If you are the mother or grandmother of a little girl, you have probably read the classic fairytales over and over again. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahantas, Beauty and the Beast, and many others occupy space on our bookshelves.What little girl doesn't love the dresses, the tiaras, and the prince's kiss? Even the "grown up" girls still cherish these stories, and watch the movies. Many of these fairytales have sparked a lot of conversation around the idea of "happily ever after" and body image, and whether or not they do more "damage" than good when it comes to the roles women play and the sterotypes of women and girls in these stories.
One aspect to these stories that you don't often hear talked about is the spiritual nature of these stories and the remarkable similarities to some of our favorite bible stories that our children learn about. Snow White has some remarkable similarities to the Story of Creation in the book of Genesis. Most fairytales start with those famous words, Once Upon a Time... The book of Genesis begins with In the Beginning... Both of these take us as far back in physical time as our imaginations can go, but they also connect us to eternal time. Both of these phrases suggest the transcendence of time, and it doesn't matter what generation reads the story, the element of time for all of us is relevant to the "present" or the eternal "now". Both the story of creation and the fairytale of Snow White have something for all of us to learn and apply to our spiritual selves that is worth examining.
In both the Story of Creation and Snow White, the setting is "garden like". Of course the creation story takes place in the Garden of Eden and Snow White takes place in the woods. Spiritually speaking, both of these settings symbolically suggest growth and new life. Of course the Garden of Eden was considered to be a paradise, a place of happiness, a mystical place reflective of our true nature. The woods in Snow White are less than paradise in the beginning, even dark and fearful, but soon turn to a kind of paradise where the bunnies, deer, chimpmunks, and birds befriend Snow White. Of course we all are aware of the characters in each story. There is the Queen in Snow White. She could be compared to the snake in the Story of Creation. She was always looking in the magic mirror and asking it, "Who is the fairest one of all?" She is the part of us that many call our Ego. There is a part of us that always wants to be "the queen". The part of us that looks out for "number one". The part of us that is wanting to "kill" the light that threatens to dispel the darkness. The Queen orders the Huntsman to kill Snow White when the magic mirror reveals the "truth" to her. The 'truth" is that Snow White is the most beautiful, and the Queen wants her dead. Snow White is the True Light in the Darkness of that forest. As the Story of Creation goes, Then God said, "Let there be Light!" and there was light! In the story of Creation and the story of Snow White, Darkness isn't dark at all until there was light. The beauty and light of Snow White was far more pleasing than the darkness, ugliness, and fear of the Queen.
It is the animals in the story of Snow White that shelter her and give her a safe place called "home". With the help of the animals, she has finds her paradise, her shelter from the fear of the dark forest. As the Creation Story goes, Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures...and so it happened." Snow White is taken to a cottage, where she decides that seven untidy children must be living. It is no coincidence that there are seven dwarfs in the story. How long did it God take to create the world? Yep, seven days. After cleaning the messy cottage, and creating a clean and orderly world for her and the seven dwarfs, Snow White decides to rest. Just as God decides to rest on the seventh day. The dwarfs arrive and find Snow White sleeping. Bashful thinks she is an angel, but it is Grumpy who declares that "All females are poison!" Hmmm..... sound familiar?
The dwarfs and Snow White enjoy their clean, pristine paradise. They sang. They danced. They clapped, and then Sleepy asks Snow White to tell them a story before they would go to sleep for the night. Snow White tells them about a princess who had fallen in love with a prince she'd met at a wishing well. She confided in them that her dearest wish was to see him again someday? (A little hint of the woman at the well with the one who loves her unconditionally, Jesus). In the morning, the dwarfs go off to work and warn Snow White not to let anyone into the house, their paradise. Just as God warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden. But Snow White allows a poor old woman into the house. The woman offers Snow White an apple, perfectly red and shiny. (Sound familiar?) And the serpent offers Eve a delicious red apple. Snow White reaches out and takes a bite of the apple. She falls to the floor. And so we have the "fall of man" with Eve accepting the apple and then offering it to Adam.
Now it would take Love's First Kiss ( The Prince of Peace) to awaken Snow White from her "sleeping death". Because of what happened in the story of Creation in the garden, we all have been under a spell of sorts. Just like Snow White, we have been in a spiritual "sleeping death" that only Jesus and the "kiss" of his unconditional, redemptive love could bring us out of our spiritual slumber. As the story goes, "One day, a prince came by - the same prince that Snow White had met by the Wishing Well. He lifts the lid on the glass coffin, bends down and kisses her. Slowly, Snow White Awakens. Real love has found her. And slowly, we are awakening to the real love of God. The woman at the well, having met Jesus there, feels loved. The Creation Story is one of the absence of love and the separation of God, our fall from our truest selves. Snow White is that same story. She only desires to be loved. She only desires happiness. She desires paradise.
There is a "queen' in all of us, especially in how we think and feel about ourselves. She is our own inner critic, and as women, and mothers, she is the one who tells us that there are things about us that aren't so beautiful. We are constantly looking to the "magic mirror" of our lives and seeking affirmation and acceptance in everything else but God. Everything in our world is our mirror, and is continuously reflecting back to us something about ourselves, both the beautiful things about us, and the parts of ourselves that the light hasn't found yet. The seven dwarfs in the story are really just symbolic extensions of our own selves that we have created through our thoughts, words, and actions. If I am feeling lousy about myself or my circumstances, I get grumpy. I can make myself sick if I am out of balance in any part of my life, and hence, I am sneezy. Or when things are going my way, and I am feeling strong, powerful, invincible, and beautiful, I am happy. I am Doc when I seek those things that need healing in my life, and give them over to the Divine Physician, and I am Sleepy when I haven't yet awakened that part in me that is unaware of God's call of transformation. Bashful is my name when I am humbled by what God has done in my life, and a little timid about sharing what God has blessed me with, and continues to bless me with.
Fairytales are just manifestations of humanity's quest in seeking out love, happiness, and living "happily ever after". Eventually our stories as women and mothers will become our children's stories with that same beginning, "Once Upon a Time, there was a beautiful woman named _______________. Put your name in that blank space. Tell your story of creation, your quest for finding your true self, your real love. How has God "kissed" you and awakened you to your beauty, your gifts, your happily ever after? What "well" do you go to and wait upon the felt experience of God's activity in your life? The fairytales we share with our own children aren't just for them. They are for everyone. They are to be enjoyed and read over and over again by moms, dads, grandparents, children, and friends of all ages. Their message is timeless and our lives are God's evidence of living "happily ever after".
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