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♣ IT HAPPENS EVERY MONTH

Someone in distress over a Fairy Tale theme or problem writes for help from Vasilisa the Wise. But Vasilisa--well, she's stuck in the a little hut on chicken feet until she finishes picking out the dirt from poppy seeds, or at the widow’s house in town, spinning flax into linen to make a shirt for the czar or she’s at a banquet making swans come out of her sleeve. She just can't attend to questions right now, so she enlists the aid of her two simpleton friends who feed the cat and collect her mail. They can’t really help, either. Not by themselves.

Fortunately, they know others who can! Magical friends like you, who care about fairy tales and storytelling, who have accumulated experience, observations, and ponderings to share, and who might take a moment to post a response to help a correspondent solve a conundrum.

On the magical third day of each month, the Simpletons open Vasilisa’s mail (with permission), read the question and ask for help answering it. Then they gather responses, yours and others', and distribute them every week or so to inspire further thought. As if by magic, when the third of the next month rolls in, so does another question! Here’s what the Simpletons hope you’ll do: Read the question then (a) post your response as a comment on the blog itself, (b) reply to it on the Storytell Listserv, (c) write in your answer on The Fairy Tale Lobby Facebook page, or (d) email it to fairytalelobby@talesandlegends.net.

The Fairy Tale Lobby is a "Discussion Group" of the National Storytelling Network, and this blog is both the way we discuss fairy tale topics and a means of preserving your wisdom. Regardless of whether or not you are a member of NSN, if you value fairy tales, if you defend them in the real world, if you advocate their greater use, if you occasionally even lobby on their behalf, you will feel right at home in the Fairy Tale Lobby.

Your hosts at the Fairy Tale Lobby, besides Simplia and Sagacia who carry out all the communications, fluff the pillows on the Chesterfield, brew the tea and bake the crumpets, are Megan Hicks and Mary Grace Ketner. They are the ones who enjoy and appreciate your ideas insights most of all.

♣ THE FAIRY TALE QUESTION OF THE MONTH

The FAIRY TALE QUESTION OF THE MONTH for May 2012 is:

Dear Vasilisa the Wise --

All my life I have plied my trade as a magician, pulling rabbits out of hats, finding coins inside the ears of amazed children, yanking bouquets out of my sleeve... That sort of thing. Now, late in life, I find my career taking an unexpected turn. Instead of pulling magic from thin air, as it were, it is now my task not to amaze and amuse but to assist and equip young fairy tale heroes by inserting magic into objects that appear ordinary but, in fact, lend themselves to enchantment. So far I've had good luck with walnuts, rag dolls, wooden whistles, mirrors and combs. But I'm running out of ideas. Some of the ordinary objects that I've tried to imbue with magic -- wing-nuts, bottle-caps, clothespins, buttons -- don't respond at all. Can you tell me what items make effective talismans, and maybe provide me with the names of heroes who found them helpful?

Thanking you in advance, I remain your devoted and faithful servant --

Groping in Gretna

Look for the June FT?oM on Sunday, June 3, 2012.

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