Robin Redbreast

Robin Redbreast
Birds can represent the fluttering, darting thoughts of intuition. This is why little birds helped Cinderella help herself.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Cinderella #281: As Interpreted by Anthony Stevens


Cinderella #281: As Interpreted by Anthony Stevens
Go ahead: climb that tree!
On Trees: [Which Cinderella sat under and wept for her dead mother, then received gifts from the birds in.]"That they have always been climbed for fruits and lookout points makes trees obvious symbols of aspiration, development, growth, and consciousness." (p.379)
On Ash Trees: Often the wood used to make wooden wands or walking sticks. "Sacred to Scandinavian and Germanic peoples as the world tree, Ygdrasil, eternally green
On Doves: [Remember who Cinderella called on? 'O little doves, white turtledoves, help to put  the good ones in the pot.the bad ones in your crops. ' So wrote the Grimm Brothers.]
"Because of its billing and cooing, a symbol of love and conjugality." It is also  a bringer of peace and goodwill." (p.361)
On the Fairy Godmother [Yes, there is always a wise woman, somewhere along the way, who helps Cinderella.]"Everywhere, the Good Mother Occurs as the source of life and abundance; she is the nutrient earth, the conucopia, the ever-fruitful womb....Whether she manifests as Isis, Hathor,Cybele...Lakshmi, ...Demeter...or Mary [or the fairy godmother!] she is invariably benificent, nourishing, and creative." (p. 188)
On Rats: [Remember the jolliest one that Perrault's "godmother, who was really a fairy?" selected to be coachman?] Over most of the world, rats are "considered aggressive, filthy, and greedy. Mediterranean civilizations ...regarded them as carrying similar psychopompic propensities and serpents and moles.
On Shoes: "Elaborate, handsome boots or shoes emphasize dominance, while poor, inadequate footwear and bare feet symbolize subdominance." (p.399)
On Feet: A single foot is phallic, as when fitting into a shoe. (p.406)
From: Stevens, A. (1998) Ariadne's Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind. Princeton University Press
Notes: I really love saying the word psychopomp, which means a guide that carries us deep within ourselves. If feels like saying pomplemousse, which is the French word for grapefruit.