Fairy Tales - is it possible that any of them could have been real?

asked 22 Oct '09, 06:36

flowingwater's gravatar image

flowingwater
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edited 22 Oct '09, 06:43

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Barry Allen ♦♦
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link

answered 22 Oct '09, 22:07

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wildlife
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Thanks for the link appreciate it. For those who might be too busy to click on it would you explain an little about the book wildlife.

(05 Nov '09, 07:53) flowingwater

Fairy tales are a way for adults to experience afresh, vicariously, some of the awe and wonder of the magical thinking they had in childhood. There's something wonderful about magical thinking, that stretches our imaginations and encourages creativity. As we confront the harsh realities of adulthood, most people lose that capacity for magical thinking. I think that's a sad thing. There's so much joy and hope to be found in magical thinking. It's an approach toward life that says, "just maybe this could be." And perhaps, when we believe enough that something could be, it might just happen. Isn't that what reality-creation is about? Believing, and so creating a new reality? Look at the wonder of Disney World, springing from the magical imagination of Walt Disney. Look at the joy that has brought to so many people-- and all the other benefits connected to a successful business.

Maybe in sharing fairy tales, and seeing the wide-open wonder in our children's eyes, we recover some of that wonder ourselves. Yes, Virginia, fairy tales are real. :-)

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answered 23 Oct '09, 11:42

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John
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John were you answering me and calling me Virginia or were you talking to someone else? It doesn't matter I was just wondering. Yes, I believe in fairy tales some of them were real I think. It opens up our imagination to the wonders and excitement of our world. All we have to do is change the lens for which we look through and we can see through the eyes of children the wonders delights and beautiful things of this world all we have to do is change the lens we are looking through isn't that great John.

(23 Oct '09, 17:10) flowingwater

I think John was making a pun on "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

(23 Oct '09, 19:31) Vesuvius

Good for you, Vesuvius! "Unknown", the allusion was to an 1897 editorial in the New York Sun newspaper, responding to an 8 year old girl's written question, "Is there a Santa Claus?" The newspaper's editorial reply is a classic. You can read about it in Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus#Who_was_Virginia.3F) And yes, Unknown, I was answering you, but alluding to little Virginia's now famous query and its reply to reinforce my answer.

(24 Oct '09, 01:36) John

Oh, Ok John thanks and for clearing it up for me John.

(05 Nov '09, 07:43) flowingwater

Thanks Vesuvius for explaining Virginia John was saying.

(05 Nov '09, 07:44) flowingwater

You know sometimes fairy tales and fiction comes from true stories but are preceived to be unbelieveable so therefore people put them forth as fairy tales or fiction less explaining to do. There are so many strange and unusually things out there in the world of this dimention to comprehend that most people past it off if they come across it as they would say I didn't see what I thought I saw so therefore none of this is true.

(25 Nov '09, 12:57) flowingwater
showing 2 of 6 show 4 more comments

While is possible that some of the stories may be loosely based on real people or actual occurrences, the tales themselves are almost certainly fictional.

Like all significant literature, fairy tales have societal functions in oral and literary tradition. Fairy tales examine the human condition, provide a source of entertainment, and often contain a moral message. They are not always designed for children; the Grimm fairy tales were actually more adult-oriented before they were rewritten (by another author) to be children-friendly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale

link

answered 22 Oct '09, 20:29

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Vesuvius
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Fairy tales and stories about magic - I regard them as another way to teach belief in the possibility of miracles in life and about our own power.

They are also about how we learn to navigate through life. Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a storyteller (cantadora) and psychiatrist extraordinary. She wrote a book called The Women who Run with The Wolves which analyses some stories as they relate to how people pass down tales about the phases of life that we pass through. (The original 1982 book is brilliant!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarissa_Pinkola_Estés

Fairy stories are not originally for children as such - but have been "Disneyfied" or the equivalent through the ages for children. I have seen somewhere someone say Cinderella is about the nature of alchemy and transformation, the changing of one thing into another, but I can't remember where..

This tells of the origins of Cinderella:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella

Bluebeard:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard

link

answered 22 Oct '09, 21:57

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Rebecca
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edited 22 Oct '09, 22:41

Fairy tales are myths, which are best interpreted in a symbolic way. They try to teach us about how archetypes function in us and how we should learn life lessons, which will help us in our life.

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answered 04 Nov '09, 19:56

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Rana
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no doubt they were not written for their dead letter,
imagine a simile on which profound center of truth
the authors choose to elaborate,
an intentional veiling of a message?

link

answered 14 Oct '11, 21:45

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fred
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My good blade carves the casques of men, My tough lance thrusteth sure, My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure."

(16 Oct '11, 03:39) white tiger

yes, the never ending search for purity of its kind. they say it is all about looking in-ward

(19 Oct '11, 22:37) fred

i will simply say that everything as some truth in it even fairy tales. and if you look at myth those add hiden information i have read 20 years ago that some groups or order used myth to code some teaching. and some myth are based on true legend. i do not remember what group it was or what legend they say the code where in. but it is food for thoughs.

http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/

link

answered 14 Oct '11, 03:42

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white tiger
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