Witch's Lullabye

[nytshad]

This came across one of my email groups and I just had to share.


Pagan Baby Song

Hush little baby don't you squall
Momma's gonna buy you a crystal ball

And if you still can't see beyond
Momma's gonna buy you a magic wand

And if that wand don't change your fate
Momma's gonna teach you to levitate

And if the astral makes you sick,
Momma's gonna buy you an incense stick

And if that patchouli smells rank
Momma's gonna buy you a sensory deprivation tank

And if that tank don't float your bones
Momma's gonna buy you some some precious stones

And if those gems don't ease your heart
Momma's gonna buy you a natal chart

And if your planets go berserk
Momma's gonna buy you some bodywork

And if your aura still needs kneading
Momma's gonna buy you a past life reading

And if your destiny stays hid
Momma's gonna buy you a pyramid

And if your chakras still feel stressed
Momma's gonna take you on a vision quest

And if power animals don't come to charm ya
Well then sorry, kid, that’s just your karma.  

[Duncan_the_Soulknight]

A lullaby is a lullaby. A bedtime story is a bedtime story. Does it really mean two figs if it has a celtic origin or not? neutral I'm not saying this as a negative thing, I just don't really see the point in making a difference, considering that most are folktales of some kind.  

[nytshad]

The difference, in my opinion, is the underlying pschological theme and lesson. There's is a big difference between the Tale of Bride and Rapunzel, namely consequences of rule breaking and the evil witch. I've got nothing against folk tales and fables, but far too often witches make easy bad guys in the stories and the characters are punished from deviating from the accepted norm.  

[Duncan_the_Soulknight]

I agree that some stories are stupid beyond measure in teh "Durrr, evil creature" way. Rapunzel is actually a story I hate (and sometimes rant about) because the fact that she made a deal and didn't keep to it. Not to mention that the king married her just like that, after beeing a greedy jerk (and she didn't mind). And lots of other stuff. So no, I won't bring my kids up with that story, unless it's a verision I've redone so it makes better sense (there's nothing I hade in a story like unrealistic characters). But take for example HC Andersens "The little mermaid". That is a wonderful, completley "ordinary" story. She made a deal, kept to it, lost, but still won thanks to her kind heart. There's nothing wrong with that. In Sweden we have a long tradition of bringing up our children with folktales (well, it's sadly starting to fade away). There's nothing wrong with the normal folktale, as long as they're not like Rapunzel. The stories about the "evil" witches are just as important to tell as the one of the "good" witches.  

[nytshad]

I certainly can't argue with that. There's is significant value to children hearing about sympathetic evil characters as well as good. It's sort of a Dark side kind of situation -the path of least resistance is not necessarily the correct path. Here in the USA generally the only fairy tales impressed upon children are the Walt Disney kind or (gods forbid) the Barbie versions. I've swallowed a lot of drek in my day, but it really doesn't get much worse than Barbie fairy tales. Thankfully I was raised on the classics from a century-old tome, and of course Jim Henson's The Story Teller (which I'd recommend to anyone).  

[Nicnak77]

I see nothing wrong with a good old Celtic folktale. Just use common sense if you are going to do a Celtic creation story great, but if you are speaking of moriggan having sex on a river maybe not a great Idea  

[Kinesia]

Many faery tales have pagan origin. But, I do, plan on reading from, either by memory, or books some slavic myth stories as well as egyptian (about how magic was given to people) as well as celtic.

I think it would definitely open the minds of children, just to teach them that magic does exist, and it is okay to believe in it.  

[WitchyBoy]

nytshad

This came across one of my email groups and I just had to share.


Pagan Baby Song

Hush little baby don't you squall
Momma's gonna buy you a crystal ball

And if you still can't see beyond
Momma's gonna buy you a magic wand

And if that wand don't change your fate
Momma's gonna teach you to levitate

And if the astral makes you sick,
Momma's gonna buy you an incense stick

And if that patchouli smells rank
Momma's gonna buy you a sensory deprivation tank

And if that tank don't float your bones
Momma's gonna buy you some some precious stones

And if those gems don't ease your heart
Momma's gonna buy you a natal chart

And if your planets go berserk
Momma's gonna buy you some bodywork

And if your aura still needs kneading
Momma's gonna buy you a past life reading

And if your destiny stays hid
Momma's gonna buy you a pyramid

And if your chakras still feel stressed
Momma's gonna take you on a vision quest

And if power animals don't come to charm ya
Well then sorry, kid, that’s just your karma.

lol thats funny as hell!  

[Seilde]

Oh my! I loved that!  

[solon_king]

lol, that is great! Would it be too much to ask for permission to put that on my website?  

[Fieryhexe]

That is a pretty amusing lullaby =)

I figured I would learn a few songs in several languages to sing to any little humans I have or adopt in the future, but this might end up being one of my English ones =P  

[MyMoonlitDream]

That song made me smile. But one your other note. I think it would be nice to tell any children I might have stories that wouldn't otherwise hear. While that most likely will be the pagan and celtic ones, I may end up being the one to tell them "normal" folktales.  

[Conan The Barbie Doll]

I liked that song. I can't imagine singing it to my child, though.

That tune is in my head now, though. xd  

[Faeries Moon]

I think a balance of both would be beneficial for any child, should I ever have one of my own (right now, I just have a nephew with two new nieces or nephews on the way, and he's a little young yet to really appreciate the longer bed-time stories, although he LOVES being read to) When I mean traditional, though, I really mean traditional! I was raised on the original Grimm and Anderson fairytales, not the watered-down Disney versions (although I watched those too)

In a lot of the traditional fairytales, I do agree that the witch almost always gets the raw end of the deal. Rapunzel was a good example of that. But the main idea of those fairytales was that they were designed to scare the crap out of little kids into behaving, not point out that all witchcraft/magic was evil. There are quite a few instances in the traditional fairytales where magic is also used for good purposes. I'm not, however, arguing that a lot of stories leave you with a rather negative view on witches, which is why I feel balancing traditional stories out with pagan and celtic fairytales would be a good thing. Of course, I also believe in discussing what was read with the child. Books are a great way of opening up dialogue with children. There is potential there for a lot of discussion on intent with the magic used by the witch characters and other characters in those traditional tales.

Another interesting point: if you're creative enough (and I know nytshad is, since I know her well) you could always make your own adaptations of the more traditional fairytales that show witches in a more positive light.