Darkness, Magic, and Hope

by Lucy Marsden

I love the celebration of magic that underlies the winter holidays, the tradition of miracles and wonder that’s meant to sustain human beings at the darkest time of the year.

And to my way of thinking, there’s no better way to honor darkness, magic, and hope than to immerse myself in the original wonder tales. Forget the sanitization and sappy-fication of Disney; the collection of stories that came to be known as fairy tales was created by adults for adults, and deals intimately with themes of sexuality, violence, betrayal, and encountering evil. Because of their focus on transformation, however, fairy tales also champion the possibility of creating something different and better, as well as the knowledge that if you keep your wits about you, monsters CAN be slain, and curses can be broken. It’s very heartening.

Happily, fairy tales are very much with us right now (although, being fairy tales, they are never very far away in any case). I thought I’d take a moment to promote my newest fairy tale find, and in doing so, to promote one of the best fairy tale treasures on the web: Once Upon A Blog.

Run by InkGypsy, Once Upon A Blog has all the fairy tale news that’s fit to print: movies, books, art, music—everything and anything that’s happening in the world of fairy tales gets featured on this blog. It’s a lively, gorgeous labor of love, and anyone who has any interest in these stories at all is going to find something of value to take away.

Not too long ago, the blog featured a story about Re-Enchantment, an interactive website devoted to fairy tale lore. From the website:

“We invite you to enter the gateway and explore the forest. Many paths await you. Along the way you’ll find ‘active’ links leading you into the wonder, fascination and horror of well-known fairy tales and their not so well known meanings. Discover the way contemporary visual artists, photographers and filmmakers have re-imagined many traditional tales.”

The website is stunning, and in addition to the art, photography, and film clips, the site has included interviews with experts like Jack Zipes and Marina Warner, discussing various aspects of the featured fairy tales. It is such a sumptuous mix of fairy tale goodness, you could be there for hours surfing the lore.

Nor is that the only free fairy tale gift available for your enjoyment this holiday season. Once Upon A Blog also passed the word that ALL the episodes from the TV series Once Upon A Time and Grimm are going to be made available in FULL on the ABC and NBC websites (ABC has even included cast and creator commentaries for Once!).

So reach for some fairy tale magic this holiday season. My favorite story is Beauty and the Beast, but I loved Peter Weller as the soldier in The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I’ve got a Bluebeard-esque story with a sexy Happily Ever After that’s percolating away in my brain.

What about you? What is your favorite flavor of fairy tale?
(And whatever you choose, best wishes to you in the New Year to come!)