Thanks Mary, I also posted this on the Kingdom Talk Board under the exotic name of Chatz's Suburb Lindisfarne on the little Apple Isle.I have not been there for a long time.So I thought I would pas through, seem to be doing a lot of that these days.
It is essential to grow in Truth. It is not right to put an old head on young shoulders. I think we are mature enough here to perceive which way the Wind of holy Spirit is blowing.

The Apostle Paul saw the same anaology of allegory in writing to the Galatians. Have we given birth to the Christ child with the freewoman, Jerusalem our Mother Above, or are we cast out of heaven by birthing Ishmael to the fundamentalist/law/church/mother? Even Today this story is not only played out in our own lives, but in the Middle East, constantly bringing the World to the knives edge of a Nuclear War. The narrow edge of Humpty Dumpty's Wall.


Quote:
These fairy tales are not senseless stories written for the amusement of the idle; they embody the profound religion of our forefathers, . . . -- W. S. W. Anson, Asgard and the Gods, p. 21



While the ancient records of the Veda are recognized as the reservoir for myths and their smaller cousins, the fairy tales, the clue to their primary source of inspiration may be found by considering hints in some of the world's oldest traditions, which tell of humanity's golden age of innocence when higher beings impressed our minds with primal truths. This reminder gives us the freedom and confidence to interpret and understand the fairy tale according to our own wisdom.

Many well-known fairy stories share a common format: a forlorn, orphaned young person, cast out from his or her former home, after various trials and tribulations is rescued and united with a loved one -- a parent or royal personage. Cinderella serves as a good model: the orphaned child is trapped and bullied by her wicked stepmother and ugly stepsisters, meaning that the human soul is estranged from its spiritual nature or "Father in heaven" and comes under the unpleasant control and influence of the lower side of nature. These are not her natural blood relatives, suggesting that the human soul rightly belongs to its better side.

Dislodged from its proper status, the soul struggles to recover its legitimate state. By purity and virtue it gains the support and help of its fairy godmother: the spiritual soul. Many tales use the godmother and giver of gifts to represent the soul's finer qualities unfolded through merit. "This elven power uniting the human soul with its divine source is the channel (or elf) which confers on its child all earned spiritual endowments" (Masks of Odin, p. 6).

The analogy of our dual nature thus provides the key for decoding these fairy tales.The same is the story on Eden with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What a brilliant method of teaching and passing on knowledge of our composite nature, which can be applied on a macrocosmic level as well. Maybe that's the reason why the tales feel comfortable and familiar to us, as if we've always known them -- and of course we have. Whatever the story, it is simply a mirror image of ourselves. The cast of king, queen, prince and princess, father, fairy, witch, frog, giant, ogre, elf, dragon, white horse, beast, orphan child, is part and parcel of each one of us.

Our strengths and frailties are portrayed in separate roles, each playing a part in our evolutionary growth, until after the struggles and obstacles -- the unfolding of the story -- we finally find the prince or princess, our higher self, and marry to live happily ever after . . . until we turn the page to the next story.

Did you realize that ancient wisdom was told to you when you were at your mother's knee? And that you parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts are in turn passing on these eternal and vital truths to the next generation of children whenever you tell one of these classical fairy tales, show a video, or take them to see a pantomime or Walt Disney film? Snow White, Aladdin, Puss in Boots, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King and the rest show no sign of waning in popularity even in our busy, noisy age. Unalloyed, these tales continue to enchant, puzzle, teach, and inspire, not only with ethics and altruism, but the esoteric meaning of life itself. Let's hope that like the Sleeping Beauty, those who are still slumbering will wake up to their message: "know thyself."
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