This one is bonkers and doesn't appear to have an Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type. This "story" actually consists of two gratuitously violent anecdotes involving a group of children who are playing at being butchers. It was included in the first edition of the Grimm stories but was left out in later editions.
#FolkloreThursday: Perchta
Much like Santa Claus, Perchta was believed to visit houses between Christmas and Epiphany in search of who had been good or bad. If you had been a good child--worked hard and behaved yourself--you might find a silver coin in your shoe. If you hadn't, well...
#FairytaleTuesday: Cinderella, aka Aschenputtel (The Little Ash Girl)
Cinderella has got to be the most well-known fairytale in the world. It is also incredibly old and has thousands of variations...That being said, there is no way that I can possibly do full justice to the rich and fascinating history of this tale type. But I'll do my best to give a suitable overview of the Grimm version.
Steampunk Dollhouse Dispatch: In Which We Mourn a Friend and Embark on a Bittersweet Adventure
When I started my podcast in spring 2017 I had no idea what I was doing but I had enthusiasm and I started contacting other steampunk podcasts. I met some amazing people that way, including Flavio Faz, the co-host of Texas Steampunk Connection, along with his partner in crime, Thax, the Gentleman Adventurer. Flavio was kind, and helpful, and always treated me with respect. I liked him immediately.
How Diverse and Inclusive is Your Diversity and Inclusion?
In order for any program or initiative to work, and be meaningful, it has to be evaluated regularly. The program that you initially created may have seemed awesome and absolutely the answer in theory but you won't know this for a fact if you don't analyze how it's actually working in practice.
#FairytaleTuesday: A Story About a Brave Tailor
Ostensibly, this is a story about a little dude who overcomes great odds through his wit and cunning and manages to achieve great fame and fortune, and a princess. The character of the tailor is essentially a Jack, the one fairytale archetype for whom the story will always work for and not against. No matter how lazy and foolish he is, a Jack will always win.
#FolkloreThursday: Don’t Lick the Blue Star Tattoo
Looking back on this, it seems absurd, right? And it is. The inherent danger, though, is in the fact that law enforcement agencies were so quick to begin passing out warnings when they had no evidence that anyone had ever actually experienced this. Zero investigatory work was done and while Google may not have been possible back then, it can't have been that hard to try to get to the bottom of this. But they didn't.
Finding Equity Through Connected Learning
But what if we could turn that into a learning experience that's fun and inclusive and enriching and provides access to materials and ideas that they wouldn't normally be able to access? If we could do that, we could help them understand that they deserve a good education just as much as anyone else and that their circumstances don't define their worth or their ability to become whatever it is they want to be.
#FairytaleTuesday: The Fisherman and His Wife
Unlike some of the stories that I've covered before, the lesson here is clear and easy to understand. There's appears to be no deeper analysis then the simple concept that your wants shouldn't outstrip your means. You got the nice house now be happy with it instead of demanding more. Having said that, and now that I think about it, perhaps there is a deeper, less pleasant lesson here, about how the poor should be happy with whatever bits of largess they receive and not entertain dreams of rising above their station.
#FolkloreThursday: Sing a Song of Sixpence…
Most of us are familiar with this nursery rhyme, right? It's one of those rhymes that you just seem to know, and maybe you wondered why there were birds in a pie but it didn't take up too much of your thought, right? Well, it should have been taking up your thoughts because depending on what source you look at, there are layers upon layers of suspected meaning here.
