Hansel and Gretel
I went to a performance of Hansel and Gretel by the Minnesota orchestra last night and started thinking about the meaning of the story.
For those of you not familiar with the story, Hansel and Gretel live a life of hardship with their mother and father. They are fooling around, not doing their chores, when mother comes home. In her anger, she spills the milk they have saved to drink and sends them out into the woods to pick strawberries. Then the father comes home singing, with lots of good things to eat, earned from his labors. They become worried when they remember the stories about the witch in the woods.
Hansel and Gretel fall asleep in the forest, as they are lost. 14 Angels guard them. The next day, they find the witch's house. They nibble on it and she comes out and puts Hans in a cage. Gretel is a smart girl and tricks the witch, pushing her into the oven where she is destroyed. The oven is where the witch "bakes" her victims.
They notice the gingerbread boys and ask them why their eyes are closed. The boys ask to be touched so they can open their eyes. Hans is afraid to do it, but Gretel touches all the boys and they are healed.
The parents find the children and all ends happily.
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Observations
In view of Zeph Daniel's revelations (see http://www.zephnet.com/), the idea of little children being eaten is a chilling one. The oven is like the sacrificial fires of the old religions.
Also, the ones selected for sacrifice were all boys. In the performance they had about 30 boys singing on the stage.
Notice that Hans was the one trapped, although they both "ate the fruit" of the witch's house which was made of things which seemed good to eat (candy, mostly). Seemed good to eat, but not nutritious.
Even after Hans was freed, he didn't want to touch the boys. Gretel had the courage to touch the spellbound boys and free them to be real boys again. Notice that their eyes were "closed" and then became opened.
The witch had stated that it was good for the children to be like sheep, therefore easy to trick. Through her lies, she entrapped many.
May we be able to "keep our eyes open" and see through the lies of the world around us. May we find the courage to heal those around us whose eyes are closed. May we bring justice to those who enslave others.
Frances
For those of you not familiar with the story, Hansel and Gretel live a life of hardship with their mother and father. They are fooling around, not doing their chores, when mother comes home. In her anger, she spills the milk they have saved to drink and sends them out into the woods to pick strawberries. Then the father comes home singing, with lots of good things to eat, earned from his labors. They become worried when they remember the stories about the witch in the woods.
Hansel and Gretel fall asleep in the forest, as they are lost. 14 Angels guard them. The next day, they find the witch's house. They nibble on it and she comes out and puts Hans in a cage. Gretel is a smart girl and tricks the witch, pushing her into the oven where she is destroyed. The oven is where the witch "bakes" her victims.
They notice the gingerbread boys and ask them why their eyes are closed. The boys ask to be touched so they can open their eyes. Hans is afraid to do it, but Gretel touches all the boys and they are healed.
The parents find the children and all ends happily.
============
Observations
In view of Zeph Daniel's revelations (see http://www.zephnet.com/), the idea of little children being eaten is a chilling one. The oven is like the sacrificial fires of the old religions.
Also, the ones selected for sacrifice were all boys. In the performance they had about 30 boys singing on the stage.
Notice that Hans was the one trapped, although they both "ate the fruit" of the witch's house which was made of things which seemed good to eat (candy, mostly). Seemed good to eat, but not nutritious.
Even after Hans was freed, he didn't want to touch the boys. Gretel had the courage to touch the spellbound boys and free them to be real boys again. Notice that their eyes were "closed" and then became opened.
The witch had stated that it was good for the children to be like sheep, therefore easy to trick. Through her lies, she entrapped many.
May we be able to "keep our eyes open" and see through the lies of the world around us. May we find the courage to heal those around us whose eyes are closed. May we bring justice to those who enslave others.
Frances
posted by Frances McKenzie at 6:01 PM
1 Comments:
The same metaphor is used in Chronicles Of Narnia - the witch lures the little boy into her real with 'turish delights' a delicious candy. Then once his desire is awakened, he can be manipulated so that he can get more delights.
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