There is a place for The Brothers Grimm in our Halloween experience.
Fairy tales have spawn some of our most haunted, chilling images, in our minds when we were young. In “The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales” Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim explores the symbolic importance of fairy tales and how they shape emotions in youth.
How do you deal with death and abandonment as a kid? These dark tales give us a blueprint.
The book is divided into two sections. “A Pocketful of Magic,” outlines Bettelheim’s thoughts on the value of fairy tales for children, and the second “In Fairy Land,” presents psychoanalytical readings of popular fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and my fave, Little Red Riding Hood….
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At the library this spring we’re having a dance performance of Hansel and Gretel. The same company (Miami Momentum) did Peter and the Wolf a couple of years ago and scared the daylights out of the kids. They loved it!
Kids don’t mind being frighten right after it happens… so said old Bruno