The Truth in Fairytales

    Cinderella. The original 'rags to riches' story. She was a commoner who met, fell in love with, and married a prince. Hers is a story that stays with children throughout their lives because it teaches that good things happen for good people. It offers hope. 

    The Pied Piper of Hamelin offers a completely different story. It is dark and brimming with warning. The story was recorded and handed down through the Grimm Brothers, but it is not folklore in the strictest sense. The moral of this story is to 'pay the Piper.' Be mindful to pay the price for goods or services received. The notion that the Piper was cheated of his fee for rat removal was added years after the original story circulated. This addition is what provided the moral we know today.

     The fact is, however, the disappearance of one hundred thirty-nine children from the village of Hamelin is historic fact. There are several theories about how this occurred. 

     Some say the Piper was symbolic of Death by Catastrophe or Plague. This doesn't fit with all of the evidence. Three children were left behind. One was blind. Another was deaf. The third had a crippled leg. Certainly a disease strong enough to be called a plague would have taken these children, too. 

     Others say the story is based on the war campaign of Nicholas of Cologne. He led an army of children into battle with disastrous results. This would explain leaving those three children behind, but the time frame is wrong as well as the location. Both the time and the location of the disappearance of the children is documented in the records of the village church.

     There is another theory. This one captured my attention. Some researchers believe the children fell victim to a pedophile, or more probably several pedophiles. If this is indeed the case, the moral of the story ought to be 'love your children well, and watch over them.' 

     When people can't cope with certain events, the story of those events become the stuff of legend and fairytales. Sadly, the events and their causes become glossed over to make them bearable. The moral of the story...well, it is led away by another sort of piper.

Remembering The Boogie Man

    The Boogie Man of my youth was a troll-like creature that stayed in the shadows and lived under my bed. He was there to grab at my ankles if I got out of bed before it was time to be up. He stole the covers if I kicked them off after my parents tucked me in. If the bedroom closet door wasn't properly closed he could get in there and watch as I slept. My siblings and I were safe because we kept our bedroom closet doors closed. We visited the toilet before we were tucked into our beds. Sweet dreams were sealed with a kiss on the forehead.

    The Boogie Man nowadays does everything he always did, but he has also changed. Now he says Mass. He is in the classroom and makes kids stay after school. He steals playground toys, but pretends he found them. Kids can always get their toys back. If. If they will get into his car. If. If they will learn their after-school lessons. If. If they will kneel with the priest.

  Being scared used to be fun. Being scared wasn't real. Being scared was to teach kids a lesson. Nowadays, being scared isn't a game. It is very real. Kids can die from the people who scare them and the things they do.

   None of the kids I knew ever really saw the Boogie Man. Times have changed. The Boogie Man gets around. Kids have seen him. Kids have been afraid to tell. Kids have been scared. Scarred. Died.

Percussion/Re-percussion in Synchronicity

     In music percussion is the sound resulting from an instrument being struck by a stick or hammer. Drums, xilophones, pianos. The sound results as a reaction of the action of being struck. The vibrations we hear are the sound waves emanating from the strike. The waves strike the eardrum, a re-percussion, so that sound is perceived.

     The choices a person makes work in much the same way. Thought resulting in action goes forth to cause benefit or harm, not only to the person but to those around that person as well. What happens as a result may seem to the innocent victim, to be the result of something s/he did; hence the apparent synchronicity. Two unrelated events coming together to form a conclusion is the definition of synchronicity. In some cases, the result isn't necessarily what it seems.

     For instance, today the US Congress has caused the government to shut down. Citizens are going to suffer for this Congressional decision. This is more an effect of collateral damage than synchronicity. Another example is the victim of theft and betrayal. Even the most vigilant person can be fooled by a con. Vigilance does not provide flawless protection against theft. 

     Betrayal and theft is the result of one person's decision to cheat and steal. That is the strike, the percussion. The results rightfully belong to the thief alone. The re-percussions are his to bear and from which he hopefully learns. These are the lessons the thief has chosen for himself. When he is let off the hook, so to speak, he is cheated this life lesson. Worse yet, his escape creates boldness. Thinking himself clever, he will cheat and steal again. Repeating the transgression is necessary so that his learning can  eventually take place. Part of that learning is to take personal responsibility for striking the drum instead of blaming the drum for being struck. This is the Karma of Percussion and Synchronicity.

     

Everyday Magick

     One of the most powerful magick spells any person can cast, Wiccan or not, is similar to this:

"I thank the Divine for one more day of life on earth and all that entails. Today I when I see need I step forward to fulfill it. I turn myself outward to be a Divine instrument of peace. By the powerful graciousness of the Divine, so mote this be!"

     Jesus is quoted as saying, "Whatsoever you do to the least of your brethren, you do unto Me." Native American traditional belief likens the world to a giant spiderweb. Whatever happens on one part of the web, reverberates throughout the entire web. Kindness and courtesy reverberate in such a way.

     When we bring our awareness to the world, we notice a mother with a stroller struggling to open the door to a store and we hold it open. We notice an elderly person standing on the bus or subway and we offer our seat. We notice someone on the sidewalk looking lost or confused and offer directions to the desired destination. We simply say hello to the people we encounter. We acknowledge they exist. We acknowledge they are the same as us. You will notice a change in them. You have instantly transformed their day. You have worked the best kind of magick. 

The Deja Vu of Gratitude

     Ever notice that when someone says thank you for something, almost immediately some other good comes to that person? And s/he expresses gratitude again. Living in a continuous state of gratitude sets the stage for a continuous state of receiving more. Each time something good happens, the recipient has the feeling this has happened before. It has.

Paranormal Dances With Wolves

     While on vacation this week I made a practise of grabbing my Buddhist prayer beads and going for an open-eyed meditative walk along the Hudson River. The beads are much like the rosary of my Catholic youth in that they track the correct number of repetitions of prayers. In the Buddhist tradition those repetitions total one hundred eight, the number of earthly desires to be overcome. Interestingly, 108 is also considered to be 'the joy giver.' At any rate, I gave myself physical, mental and spiritual exercise to begin the day.

     Yesterday morning, I had the sensation of Sheena, my wolf spirit guide, walking with me. Hers is a special energy that comes in time of need either to focus or soothe. Odd that she would come with me for a morning walk on a perfect Autumn day. As I approached a woman with her dog, I received validation of Sheena's presence. The woman didn't have her dog on his lead until she spotted me. She then moved to clip it to the dog's collar, but she didn't follow through. Her black Labrador went on point. He watched as I walked closer and passed by him, but he wasn't looking at me. His point of focus was about mid-thigh height and a couple feet out from me, exactly where I knew Sheena was. The woman was looking there, too. Their body language and facial expressions made it clear they saw Sheena. 

     When I returned home and began going through emails and news articles, there was an item about a study about the difference between dogs and wolves. Given what had just happened I was intrigued. The study demonstrated that wolves were the more independent acting, but more trustworthy pets in aggressive situations.

     Not that I want to go out looking for a pack of timber wolves to befriend, but I am fascinated by wolf behavior; always have been. Sheena's energy was alarming when I first encountered it, but I've learned to appreciate her. If she were to manifest as a creature in this time and space I might be really apprehensive at first, but what a companion she could be!

'From The Mouths Of Babes"

     While taking the NYC subway the other day, I was standing across from a young woman and her little girl. The girl looked to be around three or maybe four years old. She was kneeling on the seat so she could look at the window. When the train stopped at a station, this young mind posed a very interesting question: 'Mommy, what if the train is staying still and the stations are passing by us?'

     Philosophers and physicists have written volumes on the concept of time and here was a little girl positing the same question. I smiled at the hope that civilization is not lost, nor heading to 'hell in a hand basket.' There are brilliant new minds on the horizon!