I grew up in household that believed anything 'magical' was bad. No fairies except Timkerbell, no gnomes, no tree nymphs, no Carebears (although i have one). Witches were feared or not real, so Harry Potter had the potential to dement the mind...
.None of that stuck with me.
I totally believe that all the myths are true. All gods/goddesses are valid. Fairies inhabit my backyard, nymphs protect my trees. There is power in the moonlight. And I completely believe in magick. Not Harry Potter magic, but magick. The ability to make things happen out of pure will. This can be focused in a pagan ritual or encouraged with prayer, or through meditation. However you define it, whatever you call the power behind it, magick is real.
I don't want to get into doctrine or specific practices. I just want to say, I agree with Ronald McDonald and the Fraggles: I believe in magick and that the magick is in and around all of us.
This is something I want to instill in my daughter because with this belief comes the basis for respect of all living things. We are all connected, made of the some light and matter as the stars, and should be treated with equal respect.
In most family traditions these kinds of beliefs are passed on thru stories. I'm looking for the right one(s) to convey the magic. She currently believes monsters are good babysitters (thanks, monsters inc) and that fairies ride on bees (thumbalina). I'm looking for more ideas. Like I said, I didn't grow up hearing stories full of magical happenings.
What kind of stories do you tell your children? What beliefs are they gleaning from them?
In addition to the classic fairy tales that became Disney cartoon classics (they do make books of those), and Mother Goose, and Grimm I also learned about others.
ReplyDeleteMany of my favorite stories are the ones I learned at camps. Native stories about how the world came in to being, how Coyote was a trickster, but clever too, how night was a blanket thrown over the world as a punishment for greed and gluttony and war among the animals, and that the stars and moon were created by different birds in an attempt to reach the sky god and plea for the sun again. I'm not sure where to search for these in print form, but there must be a Native legends collection somewhere.. otherwise you might wish to meet a Native American and ask them. :-)
My mother became a Buddhist Quaker, so I learned some of the Jataka Tales too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jataka_tales or http://www.jatakkatha.com/ or www.sacredspiralkids.com/story/Jataka/jataka.pdf
I was given a lovely illustrated collection of these stories, and found their lessons, appreciation of nature and warnings against greed and pride more helpful than most.
Here are some other interesting sites:
http://worldoftales.com/
http://www.pitara.com/talespin/folktales.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales
my friend's son has a garden gnome in his yard that he leaves gifts and letters for in a little box. then the gnome trades things for his gifts like shiny rocks etc. also, he believes that gnomes turn into mushrooms when humans see them and that's why the forest by their house has so many mushrooms in it.
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