Just now, as I sit to write a reflection on Miss Gertrud’s work, my cell phone – just a few inches away from me at the table – is suddenly beeping a warning that its battery is low. Normally I would stop whatever I was doing and rush away to find its charger – suddenly enticed by the challenge of being able to plug it back in before it actually dies (and already annoyed – but even more motivated – by the prospect of not finding the charger where I’d last left it). Having just finished Miss Gertrud’s work, which seeks to help heal and bring balance to the masculine and feminine aspects housed, by Design, in all things including men and women, I am strangely yet comfortably unaffected by the phone’s incessant alarming. Through the analysis of two fairy tales with universal symbols and themes – “The Handless Maiden” and “Briar Rose” – Miss Gertrud explores what is wounded, particularly in Western society, and demonstrates how the very same tales of wounding also contain the seeds for healing. Now (in this Now anyway) the red blinking light of my cell phone – trying so very hard to be imperative, ominous even – still leaves me unmoved. It’s ok, I speak to it. Go to sleep then…
 
Miss Gertrud writes, “…I can put forth the conscious rituals of preparation that call down to the deepest part of me: I order and honor and bless my world. I name the four holy corners of its walls. I offer prayers to the Spirit over my head and bless the earth under my feet. I walk through the mazes of this walled and inner garden and come to the wellspring at its center. The water is black and deep, but cool and moving. I let myself down the well. Diving, but slowly. Slowly. Deeper and deeper. Deep down – way deep down – something is indeed stirring. Here is another world. Here I may find what has actually been conceived and incubating all along – here the Spirit fructifies what waits. Waiting is impractical time – good for nothing – but mysteriously necessary to all that is becoming.”
 
 

Love this book, great for the soul.

I'm through part one, and I love it...it's been good for my story and my heart.

This is one of the many books on feminist/religious/fairy tale theory that I snatch up at used booksales and then put off actually reading for, um, years.

In this book, Nelson examines two fairy tales in depth, with the theme that fairy tales show us the key to attaining "balance" in our lives between our feminine and masculine selves, for both women and men. The first half of the book is devoted to "The Handless Maiden" and the second half examines "Brier Rose," both from the Brothers Grimm versions. The book grew out of a sort of "book club" the author had with other women that centered around fairy tales.

Although I think Nelson's intent was to bring that "book group" feeling of intimacy and insight to the wider world, there were places when I felt revelations that may have been groundbreaking in a discussion fell a little more flat on the page. It's pretty amazing to be able to write 150 pages on a single three-page tale, and Nelson definitely unpacks EVERYTHING. There are places where it feels tangential, but it also does a good job of laying down a template for doing a deeper reading of other tales. While none of the insights were totally earth-shattering, she does do some interesting things with the stories, including reading feminist themes into "Brier Rose," which is one of the fairy tales most criticized for glamorizing women's passivity.

I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had reflected on a wider variety of stories rather than going into such depth on just two, and the chapter at the end inviting the reader to write the "myth" of her own life felt a little out of place to me. I was like, "What, I wasn't prepared for this book to ask me to work!!" I only briefly considered doing the exercise, before setting it aside so that I didn't have to invest even more hours into what ended up being just an average book.

A long-ish exploration of the symbolism and feminist themes in two fairy tales: The Handless Maiden and Briar Rose. Parts of this feel like a conversation that's already seen a couple of bottles of wine, but Mueller Nelson also brings a lot of insight and explanation to her theme of how myths and fairy tales reveal an ancient and ongoing need to balance the masculine and feminine in our selves and in our culture. I found it helpful in many ways.