Benjamin Lacombe's 'Through the Looking Glass' Released

Behold the lovely trailer for Benjamin Lacombe's new book Through the Looking Glass, released the last week of November in France with this lovely promo following a week or so into December afterward.

We do love how he adapt his artwork for animation so delicately.

Wishing you peace, comfort and joy too for the end of the year and leaving you with this hug as we head into holiday mode here at Fairy Tale News Headquarters.

New 'Nutcracker' Inspired by Chicago World's Fair, is Evolution of Tale & Tradition

“Most “Nutcrackers” are about well-off children who already have a whole lot of toys and are about to get even more. I wanted to explore more complex storytelling — holding on to the Tchaikovsky score, which I love, and all the things that audiences expect to have happen in this ballet... And I wanted the central focus to be on how children — without the usual aristocratic manners, and without much in terms of material things — use their imagination.” (Wheeldon - source)

It's Nutcracker season, and while there have been a few interesting adaptations to challenge the tradition, Chicago now has its own unique variation, thanks to the Joffrey Ballet commissioning the work from Christopher Wheeldon, created out out of the history of the city itself. Unlike the usual story of privileged children getting presents and more, the heroine in this story is the child of a single, working-class, immigrant mother and the setting is the wintery Christmas Eve before the World's Fair in the late 1800's - leaving a lot of room to explore the construction of wonder and magic, as well as cultural diversity.

Wonderfully, setting the production during this historical event, means it's apt and relevant that the use of technology, (such as projection art, mechanical set devices and the multi-media presentation of puppetry alongside ever changing visual wonders and 'tesla lighting'), be incorporated as part of the story telling and not just part of the stagecraft and background. The transformations in the scenes and the characters throughout, echo the changing perspective on the world at the time, thanks to the fantastical inventions and wonders being showcased that seemed beyond imagination, wowing and influencing both workers and visitors of the extraordinary expo.

We like to think this is also indicative of the change happening in this Nutcracker's tale telling, but more on that later. First we'll share more about what the production and story are actually like. (Heads-up: watch for the delightful little nuts!)

Take a look at the trailer:

Here's a little on how the concept developed from Chicago Sun Times' interview with Wheeldon:

Wheeldon and the Joffrey’s artistic director, Ashley Wheater... had both read Erik Larson’s 2003 bestseller, “The Devil in the White City,” and they sensed the Exposition (“minus the serial murderer,” as Wheeldon quipped), was exactly the right magical environment against which the ballet could be set, with the construction of the fair seen though a child’s eye. The fact that the Joffrey’s home stage, the landmark Auditorium Theatre, was completed in 1889, made the whole thing seem even more ideal.  (FTNH: Not to mention that historically this takes place a few days after this ballet of Tchaikovsky's premiered in Russia!) 

But there was a dilemma to solve: The fair ran from May 1 to Oct. 30, 1893, while the story had to unfold on a snowy Christmas eve. “We could either ignore history, or set the story in the post-fair ruins, or set it five months before the fair opens, while it was under construction. We chose the latter. We also found a photograph of what looked like a wooden worker’s shack on the fairgrounds, and that became our touchstone. The fair was built by many immigrant laborers, especially Poles, and we envisioned this shack as the place in which one of the many female sculptors for the fair worked. She is a single mother with a young daughter, Marie, and a son, and the ballet is Marie’s dream version of the fair. We also reimagined two of the ballet’s characters to create an element of romance, with the sculptress more or less taking over what is usually the Sugar Plum Fairy role, while Drosselmeyer, the magician, has been renamed The Great Impresario.” (And as Wheeldon describes him, he is “part Daniel Burnham, the visionary urban designer who planned the fair, along with a bit of P.T. Barnum and Nikolai Tesla, that mad scientist of electricity.”) 

Here's an example from See Chicago Dance, which describes some of the delightful differences that still follow the Nutcracker traditions, but in a new form:

We are in theater mode from the get-go, with a clear class divide of Chicago’s rich and poor at holiday time. Tchaikovsky’s traditional living room party scene music illuminates instead an urban environment where rich and poor intersect, street urchins steal what they can from unsuspecting shoppers, and rats lurk behind every corner (Basil Twist’s whimsically diabolical puppets). The resident Rat-Catcher (a wry Rory Hohenstein, with his own pet rodent perched on his hat) contrasts with The Great Impresario of the Fair (Miguel Angel Blanco), a magical and mysterious counterpart to Hoffman’s original Drosselmeyer.

Wheeldon’s Nutcracker magic reaches a pinnacle of wonder in the transformation of the scrawny pine sapling into a friendly version of the Little Shop of Horrors Monster, completely overwhelming the stage, proscenium, and audience with its massive branches and six-foot-tall pinecones. The Rat Catcher becomes the Rat King, the battle between the rats and toy soldiers unspools with predictable humor, and the Nutcracker Prince’s victory transforms the puppet Nutcracker into the handsome Nutcracker Prince who literally sweeps Marie off her feet and into a snowy wonderland. There they dance a luscious Snow Pas de Deux with elegance and charm, exuding the joy of young love. 

And here's some more nuggets excerpted from the NYTimes:

For the new Joffrey production, Brian Selznick’s story, the sets and costumes by Julian Crouch and Basil Twist’s puppetry turn out to be as crucial as the choreography. I loved learning about Chicago history from their work.There are rats, not the usual “Nutcracker” mice, and a menacing Rat Catcher. 

When the Christmas tree (a poor specimen) grows magically huge in Marie’s dream, it fills the stage, as if the action were occurring within its branches. And though the rats are later played by dancers, they’re most memorable when we see them as puppets, running along upper levels of the scenery and across the floor. As usual in “The Nutcracker,” they’re defeated in a battle with the title character and his toy soldiers (some of them cavalry).

From a wide range of reviews, it seems to be an adaptation that delights audiences and brings a new and different appreciation to what can often seem a fairly light and meaningless story (if you're not familiar with E.T.A. Hoffmann's original, at least). While critic reviews are mostly very positive, a few feel the work has yet to fully mature, although delight is clearly an element that frequents throughout.

The success so far, since opening night at the beginning of December, indicates Wheeldon's production will now be a regular part of the repertoire, and possibly a production that other companies may embrace over time as well.

What we're very interested in, is seeing America begin to "own" it's annual tradition of the Christmas production. Though Nutcracker has its origins in story, music and choreography in other lands, it's the United States that fell in love with the ballet as a nation and made it a yearly tradition across the country (something that spread from San Francisco and New York to the rest of the country after Balanchine's production in the 1960's). This may be the first time, however, that the magic and wonder of the story, has been birthed out of the country in which it is celebrated. It's an evolution of the tale and tradition and we're curious to see if America will love it's own magic as much as it has loved the enchantment that tip-toed in (literally) from other lands... even as it acknowledges the magic of many lands settling in the US, making a new home.

Wheeldon's Nutcracker is playing in Chicago until December 30th this year - and if you're able to go, we'd love to hear what you thought. (More information on tickets and times HERE.)

We'll finish with some delighted audience responses and more glimpses of this 'wonder-filled' production.

Gryla, Perchta, Befana, Forest Mother, Iron Tooth, Holle, Baba Yaga and... Mrs. Claus? Ho, ho - yes!

Researching what Baba Yaga would offer for advice (or as warnings) during the holiday season, it quickly became apparent that our favorite, ferocious wise woman has many sisters, quite a few of which are very active during the Winter Solstice and while some of their names are familiar, some are far less so.

Here's some seasonal reading for you on Baba Yaga's Yuletide 'sisters': 

The Lost Female Figures of Christmas Part I 

Mōdraniht - Mother's Night
Santa Lucia - Saint Lucy
Christkind (always portrayed by a grown woman)
Snegurochka - Snow Child/Maiden
Frau Holle 

The Lost Female Figures of Christmas Part II 

Perchta
Witte Wieven - The White Women
Befana
Grýla - Icelandic giantess

In reading about the sisters above, if you pay attention, you begin to see aspects of a modern female figure (that appears during our holiday season), emerge as well. That figure is, surprisingly, Mrs. Claus.

Although considered an American construct, that was quickly adopted by the UK, it's especially in recent times in which she seems to have become "more active", which is interesting. Not only is she helping Santa get ready for his 24 hour Christmas Eve world run, but these days we see references to her attending to small but key details that change the course of lives and sometimes history. She was credited with "saving Christmas" in the 1960's by the tale of the same name, but her character has quietly developed in complexity since then too. It's gotten to the point where she now ventures out on her own Christmas missions, without the Big Guy knowing, to take care of something she's sees as important, in person.

2016 saw her biggest update yet, thanks to a marketing campaign by Marks & Spencer. Take a look at this commercial that's touching a lot of hearts this season:

The ad has caught a lot of positive attention, and one writer, HERE, points out lots of wonderful details which might slip your attention on first viewing, but are worth sharing as they are all symbols of something else: feminine confidence, power and capability. While we won't include the whole description, here's an excerpt:

The ad, which was created by King's Speech director Tom Hooper, sees a little boy called Jake write to Mrs Claus on Christmas Eve for help. ...She reads Jake's letter (while sporting some fabulous thick-rimmed black glasses) and resolves to help him.

...New Christmas ass-kicking outfit on, and her hair subtly transformed into a Hillary Clinton power bob, Mrs Claus gets on her snowmobile and rides over the frozen landscape to an ice cave, where a bright red chopper (called R-DOLF, obviously) awaits. ...in a scene which wouldn't look out of place in a Bond film, Mrs Claus flies her ruby red helicopter from the North Pole to ...deliver the gift. 

(At) a time of year when all around seem to be telling women how to drop a dress size before party season; which shop the best mums go to; or how to plan ahead to ensure everyone else's needs are satisfied on the big day, it's refreshing to see a middle-aged woman tearing through the skies in a helicopter as if it's the most natural thing in the world. After all, in 2016 every little girl should know that she's just as capable as any boy.

It almost seems as if things have come a full circle - or that they're certainly heading that way. This Mrs. Claus, or Mother Christmas, is quite the feminist bad ass. And somehow, they managed to change her from old and frumpy, to a mature contemporary woman who's also capable and stylish, without stooping to either slutty or sickly sweet. She's almost, but not quite, a superhero. She's a capable, feminine, high profile wife, who finds that tricky balance between acting selflessly and enjoying her perks, and doesn't need - or want - the spotlight. (We have a feeling the Winter Sisters - and Baba Yaga - approve.)

So perhaps it's not so far fetched for people to be sending Mrs. Claus requests for help during the Christmas season. After all, her ancestral cousins have been in the business of helping out during the darkest time of the year for a very long time.

Note: "Love Mrs. Claus" got a lot of best-of-the-biz to bring her to life - from award winning writers, to composers and the actress herself having quite a shiny resume. You can read all the behind-the-scenes HERE.

Interview Pt IV: In which we discover even more bonuses in studying 'The Fairy Tale', as well as The Carterhaugh School 'grimoire'!

"These are the courses for people who dreamed of elven battles while studying economics, those who have always sworn they could see ghosts, those who longed for a school of magic to send them an unexpected acceptance letter. The gates of Carterhaugh are open. Welcome."

Have we intrigued you into signing up to study The Fairy Tale yet? If you're needing (yet another) incentive... ta da! There's a special one-time bonus for this first 'long course' The Carterhaugh School is offering.

Welcome to Part IV and the final (sob!) section of our interview with the fairy tale mavens and marvelous magical mentors Brittany Warman and Sara Cleto, of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic, in which we learn about all the package trimmings and shiny extras in store, especially for those who sign up for the first Carterhaugh School long course, The Fairy Tale. 

Psst! If you missed the other parts of our interview, we've linked you to them directly below:

Pt 1: 'Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic' Brings Us The Best Gift Ever: Fairy Tales! 

Pt II: In which we discover what studying Carterhaugh School's 'The Fairy Tale' is like

Pt III: In which we discover the different paths of study (Scholar! Artist! Writer!) in 'The Fairy Tale' course at Carterhaugh School

Before we let our magical guests get back to weaving the wondrous course material into magical lessons (Yes. Yes it IS a virtual Hogwarts classroom for fairy tale folk!), let's find out a little more about the tangible magic bonus they're dangling offering (because who doesn't love presents?), waiting to boost your personal enchantment quota:

You've mentioned a special bonus for participants for this debut of your first 'long course'. What shiny things are you dangling to tempt us to join as soon as possible?

Ah, that is a surprise, so we can’t tell you too much, but every participant in the fairy-tale course will receive a special package in the mail containing several little items to help prepare them for their journey into Caterhaugh. Though we can’t reveal the exact contents of this package yet, we promise it will enchant and inspire.

In the real-world mail?! Even though this is a virtual, online course, you mean there will be a magical owl, or fairy godmother magically delivering an actual, bona fide, package, that we can w̶e̶a̶r̶, er, hold, to our mail boxes where m̶u̶g̶g̶l̶e̶s̶ regular folk can see proof of u̶n̶i̶c̶o̶r̶n̶s̶, our fairy tale course involvement?

Well, we can't guarantee owls or fairy godmothers, but we can assure you that yes, it will be real in the physics sense of the word, and that it definitely won't turn into a pumpkin at midnight. (As for wearing them, that's up to you...) These items will be things you can keep and are especially - and only - available to our first long course participants this coming January (2017).

So... if this course is given as a gift, it's a present that has presents 'inside' too?

Why, yes. Yes it is. That's very fairy tale isn't it? (Of course ours isn't inside a needle, inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, buried under an oak tree, on an island in the middle of the ocean...) 

But we haven't even mentioned our "grimoire pages", one page PDF lesson summaries created to look like pages of an ancient spell book, and these will be available for every course taken at Carterhaugh School. The more classes you take with us, the more pages you can download, print and add to your own personal Carterhaugh grimoire! We plan to offer bonus pages as free downloads on the website as well, so watch our blog...

That settles it: this is about as irresistible an offer to study fairy tales as one could get! Where can interested folk find more information and what is the deadline for joining the fellowship (aka registration) for The Fairy Tale 10 lesson course in January?

The deadline to register for the fairy-tale course is January 15th, 2017 at midnight - we’ll post the first class the next day! All of the information about the course can be found at http://carterhaughschool.com/courses/the-fairy-tale/ . You can visit the rest of the site (http://www.carterhaughschool.com/) as well, which includes some FAQs, testimonials, information about the “grimoire pages,” and more!

Do you plan to offer this, and other folklorific and tale-licious course/s again in the future?

If it goes well, absolutely!!

What else should fairy tale folk know about The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic?

We love teaching, and we especially love teaching this material to people who are excited to learn more! We’re always happy to answer questions or chat about the course at carterhaughschool@gmail.com or on our Facebook page.

Thank you both so much for answering our questions this week! 

We're excited about all these Wonder-filled possibilities and hope our readers will perhaps meet in these virtually magical spaces of learning in the year to come. 

Best of fairy luck with the long course and may the magic spread far and wide.

For our readers, once more, here is the summary of the course details:
Dates: January 16th, 19th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, February 2nd, 6th, 9th, 13th, 16th – note that these are simply the dates that materials will be posted! You will be able to access everything indefinitely and watch whenever is most convenient to you. 

Total Number of Lessons: 10 

What’s Included: Welcome Letter, Mailed Special Welcome Package, 10 Video Lectures, 10 PowerPoint Presentations, 10 Beautiful PDF “Grimoire Page” Lesson Summaries, PDFs or Links to Any Supplementary Reading, Personal Feedback on Completed Final Assignment if Desired 

Any Additional Materials Needed: No 

Registration Closes: January 15th at Midnight 

Price: $150 – you can pay in one, two, or three installments! Full payment must be complete by the time registration closes on January 15th.

Click HERE to sign up yourself, or a lucky fairy tale friend.  

(And if you'd like to send something your friend could officially wear - or hold - you can send a t-shirt, tote, button-pin or sticker with the gorgeous Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic logo (see below next to the course schedule), through HERE! There's a special 20% off storewide till SUNDAY December 25th 2017: Use Code: ZGOODBYE2016)

And once again, we're including the course schedule below, detailing the wonderful range of tales & topics to be studied and explored, along whichever path (scholar, artist or writer) the participant chooses. It's inspiring to read all by itself:

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Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic: The Fairy Tale - Course Schedule

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Here is a tentative schedule for the upcoming fairy-tale course. Some of the individual stories are subject to change, but the themes for each lesson are set! Take a look:

Lesson One: January 16th, 2017

Intro to Fairy-Tale Study / Little Red Riding Hood / The Story of Grandmother

Lesson Two: January 19th, 2017
Cinderella Day – Cinderella / Donkeyskin / All Kinds of Furs / Yeh-hsien / The Princess in the Suit of Leather

Lesson Three: January 23rd, 2017
Jack Tales Day – Jack and the Beanstalk / Whickety-Whack, Into My Sack / Old Fire Dragaman

Lesson Four: January 26th, 2017
Beastly Bride Day – The Swan Maiden / The Crane Wife / The Loathly Lady / The Story of Uloopi and Arjuna
Featuring a guest lecture by the amazing Shveta Thakrar!

Lesson Five: January 30th, 2017
Awkward Husband Day – Bluebeard / The Robber Bridegroom / Mr. Fox / Fitcher’s Bird

Lesson Six: February 2nd, 2017
Sibling Day – Hansel and Gretel / Jorinde and Joringel / The Juniper Tree / Brother and Sister / Tatterhood

Lesson Seven: February 6th, 2017
Sleeping Maiden Day – Sleeping Beauty / The Ninth Captain’s Tale / Sun, Moon, and Talia / Snow White / Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree / The Glass Casket

Lesson Eight: February 9th, 2017
Search for the Lost Husband Day – Beauty and the Beast / Hans My Hedgehog / Small Toothed Dog / The Pig King / East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Lesson Nine: February 13th, 2017
Salon Day – The White Cat / The Great Green Worm / The Rose Cloud

Lesson Ten: February 16th, 2017
The Golden Key / Wrap Up

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To our readers: we will endeavor to keep you all on owl-alert with any news and magical reports coming out of Carterhaugh. Stay tuned!

* All artwork is by Dulac, except for the Carterhaugh School logo.

#MermaidsHatePlastic

It's due to such enduring fairy tales as The Little Mermaid that campaigns such as these have a truly personal and emotional impact.

Unlike just seeing 'pretty pictures' of fantasy creatures and objects created out of trash to promote awareness of waste and environmental danger, beloved fairy tales access the emotions of those who have loved the tales. The many versions of the fairy tale in books and film (and, yes, Disney) have already stirred the imaginations of people, especially young people, around the globe. They relate to the plight of The Little Mermaid - her wish to be part of the world, to not be segregated, to have a voice and so much more, and once connected, they remain so.

After tale familiarity, it only takes an image alluding to a beloved fairy tale character for an important message such as this one to get through, and that's what photographer and visual artist, Benjamin Von Wong, harnesses very effectively.

Frankly we encourage using fairy tales and fairy tale imagery to galvanize people to action here, as the urgency of this issue is such that marine biologists and other scientists around the world are now predicting that bird and marine life will be decimated within three decades because of plastic in our oceans!

Discussing the problem in Australia alone, The Boomerang Alliance (Australia's prime campaign group on waste and recycling) lists multiple, serious issues to the eco-system and wildlife, but if that's not reason enough to take the issue seriously, they add that "every time you eat seafood you’re potentially ingesting these same indestructible plastic particles into your own body".

Yikes.

From news.com.au:

By the year 2050 there will be more plastic rubbish floating in our oceans than fish unless we make some drastic changes to the way use and dispose of plastic materials.  

To raise awareness of the ocean’s urgent plight, Benjamin Von Wong, a renowned Canadian conceptual photographer and conservationist, has developed an epic visual movement called #mermaidshateplastic, which he hopes will draw the world’s attention to the grave threat plastic waste poses to the world’s oceans.

Using his signature hyper-realistic art style, Von Wong photographed models transformed into ‘mermaids’ ‘swimming’ amid 10,000 discarded plastic bottles he used to represent the sea. The ambitious shoot took place in a Montreal warehouse where Von Wong staged each of his scenes and photographed from above. 

Currently in Australia, Von Wong spoke to news.com.au about the #mermaidshateplastic campaign, which launched globally last week. 

“To me, the ocean is … like space but on our own planet and it’s something I find really fascinating,” Von Wong says. “But, virtually every single piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists on the planet today and if we do nothing, by 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the sea and that’s terrifying.” 

As an artist, Von Wong says that while he isn’t able to find the tangible solution to this problem, he’s chosen to apply his creative skills to draw the world’s attention to the ocean’s urgent plight. “I’m not a plastics engineer, I can’t create a new material, I can’t impact policy but what I can do, hopefully, is drive awareness,” Von Wong explains. 

Take a look at the creation process, which, by the way, uses collected beach and recycling waste for materials:

You can read the whole article HERE, along with ideas on how to halt the cycle of waste in easy ways every day, help the process of cleanup with just seconds of action, and, ultimately, stop plastic from not just being part of our world, but destroying it.

Interview Pt III: In which we discover the different paths of study (Scholar! Artist! Writer!) in 'The Fairy Tale' course at Carterhaugh School

Did we mention we're pretty excited about the new online course on The Fairy Tale that's transformed from wishes to reality, thanks to the enchanting, whip smart -and possibly a little devious- duo of Brittany Warman and Sara Cleto, the fairy godmothers behind the new Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic?

So far we've learned about the magical beginnings of Carterhaugh School, peeked behind-the-scenes at the ladies who made this dreams a reality and discovered why studying The Fairy Tale at Carterhaugh is going to be different from all other fairy tale study offered to date.

If you missed our first two interview posts you can find them here: 

Pt 1: 'Carterhaugh School of Folklore & the Fantastic' Brings Us The Best Gift Ever: Fairy Tales! 

Pt II: In which we discover what studying Carterhaugh School's 'The Fairy Tale' is like

But there is another, very unique and exciting aspect to this course that will make it unlike anything you've done before. Not only will participants:

• study beyond the typical introduction to fairy tales (ie. "Did you know the originals before Disney were dark..?" etc)
• explore a wide variety of tales - both from the classic canon and many beyond
• explore tales from a range of cultures and authors/sources
• dive into the magical melting pot of salon conversations
• be treated to insights by special guest lecturer, Shveta Thakrar, for the Beastly Bride Day

... they will also have the opportunity to explore fairy tales in a specifically personal way: by choosing one of three paths...

There will be a final assignment prompt for which you may choose the path of the scholar, the path of the writer, or the path of the artist. Personal feedback on completed final assignments is available upon request – we would love to see what you come up with!

Oh the possibilities! Let's find out more in Part III today of our exclusive behind-the-scenes interview.

Thank you again, Mistresses Brittany and Sara, for joining us today.

In the introduction to this 10 week course you mention a final assignment in which the participant has the option to choose a) the path of the scholar, b) the path of the writer, or c) the path of the artist, all of which sound intriguing. For people who might struggle between choosing, can you tell us more about the paths (is this a case of needles and pins?), and what the purpose is of structuring the assignment this way? (Should folk be thinking destiny? The path less traveled? Or something else?)

We offer the three paths in order to make the final project useful and relevant to a broader group of students with diverse interests and ways of processing stories and information. The Path of the Scholar is the option most similar to a traditional college paper, but there are many avenues that you might take to writing it, including a persuasive paper about a possible meaning or interpretation for one of the tales( Why is this meaning or interpretation important to you? To what extent can you sustain it with concrete details from the text?) or a personal essay (If you had to choose one of the narratives we have read to apply to your own life, what would it be and why? How does this narrative help you make sense of your own story?) The Path of the Writer invites you to retell or adapt one of the narratives we have explored. You could write a short story, a poem, a letter, a short play, or other written form that: retells the tale from the perspective of a different character (or from the perspective of an object); makes significant plot changes to the tale, explains a “narrative gap” or an instance of “leaping and lingering,” a moment that isn’t narrated or doesn’t make sense to you, in one of the tales; explores a character’s interiority; or sets a tale in a contemporary setting. The Path of the Artist asks to you respond to one of the stories through a visual medium. You can create a painting, a carving, a garment, a piece of jewelry, a drawing, a sculpture, a comic, or other visual form that: retells a particular moment in one of the stories; captures the emotion you felt upon reading a particular passage or expresses the emotions you think the characters would have experienced during their journey; recreates an object or character from one of the tales; depicts a moment that is not narrated (a moment from before the tale begins or after it ends.) We’ve also had students create their own path or expand/ adapt these prompts in order to accommodate their own interests.

Is there any accreditation given (or magical powers bestowed) to participants who successfully complete the course? Will there be any keepsakes that participants can stow as proof they went into these woods and talked to the many Others therein?

While we cannot offer any official accreditations, we do plan to issue certificates to those who complete the course. As we talk about below, we’ll also be sending a special package in the mail with keepsakes!

You recently had a 'short course' Folklore for All Hallows Eve. Can you tell us about how that went, (at the cross roads, in the dead of night in the thinning mist) the different sorts of things participants studied (eg. etiquette for greeting the grateful dead) and what the results were?

The Folklore for All Hallows’ Eve course was our first course at Carterhaugh, so we approached it very much as an experiment- if it went well, we would expand and offer more classes, and, if not, we could say we tried and move on. However, we had a fantastic experience teaching this first course. The three lessons were all oriented around seasonal, spooky folk narratives, so we had a lesson each on eerie ballads, creepy fairy tales, and urban legends. The reception thus far has been very positive- final projects are rolling in from our students, and they are wonderful! And many students from that course have already enrolled for the Fairy Tale Course, so we think we’re on the right track!

Being online -a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶g̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶p̶u̶t̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶e̶c̶h̶-̶s̶a̶v̶v̶y̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶r̶y̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶- brings so many possibilities to a course, including the possibility of meeting like-minded people from places you would never be able to visit in your lifetime. Is there any portal available for current and prospective participants to meet, interact and share fairy tale ideas, discoveries and related works?

Yes! That’s one of the things that has been so great about this venture so far. Every course will have their own special Facebook group only for students - the one for the “Folklore for All Hallows’ Eve” was very lively and fun! We also have a main Facebook group where people can ask us questions about the courses and connect with others as well. You can find that already active group here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/305213463204876/

We'll wrap up our interview in the next post as there are yet more goodies up for fairy tale participants that we simply have to save, to showcase all by themselves... 

Join us tomorrow for Part IV, our final part of the interview with these amazing women who are busy spreading magic to all they can, and who encourage knowledge and exploration of the world, of tales, of history and of our future potential - something which our world sorely needs right now.

To sign up for Carterhaugh School's, The Fairy Tale long course and take advantage of this wonderful study opportunity, as well as embark on a uniquely and personally tailored fairy tale journey, click HERE.

And remember that this makes for a perfect last minute holiday gift: No wrapping, convenient payment options and fairy tale happiness for many months to come! It's a pretty wonderful way to give a fairy tale enthusiast a gift they'll love and never forget.

Once again, here is a summary of the details:

Dates: January 16th, 19th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, February 2nd, 6th, 9th, 13th, 16th – note that these are simply the dates that materials will be posted! You will be able to access everything indefinitely and watch whenever is most convenient to you. 

Total Number of Lessons: 10 

What’s Included: Welcome Letter, Mailed Special Welcome Package, 10 Video Lectures, 10 PowerPoint Presentations, 10 Beautiful PDF “Grimoire Page” Lesson Summaries, PDFs or Links to Any Supplementary Reading, Personal Feedback on Completed Final Assignment if Desired 

Any Additional Materials Needed: No 

Registration Closes: January 15th at Midnight 

Price: $150 – you can pay in one, two, or three installments! Full payment must be complete by the time registration closes on January 15th.

Click HERE to sign up yourself, or a lucky fairy tale friend.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the last part of our special interview series with the roses of The Carterhaugh School!

* Artwork used is all by Edmund Dulac, except for the Carterhaugh School Facebook header directly above.