Out of the Woods, from dark to light

As we enter the darkest time of year, it is good to remember stories that bring us hope of reaching the light again. The festive season is not always an easy time of the year, but it is good know whatever difficult challenges we may face, be it the loss of a loved one, health issues, relationships, there is a path that leads us back from the darkness to the light and love again.

Hansel and Gretel the fairy story, I remember as a child, now has new meaning to me, and helps realise the trials we go through, in life, the strength in overcoming fear, being lost in a dark place and the possibility in finding the way home again.

The story is of the two children that are led away from their home, persuaded by the fear of lack, played out by the character of the stepmother. As the boy hears of the plot, he has the inspiration to leave a trail, first of stones and then the second time breadcrumbs which are eaten, becoming invisible to the eye. They are led into the deep dark wood and left alone. Hunger and fear drive them deeper into the wood where Hansel and Gretel come across a gingerbread house, covered in treats, a trap set by a witch, their hunger tempts them to enter the house with the witch in wait.

The witch in the forest, keeps them trapped, she feeds the boy with the hope that she'll gobble him up one day. And enslaves the girl to work for her.

The children have a protective instinct and patiently wait to trick the witch knowing that they must escape the fears, lies and illusion the witch has created.

There is the element of duality of the male and female, which resides in all of us, it combines both intuition and action and are used to help work in escaping from the witch.

The witch represents this feeling of fear, the lies and things that keep us trapped and stuck from where we want to be. The children face their fears, the see the chance and when the time is right, the witch is pushed into the fire. The fire could be seen to represent a transformation process. The fear is transformed in the fire which releases the energy, allowing the children to escape from the trap that she set for them. We too may be trapped by fear that's holding us back from what we love, or what our heart truly desires. When we take action, steps to face fear, from a place of love, it is ready, waiting to be transformed and allowing us to be freed.

When they get out of the house there is the trail to discover again. Maybe it is invisible to the eye, but they know in their hearts, how to follow this trail back through the woods and make their way back to the place of love, which is their home, where their father is so happy to see them again.

This may represent some form of religious symbol maybe of God if you believe in God or Oneness, or whatever, you believe in. It's a home coming, of the connection to the heart, back to the place of unconditional love, which is represented by the father in the story.

These are my thoughts, on this childhood fairy tale. I do believe it has a timeless and important message for us, as I believe many fairy tales do, and why it's so important that we carry on telling these stories and look at them slightly differently, with different eyes, using different imagery. We can learn a lot from these fairy tales.

You can watch and listen to my video where I share the thoughts on the story on my Youtube channel here

The path home is one we all know deep down, but there can be times we need help in uncovering the blocks that help us see it or to transform the fears that are blocking the start of that journey.

If you feel you need help and are ready to take those steps back to reconnecting with your heart I can help you. To discover more about how I do this, my free Heavenly Human guide is available to download and read, click here.

Capture the Seasons Winter online course, available to start today also helps, using nature as a guide, allowing yourself time to honour the wisdom of natural cycles which we can all connect with, giving us a path to gently bring more creativity, peace and joy to our lives.