Myths and Fairy Tales

Myths and fairy tales are metaphors of growth and transition in our lives. Often, the fairy tales deal with stories of challenge and overcoming, death and resurrection, a cycle of a heroic growth and personal alchemy in the face of adversity. The Brother's Grimms collection of fairy tales is the most famous is western culture. Many wonder, how did the Grimm brothers make their stories? The answer is that these were folk stories which the brothers Grimm tabulated and rewrote and so are collections out of the consciousness of our collective western society. As such, the symbolism of fairy tales has the potential to make a profound impact on our unconscious mind. There were not always just tales for children as they are often taken for today, but may be subconscious keys to help us navigate our adult lives.

Greek Myths

The Greeks myths were used by the Greek culture as a contact between themselves and a higher world, to help understand the world around them and to develop certain qualities of character within themselves. For example, there are myths of Aphrodite for cultivating love and beauty, and myths of Ares for working with courage and aggression. There were moon myths and sun myths for understanding the cycles of nature and the cycles within ourselves. Whereas today we see the moon and sun in a scientific light, in the past the moon myths and sun myths provided an important connection between people and the world around them.

When Persephone went to the Underworld with Hades, Demeter, goddess of the earth mourned, which explained winter and a time of moving within and the cyclical nature of life. Artemis was a Goddess of the moon and a symbol of natural purity and feminine independence. Zeus was a celestial God, ruling over Mount Olympus, whereas Poseidon was the god of the sea.

Through working with these myths we can step back into the consciousness of this great people and our own heritage and unconscious which carries similar consciousness. Just as Ulysses underwent great trials in his quest for the Golden Fleece, so to do we face challenges in our lives. Step back into these myths as a method of self knowledge...

HUM 109: FROM MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES TO AUTOBIOGRAPHY

How do you think myths and fairy tales help us towards understanding ourselves?
What is their value for children and what is their value for adults?
Do you feel that you live up to your role as hero in your own biography?
What are your temptations and hindrances, etc.?
Can you die and still be alive?

Required Reading:
Mythology, Edith Hamilton
Fairy Tales, Grimm
Pathfinders, Gail Sheehy

Myths and Fairy Tales
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A short excerpt from our free lesson, the first part of Humanities 209 From Myths to Fairy Tales and Autobiography:

Our individual destinies - the biography we shape and then leave behind - conceal the same basic patterns that can be found in mythological heroes and fairy tale characters. These archetypal stories disclose secrets of initiation and transformation when we view ourselves as inheritors and participants in the evolution of consciousness. We "go through hell" as Herakles did; we must solve life-threatening riddles as kings' sons did; we too are searching to "live happily ever after."...

Myths and fairy tales are entertainment, literature, education and religion all in one. In ancient times these dramatic portrayals were experienced so openly and deeply that they became part of the psychic make-up of those who heard them. They added to the storehouse of tools with which to meet life...