains his journey, so that he eventually reaches the centre where the Fairy of the Dawn guards the sacred water. He then must carry this water back to his father the Emperor, so that he can be healed. This return journey is very unusual in fairy stories and is important. After all we do have to return to this outer realm and our lives.
I would say that the Baba Yaga – the witch and Teacher in the Frog Princess, who guides the hero in that story, is also a Psychopomp. She rides a ‘horse stick’ in many stories and takes on this function of the flying horse. She teaches the hero, when he is near the end of his quest and without her, he would never have found his princess wife again.
And in the final story of Cenerentola (Cinderella), the Dove of the fairies acts as a spiritual teacher and guide for the heroine, so that she grows and evolves into the Queen she really is. Birds also can act as a Psychopomp in ancient myths.
In each of the Fairy Tales in my book, the hero wins his faithful steed and guide, after a great battle, conflict, or inner work of some kind. In Golden Chisel and the Stone Ram (an ancient Chinese Han Fairy Tale), the hero Golden Chisel finds a brilliant stone, in the centre of the dried-up pond in his village. He had spent the night in the mountains before this, perhaps meditating, so that he could finally ‘see’ the light in the stone shining there. He then had to chisel or carve the stone, which was vaguely in the form of a ram. The Prophecy had said that water would flow from the mouth of a stone ram. So, Golden Chisel spent a long time chiselling the hard stone, into the shape of a ram. When it was finally complete it came alive and the stone ram speaks to him. They make a deal so that the stone ram will bring water from the sacred Yellow River to the village, so that the villagers could have fresh spring water for their tea and their food. Nourishment of the soul. It is the Stone Ram who takes Golden Chisel to the river each night, and who carries the water from the river to replenish the village.
The Little Humpbacked Horse is the true Psychopomp in this story but he also was hard- won. The hero wants to find the ‘demon’ who is trampling the Tsar’s golden corn. This demon turns out to be a white mare (representing the inner Light of the feminine which was totally lacking and repressed in the land of the Tsar). The hero does battle with her, by jumping on her back, facing her tail, and hanging on for dear Life, never letting go. After a long time trying to dislodge him in violent ways, the mare gives up. He has passed the test and now they too make a deal. If he lets her go, she will give him two magnificent horses and a little humpbacked horse with long ears like a donkey. She tells him that he can do what he wishes with the two horses but on no account, must he give up his little humpbacked horse. This will be his guide, friend, and steed, although he has no idea of this at the time. This little horse advises him, takes him to the various realms that he needs to journey through and finally guides him to his goal.
While in the Fairy of the Dawn story, there is yet another way in which a beautiful brown horse, manifests for the hero. At first Petru the hero, rides a horse to the edges of consciousness, to fight the fearsome dragon which guards this bridge between the realms. In trying to overcome the dragon, Petru realises that his horse is not steady enough to hold him, as he fights. He returns to his father’s palace and is met by his old nurse / witch, who immediately knows exactly what the problem is. She teaches and guides him to find the oldest reins in the emperor’s stables, and in striking the reins against the pillar, a magnificent, beautiful brown horse stands before him. There is much symbolism here but the pillars represent the wisdom of Sophia (the Divine Feminine) and the structure which holds this wisdom. This horse carries Petru to the bridge, where he fights and overcomes the dragon, cutting off its largest head. Now he is in the next realm of consciousness, where his horse advises, and explains his journey, so that he eventually reaches the centre where the Fairy of the Dawn guards the sacred water. He then must carry this water back to his father the Emperor, so that he can be healed. This return journey is very unusual in fairy stories and is important. After all we do have to return to this outer realm and our lives.
I would say that the Baba Yaga – the witch and Teacher in the Frog Princess, who guides the hero in that story, is also a Psychopomp. She rides a ‘horse stick’ in many stories and takes on this function of the flying horse. She teaches the hero, when he is near the end of his quest and without her, he would never have found his princess wife again.
And in the final story of Cenerentola (Cinderella), the Dove of the fairies acts as a spiritual teacher and guide for the heroine, so that she grows and evolves into the Queen she really is. Birds also can act as a Psychopomp in ancient myths.
The Witch as Teacher in fairy Tales
This blog dives deeper into the world of my book and discovers more truths to be explored. Any comments are welcome.
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