The Frog and The Prince & Cinderella
I have just had a realization that the wisdom that we speak of and seek was being taught to us in the form of fairy tales when we were children. The funny thing is that we did not probably realize the real lesson nor did the adults in our life realize the true wisdom of the fairy tales that they told us.
Let’s look at a couple of very popular fairy tales. Remember the prince who was turned into a frog by the evil witch and he was doomed to remain a frog until he was kissed by a young woman? Most of us, look at this tale and learn a cynical lesson that “we must kiss a lot of frogs, before we find our prince”. The deeper lesson here is, the prince or princess resides within all of us. The frog represents our human condition, our outer shell if you will, the prince represents the spirit within us. The beauty, the power, all that is good that is within each and everyone of us. We are all truly princes and princesses waiting to be released. The kiss is symbolic, it does not take another person outside of us to “kiss” us to unlock that which is within, the “kiss” is symbolic of the key to look within to find our beauty, our spirit, our soul.
Cinderella is another great story which teaches us the same lesson, that all that we desire is already within us, that we have the power to manifest what we want in life, and that manifestation can start from nothing but a thought. This story also teaches us that we can create our own reality depending how we view things, e.g. the pumpking becomes the beautiful carriage, the mice become the horses. These are all symbolic examples of our ability to manifest. The Fairy Godmother represents the spirit within all of us, the spirit that has the ability to make all of the changes we desire.
Isn’t it amazing how much timeless wisdom is found within the very stories that we grew up with? We keep hearing the lessons, the truth, the “secret” over and over again, however we are not open to see it, or in the case of fairy tales, we dismiss the lesson because it is a story designed to entertain children and our ego tell us that we are way beyond children’s stories.
Keep your yourself open to the possibilities, be aware that lifes greatest lessons are often right in front of us!
Interesting perspective Mark! We all knew that each tale had a moral but who knew they were so chock full of other info. Perhaps the writers themselves didn’t even realize this! I know that I’ve written things that clearly now I can see that certain knowledge had resided within me all all along I just didn’t see it even though it manifested itself in the things I wrote. As I write this I realize there is a connection there with the post I wrote today about the software programs running in the back of our minds or rather our sub conscious and perhaps the real reason we ignore the truth that is clearly defined all around us is our own shoddy programming.
Desiree,
You may be correct, the authours may have not been fully aware of the wisdom which was in their writing. I tend to think that they knew much more than we give them credit for. I love how these lessons are interwoven with in some of our culture and how we are able to see so much when we remove the veil.
One of my favorite fairytales was The Little Mermaid…. I should go back and read it as an adult, looking for the symbology like you’ve done with these! AWESEOME insights!
(I remember a book some years back..hum…The Mermaid Syndrome? Can’t really recall at the moment but I do believe it had to do with the mermaid being sort of a codependent type and a archetype that many women fall into)
wouldn’t you wish life was just a fairytale?!
…and they lived happily ever after. The End.
Many of us first encountered wisdom, from the sublime to the mundane, if fairy tails which–like myths–were more about inner journeys than outer journeys.
Knightofswords,
It is amazing to me how much wisdom is in those fairy tales and myths that we were not really taught to understand. Very interesting.
Mayang,
Thanks for visiting and leaving your comment. I am not sure I would wish that my life was like a fairy tale, there were some pretty awful things happening in them, like sibbling abuse, posionness apples, evil spells, etc.
Careful what we wish for!
Its interesting to note how different interpretations can be. I suppose we can learn a lot about ourselves by examining our interpretations.
Gregor,
Yes, we can learn much about ourselves by examining our interpretations. Very good observation.
I have been a great lover of fairy – tales and myths for this very reason.
The fact that they can take life lessons and relate them at a childs level. As the child in us grows we can start to relate to the messages at a higher level.
I am eternally grateful to my grandmother who would cross relate these tales for me with casual talk of – “where have we met someone like that before – and who does that remind you of?”
She had me looking at patterns and similarities and meanings far earlier than most – thank you for reminding me of that.
Nicola,
Your Grandmother was indeed a very wise woman. You were very fortunate to have her guide you through these stories as you grew up.
Thank-you for adding your thoughts!
I was reading the book, Ice Bounded and in it, the author mentioned her mom didn’t read her fairy tales but things that is true and matter. The practice encouraged her to be inquisitive. I thought that was nice and started introducing some true life matter into our bedtime stories. Regarding to fairy tales, they are nice and full of morals. However, like we all know, everyone learns and sees things differently. The same story/movie impacts everyone differently; thus billions of distinct individuals each with different values and thoughts. Although the tale may or may not intend the moral lessons we interpret it to be, it is up to us to determine that what we want to make it out to be. Thanks for the post.
rlao,
Interesting about what you read in “Ice Bounded”. I am still digesting that thought and trying to understand why this made the girl more inquisitive, hmmm.
Yes, each reader of a fairy tale made take something different away from it. I think as adults it is important that we not only read these types of stories to our children but also that we act as a facilitator to help them understand the deeper meaning of the story. This is something I don’t recall any adult doing for me as I learned these tales.
Thanks for what you added today, it was valuable to me.
Mark,
Fairytales are indeed a wonderful source of wisdom and pelasure growing up !
thanks for the great suggestion on acting as a facilitator. I will be sure to do so
What I found in reading and writing is the many interpetations….morales to the story…. you can kiss a frog but there is no such thing as a prince.. get a reality check.
White picket fence… um there sets ya for failure.. oh and by the way, as I toss another log on the fire when I do get to the ball gown stage…. and those pumkins are starting to rot, i haven’t seen a stage coach in awhile.
and by the way, how long to I have wait for the knight on his white horse?
AS I have written over the years, especially huge difference between men and women. Could be the x and y chromosome issue.
I think for men looking at the same fairytales are set up to carry the burden of this I can be everything, your savior, the quote “provider”. I try to tell my daughter, that no matter how many frogs u kiss your not going to find a prince. So study, learn, reach out and be the best you can be, and one day you will find a partner who studied, reached out and is the best he can be.
Autumn,
Hmmm, a cynic. As you said, it is all on how we define are expectaions and interpetations. A knight in shining armor could be mean quite different things to differnet people. The white picket fence, this also can mean different things to different people. It really is all about how we choose to veiw things. These fairy tales are full of very great lessons and wisdom.
It sounds as if you are saying that we should be realistic and be willing to settle. I disagree, there is a universe of abundance available to us, we simply must ask and believe and all that we believe in and strongly desire will come to be!
Thanks for the visit and the comments, you add some interesting thoughts to the conversation.
Haven’t read all the comments here, but couldn’t resist posting, because I was considering doing a blog recently on this same fairytale
What came to me was a tad different though. What I was getting was that we have to “kiss” (love) the frog that is us (all our “ugly” stuff) before WE become the “prince.”
And, of course, until we kiss/love all our own froggie stuff, we’ll never find our true outer “prince” 
A lesson in self-love and healing ourselves, our lives. Gotta love it to heal it. Hating our uglies will just make them uglier. Applies to the big picture too.
My favorite is the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy always had the Power, she needed nothing outside of herself. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, even the Good Witch (and the Bad Witch) — they were all her. It was all about the journey.
It is fun to pick it to pieces
Like… Dorothy eliminated her “Bad Witch” (uglies/frog) by throwing water on her. Water represents our emotions. Think about it.
Peace,
Dove
Dove,
Love your take on this! So very true!