Hag Stone Journal

Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood

030
April 14 to April 20
In This Issue: Journal Prompt, Meditation, Home, Outdoors, Community, Body, Magic, Poem / Quote, Craft, Cookery, Moon Phases, Activism, Recommendations, Next Week

Little Red Riding Hood, a favorite fairy tale read to all young children, espouses the dangers of venturing off the known path, talking to strangers, and trusting people– even your own grandmother. Red Riding Hood introduced many children to the concept of a sexualized wolf and, depending on which version you heard, the unhappy ending of being eaten alive.

Many fairy tales have dark moments (I’m looking at you, Hans Christian Andersen), but conclude with a happy ending for the protagonist. Snow White is awakened with a kiss; Sleeping Beauty is awakened with a kiss; Cinderella, awake the whole time, gets her Prince; Hansel and Gretel kill the witch; Goldilocks gets to eat her porridge, take a nap, and escape the bears. Not so for Lil’ Red. Charles Perrault’s original translation ended with, “this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood and ate her all up.”

Perrault’s version of an old oral tale very powerfully and evocatively teaches the lesson that a girl’s sexuality, curiosity, and adventurousness is dangerous, not only to herself but to her family, her home, and her future. Little Red’s transgressions off the well-trod path, in the original translation, lead to her violent death.

Catherine Ornstein, author of Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, writes that Little Red Riding Hood is “a patriarchal lesson in female obedience”. It may be no surprise, then, that I am compelled to upend that lesson and empower young Red Riding Hood and celebrate her journey through the woods– from child to capable young woman.

I feel drawn to Little Red Riding Hood and its symbolism almost more than I am to any other fairy tale. As a lifelong fairy tale fancier and a woman’s studies major, I find myself returning, time and time again, to explore and reinterpret this trope of an innocent girl alone in the woods with a tricksy sexualized wolf. I think, in many ways, my life has been informed by this cautionary tale, and some of my life choices have been to push back against it: I wander around in the woods, own my sexuality, and am capable of defending myself.

Little Red Riding Hood is abundantly rich in symbolism: her red cloak, the deep forest, and grandmother’s homey cottage. Like all good fairy tales, it aggressively invites analysis, critique, and reinterpretation. Exploring and possibly reinterpreting such a foundational piece of culture empowers us to change our own stories and future, and that is a form of magic.


By Heather Gray

Journal Prompt

Name three risks you would like to take– from a risk that you can barely bring yourself to consider to a risk that you would do with just a nudge of courage. You don’t have to commit to doing these things, just name them.

  1. Get my Master’s degree.
  2. Return to working on my novel.
  3. Hire a marketing expert
Kenneth Whitely – 1939 WPA Federal Art Project – Once Upon a Time

Meditation

Red Riding Hood is a very embodied tale. There is the cloak, the food for grandmother, eating and being eaten, and, finally, rebirth through the body of the wolf. Little Red (and her grandmother) are strong, in tune with their physical nature and the physical world.

 

There are many ways to feel powerful in your body; this meditation is one that I have practiced for many years:

 

Find a quiet place to lie down on your back. Breathe slowly and evenly.

Imagine a glowing golden light around the top/crown of your head. It is a warm, peaceful, and healing light.

As the light moves slowly down your body, feel your muscles relax and tension release.

The light moves to your forehead, easing any tension you are holding there.

The light moves to your eyes and releases tension.

The light continues to move, relaxing and releasing, over your nose, cheeks, mouth, and chin.

Continue feeling the movement of the healing light down your body– over your neck, shoulders, chest, upper arms, elbows, hips, forearms, etc. The light moves slowly as it releases your tension.

When the light has passed over your entire body and is at the bottom of your feet, the tension dissipates, benignly, out into the world.

For a moment, feel the golden light illuminate your whole body.

Know you have the power to bring this healing energy to your body whenever you need it.

 

Craft

Jessie Willcox Smith – 1911

 

For this week’s craft, we will be creating Red Riding Hood themed postcards and blank cards. It is nice to have some homemade cards on hand to send to a friend when they need cheering up, are celebrating, or if you just want to reach out for any reason. Receiving something in the mail, especially something handmade, can brighten someone’s day– or their whole week.

Supplies:

  • Printouts of Red Riding Hood illustrations that are in the public domain
  • Colored and patterned paper, especially red
  • Markers
  • Glue
  • Cardstock
  • Scissors

I gathered all kinds of  paper, from card stock to tissue paper, and even some fabric.

I printed out some illustrations in black and white.

I cut illustrations to fit on the cards I was using.

For this card, I used Sharpies to color in Little Red’s coat, her hair and shoes, the wolf, and Arthur Rackham’s wonderfully gnarled trees.

For the next card, I chose a portion of the illustration that would fit on the card and let that be my guide for the imagery.

I went with the wolf in grandmother’s bonnet.

Then I added a tiny Lil’ Red that the gigantic wolf is hungrily eyeing.

I used washi tape to add a whimsical splash of red to our wolf.  

For this card, I cut up a red glittery gift bag for Red’s cape.

To make this patterned wolf, I first cut the wolf out of the illustration, then traced it onto the patterned paper, and then cut that out.

The Yes! Glue is still drying on this one.

I finished the set of five with a role reversal card: the wolf is carrying the basket and those big sharp teeth belong to Red.

Cookery

Margaret Ely Webb – 1903

Our family’s favorite homemade bread is challah, a braided bread eaten on Jewish holidays and the sabbath. This is my husband’s recipe, in his own words, as he is the baker in our home.

Requirements:

  • 21 oz bread flour
  • 1/4 oz (2 1/4 tsp) instant dry (or quick rise, or bread machine) yeast
  • 8 oz room temperature water
  • Yolks of 7 large eggs, plus 1 for egg wash
  • 2 oz vegetable oil
  • 2 oz sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • Extra flour for dusting
  • Cooking spray
  • Half-sheet pan (cookie sheet)
  • Parchment paper
  • 1 tbsp milk, cream, or half-and-half

Directions:

  1. Combine bread flour and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk to randomize.
  2. Combine the water, 7 egg yolks, oil, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment at whatever speed doesn’t splash it out.

  1. Lower the speed and start adding the flour/yeast until the consistency of a very thick cake batter, about a little more than half of the dry ingredients.

  1. Continue to mix for a few minutes until you see it pull into elastic ribbons.
  2. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and add the rest of the flour/yeast.
  3. Mix on low speed for a few minutes, then increase the speed. Mix until very elastic.
  4. Dump out on a lightly floured surface, knead by hand, and form into a smooth-skinned ball.

  1. (I mean knead that dough until it’s all like “Oi, you fockin’ wot, mate?”)
  2. Cover the inside of a large bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough ball in the bowl, smooth side up. Spray the top of the ball with cooking spray. Cover and bulk ferment until doubled in size, probably 60-75 minutes.

  1. Dump out; fold gently. Divide into 6 equal pieces and form into oblongs (about like the number 0), again with smooth tops. Cover in place on your work surface with a towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
  2. Boil a pot of water.
  3. One by one, roll the oblongs into strands. Use more force toward the ends than in the middles so that they taper to points at either end. Roll about 20” long, allowing them to shrink back to about 18”. They may shrink more. If they do, reroll them to make them all the same length. Wet your hands a bit if you need more purchase on the dough to stretch it out.

  1. Arrange the 6 strands in an inverted “V” shape and glue together the ends with some water. Braid the strands by alternating right-left, taking the outermost strand and folding it over into the middle. Glue the ends together, smushing to make them tight.

  1. Transfer the loaf to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Place inside your oven on the second-to-bottom rack, making sure there is enough space for it to rise. On the bottom rack, pour boiling water into a pan. Prove in the oven for an hour. Optionally, refresh with new boiling water after 30 minutes for more steam.

  1. Remove the loaf from the oven and set the temperature to 350ºF (175ºC, gas mark 4).
  2. Make an egg wash with the remaining egg yolk and equal amount of cream, milk, or half-and-half. Brush the challah all over. Allow to dry 15 minutes. Brush again.
  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove when the crust is a deep, glossy brown and the internal temperature measures 190ºF (90ºC). Allow to cool.

Rip off pieces by hand and eat.

 

Home

Walter Crane – 1875

The main home in the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale is grandmother’s house. Apparently, this cool little old lady lives alone in a cottage in the woods. What is she doing out there all by herself? We know from Perrault’s story that she is sick, and Little Red is bringing her a basket with wine and bread.

My grandmother use to have her own little home remedies for health and healing– lotions and powders in the bathroom, hot water bottles, soup recipes, and a vaporous ointment she rubbed on her chest at night.

I am not sure if the Campho-Phenique my grandmother rubbed on her chest did anything but smell strong and make her think she was breathing more easily. But when I smell that scent now I am brought back to being bundled under a blanket in an antique bed in the back bedroom of my grandparents’ house. And there have been times when my own daughter was little and having trouble sleeping that I returned to the same remedy and rubbed a little Badger Sleep Balm on her chest.

If you want to continue your own grandmother’s home remedy traditions, and she is still living, you can interview her about home remedies and the “potions” she keeps on hand. If she has passed, see what you can remember or ask other family members.

Grandma Remedies:

Salt water for sore throat

Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of salt in an 8oz glass of warm water.

Gargle and spit out the salt water.

Provides temporary relief for sore throat.

 

Aloe for sunburn

Break off leaf of aloe plant.

Gently dab gummy aloe on the burn.

You can also buy aloe at the pharmacy.

 

Warm milk for sleep aid

Warm 6 oz of milk in saucepan.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Drink 1 hour before bed.

 

A real old country “babushka cure” that I know, from my daughter’s Russian piano teacher, is to drink honey out of a turnip for a sore throat:

 

A large part of healing is just feeling cared for. What those “grandma remedies” lack in medicinal efficacy they often make up for in a connection to a primal childhood memory of nurturing and caring.

Outdoors

Next time you go for a walk, give yourself permission to leave the well-trodden path and see something new.

When I was vacationing in the Catskills a couple years ago, I went on a hike through the woods by myself. I was a little afraid because I was all alone in a strange place in the woods, but also because the woman who ran the outdoor store told me what I should do if I saw a black bear.

  • Stop.
  • Identify your presence by singing. (She recommended “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”)
  • Then casually back up, in the direction from whence you came.

She told me that the bears don’t want any problem with me, but they don’t respond well to surprises.  

As I walked through the late summer forest, I kept my eyes and ears open and aware for any approaching bears, as well as any possibly sketchy humans. I grabbed a sturdy walking stick and I hoped it would be a warning to any weirdos that I would not be an easy target.

Part of me wanted to see a bear (what a great story!), but if they were around they avoided me. I did see some people, but they also left me alone. I had a bit of a transformation in those woods– just one of many journeys through the woods I have made in my life. The woods are those liminal spaces where we take the unknown path, and at some point, as we trod on moss and crash through the underbrush and part a curtain of leaves with our foreheads, we meet ourselves and our truths, and we learn something new about the universe.

Our adventures don’t ruin us, nor do our mistakes. They teach us, sometimes painfully, sometimes joyfully, sometimes surprisingly, a great deal about ourselves and our world.

Margaret Evens Price – 1921

Body

Taking a self-defense course can help you feel strong and powerful, like you can walk in the woods all by yourself.  

I taught self-defense to women when I was in my early twenties, and I taught basic martial arts and self-defense to teens last year– albeit with less flexibility than I had 20 years ago.

A basic thing folks need to learn for self-defense is the mindset of fighting back. I had to teach women how to scream or yell for help, how to make a fist, and how to hit someone like you mean it.

Hopefully, we never have to hurt another person. It is often the very best option to just avoid sketchy situations, and there is certainly no shame in running away to escape danger. But, in certain situations, you may fare better if you channel your strength and do everything you can to survive– including yelling, gouging, biting, and going for the weak and tender areas of your attacker.

Taking a self-defense course can help you develop that mindset and learn some techniques that may save yourself and others. Self-defense can put us in touch with the power and strength of our bodies. It can teach us how to use our fists, palms, knees, and feet to defend ourselves from a much larger attacker. A self-defense class will show you that you CAN fight, if you have to.

I hope to never get into a real fight again, and I don’t tend to voluntarily go into unsafe situations. Unfortunately, for women, “unsafe” situations can be as common as hiking a trail in the local park, walking home from the train station at night, or catching an Uber.

Another line of defense I recommend, falling somewhere between avoiding/running and hand-to-hand self-defense, is some kind of personal handheld weapon like pepper spray, cat ear keychains, a personal alarm or airhorn, a walking stick, or a big dog.

Stamp series for social welfare – 1960

Moon Phases

April 19th is the Full Moon – the Pink Moon.

Magic

In some versions of Little Red Riding Hood, Red’s encounter with the wolf is so transformative that she becomes a werewolf– a human that transforms into a wolf, or a human-wolf hybrid.

In some stories, Little Red escapes the wolf, kills it, and trades in her signature red for a new wolf skin cloak. It was widely believed, throughout Medieval Europe, that one could become a werewolf by wearing a wolf skin cloak or belt.

In a Medieval version of the Red Riding Hood tale, the wolf tricks Little Red into eating some of her dead grandmother’s body. Cannibalism and werewolves were linked in the minds of Medieval European folks. There were numerous werewolf trials that took place at the same time as the infamous witch trials, in which accused werewolves were tried for cannibalism, and accused cannibals tried for werewolfery.

In 1589, the Werewolf of Bedburg, Peter Stumpp, was accused of witchcraft, cannibalism, and werewolfery. Peter was a German farmer who had lost his left hand, which is where his name Stumpp came from. It was said that his paw was cut off while in his wolf form. While he was tortured by authorities, it is said that Stumpp admitted to eating 14 people, practicing black magic, and turning into a werewolf with the aid of a wolf skin belt given to him by the devil. Stumpp was executed, rather gruesomely, on October 31st, 1589, and his severed head was placed atop a torture wheel decorated with the figure of a wolf.

Just as we have reinterpreted the message and meaning of Perrault’s original translation of Little Red Riding Hood, werewolves have taken on a more sympathetic role in our modern media. Today werewolves can be romantic leads, lovers, and heroes. Symbolically, these days, werewolves are associated with a connection with nature, primal urges, and the moon, as well as with the sometimes painful and disorienting process of transformation.

In many of the modern takes of Red Riding Hood as werewolf, we are reinterpreting her/our story. Red is an innocent that meets danger in the woods, and that meeting changes her. She incorporates the danger and the ability to be dangerous into her repertoire. She is no longer an innocent defenseless child, but a young woman to be reckoned with.

 

You can do this Red Riding Hood inspired full moon ritual on April 19, the night of the full moon. You’ll need a red cloth, a knife, bread, red wine, butter, salt, and a goblet.

Place the red cloth on a surface and use as a tablecloth.

Pour the wine into the goblet.

Hold the goblet to the full moon and say, “I drink to the full moon and my abundant strength.”

Tear or slice the bread with the knife.

Smear it with butter.

Sprinkle salt on it.

Hold the bread up to the moon: “I honor the earth and my own continual transformation.”

Bite off a mouthful of bread and eat it.

Pour a splash of wine onto the ground for your deity.

Soak up the light of the Full Moon, knowing it will always come again to guide you on your journey through the unknown.

Arthur Rackham – 1909

Evidence of Red – Leanne Howe

 

First, night opened out.

Bodies took root from rotting salt

and seawater into evidence of red life.

Relentless waves pumped tidal air

into a single heartbeat.

 

In the pulp of shadow and space,

water sucked our people from sleep.

That’s how it all began. At least

that’s all we can remember to tell.

It began with water and heartbeat.

 

In minutes we tunneled through

corn woman’s navel into tinges

of moist red men and women.

Yawning, we collected our chins,

knees, breasts, and sure-footed determination.

 

A few thousand years before

Moses parted the Red Sea, and the

God with three heads was born in the Middle East,

the Choctaw people danced

our homeland infra red.

 

Finally when the stranger’s arms

reached to strangle the West,

Grandmother eavesdropped

on the three-faced deity

who said that chaos was coming.

 

When he puckered his lips and tried to kiss her

she made it rain on him.

“Maybe you’ve forgotten

you were born of water and women,”

she said, walking away laughing.

Community

If you identify as a woman, consider joining or starting a women’s group. Women supporting other women in community is one of the most important things we can do to heal ourselves and the world.

My church has a women’s group that meets every quarter. Sometimes we meet in a field or in the woods, and sometimes we make art while listening to Aretha Franklin. We support each other through good times and the worst of times.

Having a daughter and witnessing her powerful female friendships has reprogrammed a lot of the self-hating anti-woman nonsense drummed into my head when I was young by the air I breathed and the stories I read.

I grew up ingesting stories that didn’t seem to understand women at all, but I have spent years interrogating that message and finding new sources of nourishment. With the help of many many other women, both those I know in real life and women I’ll never meet, I have learned to believe women, to love their wolfish natures, and to encourage their journeys through the woods.

Arthur Rackham Little Red Riding Hood – 1902

Activism

John Hassell – 1905

 

I know I said in my last issue that I would write about Earth Day, but I found myself more inspired to explore Red Riding Hood. But I invite you to learn more about Earth Day and get involved in their 2019 campaign to Protect Our Species.

I am inspired by this issue’s theme to share this video about Planned Parenthood, its history, and what it does:

 

 

I would also like to share artist Amanda Palmer’s new music video for her song Voicemail for Jill.

 

Recommendations

Book: Angela Carter – The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

 

Film: In The Company of Wolves (streaming on Amazon Prime)

Next Week

We will explore the traditions and customs of May Day.