Rosalind Medea

I recently reread the Grimm brothers’ Hansel and Gretel, a fairy tale I was familiar with as a child. This time round, I became aware of how invaluable the story is as life lessons for everyone who reads it, regardless of age. Here we have a brother and sister who come across a house in the woods supposedly made from sweet things, who tempted by the “treats” choose to indulge, only to find that they have fallen for a trap set by an evil being. The tale draws parallels to modern day living and seeks to remind us of many things – mainly that magick is around us all of the time, not to be fooled by appearances or illusions, to stand one’s ground, be careful what you put in your body, and to not allow oneself to be manipulated by anyone outside of oneself. In a nutshell, it is about being discerning and discriminating. Appearances are simply that, appearances – they can be and are manipulated and so really the truth can not be gleaned from them. Energy, on the other hand, speaks volumes – it reads intentions and always shows the truth. Hansel and Gretel’s experience could be likened to going to a bakery and picking out a cake which looks wonderful and scrumptious but then when someone eats it, it makes them feel sick – what that person has ingested is the negative energy or ill wishes of the person who baked it. The baker may not be physically wanting to eat that person’s ass as with the witch in Hansel and Gretel’s case. But the trickery and the intent draws parallels. How do we glean that information, by learning to read the energy of a situation. The awareness of what we find ourselves facing off with comes from our true self and so too is the wherewithal on how to deal with said situation. And so this is as much a reminder to trust your hunches as it is about rereading stories you read as a child with “fresh eyes”.