Gentle feminine leadership

It's popular for women to be aggressive and in your face, just to succeed in life and get what they want. For women in positions of authority, they think taking on macho characteristics helps them improve to better positions. Also being fierce and cruel is a trait adopted by female bosses. It's well known that such powerful women have been unpopular, feared, or stirred up tension. Women such as Margaret Thatcher was called the "Iron Lady". Other women who captured adoring fans with severe dancing and singing tend to be the norm. Powerful women and women in key positions give out this strong, angry, aggressive, vicious, witchlike public displays of working. The seas are not always stormy. Calm gentle seas can be just as good or better. The forgotten and unfashionable trait of being soft, calm and gentle for a woman in power can be just as affective and even more influential.

Gentler women in history
The quiet, gentle and calm women of history that have made such an impact because of their softer approach includes a variety of famous individuals that have reached out to many. These women are queen Nefertiti, Sappho, Praxilla, Florence Nightingale, Mary Shelley, Jane Austin, Marie Curry, Marilyn Monroe, Louise Brooks, Sarah Bernhardt, Veturia, Cornelia, Saint Helena,  Mother Theresa, Molly Pitcher, Grace Kelly, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, Pocahontas, Olga of Kiev and these are just a few.

Gentler women in myth and stories
The most well loved soft, kind-hearted, gentle and even maternal female figures tend to be the most powerful. They include the fairy godmothers in "Cinderella", the twelve fairies in "Sleeping Beauty", the blue fairy in "Pinocchio", Glenda the good witch and Ozma in "Wizard of Oz" adventures and Mother Holle. Such women have supernatural abilities. They are an echo of ancient myths, with stories of the Graces, Norns, Fates, who weave destiny, and the benign mother and daughter goddesses of sky, sea and earth.

Gentle natured women today
It's rare to find powerful women in key positions of authority who use gentleness and sweetness to charm their way. But really this isn't a trait that most other women have any longer because it may be considered "weak" but it isn't. With anger there is calm. Being gentle means being compassionate towards others. There are some gentle natured women in influence today that are popular, considered icons of the year and "mother" figures to the nation. The present chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, is called "mother" because she does emit a calm gentle warmth. In entertainment, Holly Willoughby is a fairy godmother type who appears on TV. Both are feminine, non-aggressive and have a wide influence.

Look at it this way, in nature itself balance and harmony is better observed than disharmony. 

The Power of Idun

Idun is a lesser known goddess of Germanic mythology but she happens to be the most important and possibly the most significant one. Her name Idun is also spelled "Idunn" and sometimes "Idunna", but this was an Anglicised version of the ancient PIE and Norse/German cross "Ithun". The "D" is a "recent" pronunciation of the of the letter "ð" that was pronounced as "th". Her name was pronounced "Ee-thun-a". Many people compare Idun with Eden as they sound similar. Eden itself is a name of a Biblical garden paradise but possibly rooted in ancient Arabic "edinnu" that means plain or a flat land suited for plants and water. This is unlikely the cause of Idun's name but the Germanic goddess is rooted far back in time than the arrival of Christianity. Idun Goddess' name would've sounded closely like "Athena" to the ancient Greeks. PIE myths have a link going back to the first beginnings of agriculture during the change sweep after the Ice Age. Idun was born from a time when people became farmers. The goddess is a symbol of agriculture and immortality. 

Idun is a goddess of apples. She guards the sacred golden apples of youth and immortality. It must be noted that way back in ancient Europe, there were no juicy apples that we have today growing on trees all over. Apple trees originated from the Far East but these apple types were wild. It was people like Alexander the Great who introduced the first apples to south Europe and the Middle East. The Romans started bringing cultivated apples to the rest of Europe.

Idun the goddess of apples was written by Snori Sturluson in the 13th century, basing it on apple celebrations among the Norse people. To understand the powerful goddess, one has to bury into the ground and find apples and treasure. Once, people from England, to Scandinavia, Germany, the Baltic, Russia, Celtic lands and along the Mediterranean buried their dead with apples and nuts.

Apples are associated with longer and healthier life, a long journey, fertility, a spiritual journey and wisdom. In Norse myths, apples are also responsible for creating newborn babies! Don't forget that to the ancient Europeans, apples were considered a foreign fruit. To the Greeks in the sunnier regions of Europe, apples were symbolic fruits of love. To the Christians the apple was a fruit of sin and evil but the origins of this tale are unknown and could be a confusion of languages. Apple pips are a poison as they contain small amounts of cyanide. 

Iduns' apples are golden. Golden apples appear in many myths and legends. In Greek myth, golden apples are guarded by three girls (nymphs or goddesses) in a secret garden orchard named "Hesperides". It is owned by Hera the queen goddess and wife of Zeus. The apple trees were also protected by a dragon. Avalon, a mythical island that appears in the Arthurian legend, is Welsh for "Apple Island".

The golden apples that gave immortality and eternal youth to the gods cannot be just ordinary apples, wild or cultivated. The apples are something else. The very sign of them being "golden" is a symbolic colour and metal of the divine, the sun and eternity. Apples represent the sun, the heart and fertility. What kind of being, other than the gods themselves, could have long lasting eternal youth and can live forever? The Turrytopsis nutricula (immortal jellyfish), bacteria, Bristlecone Pine trees of the Great Basin and the freshwater Hydra species. Life forms such as that are biologically equipped to form and reform and alter and so on. The myths suggest that the gods need to eat something to stay immortal and young. That suggests too that the gods were mortal men and women before that!

In the fairytale of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the princess Snow White is given a poisoned apple. She dies, and a prince's kiss wakes her from death. The originator of the apple was her step mother, the wicked queen. Who was that supposed to be? A darker version of Idun? Step mother queens in fairytales, who appear as powerful deadly sorceresses, are actually goddesses who control destiny. These step mothers have been demonised over the centuries but they were given bad traits. Look at it another way. The powerful queen (goddess Idun) gives Snow-White one of the sacred apples to make her immortal!!!

In Norse mythology, Idun is kidnapped by an eagle, and Loki has attempted to remove her from the garden of golden apples, so that the gods lose immortality. Loki seeks the destruction of the gods. It seems that there is a different story of an eternal battle going on. And Idun is the key queen on the chess board, sat beside her husband Bragi.

Living vegetables

It's been researched that flowers and plants are capable of producing sound. People who love trees, forests, garden plants and flowers feel a special bond, nurturing them to grow and some eccentrics will chat to them.  I can think of the plant orchestra that can be listened to by a special audio. Plants respond to external sounds. There might be a reason for the way plants react and especially seeds. Now insects communicate through sounds and they seem to respond to plants in a way that they understand and can hear plants making their own signals.

It's said that different plants make different sounds. They don't play music like the garden flowers did in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" animation film. Yet it's not really far off though. Consider the way each flower communicates and interacts with everyone. They shunned a miniature Alice because she wasn't part of their orchestra and they thought she was a weed. So in a way wild flowers and other flowers don't get on too well.

I discovered that letting wild plants to grow instead of getting rid of them, actually helped make the garden greener. It attracted more bees, butterflies and other healthy insects to thrive there. Many little spiders appeared on webs. New flowers bloomed, making way for berries that I didn't know was there before. The other flowers and shrubs are doing okay.

Do vegetarians realise that they're eating living creatures? Vegetables are no different than trees and flowers or even animals. They also produce sounds and they communicate and give out vibes. They have auras. They resonate with the other plants and they interact with insects, the soil, stones and other plants. Vegetables are more intense and complex because they're full of vitamins and minerals, edible to humans, while flowers and trees are not. We could go onto discuss fruit and nuts too as well but this is for another post. These vegetables are grown from the soil and have roots contained in the dirt. They collect nourishment from the sky and earth. There are so many myths and folklore about vegetables.

Eating vegetables is important as drinking water. Vegetables are a biological mineral with nutrients and they each have spirits. Sometimes veggies are able to transfer into a tapestry of energy after we eat them and it's the chemicals and supplements that do this. These messages from the vegetables are consumed too and appear in our health. 

Facts on some vegetables:

Radish = It originated in China. Pyramid builders ate radishes. Ancient Greeks considered radishes food that the gods ate. Radishes are medicinal. 
Potato = Potatoes originated from South America. It was imported to the rest of the world after the Spanish conquistadors named it. Potato is full of starch and is considered unhealthy.  
Carrot = Carrots come from the Middle East and is full of healing properties. Carrots are supposedly magical. Centuries ago, carrots were a variety of colours, mainly purple. Today they are all orange.  
Peas = Originated in Southern Europe and the Near East and grown for thousands of years. Peas were considered a type of confection "sweet" by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Peas contain vitamins, minerals and fibre.   
Beans = They originate from the Americas. Bean pods are edible and medicinal as well as and possibly more than beans. 
Broccoli = This is part of the cabbage family. It can be more powerful than modern pharmacuetical medicines. It beats cancer cells in some experiments. High in fibre, vitamins and folate.
Cabbage = This is the oldest vegetable in the world. It's rich in vitamins and other supplements and very medicinal. They contain defenses against some cancers and high in Vitamin K and zero fat.  
Pumpkin = These pumpkins originate from north America. Used as Halloween lanterns, pumpkins are also made into a soup, stew, pie and cake. Associated with autumn months. Pumpkins are high in nutrients. Pumpkin seeds are filled with calcium, vitamin C and fat.   
Turnip = A native vegetable of Europe. Eaten in the summer months, turnips were also kept in vinegar in winter. Filled with medicinal and healing properties. 
Leek = Leeks are part of the onion family but are gentle on the mouth. It's said they originated in Egypt but also some evidence shows leeks coming from India. 
Corn Salad = Another name for it is "Rapunzel". Often looking like weeds, these edible plants are often added to soup.
Melon = Originated from Asia, melons contain potassium and vitamins.
Cucumber = This first came from the Far East. They are used as a medicine to treat skin problems and burns.
Pepper = There are many types of peppers grown all over the world. Some are flaming hot and others are mild to sweet. There are many colours ranging from red, yellow and green.
Onion = These were cultivated for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians found onions as sacred. Many have found onions to treat illnesses and boost strength and fertility. It has been used as an insect repellent. It's mostly filled with water and chemicals.

Fairytale Grimoire: Goldilocks

Hello there. Welcome to the Fairytale Grimoire and read through carefully without burning the paper. I want to educate you on a journey of magic and stories. You know the popular fairy tales? These are just about them, and digging deeper to find the hidden nuggets and crystals within these folktale legends, stories of fantasy and myths. Perhaps you might want to skip? Fine if you do.

This is about "Goldilocks" most well known from the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." I could introduce you to the main character herself and make it easier or just narrate it?

An outline of the story:

Goldilocks is the name of a girl with full golden hair. She finds herself lost in the woods, and discovers a house. When no one answers to her knocks, she discovers that the door is open and she enters. She finds three bowls of porridge and so hungry that she tastes one. The biggest one. It's too hot. She tastes the porridge from the middle sized bowl. It's cold. She tastes the porridge from the smaller bowl and it's yummy so she eats it all. She wants to sit down after finding three chairs. She goes to the biggest chair and finds it too high. She doesn't stay sat on the middle sized chair because it's too soft. Yet she goes to sit on the smaller chair and breaks it. Upstairs to check out the beds, she wants to go to sleep. She tries laying on the largest bed and it's too hard. The medium bed is too lumpy. The smaller bed is just right and she snoozes off. While asleep, three bears return to their home after being out in the woods. They notice someone's been eating their porridge, and someone's been sitting in their chairs but the little bear cries because the smaller chair was broken and someone's gobbled up the little bear's porridge. The bears go upstairs to look for the culprit. They find Goldilocks asleep, then they wake her up. She flees from the house and is never seen again.

Puzzles:

As simple as it sounds. The story centres around the number three. Three is a sacred number. It centres on the Goldilocks character heroine. It's also surrounded by bears. Porridge is the focus diet. Wooden chairs and beds are the prime household objects. All is circulated by a forest or wood. The magical three bears go out of their central house/heart/hearth and in goes Goldilocks. She intrudes the house, steals the food and breaks things. She sleeps in the house that isn't her own. Many look upon her as a type of burglar. Some folklorists say that she's no different to when princess Snow White found the home of the seven dwarfs and ate their food and slept in their beds. So who was Goldilocks? Why was she lost in the woods? Where did she come from? The answer lies in the origin of the story, the magic of number three and the bears. 

Number three:

Three appears in the ancient triquetra symbol. Three is for time meaning past, present and future. There are three headed gods and goddesses in ancient cultures, sometimes three sets of divinities owning time and destiny. Pyramids contain three shapes and three sides. There are three dimensions (length, height and depth). Our home world Earth is the third planet away from the sun. Three primary colour bands, red, blue and yellow. A triangle is of three sides that are the most rigid of all the shapes. Three is a prime number. Ancient people wrote in three glyphs. Three is also III in Roman numerals and it means "giant star". The number three appears in all religions and belief systems. Three is associated with superstitions. In other fairy tales, there are three little pigs and three wishes.    

Bears:

The bears represent the mystical prime number three. This could indicate that the bears are a cosmic order. Big, middle and small. Man, woman and child. The earliest version of the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" has three fully grown adult bears. Bears appear in myths and legends as a sacred noble animal. Bears are omnivorous and have a more powerful sense of smell than dogs. Like humans, bears are able to stand upright, walk upright and sit upright. Bears are daytime animals instead of nocturnal. Unlike other mammals, bears are more likely to keep themselves to themselves. Bears love to sleep during winter. The bear is a national animal of Finland, Greenland, Russia and Taiwan. Bear worship and bear cults have existed throughout the ancient world. The celestial bears are Ursa Major (great bear) and Ursa Minor (small bear).

Goldilocks:

Before the character we know as girl with golden hair was "Silverlocks", an old woman. But the original character before she became known as "Silverlocks" was a fox! It was a story about a naughty vixen that crept into the home of three mature bears while they went out. The fox, being nocturnal, was tired and fancied herself a lie down in the beds after eating food. This later was changed so the vixen was no more and an old woman replaced her but the idea was quickly altered to make her into a child. "Goldilocks" was named but the girl also took on the early traits of the fox who stole food and broke things. So the original Goldilocks was a cheeky fox! The fox, entering the home/centre and hearth of the magical three bears could be looked at as a symbol of disorder and rebellion. However, Goldilocks' name is given to a type of planet.

Links on the subject:

Goldilocks planet
Arctolatry - Faith of the Bear
History of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Triquetra
Artist Jasmine Becket Griffith "Goldilocks".