Showing posts with label Xmas tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xmas tales. Show all posts

Friday, November 29, 2019

Give A Truly Folkloric Gift This Season: A *New* Winter Folklore Mini-Course Or A Self-Guided Long Course In Fairy Tale Classics! (Psst! BlackFriday Deal Alert!)

The award-winning Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic have TWO new courses enrolling, a winter folklore mini-course and a self-guided master course on fairy tales... AND they're both 15% off right now with code WINTERMAGIC! (Sale through Monday 12/2/19.)

Here are some more details to entice to you join - or gift! - the growing community of folks avidly learning about folklore and fairy tales under the guidance of folklorists Professor Brittany Warman and Professor Sara Cleto. We got the chance of a fly-by catch-up with our fairy tale professors to ask them a couple of fun questions for you about the courses as well... (see the text in blue below each of the course descriptions):

The first course is perfect for the Winter Season and has been created by popular demand after the rousing success and high attendance in Carterhaugh's Halloween mini-course. The new interactive Winter course begins on January 8, 2020:

Enrollment is OPEN for our new mini-course “Kindling a Light in the Darkness: Winter Folklore and Fairy Tales”!
Let’s face it: the long dark of January and February is BLEAK. Once the December lights come down, the turkey (or, if you’re like us, Tofurkey and every last potato in town) has been gobbled up, and the fizzy champagne countdown to New Years is over, facing the cold winter months can feel seriously depressing, And so, we want you to join us in kindling a light and sharing a story or two when the year seems darkest.
By popular demand, we’ve conjured up another interactive Carterhaugh mini-course for you, poised right in the coldest and loneliest time of year. We invite you to take shelter from the wind and snow, pull up a chair by our fire, and gather round for stories, fellowship, and rituals to warm you down to your toes. Through a combination of video lectures, written tales, extra resources, and group discussion, we will lead you through some of our favorite winter folklore and fairy tales!
For more info and to enroll, visit HERE.

Speaking of favorite Winter folklore, we couldn't resist a pop-quiz question on the topic for the Carterhaugh School Fairy Tale Professors:

 OUAB: You are having a decadent Winter Feast and need to invite: one folkloric character, one fairy tale person, one ghost and one animal. (Don't worry. They have promised to keep their hooves/paws/trotters off the table). Whom would you invite to your festive evening?

Sara: Persephone (because, between bouncing back and forth between the underworld and the surface, she's learned to be a good conversationalist with all kinds of different people), Lady Mary from the fairy tale "Mr. Fox" (because she's one of my fairy-tale heroes - girl is FIERCE), the Ghost of Christmas Present (because he'd be so happy to be there), and Tatterhood's goat (because she is a fine and noble steed)!

Brittany: The White Cat (who yes, is from a fairy tale too, but fairy tales are folklore, sooooo 😝!), the 13th fairy from “Sleeping Beauty” (because one simply does not NOT invite her, as we all know!), the Ghost of Christmas Past (bc I’d love to have a peek back in time of a Christmas with some of those I’ve lost over the years), and one of Santa’s magical reindeer (probably Vixen, I always loved her name!)

BONUS FOR EAST COAST FOLKS: For those interested in the darker side of Christmas, Yule and Winter holiday traditions and tales, on December 17th, 2019 there is a LIVE Profs and Pints talk in Washington DC – “You Better Watch Out: A Look at Terrifying Holiday Folklore Around the World” – A little note: these live sessions have been SELLING OUT so if you're genuinely interested in going, grab your tickets ASAP HERE. Here's a taste:
Today, the December holidays are all about joyous magic, warm evenings curled by the fire, and celebrations of the good in the world. Traditionally, however, the winter season also ushers in the terrors of the dark and the cold, teaching us to bar doors, whisper warnings, and, above all, to be good for goodness sake. 
While many are now familiar with the holiday terror of the Krampus, this talk will explore a few less familiar, but no less frightening, folkloric characters of the season. 
You'll hear tales of the Icelandic Jólakötturinn, a gigantic cat that devours naughty children, and learn how to best the Welsh Mari Lwyd, a skeletal horse with a taste for song and poetry. You'll get to know the Eastern European Christmas witch Frau Perchta and trace the history of the sometimes mischievous, sometimes terrifying Yule Lads and their monstrous mother, Grýla.
The second offering is an in-depth master course in the classic fairy tales, consisting of ten comprehensive lessons:

Introduction to Fairy Tales
A self-guided course through classic tales and traditional folklore

Once upon a time...
A girl in red walked into the woods with a basket for her grandmother. There, she wandered from the path, talked to a strange wolf, was eaten, was saved.

Or, once upon a time…
The girl, who did not wear red, went into the woods. She met a werewolf, chose the Road of Needles instead of the Road of Pins. She performed a striptease for the wolf, tricked him, and ran back home, and slammed the door behind her.

Or, once upon a time…
A girl, once more in red, walked into the woods. She wandered, talked, was eaten. She was not saved, and she remained in the wolf’s belly.
A teeny preview of one of the beautiful
'grimoire' pages created for participants
to download & collect into their
own personal study volume.
To read the info-goodies you will have
to join..


In this self-guided online course, “Introduction to Fairy Tales,” we welcome you across the threshold of Carterhaugh to explore a collection of wonder tales from around the world- stories you may know, stories you may think you know, stories that are strange and unfamiliar. Through a combination of video lectures, supplemental readings, and extra resources, we will introduce you to the wide world of fairy-tale scholarship and provide the history, context, and tools to begin analyzing these stories and applying them to your own life.

For more info and to enroll, visit HERE.

Applying fairy tales to one's own life felt like it deserved a pop-quiz question too. Sara & Brittany very kindly humored us with wonderfully reflective answers...

 OUAB: As you explain in this course, fairy tales are classified by their "tale-type" or "the things that happen in the fairy tale" and can sometimes reflect people's lives. While therapists can use this as a tool of exploration, just for fun, what would you each say is a "tale type" you feel reflects an aspect of your lives? (To make it harder we're nixing the reply of regularly losing shoes like Cinderella...)

Brittany: I’m going to have to go with “Sleeping Beauty” for this question. Most people know it’s my favorite fairy tale, but I also feel a deep connection to the story. All my life I’ve been shy, quiet, and typically not too willing to stick up for myself... sleeping, in some sense. But the older and more confident I get, the more I feel I am “awakening” from that, awakening to the person I’m truly meant to be. And that, to me, is kind of what “Sleeping Beauty” is all about.

Sara: The answer I give to this question will change depending on the day, but today, it's "Snow White." "Snow White" was my least favorite fairy tale growing up, because I thought Snow White was really weak and passive - and I wanted so badly to be strong and confident. As I've grown older (and given this fairy tale a lot more thought), I've realized that "Snow White" is a story about survival and success, despite incredible odds. I've grown much more compassionate towards Snow White herself (who is only seven years old in the Grimm version!) and more compassionate to myself, especially when I think about my own challenges through the lens of this particular fairy tale. 

 Thanks Sara & Brittany! We love the humor, delight and insight you bring to every conversation - even pop-quizzes!

We at Once Upon A Blog have participated in a few Carterhaugh courses and highly recommend them both to people new to fairy tale studies, as well as those looking for something a little more in-depth. Both Sara and Brittany are wonderfully enthusiastic while being well-researched and clear in their unique tag-team style teaching. There's nothing quite like it anywhere else, and best of all, being based in an online format, their courses are available for ANY enthusiast, no matter their background, level of education, or location (yes - there are students joining from all over the world!) and they are committed to making this learning opportunity available at an affordable price. They are forever expanding their courses and the ways in which they are teaching and we feel lucky to have seen the formation of this wonderful school that was recently awarded the Dorothy Howard Prize, as recognition of
excellence, relevance, and innovation in folklore education, by The American Folklore Society. (In case it's not clear - this school is considered excellent by all those professional folklorists you respect!)

We hope to see some of you in the courses to come!
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Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Happy New Year 2019!

Photo by the delightful creative team of photographer Per Breiehagen,
writer Lori Evert and their daughter (and model) Anja,
of the gorgeous and lovely fairy tale-ish Wish Books (purchase HERE)
Wishing all our readers a wonderful New Year, with many new opportunites, as well as lots of new (and old) tales to share. 

We are pleased to confirm that new posts and, of course, more fairy tale news, should be coming your way more regularly starting this month!
Happy New Year fairy tale folk!
(Here is the magical trailer for The Christmas Wish, though we also love The Tiny Wish and recommend the whole series.)
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The Transformation of FLOTUS: A Dark Fairy Tale for the Season

In April of 2017, writer Kate Imbach wrote a reflection on Melania Trump, the then-new FLOTUS, as considered through the lens of Melania's personal photos, titled Fairytale Prisoner by Choice: The Photographic Eye of Melania Trump. The article was prompted by the odd issue that the new first lady was so very absent, compared to most other FLOTUS'  of the past.
Imbach wrote:
Why won’t the first lady show up for her job? Why? I became obsessed with this question and eventually looked to Melania’s Twitter history for answers. I noticed that in the three-year period between June 3, 2012 and June 11, 2015 she tweeted 470 photos which she appeared to have taken herself. I examined these photographs as though they were a body of work. 
Everyone has an eye, whether or not we see ourselves as photographers. What we choose to photograph and how we frame subjects always reveals a little about how we perceive the world. For someone like Melania, media-trained, controlled and cloistered, her collection of Twitter photography provides an otherwise unavailable view into the reality of her existence. Nowhere else — certainly not in interviews or public appearances — is her guard so far down. 
What is that reality? She is Rapunzel with no prince and no hair, locked in a tower of her own volition, and delighted with the predictability and repetition of her own captivity.
Written during the time when Melania declined moving to the White House and opted to stay in Trump Tower, it's an interesting assessment, and although sympathy from readers varies, the consensus seems to be that loneliness is, indeed an ongoing factor in this woman's life. The photos from high up - an actual tower - with the same landscape and differing only in weather and time of day, do give the viewer pause.

Just as interesting is the interpretation of Melania's photos of the interior of Trump Tower:

 We can all picture the gilded monstrosity of the Trump home from publicity photos (chandeliers, sad boy astride a stuffed lion, golden pillars), but it is a different place through Melania’s eyes. She takes photographs inside her house at weird, skewed angles. It is a strange effect when the half-obscured objects, chairs and ceilings, are all so golden. It looks like what a terrified little girl held captive in a ogre’s fairytale castle might see when she dares to sneak a peek through her fingers. (source: Kate Imbach)


If you haven't seen this essay finding the parallels between Rapunzel and Melania, pre and post FLOTUS status, it's worth a read. While the writer is clearly critical of Melania's 'fitness' to be a first lady, its' nevertheless a very different look at Melania Trump as a person. You can find the whole article, with Melania's photos throughout, HERE.

FAST FORWARD TO DECEMBER 2017:

Melania is now at the White House and chose to take an active - and apparently personal - role in decorating her new(ish) home, for the season. It's safe to say the public reaction to photos has been, less than warm...

A tweet from Donald Haase:


My retweet & comment:

And back to the growing list of folklore and fairy tale references mentioned (note: I have screen-captured the tweets referred to and inserted them after my tweets so readers can easily see what's being referred to, but the links in the embedded tweets also send you to the original tweet for the sources):



   

   


Note how the feet appear in the photo - enlarged below (it's obviously a lighting issue but it's still an interesting connection):





This comment (screen-capped below) expanded the supernatural narrative. Meant to entertain, it's also an interesting place to go:

A reply to one of the earlier tweets, pointing out the use of folklore:

And the tweet that prompted me to put it all in one place:

As an interesting callback to the original article about Melania in her tower, I thought I'd finish with the final sentence by Imbach, which has more resonance than ever:
 She’s living inside a dark fairytale, and in fairytales the women trapped in towers never save anyone but themselves.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

"The Bear & The Hare" - A Christmas Fairy Tale

I don't know what it is about this year but so many Christmas marketing campaigns are more fairy tale-like than not and are very much working to help me see the magical side of the season (which, usually, to be honest, is rather a struggle). This isn't strictly a fairy tale in the sense we usually talk about here, but it qualifies with regard to how many were told and eventually, written down.


Indulge me and let me tell you this story (you won't regret it, I promise):
There once was an animal who had never seen Christmas. As autumn winds turn to winter snow, the bear begins his annual retreat into hibernation to sleep his way through the best part of the year. The festive spirit is strong though, and his friend the hare is determined to give him a gift he has never received before – Christmas.
It's another ad, but it could be a children's short. Apart from being pretty much spot-on charming and magical in an animal fairy tale way, it's unusual in that most of the elements of the scene are real - as in they were created as miniatures - including the drawings which were done in a very different form of stop motion.

For the John Lewis Christmas advert Hornet/Blinkink directors Elliot Dear and Yves Geleyn took the two most traditional and time-honored animation processes – stop-motion and traditional hand-drawn 2D animation – and combined them to create something innovative and unique. 
Their aim was to do almost everything in camera, using real lighting, lens and film craft to build a world where the audience can see and feel the painstaking work behind it. The 2D animation’s physical interaction with the set and the human imperfections inherent in the process create a hand-crafted piece full of heart and integrity.
I'm including the making-of video here because it's almost more beautiful than the ad itself, and shows magic-under-construction of a different kind. Although it's unlikely production was as harmonious and smooth as this video makes it appear, it's clear everyone is delighted to be part of the project and believes it to be something very special. Magic. It's real. It's just generally a lot of work...
(Hm - I detect a theme for the season emerging in my posts!)
My son loves this - especially "the making of" - and wants the set to play with at home. That sounds perfect to me. In the meantime, we'll grab some cardboard boxes and make our own magic. ;)
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Monday, November 4, 2013

Just Released: Marks & Spencer's "Believe in Magic & Sparkle" Xmas Fairy Tale Campaign (Yes. It's As Gorgeous As They Said It Would Be.)

So, here it is. I know you've all been on the edge of your seats... ;)

Actually it's quite lovely and I sort of wish it were longer... (You can tell me "I told you so" later, 'k?)
Wonderland and Oz work very well together here, as does Little Red and Hansel & Gretel. I'm guessing Arabian Nights was the most legitimate way they could think of to have Rosie in her underwear again, though they could have taken it one step further to make it Snow Queen-ish at the end before tumbling back down to Oz. I have to admit, the guy in the painting throws me a little as all I can think of are more obscure tales that he might be from but, other than that, there are more fairy tale references than I first thought there might be. It's an interesting take and mix, though some transition better than others (as in, why did she lose her clothes through the rabbit hole, exactly? "Part of the contract" is not a legitimate answer.).

Overall it's quite lovely and very "Christmassy".

Here's a behind-the-scenes look, which is fun to watch too, and gives some insight into the thought process behind using fairy tales for Christmas. I particularly like that the Director opted to do as much "in camera" as possible, rather than use green screen and CGI. It makes a huge difference to the acting and the end result.

(Side note: I wish OUAT would do more in camera. The effects in that show really pull me out of the scenes.)

They essentially say "fairy tales and Christmas go together", which is an interesting concept to me. It seems to be a consistent idea at M&S since this isn't the first Christmas fairy tales have been used to advertise the store. 

Interestingly, my six-year old, while watching this behind-the-scenes with me, said "Fairy tales aren't all Christmassy! They happen all the time.." (Seriously - I have the best kid ever!)

This at least the second time M&S have used fairy tales for their Christmas campaign (which apparently approaches the status of Superbowl commercials in the US). Here's an earlier ad, likely from a previous "Magic & Sparkle" Christmas campaign a few years back but uploaded earlier this year, with Patrick Stewart and pop-up fairy tale books! *swoon* This one is great too, but in a very different way.

(Note: Red Riding Hood is used in both Christmas campaigns - interesting. I guess the red against the white makes for wonderful visuals and red can equal Christmas all by itself. It's just not usually a tale you put into a Christmas collection - perhaps because of the gathering flowers reference - but I like the idea of transforming non-Christmas tales to be holiday-seasonal. Could be a new and interesting fairy tale collection... hint, hint.)

Enjoy!
I have to admit, the 2013 one in particular does set a magical and Wintery mood. So well done M&S.

What did you think? Are you now inspired to make your Christmas* season fairy tale-ish this year? (She says, hurriedly throwing out the rotting jack-o-lanterns and packing up various skeletal appendages and lightweight gravestones...)

* Where I'm from, "Christmas" isn't a religious term but more a description of the season. Though I celebrate more of the Winter Solstice, I love all the end of year/mid-Winter traditions from various faiths. And I still call it Christmas. :)


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Saturday, November 2, 2013

Let the Holiday (Advertising) Season Begin... With Marks & Spencer's "Magic & Sparkle" Fairy Tale

You know it's supposed to be a big deal when an ad gets a trailer. That's right. The new two minute ad campaign has a fifteen second preview. Apparently the new Marks & Spencer Christmas ad campaign is "highly anticipated" (not sure by whom exactly, but anyway...) and this week they released a sneak peek teaser of the ad and a special behind-the-scenes look.

Set to an enchanting orchestral soundtrack, the ad is shot in a filmic style as it takes the viewers into a world of 'magic and sparkle' from Alice in Wonderland to the Wizard of Oz. 
Rosie Huntington-Whitely is - of course - the leading lady, first seen pursuing a pretty little dog across a city street before tumbling from the real world into a snow dusted enchanted forest, seated at a fantastical feast.

The ad then follows the lingerie designer and model through a red riding house scene, an Arabian Nights flight and finally a walk along the yellow brick road, with a little help from the ever handsome David and a bewitching Helena Bonham Carter, whose appearance is seen as a huge coup for the retailer. (source)
You can read more details HERE.

 Ok, yes. It's very pretty.

But even if this ad campaign is completely beautiful and lovely and worth its millions of dollars in production (not kidding on the $), it's essentially a fancy (and expensive) Christmas window to draw people into the stores.

In the meantime, it seems like Helena Bonham Carter is giving us a preview of her fairy godmother persona from the (Disney) live action Cinderella movie to top it off, although apparently she makes an appearance in Oz first.

I've thought about this waaay too much and there was a LOT more before I deleted. (You're welcome.) I'm going to blame the current time-shift (aka ending daylight savings), turn off my brain and just watch it...
 
Aahh, there, see? I get it now. "Ooh pretty. More please!"

The full two minutes, with many more "Believe in Magic & Sparkle" fairy tale references, will be available to watch online on YouTube, this coming Monday.

What I want to know is: do you see any differences and updating in the way these familiar tales are being retold and/or used? What does this ad say about the way we view these tales? (And when did the Mad Hatter change from creepy buck-toothed crazy-person to avoid at costs, into the mysterious, sexy man at the end of a table of bounty?!)

Sorry. Apparently my brain refuses to stay in "sleep" mode, unless it's lying on a pillow. Goodnight!
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Doctor Who Goes Through The Wardrobe


I have a confession to make: I'm not really a Doctor Who fan. I did watch when I was little with my Dad and although I loved Tom Baker with his crazy scarf and wild hair as the Doctor (yes, I'm showing my age!) certain episodes gave me nightmares and I didn't continue watching on my own. Fast forward through many years and a few attempts to see why people still loved it and... nothing.

Until now, that is.

Like many fairy tale lovers the idea of anyone walking into a wardrobe makes my ears perk up and my heart quicken with expectations of winter wonderlands and magical Narnian* creatures waiting on the other side of a bunch of old coats. In fact, I was in the middle of restoring a rickety but "magical looking wardrobe"(complete with dryad shadows in the wooden sides!) when I got the call to move to the US. Not being hugely well constructed in the first place, I knew the wardrobe wouldn't survive a trip on a boat to join me on the other side of the world so I sadly gave it up, though I think about it often and wonder where it ended up.

What does this have to do with Doctor Who? Well, I'm not calling myself a fan yet but when I heard Doctor Who was "heading into Narnia" (or at least a Doctor Who version of Narnia) I made sure I DVR'd the episode. I'm so glad I did!
Description from Coventry Telegraph:
It's called The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe and beyond the obvious hints towards the Narnia classic, we know Steven Moffat's tale is set during the Second World War when a widow and her two children flee London for Dorset. There they meet an eccentric caretaker and discover a portal into a winter wonderland.
I finally got around to watching it today and... it's a must see for fairy tale people. Wonderfully and smartly written but with such a childlike spirit and it truly embodies the Christmas/season spirit - I'm impressed. Not only did the episode include plenty of magic, humor and a little sci-fi on the side but it managed to blend all the different season celebrations wonderfully and celebrate them all and their true meanings. No matter if you celebrate Yule, Hanukkah, Christmas or other old year/new year celebrations, this episode managed to pay a beautiful tribute to them all. 
You can get more of an idea of the episode HERE which is actually spoiler free. Though some of the visuals will give you clues it shouldn't take any of your enjoyment away from seeing it for the first time.

Fairyland is mentioned (see below) and looking at some of the visuals you can see why. And I love the two lines from the episode that are written below. How can you not love the Doctor after he says something like that?

Lily: Is it Fairyland?
The Doctor: Fairyland?! Oh grow up Lily! Fairyland looks completely different. 


This episode gently nods to many different tales and classics but most of all it puts the viewer in that time in your life when you once believed many more things than you would admit and it didn't take much nudging to see the world in a different and magical way (if you're lucky - sometimes you still feel like this!) I watched this again with my young son (not yet five years old) and he really enjoyed it - for many reasons. The only problem is that he now wants a Christmas tree next year just like the one the Doctor made... lol

Of course, now I need to go check out the Doctor Who tribute to Dicken's A Christmas Carol just to see how flying sharks might fit into a story and end up pulling a sleigh...

Here's the trailer for The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe:


And if you've seen the episode and wish there were more to explore, there is! You can check out the current content at this site HERE - as of this writing it's all about the Christmas special - or start HERE which should be kept in the Doctor Who archives "for all time".


* Narnia - specifically The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, recently made into  a lovely film. The BBC had a series made many years before but doing it again big budget style was worth it. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and loved seeing so many fairy tale creatures and connections on screen (eg The White Witch is easily inspired by the Snow Queen).
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Sunday, December 25, 2011

A Very Merry Fairy Tale Christmas To You All!


Don't you love this tale-tree? All that's missing is the star...

While I do love having a tree to decorate the season with, I'm imagining all the books above are fairy tale volumes - of course! - so I'm sure I could find a niche for a decoration like this... ;)

To all my friends and readers of all cultures, traditions and beliefs: may the best of the season be yours, with all the good things possible shown to us in fairy tales. May your own tales in the coming year reflect the triumph of goodness and love with happy beginnings, middles and endings too.

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Fire Wolves and Happy Snow Golems...


... and a continuing happy holidays to all!

Since seeing the Adventure Time Thanksgiving special (title: "Thank You") with the snow golem and firewolf puppy, my son has insisted we watch it almost every day since - and I'm still not sick of it. (Neither is my son - obviously.) Now every story told here has to have a fire-wolf puppy in it. "Jack and his Fire-wolf Climb the Beanstalk (& Set A Giant's Castle On Fire)" is kind of a cute story.

Really.

Fire wolves work with everything. :)

And that includes Christmas (and whatever holiday/s you are celebrating this season), which is why I couldn't resist posting the oh-so-cute drawing at the head of the post when I found it. (Thank you Mari! It's gorgeous.)

May joy find you when you least expect it this season...
 as well as when you do...
and may you have those you love close by...
to warm your heart...
until you're a happy, happy puddle. 
;)
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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Godzilla's (Xmas) Wishes

This image has been making the rounds on the web this month and with good reason. The image is very unique for the holidays. I mean, who equates Christmas with Godzilla?? But it got me thinking (consider yourself warned! lol) about the alternate views of characters in stories (OK, fairy tales) and how when you put yourself in the shoes of the "lesser" characters you end up with a very different - and often touching - story.

The Godzilla Haiku Tumblr blog is a good example of this. Reading through is not only amusing but touching. In fact, you find yourself starting to feel for the poor monster. Here are just a few examples:






 You can see more (lots more!) at the Godzilla Haiku blog HERE.

My favorite fairy tale retelling from a villains POV completely rocked my world when I read it the first time and made me think twice about a lot of things. It's The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli; an amazing retelling of Hansel and Gretel from the witch's point of view (short review/synopsis at the link).

Ms. Napoli is a master at making me think differently about fairy tales I know well and have read many (many!) retellings of already. She is without doubt one of my favorite fairy tale writers and I wouldn't consider my library complete without her retellings, of which there are many. (Note: not all the books at the link are fairy tale retellings but MANY of them are.)

Another recommendation of fairy tales from villain POVs is Troll's Eye View by the incredible editing duo Terry Windling and Ellen Datlow. (You simply can't go wrong with any fairy tale collection these women put together!)

Many of you must be thinking this is one of the weirdest holiday posts you've ever read, let alone on a fairy tale blog. Why am I blogging about this the day before Christmas?

Many of you will be spending tonight and/or tomorrow with family - some of whom you love dearly and others who are, shall we say, "more of a challenge".  Family get-togethers are loaded with stress and are hotbeds for misunderstandings and drama. (Hence the plethora of crazy Christmas family dinner movies.) Christmas get-togethers are also prime settings for Christmas magic and have the potential to be some of the most special times you will remember for the rest of your life. It all depends on your approach to the occasion and how you handle the challenges that come your way. (Don't let your eyes glaze over yet - I have a point and it has everything to do with fairy tales!) Magic doesn't depend on the perfect setting, having the decorations all done or having the prefect meal and party. Fairy tales aren't filled with fairies and glitter and magical bling either (contrary to the public idea of fairy tales). Instead they're magical because there's an element of wonder that lifts the story above every day life, giving you a different perspective and making you pay attention to something important and, often, transformative.
Transformation by Rebecca Guay
 If it helps to view your mother-in-law as Godzilla in an apron, monitoring the oven obsessively or seeing your selfish brother who yells at people getting in front of the big screen as a lonely troll retreating under his safe-and-familiar bridge, then do it. You'll be able to better see your own blessings and maybe you might understand those monsters and help them transform back into the princes and princesses they could be.

 May your Christmas be magical in all the good ways and if it isn't, may the power of fairy tale transformation be yours to wield. Happy Holidays!
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