An online series of creative sessions exploring what fairy tales have to offer us as we face the world today.
Wondertales and Fairy tales, like the stories collected by the Brothers Grimms, can be disturbing, confusing, distasteful, wonderous, magical, mysterious, bewildering, upsetting, infuriating, delighting, entertaining, surprising, weird and all manner of perplexing. Much like life really.
These stories don't necessarily please us. Often they challenge us or turn us right off. They can be full of shadow, or feel outdated, simplistic or problematic.
And, there are veins of rich wisdom, provocation, grace, compassion, humanity, hope and understanding to be found in them, if we go in by the right doors and carry courageous questions made of fire, flowers and water in our hearts.
As Wendell Berry writes so beautifully:
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is travelled by dark feet and dark wings.
Fairy Tales for the Fearless is a series of online sessions to explore what we might encounter in the deeper layers of meaning in wondertales - with all their harshness and hope - as we face challenges and triumphs in our own world. It may not be pretty, but it could be potent.
Each session will begin with a wondertale, followed by a variety of reflective exercises, creative responses and discussion points as ways of exploring what the story has to offer.
Bring:
Pen and paper
Tea and snacks
Questions and curiosity
Your creativity and imagination
A willingness to start with compassion
And maybe a compass, to help us go into the woods and come out again on the other side!
Be warned! You may meet yourself in the process - these stories have a way of holding up mirrors to the parts of ourselves that we need to tend. Are you ready to shed some skins?
And be heartened! You may meet yourself in the process - a glorious traveller full of strengths and gifts you didn't even know you had. Are you ready to find treasure in the wild woods?
You come to any or all of the sessions - they are drop in. To make the most of the journey, I recommend coming to all of them if you can - there is a discount for this option, as it makes for the most fulfilling experience and enables us to journey as a group.
DATES: - TBA