Week 12, Storytelling, The Honeymoon in Wonderland

Found on blog.hwtm.com

 The Honeymoon in Wonderland

Merlin officiated the nuptial vows and no sooner had he done so than Nineve, Lady of the Lake, showed up with Scattach the Shadow through the portal. Daniel, Nathan's brother and Melior, Melusina's sister were also present at the impromptu wedding ceremony as well as many other Immortals, Gods and Goddesses and all types of magical beings  who kept arriving through the stargate portal during their ceremony. News travels fast in the world of magic.The stargate portal is a magical way to travel through time and space dimensions. Often it appears to non magical beings to look like a pond or sacred well. Water has a magical transitive ability to shift energies if given the correct symbols used to direct the travel.

Merlin is still under the spell of Nineve, even though more than a millenia has passed, he shows no anger towards her. Nineve, on the other hand, was quite taken aback by the strange gathering. "Quite the dramatic show old friend!", Nineve sneered at Merlin. Nineve a glorious River Goddess dressed in her shimmering gauzy gown glaring haughtily at Merlin dressed in his shiny robes of a similar fashion. She is already plotting her next move to outsmart her old wizard friend.

Nineve had been in the middle of taking her vacation in Mount Shasta, California when her magical alarms went off alerting her to when Nathan the Seeker and Scattach the Shadow stole her sword Excalibur and then used it to unleashed Merlin and other Immortals from magical sleep. Thanks to Demeter many of the Immortals have a shape shifting ability to shift into bird form from when they all helped to look for her missing daughter Persephone. Nineve used the magic spell of placing the Immortals into the magical world tree, Yggdrasil, into a magical sleep while in their bird forms. The clever woman that she is learned all these cunning skills from the great Merlin himself! With all those powerful being tucked away all this time Nineve enjoyed ruling the magical realms without their interference. Alas all good things must come to an end.

The White Rabbit carrying his pocket watch and in a loud and hurried voice shouted, "Melusina and Nathan please let us go now, we don't want to be late! Oh dear!". 

The whole wedding party followed the White Rabbit and the newlyweds right down the rabbit hole into Wonderland!"You are the most beautiful wife in all of Wonderland my dear Melusina!", croons Nathan. He feels just awestruck to be married to the Immortal Melusina. The courtship and the wedding both are a bit odd but there you have it. 

"Who are YOU?" said the Caterpillar as he took the hookah out of its mouth and addressed them in a languid, sleepy voice.

Laughing, Nathan replied, rather shyly, "I — I hardly know, sir, just at present — at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."

Just then Nathan saw the Cheshire Cat and kindly asked, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,"said the Cat. The Cheshire Cat giggled and started singing..."twas brillig and the slithy toves..."

The wedding party all gathered together at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and carry on for who knows how long, because time works so differently in Wonderland...

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Author's Note: I chose to write this fun little story based on one of my all time literary favorites, Alice in Wonderland. I love the imagination and whimsy of the stories of the girl Alice who most likely falls asleep and has some strange dreams, but in the story goes to a world of magic. She talks to a Hookah Smoking Caterpillar, a Cheshire Cat and a Mad Hatter in her travels among many other colorful characters. Nothing is as it seems in that world.

I also have been trying to carry a theme throughout the stories in my portfolio for this class. The story is about a man named Nathan who is a Seeker of Wisdom and Knowledge. He is pure of heart and fate brings him  magical opportunities and larger than life adventures with powerful people. Nathan's story is a long journey that is only represented here in the Portfolio in small fragments. As he travels the world through time and space he will face many strange things that may sound familiar to you from other things you have read or heard.

Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

CHAPTER V. Advice from a Caterpillar

CHAPTER VII. A Mad Tea-Party

Bibliography: This story is part of the Alice in Wonderland unit. Story source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865).

Week 14, Reading Diary, Reading Diary A,Myth-Folklore Unit: Italian Popular Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Italian Popular Tales
The Story of Crivoliu

www.dailymail.co.uk

So this story touched me a bit. First off, it reminded me a little of the biblical story of Moses. Then when the abandoned baby grows up to be a holy man and finally a Pope I was surprised. The story starts out so strangely, with a brother and sister incest taboo, then abandoning a baby after branding it. A fisherman finds the baby. This also seems a reference to the Christian fish symbol to me. 

This was such a strange unit as a whole. This half of the unit is really not what I expected. The last story where the Cock wanted to be the Pope. I had to look up how many Popes there had been. I thought, well of course there would be literature focused on being a Pope in Italy!  The story of the three goslings and the wolf! Whoa, I guess we know where the three little pigs and the wolf come from! They must be related. One of the stories was like the farmer in the dell. The other one was surely an inspiration for Dr. Suess. I had fun reading this last unit of stories!

Week 14, Reading Diary, Reading Diary B, Myth-Folklore Unit: Italian Popular Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Italian Popular Tales

The Fair Angiola

www.etsy.com

This is such a neat story. The gist is that a woman who was stupid enough to steal from a witch got caught and promised her unborn child to the witch! The girl goes to live with the witch who raises her. The witch keeps the girl locked in the tower. This is the story known to us all as Rapunzel. I am currently learning a great deal about the medieval times and it is interesting to me how this girl gets locked in this tower by a woman called a witch. I am glad that it does have a happy ending though it is sad that the witch is most likely just a country woman who was unmarried or barren and loses what she cherished most, the young girl. The maiden to me represents teen angst and the strange ideas of love during this time to rescue a damsel, or a strange girl you find in the woods. These stories are so old, there are many kings in the land, so this is most interesting to me.

Week 13, Reading Diary, Reading Diary B, Myth-Folklore Unit: Dante's Inferno

Myth-Folklore Unit: Dante's Inferno

(illustration by di Fruosino)

I did not really find a particular story that jumped out at me. It was fun to understand a lot of the references in the stories. I think I am also feeling ripped off that though the people are mentioned that are in all the different circle of hell, he does not give enough description of the people and how their punishment is appropriate for their crimes. I am shocked at where he places certain people. It is obvious to me that Dante clearly hates the Romans that he places in the worst hell where Satan is. I think most of the other people mentioned in the story are really kinda funny. Like Nimrod whose language is foreign to all. Fall of the Tower of Babel/Atlantis....

Overall I enjoyed reading the parts of Inferno here. I will most likely continue to read more of it later, outside of this class.

Week 13, Reading Diary, Reading Diary A, Myth-Folklore Unit: Dante's Inferno

Myth-Folklore Unit: Dante's Inferno

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Inferno: The Furies and the Heretics

I really enjoyed reading this unit. I had not read it before, I have heard about it of course because it is so very famous and influential in religious ideas. People had told me that trying to read it would be difficult and you can't understand nor appreciate the work unless you know the people that he meets in the different circles of hell. Admittedly, I did not recognize all the names, but I did know most of the people so far. I like how at the end of this snippit, Dante see's the graves of the heretics...

...'Here are the arch-heretics, with their followers, of every sect: and the tombs contain many more than you might think. Here like is buried with like, and the monuments differ in degrees of heat.' ...

I can only imagine the list of people who might have been thought heretics at this time. Lest we forget that even Jesus was condemned a heretic...

Inferno: Limbo

You do not demand to know who these spirits are that you see. I want you to learn, before you go further, that they had no sin, yet, though they have worth, it is not sufficient, because they were not baptised, and baptism is the gateway to the faith that you believe in. Since they lived before Christianity, they did not worship God correctly, and I myself am one of them. For this defect, and for no other fault, we are lost, and we are only tormented, in that without hope we live in desire.'

I like this part of the story too, where it talks about how these people are down here not because of sin, but because they were not baptized. Some people are down here because it wa before the time of Christianity. This one really gets me. I find it hilarious and I am sure Dante did too, because the early church fathers who basically invented the religion as an amalgamation of all different religions and ideas had not really critically examined the issues that heaven and hell bring to the picture.

Week 14, Extra Reading Diary, Myth-Folklore Unit: The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

Myth-Folklore Unit: The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

www.todocoleccion.net

I don't know what to say! I loved this unit so much! I had first heard of the Decameron a year ago in a medieval Italy class that I took and was interested. I think I had also heard of the Heptameron at the same time. This semester I am taking a class called medieval women and it is a big topic for women of that time who were wealthy and educated to commission literature, especially in France. So this was my first chance I have had in the past year to actually read it, not just read about it. I want to read more of course! The style that it is written in appeals to me. Using the story and then using the dialogue in the group about the story. It has such a natural flow to it. I have to read so much historical information that I have almost believed that it is all boring. It is refreshing to run across a historical piece that I enjoy. I am glad it is not full of too much religion or courtly love, because that would be typical of the time and drive me nuts.

If I can I want to use the writing style that this half unit is written in, rather than any one passage of this unit. I have yet to read the reading diaries a and b for this week, so I may choose to write my story on this unit this week.

Week 13, Extra Reading Diary,Myth-Folklore Unit: Europa's Fairy Book

Week 13, Extra Reading Diary,Myth-Folklore Unit: Europa's Fairy Book

A Visitor from Paradise

This half unit that I read (B) was so much fun! I loved all the stories, but I had read all of them before except for this one. How fun this turns out. It's so cute that the women is deaf and misunderstands Paris for Paradise and gives the stranger all that stuff, and the best is when they take the door with them so no one will break into their home. I thought I was watching an episode of Benny Hill! I like the happy ending. Very cute story. The sky is falling bit ! Too funny! I don't think I will be able to use anything from this for a story but who knows, this one is so fun!

Week 12, Extra Reading Diary,Myth-Folklore Unit: More Celtic Fairy Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: More Celtic Fairy Tales

The Fate of the Children of Lir
...so she drove the children of Lir into the lake to bathe, and they did as Oifa told them....
As soon as they were upon the lake, she struck them with a Druid's wand of spells and wizardry and put them into the forms of four beautiful, perfectly white swans, and she sang this song over them...

I like this story the best out of the half unit that I read. It actually reminds me of a song I love so much by Loreena McKennitt called Bonny Swans. It is a bit different in that the  story is about a group of sisters instead of a wicked step mother. I wonder if this is where the author found the inspiration for this song! I enjoyed this story more than that of the McAndrews. I could not find anything to identify with on that half of this half unit! 

I love the motif of the lake. Water plays such a magical role in so many stories. The birds plays such magical roles as well. I love the shape shifting myths that find their way into so many different world myths as well. 

Week 12, Reading Diary B, Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

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CHAPTER VII. A Mad Tea-Party

'Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. 'I don't see any wine,' she remarked.

'There isn't any,' said the March Hare.

'Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.

'It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare.

I think we should have to change this up a bit. But I like how the March Hare (Ostara) is full of witty quips. I think we will keep this going! The mad hatter also asks Alice to solve a riddle...this must be something we will keep too. It should be Melusina who has to solve the riddle.

Week 12, Reading Diary A, Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

Found on blog.hwtm.com

Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

Wonderland: Pig and Pepper (end)

CHAPTER V. Advice from a Caterpillar

'Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

'I don't much care where — ' said Alice.

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

' — so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.

'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question. 'What sort of people live about here?'

'In THAT direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round, 'lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction,' waving the other paw, 'lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.'

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'

Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on, 'And how do you know that you're mad?'

This has always been a favorite part of the story for me. If you don't know who you are when the hooka smoking caterpiller asks you, and you don't know where you are going then it's perfectly acceptable to be going to have a tea party with the mad hatter. To be among the mad. I am excited about adding this part of the story to my story. I think when Nathan and Melusina go to Wonderland for their anniversary they will meet the Chesire cat and the hooka smoking caterpiller.

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

'Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I — I hardly know, sir, just at present — at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'

I think if we get to have the caterpillar meet with Nathan and Melusina and get them to say aloud who they are it might be fun. They are on their honeymoon so they can say fun things like, I am married! I am ....a seeker....I am....etc.

I want this piece of the story to kind of wrap of my portfolio stories. The first story has to start in the fall of Atlantis, and the last part of the story is when Nathan is seeking the Emerald tablets. Wonderland is where Nathan and Melusina go after they wake up Merlin and Melusina is set free, so Nathan and Melusina get married and they head to Wonderland for a honeymoon. 

Aphrodite (Goddesss of love, beauty and marriage) can maybe play a part in the story too. She is represented by a white rabbit. I think instead of a man white rabbit, I will use a woman, Aphrodite who shape shifts into a rabbit. She is the person waiting to take the newly wedded couple to Wonderland. (and of course she will have a watch and be running on time...)