A Real American PRINCESS, Pocahantas!

At this lovely time of Thanksgiving, here at our StoryBook Club, we thought we'd celebrate it by studying the historical tale of "Pocahontas" for the season.

You know, what with all the Pilgrims & American Indians and all.

Oh come on. It's OK to say "American Indian." It really is, because, actually there was a poll done of the native population of peoples in New York State, and the highest percentage of indigenous natives said they preferred "American Indian" to "Native American." (so there).

Anyways, the legend of the 1st Thanksgiving isn't what we've been told. Disney didn't get it right either. But at least the story got out somehow. It's one of the biggest PR blockbusters to raise funding for the Brits to fund the colonists that ever was. So what if it got skewed with the lack of pesky facts.

Like first off....Pocahontas wasn't her real name. It was a nickname meaning "unruly child" or "spoiled brat." Pocahontas WAS an Indian Princess. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan in what is now Virginia. She had an idyllic childhood and when she was ELEVEN, ships came and she met John Smith.

And hey....John Smith was an older man.
Pocahontas was 11, yet SHE ended up saving HIS life. Pocahontas stepped in and risked her own life to save that man.

And John Smith probably wasn't all that nice. Oh sure, he was an organized man, and helped get the Jamestown crew to work and was a pretty good leader...but he probably didn't tell Pocahontas everything.

Pocahontas was also lied to, kidnapped, bartered for, most likely raped and used by her captors, and then when her father wouldn't trade arms for hostages...she was deprived of her culture by her captors and taken to another country to be paraded around like a freak show exhibit at Ringling Brothers.

"Step right up. SEE the INDIAN PRINCESS...A Savage turned Civilized...."

Some people don't know royalty when it bites them in the ass.

She was a true, kind and smart Peace Maker.

If it weren't for Pocahontas, the white settlers would've starved for those first few "Thanksgivings." If they had starved and died...maybe Virginia wouldn't have been a happening thing. Maybe England wouldn't have sent more and more people over here to colonize.

Maybe there wouldn't even BE an AMERICA without Pocahontas!

Yet, she was stripped of her culture, not given any more prestige than an oddity and for years she didn't even have a marker at her burial site in ENGLAND. That's right. One of the greatest women in our history, who fought to make peace in her own land, wasn't even buried here.

And guess what? She only lived to be 21 years old before her life ended (most likely with pneumonia) as she was basically "suffocated" by the English culture and their ways.

No more the free spirited cart wheeling girl of the forest. She died in England, far from her home, dressed in corsets and bonnets and with a "Christian" name of Rebecca Rolfe. Her husband married her for her lands and after he dropped her off in Gravesend, England (a most ominous location for a death, eh?) where this statue stands today.

John Rolfe high tailed it back to the place where he met Pocahontas, to claim her lands by rights as her husband and promptly planted tobacco all over it.

But I thank her for her bravery, her belief that people could be good (even if those she fought for, sold her out...) there are millions of descendants here (including 2 First Ladys) who are related by blood to her.

Pocahontas was a strong willed, brave, Peace Maker and she tried to help two clashing communities come together to live and thrive.

Her story makes me want to learn more about our Native cultures here.

These are a brave race that the white man sold out, used, abused and terrorized and tried to obliterate by decimating their culture and family lives and environments. It only makes me feel more hungry to learn about them, to honor them, to grow in love towards them and our Mother Earth whom they have tried to care for, while greedy men leave oily tracks and wipe out forests.

We have to wake up and learn to be more caring for the Earth and for each other.

Pocahontas LIVES in every man, woman and child who cares about such things.


We honored her last night with learning as much as we could about her stories. Stories fraught with lies, twists, propaganda and spin. But knowing that she was just a girl....who did such amazing things...it gives me hope.

Disney didn't need to concoct a love story between Pocahontas and John Smith. The story didn't need sex to sell it.

It only needed TRUTH to be shown for our own daughters and sons to admire COURAGE.

We ate and drank at our friend Kate's house on this OUR Thanksgiving for StoryBook. We here, are our Chosen Family of members and we dined on delicious American Indian recipes and gifts of the autumn in Kate's new home.

We are grateful. We are so very grateful.

And we thank Pocahontas for reminding us to try to just get along and share what we have too!

Happy Thanksgiving from us here at StoryBook Club!


Next month, is the busy month of Hanukkah and Christmas...so we will be having an outing and going to see the new released December movie:

Blessings to you all.

Aho. (Which is a Native American saying that is similar to "amen".)

The Goldilocks Syndrome

So, this little girl peeps in the windows, checks the locks, sees that no one is home, and sneeks into this house. While the owners are out, she eats out of their fridge, lounges on the furniture, breaks a chair, jumps on the beds and crawls in and goes to sleep in one of the comfiest beds.

When the owners come home, they realize that they have been vandalized. Not cool. They follow a trail of evidence around their neat little abode, and are drawn throughout the home with the signs of destruction. They find the intruder.
It is a small dirty girl, who is asleep in one of their beds.

Did I mention that the owners of the house were BEARS?

OK, so they are vegetarian bears, but still.

Would you want your own child to do such a thing? Probably not. We feel empathy for the bears that even though they were good bears, they got taken advantage of. They could've been mean and devoured the little juvenile delinquent (and in the original story, taken the intruder to the local Constable for the reform school)...but they didn't. They gave unconditional love. And they scared the bejeesus out of the child by doing so. And they never saw the child again.

Interesting.

Some scholars have said that this is about "The Goldilocks Syndrome:"

Definition: An extreme  sense of entitlement.  Expectation of Manna falling from heaven without acknowledgment or gratitude. Named for the ungrateful character in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

It is the way of going through life, wayward, ever searching and always wanting, but never being happy with what you find unless it it "Perfect...or JUST RIGHT...." (as baby bear would say).

That in the searching and finding of the perfect thing for yourself, that the syndrome takes over when we can't stop searching for something perfect in an imperfect world and don't see the perfection in the world you are in, but keep being unsatisfied. Never living in the moment, but always searching....and in doing so....leave a wake or a trail of chaos behind the discoveries.

Was Goldilocks ever happy in the end? We don't know. She ran off to keep searching. But the bears probably just cleaned up the mess that she'd left behind, fixed baby bear's chair, washed their bedding, made some  more oatmeal, and learned to lock their doors.

It's a Life Lesson originally intended for youngsters to be more careful in the wide world, a little stranger danger to the children, but it's way more than that as well, for us adults looking at it from the viewpoint of being kind, but also being safe with who you allow entry to your inner space (whether it be residence or heart).

OR

Goldilocks may have also been a homeless person, ate some mushrooms she found in the woods, because she was starving and started tripping on hallucinogens and wandered drunkenly into someones house, as she was exhausted and entered a stranger's house. They probably weren't bears at all, but maybe she was just imagining they were, and when they came home, they freaked her the fuck right out, and she bolted out the window. Being high or drunk, she fell a story out the window and kept running and was never heard from again.

Who knows?

:) It was an interesting night of food too!

There was homebrewed ale (with a hint of honey), wine, meade, bedeviled eggs, biscuits and honey, porridge with all the fixings (fruit, nuts, coconut, honey, brown sugar, milk and almond milk), there was pasta salads, cinnamon rolls, and ice cream cupcakes.

 Oatmeal (Porridge) with all the fixings! (bananas, grapes, blueberries, coconut, raisins, cranberries, walnuts, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, almond milk...)

And there were bears. And a Goldilocks too.


So....just in case the wee little children didn't learn about danger this month...(even though children are not allowed at this Children's Lit Club for Adults :)....
we'll just seek to learn about two magickal and fateful creatures in our mood for Halloween:

Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth.

Nighty nite m'dearies...

Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. :)

Snow White and the 7 Dwarves

What is in a name?

So many things....this is why we have to be careful when picking our children's names. There may be symbolism, word puns, association to others with no identity for self, and the opportunity for mockery on the playground with some names.

Let's take "Snow White" for instance. We researched this wondrous fairytale at our StoryBook Club (Children's Literature for Adults Only) last night. We found some pretty amazing things.

Snow White was named for her fair skin. "Hair dark as ebony, skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood." The fair skinned lass was purity in essence, vulnerable, pale, and kindness in motion. Some philosophers believed it was an Alchemical formula, as lead goes through a process of purifying which requires three stages: blackening, reddening and whitening.

So it is with our lives, spirits and souls as we traverse this world, going through the process of living and ...hopefully...becoming.  In this simple (?) children's fairy tale, there are symbols of life, denial, vanity (which could be soul searching awareness if it wasn't so shallow, with the whole mirror thing),  friendships, 7 stages of consciousness with the dwarves (body, sensations, emotions, concrete mind and spirituality represented by  pure mind, intuition and will), treachery against own self and others, and well...death, and resurrection.


A simple children's tale. Amazing.

There were also symbols of Christianity and Paganism....although, once again, pagans get the bad rap here (Why does the magic person always have to be evil with their Powers?) There is the fight between Good and Evil and yes....even Eve with her poisoned apple.

But when we dug into it, the main character really wasn't Snow White so much...as the Evil Queen. Actually, when we got into it, we found that maybe....just maybe....they were the SAME PERSON thematically.

Proving that we fight our own self more than anyone else.

Evil Queen/Snow White could be the 2 sides of a person. The whole Yin/Yang or the Evil Twin sort of thing.
Snow White was the Evil Queen's alter ego.
(Hey, talk about a name....this royal character never really got a real name....just "Evil Queen"...try living up to THAT moniker...talk about your self fulfilling prophecy!)
 
So then there is a transformation....
or an Alchemical process of character, if you will, that happens to this person. (Who may be our own self?)

It goes like this:

Evil Queen is on her own. Feels her Power. Gets greedy for more power. Does some self searching, but stops just shy of actual soul searching while looking within (mirror). She only wants what others don't have.
She wants perfection and beauty. So she tries to get it by killing anything that is not as beautiful. (irony. Beauty is as beauty does). By eliminating Snow White (or trying to), the Evil Queen only makes herself more ugly,even casting herself -making herself, an old ugly hag (here goes the morality thing banging here again on witches being ugly and evil ...sigh)
Snow White on the other hand, is beautiful because of her Goodness, helpfulness, hard work ethic, frienships. The more good she does, the more beautiful she becomes. The Evil Queen tries pulling out all the stops and finally tries poisoning Snow White with the apple. (apple has represented knowledge, and also this can be our evil thoughts about ourselves and others which poison us...) Once comatose, Snow White goes into a static state. You seen, once the Evil Queen actually killed the good part of her own self (so to speak), she realized that she wasn't beautiful at all anymore without her Goodness. The coma represents that time of Soul Searching that a person must do, to really see ones' own self. Once the evil thoughts and beliefs about self are dislodged (apple heimlich :) then Snow White LIVES and the Evil Queen DIES.
The rebirth or resurrection to a new and improved self happens when the old ways die....

Mayhaps we are not ALL GOOD...
Nor ...
ALL EVIL...
but we have to make the adjustment to be the best we can be, which includes accepting our lightness and not letting the darkness and negativity take over our lives.

This is a story about Self Growth, and we thank the Evil Queen for showing us this!
She's really not as evil as we thought, but only a part of us that needs pity and understanding.
Some people live to learn...and if they can't learn....they live as an example to others.

Goodness isn't Weakness.

 Beauty isn't Cruel.

Goodness can be Strong.

Vanity is just a reflection of a shallow soul.

Mean people never really win. They destroy themselves with every bad thought about someone else....which is only a commentary about how they feel about themselves inside.

Thank you Evil Queen. You show us how NOT to be.
And thank you Snow White. You rocked those dishes and really worked hard!

Our StoryBook Club feasted on Venison Stew (for the hunter...altho' Merlyn made it out of beef :), a most delicious forest salad, wine from the Queen's wine steward, and amazing Apple Bread, Baked Poisoned Apples, and an Apple Crisp (and when those 3 last dishes were put together, I think many of us had a Magickal Moment). SO delish!

Next month, for September, we will take a walk in the woods with

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears!

Sleeping Beauty

This month's StoryBook Club theme was Sleeping Beauty. We all prepped for it, by going enmasse to see "Maleficent" last month and drinking both before and afterwards. There were 17 of us and it ROCKED.

An earthy experience and a wonderful tale!

Maleficent was excellent! You know, I always inwardly wondered why she was such a bitch. Now I know. Everyone who has an axe to grind, usually has a reason...granted some of the reasons may be twisted reasons for some folks...but it wasn't that she wasn't invited to your damn party for the baby....no....it had roots MUCH deeper than even that.

Like....Betrayal. And yes....maybe even rape.

It's hinted at in Maleficent. It's also more than hinted at in some stories and movies that we adults did find when we researched this "children's story."

Wowsa.

Take this film for instance.

Good God. Talk about creep city. Harry and I watched this, and it was indeed disturbing.  But then again, I am not into the power angle of sex. It isn't what I like, and it makes me feel icky.
Stories where the heroine is vulnerable is tragically too real sometimes for women. In this story (and I let you research that one, if you are interested), there is a line that someone says to the heroine of the story:
"Your body is your temple."
To which the "Sleeping Beauty" mutters: "Mine isn't."

And if you believe that...then....well...it truly isn't. Women have been lured into complacency, vulnerable relationships or situations that brink on disaster through all of history.

When is it that we "wake up?"
Is it when Prince Charming actually kisses her and she awakens to her perfect world?
Or is it when she wakes up to the reality that she has made for herself?

Interesting dilemma and a decidedly unusual moral for "kids" but really, one that should be told with a bit more Umph than a perfect Disney ending.

And so, Maleficent steps up to the plate, giving her a true reason for her pain, mistrust and seclusion.

At the end, when she and the King are spiraling downward and he is dead upon the ground, Maleficent looks at him with a mixture of love, pity and scoff.

It's like she was saying: "I loved you, you stupid shit. What a waste of my time and you were nothing but bad. Why did I love you? Because I DID. Yet, you wasted it on your anger and power.
You stupid, stupid fuck."

But of course, Maleficent couldn't say that in a Disney movie.

But we know she did...INSIDE her head and her heart.
They weren't a match. He was truly evil.

She was not, but became so, by loving him. Once she dealt with her inner darkness and her true capacity to love, she found her wings again!

(now THERE'S the Happy Ending!)

Maleficent proved that she wasn't a victim. She was victimized. There IS a difference!

We chatted about so much this hot summer evening at Terri's house! About so many themes and subjects and topics! Women's rights, rape, women's roles throughout history.

And we ate amazingly well as we always do!

This is a French folk tale, so there was several kinds of nods to French cuisine this night! Amazing drinks with a kick, fresh salad, stuffed zucchini boats, olives, goat cheese with cranberries and crackers, fresh cherry tomatoes, awesome bread, cream puffs, cheesecake and sorbet!

We LOVE these gatherings of wit, humor, stories and food and friendships!

Next month's theme?

Snow White and the 7 Dwarves!
Let's see ....now where did I put those special apples?

Relationship advice from Frog & Toad...

Hey Ho my Story-Cologists!

Last night our monthly group of big people (notice I didn't say Adults :) met up  at our StoryBook friend Kate's house to discuss and enjoy the writings of Arnold Lobel with his books about "Frog & Toad."

I admit, I hadn't even thought about these books since my girls were wearing underoos. (Hint: they are now 26 & 28 years old, and I'm pretty sure they haven't worn underoos in about 20 years :)

But no matter! We delved into the books and read to each other and just enjoyed the simple pleasures of friendship and being honest and silly!

How absolutely wonderful to read aloud to each other these short quips and stories this night!

Bonus: We found a lot of buttons. :)

We tried hiding the cookies. It didn't work :)

We also realized that some of the reasons why we like these characters so much is that they remind us of two little old men friends.

 

Or maybe the Ego and the Id.

They sort of acted out in those ways...
One that tries new things....
One that is standoffish...

But they both are committed friends always!

The original BFF! Or like an Amphibian Odd Couple of sorts :)

It's all good. We revisited some simpler story lines, and some really funny puns and setups for jokes.

I'm pretty sure that in 1971 when Arnold Lobel was writing these stories...the term Snail Mail hadn't even been coined yet.

But wait for it.....it came just the same. Just like in the story! 
I think that term started right here in this children's book!

As Usual....We had some really delicious themed food and drink for our dinner together:

What do Frogs and Toads like? Well, they liked Salmon Salad and Flies (black beans),

strawberries and cookies!

 and scrumptious pulled pork (which looked a lot like frog :)

and  we had to wash it down with this! How PERFECT!

We all took a poll and decided that....

We LOVE our StoryBook Club!!

Next month in June we will have a Field Trip to see the new movie "Maleficent" together with drinks and nibbles! We can't wait and are ecstatic!

Click here to check out the great trailer for the movie "Maleficent!"

Then in July we decided that we will continue the story and study it with all its twists and turns!

And oh boy howdy! I think we'll have a BLAST getting into the symbols and themes on this tale!

Until then.....

stay away from spinning wheels. :)

Babar, King of the Elephants

StoryBook Club went to Africa last night to visit with our friend, Babar!

(Baabar? or B-barr? Which do you say? I say Baa-bar. :)

This elephant king was gracious and sweet and fun, but was kind of concerned that folks throughout time haven't always taken him right.

Babar took us aside and told us plainly that he "is not a French colonialist, nor prejudiced towards blacks, nor an elitist with a class issue. I'm just a good, big elephant who has taste and style and tries to make the world a more fun and orderly place."

The adults (notice I didn't say "grown-ups") in our StoryBook Club, did delve into all those political issues that have plagued this cute wee children's story.

When I first read Babar to my girls when they were little, I also was personally taken aback by some of these idiosyncrasies. I didn't like the way that Africans were depicted. I didn't like the hierarchy of elephants into classes. I didn't like the way it was culturally organized.

But then again, I wasn't 5-years-old either. To my little girls, Babar was awesome. He was big and silly and he liked to dress nice and travel and adventure and fix problems. We liked the fact that he could be a wild elephant, but also magically fit into spare clothes that the Old Lady had on hand. Babar and his wife Celeste would often visit the Old Lady and sleep in her twin beds. Just think of that. An elephant sleeping comfortably in a twin bed!

Elephants drinking out of tea cups.  Elephants taking balloon rides.  Elephants having posh parties!

Yah, Babar was right.

He's just for fun.

Granted, there are these issues in the books. Just like there are issues in Civil War music and Minstrel Shows of by gone days. But remember, they are a time capsule. A snapshot of that point in time. We should be aware of people's feelings and be respectful, but at the same time, it's good to remember and note that things have changed for the better with these issues.

But 5-year-olds don't need the conspiracy theories.

They need story figures who run into trouble and problems and can fix it magically and maybe even a bit silly with a sentence or two.

And that's what Babar is.

He's simple and fun and he wears a green suit. He loves his wife and children and he tries to take responsibility the best he knows how. He protects his elephants and he is kind to the Old Lady and to animals that aren't as big as he is. He is truthful and resourceful.

Babar is a good role model overall. Try not to make him responsible for human beings foibles.

We ate well at our monthly meeting!

Themed food was prepared and devoured!
There was Tea in china cups, "French" Onion Soup, Stuffed "poison" mushrooms,

Roasted Veggies,

Chili, fresh bread and real butter, Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup, Peanuts and delicious homemade Peanut butter cookies!

A feast fit for a KING! :)

Because we know that elephants remember...and they like to eat well.

A lovely get together with intelligent folks on a cold and wintry night. With a story!
YAY!

Next month:
In honor of St. Paddy's Day the  theme will be: "Leprechauns!"