There are few tales in which the slaying of a dragon rescues a princess in immediate danger. The powerful archetypal story is not a fairy tale but an image in the Book of Revelation: The Woman, clothed with the Sun and about to give birth, is threatened by the Serpent waiting to devour her Child. St Michael and his angels fight this Dragon and bring the Woman to a secret place where she can give birth in safety.
As this article helps to show, the fairy tale princess is an archetype of the human soul. The dragon-slaying legends of St George, Perseus and others are about communities who are threatened. In fairy tales, a dragon must be slain in order to reach a place where the princess may be found.
A Story for Michaelmas
In my book The Golden Soldier and the story of Siegfried in the Germanic legends, it is really a battle to free the treasures of spiritual knowledge and wisdom. These have been stolen from the progress of Human Spiritual Evolution by the Dragon of Materialism and Selfish Egohood.
This Dragon sits on a hoard of Gold he cannot use, but he denies even a penny of it to Humanity. In the slaying of this Dragon, the Hero obtains great power. This power may be used for good or evil, depending on the level of perfection the Hero has earned. If capable of using the redeemed Spiritual Wisdom, he may ‘win back’ a ‘pure soul’ that has been held captive by the selfish greed of Materialism.
The Gender Question
In many stories it is the female character who does heroic deeds. It is Gretel, not Hansel, who outsmarts and kills the Witch. And once the Witch (a Dragon figure) is dead, the children find gold and jewels which they can take back to their ‘Father’ and, in so doing, end the (spiritual) famine.
The ‘Princess Question’ comes from an ignorance of the true versions of genuine fairy tales and from what is age-appropriate in terms of the panorama of mythologies.
In Waldorf education, fairy tale play in early childhood is left totally open, boys and girls taking on whatever role they wish. As the children grow older, they will find heroes and heroines in every mythology, and later in their History lessons.
To introduce gender identity awareness in early childhood and the younger grades has its fairy tale parallel in the image of Cinderella’s stepsisters who cut off their toes and heels trying to squeeze into her slipper.
In trying to squeeze gender consciousness into the young child, we commit an act of violence on the young soul by distorting and maiming the archetypes.
Myth and Magic
The same holds true when we substitute modern-day saints for the mystical and magical saints of early Christianity in Second Grade. At this point we should be introducing only saints whose legends live outside the historical and political context of their time.
In Sixth and Seventh Grade we return to these figures in the light of their political and historical context, and in Eighth Grade History we look for the spirit-light as it has been carried forth into our own times.
Understanding the Waldorf curriculum and its context and relevancy requires quite a bit of study and thought and letting go of many contemporary preconceptions, so that the wonder and beauty and magic of our spiritual history may be allowed to shine forth unmolested.
Grown-ups need to be willing to surrender their ‘Adult-Think’ and approach the Education of the Child with their Heart Intelligence, and with great respect for the Riddle of the Child. For in every child lives every archetype, and their soul force and potentiality are not bound by outward appearance, gender or cultural identity.
This is explained further in my article of July 2011 that was first published at the blog The Wonder of Childhood:
“Who Are You Calling a Princess?”
In February of 2010 I came across an article posted on the blog SurLaLune and felt compelled to respond with a balancing point of view. The article begins with this query:
“My twins aren’t even three years old, and I’m already sick of that girly triumvirate that seems impossible to escape when you are raising girls: The Princess/Barbie/Pink matrix. Toys ‘R’ Us has entire aisles devoted to Disney Princess merchandise, racks of sparkly pink dress-up clothes, pretend makeup and costume jewelry, and of course those totally weird Bratz dolls with their stripper clothes and drag queen makeup.”
And another passage about fairy tales and Disney:
“No doubt, the P/B/P trap will be difficult to avoid. Introducing my kids to traditional Disney fare like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast would be a surefire way to turn them into tiara-wearing maniacs. So right now, we stick with Treehouse. When I told my friends that I’ve altered some traditional tales (like Cinderella) to make them more “girl power,” a couple of them thought I was nuts. Did I really think I was going to hide the fact that the Prince rescues the poor, helpless maiden when these stories have been told for generations? No, probably not. But I’m determined to allow my daughters to make their own choices when it comes to their self-image, especially now, before High School Musical and Hannah Montana teach them that stereotypical beauty = teenage power.”
First, fairy tales should be heard, not seen, by young children. (…) When we expose children to the fairy tale world through Disney etc., we are imprinting images that they may or may not be ready for psychologically (or spiritually), and these images “lock in” and become fixed.
In addition, there is a great deal of fairy tale propaganda that is used for one purpose only: TO SELL STUFF!
The Waldorf Way
In Waldorf Education, we try to stick with telling fairy tales at appropriate age levels, using books with gentle impressionistic illustrations which leave much to the imagination.
And we give children dress-up and play materials which are simple and open to the child’s creative impulses.
There is nothing wrong with “princess” and “prince” play. In fact, it is quite wonderful and can actually be cross-gendered if the children so desire, and no comments need to be made by adults.
Moral Education
To be a “true princess” or “true prince” is to have an elevated sense of ethics, if you follow true fairy tale interpretation.
The “true” prince or princess must be kind, generous, truthful and good. They must care for others above themselves and put others first, whether human, animal or elemental.
Only then can they achieve union with their “other” – the opposite prince or princess which represents their own higher self (not an external person) and, in so doing, inherit the “kingdom” of their own spiritual state of contentment and enlightenment.
What About Pink?
Pink is the color of love in its gentle and innocent form. It is the color of affection and warmheartedness.
Unfortunately, our more than material, our negatively spiritual society has corrupted this into vanity and even a horrific early sexuality. Think of the TV show “Toddlers and Tiaras” as a horrible example.
Bringing pink back to innocent love and affection should be the goal.
Simple pink silks, a little bit of bling for sparkle, and gentle reminders of what true princesses do and don’t do are enough to keep the young child in healthy fairy tale love for a long time.
“Beauty is as Beauty Does”
A side note about beauty, especially regarding hair:
I have yet to find an original version fairy tale specifying that the “princess” or “princess-to-be” is blonde. There may be a few who speak of “golden” hair, but I am having a difficult time finding one.
The princess in ‘The Frog Prince’ is described thus:
In olden times when wishing still helped, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face.
Many illustrations show her as yellow-haired, but it is not specified in the story itself.
Little Snow White is ebony-haired. This is a profound reference to the three colors of Rosicrucian alchemy – red, white and black. It has nothing whatsoever to do with racial or even physical characteristics in the material sense.
Little Snow White (‘Schneewittchen’) is one of the most complex and spiritually rich fairy tales and would require an extensive article to explore it as deeply as it deserves. Here is the opening:
Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing, and the frame of the window was made of black ebony. And whilst she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red looked pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself, “Would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony.”
Soon after that she had a little daughter, who was as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was black as ebony; and she was therefore called Little Snow-white. And when the child was born, the queen died.
After a year had passed the King took to himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman but proud and haughty, and she could not bear that anyone else should surpass her in beauty.
She had a wonderful looking-glass, and when she stood in front of it and looked at herself in it, and said, “Looking-glass, Looking-glass on the wall, who in this land is the fairest of all?”
The looking-glass answered: “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all!”
Then she was satisfied, for she knew that the looking-glass spoke the truth.
It is easy to discern that in this story we are going to really feel the full impact of over-emphasizing the importance of physical beauty.
Most fairy tales describe the maiden or princess as beautiful, and one needs to realize that this is really “inner beauty”. In false princesses it is outer beauty, which often turns to ugliness when their true soul condition is revealed.
Beauty is always connected with the qualities of compassion and self-sacrifice.
It is only when the stories have been altered – as with Charles Perrault who wrote French versions of Grimm’s tales – that more external values have been applied.
There are huge differences between Perrault’s Cinderella and its forerunner, Grimm’s Aschenputtel. Then Walt Disney corrupted the stories even further, and his versions became deeply entrenched as moving pictures.
Who Rescues Who?
I have a problem with equating fairy tales with adult values such as female independence and strength. This, I believe, has arisen primarily because of the fairy tale “propaganda” from the Disney versions.
Reading the authentic versions, one finds that the prince rarely rescues the princess.
In the original ‘Sleeping Beauty’ or ‘Briar Rose’ (‘Dornröschen’), the Prince kisses the Princess awake, but only because her time of awakening has come. Before, many died trying to get into the castle, but when the right time is at hand, the briars part to admit the true Prince.
Also, it is the 13th wise woman who ‘saves’ the princess by transmuting the death sentence of the 12th (evil) wise woman.
In the original Cinderella (‘Aschenputtel’), the gowns are brought by birds (spirits) because of the girl’s tears at her mother’s grave – not by a fairy godmother. She earns her spiritual sheaths through penance and devotion.
Then she meets the Prince three times, but runs away!
When the Prince tries the shoe on the two stepsisters, the birds (spirits) tell him he has the wrong bride. Each of the stepsisters mutilates herself to get the shoe on.
The Prince himself is rather clueless, and only through spiritual intervention is the union completed.
In Rapunzel, it is she who initiates the union; and in the end, her tears that fall into the blind eyes of the Prince do the rescuing.
Her hair represents the spiritual power of imagination, obliquely reminiscent of the physical power of Samson’s long locks.
In Little Red Riding Hood (‘Rotkäppchen’) it is a huntsman who rescues child and grandmother from the belly of the wolf. (And yes, they were devoured by the wolf.) But here the feminine archetypes are ‘child’ and ‘elder’, not young adult figures.
In Snow White (‘Schneewittchen’), the prince does not kiss the girl awake. He begs the dwarfs to let him take the girl in the glass coffin back to his castle. The cart goes over a bump and the poisoned apple is dislodged from her mouth.
The Prince is a catalyst to the awakening, but not necessarily a rescuer.
In Hansel and Gretel, it is Gretel who saves them from the witch. First through her cleverness at getting Hansel to poke a chicken bone through the cage bars (the witch can’t see well and wants to know if he is fat enough to eat), and then through sheer bravery and strength of will in pushing the witch into the oven.
ARCHETYPES of the Soul
To really understand fairy tales, one must go back to the originals and the wonderful analytic works available to us today. These are teaching stories, psychological and spiritual, and it behooves us to be very, very careful of bastardizations that change these teachings drastically.
Note: A fairy tale investigation from an anthroposophical perspective is the highly recommended book by the German author Friedel Lenz (1897-1970) which is also available in English:
The Creating of Images
It is interesting to see how differently princesses were portrayed in illustration before Disney.
Again the caveat: The picture that is created in the child’s soul through hearing the story without illustrations is the most beneficial and psychologically appropriate for that child.
Luckily there are beautiful Waldorf-style books with soft, impressionistic illustrations that allow a child (or adult) to live in them imaginatively and flexibly. They are easy to find once you know what to look for.
One last piece of advice: Try to hold off giving children a fairy-tale book until after they have lived with the oral version for a long time.
Once a picture is seen, it cannot be unseen and could damage the inner picture irrevocably.
The Power of a Story Told
When I taught a Waldorf Fourth Grade, one of my children’s mother gave him D’Aulaire’s book of Norse Myths. Fortunately, it was after we had completed the Main Lesson block and the children had heard the stories and illustrated their own books.
When my student brought in the book, they spent literally hours looking at it and arguing about whether the pictures “looked like” Thor, Odin, Freya, etc. They already had their inner pictures and weren’t going to accept someone else’s version – even from a book.
Hurrah for the power of a story told!
Christine Natale is a trained and experienced Waldorf Teacher who has worked primarily in Early Childhood Education. Over the past decade, she has been bringing her writing out into the world. She has produced an extensive collection of children’s stories and articles on Waldorf Education, and several more volumes of story collections are in development. Christine is a contributor to the online magazine The Wonder of Childhood and has published guest posts in the Parenting Passageway blog.
Six books of her fairy tales and stories, beautifully illustrated by the Ukrainian artist Natalya Yeshchenko, are available on Amazon and from Lulu.com
Comments are welcome, so don’t hesitate to share experiences, questions and feedback below.
This guide assists class teachers and home educators with editable daily lesson plans, presentation notes, mentoring comments and examples of work. Its chapters are currently being formatted for digital publication and released in turn. To be notified of such releases, subscribe here:
Check the progress of publication at the schedule, read testimonials and download your free chapter. For prices and details of available chapters, visit the shop page:
Thank you Beatrice! Best wishes always!
Dear Fabienne,
What a good timing to read such beautiful content!
Hope we all strive to live up to it!
Thank you for posting.
Beatrice
Dear Beatrice, thank you for your much appreciated feedback. It is always delightful to hear that our writing has touched and moved a reader.