Magickal Tales

Off-Site Reviews

Magickal Tales to Delight and Inspire

The children growing up in today’s uncertain world are experiencing the all-to-regular news of tsunamis and earth tremors, floods and terrific winds.  It is not only the children of Pagan parentage that learn from an early age just how powerful nature can be.

Admittedly, the pagan youngster has a deeper insight into ‘the old ways’ than the children of parents from many other religions.  However, children from any path should be aware of the origins of the beliefs in nature’s way. This narrative offers a fun and nonetheless comprehensive introduction to some of the folklore and tales existing in pagan ways.

The Voice of the Wind transports the child back to the beginning of time, with a tale based in dance and movement capturing the child’s imagination with it’s use of senses and feeling, culminating in the happy dance of the elements in the newly created world.  This tale is transformed into a ritual in the latter part of the text with ‘Dancing with the Elements’, a ritual for children and adults alike.  What better way for children to harness the understanding of calling the quarters, the promises the elements make to us and the integration of the elements into modern pagan belief.

The Legend of the Green Man is a folklore tale charting the narrators meeting with an old Magician on the eve of the winter solstice, telling the story of the ‘real Father Christmas’. Again, a story laced with emotions, movement and feeling to capture the imagination of the child.  Historical explanation of the adoption of the concept by modern religion is certainly enlightening and should be adopted alongside traditionally taught Christmas tales in schools.

Little Crow Dancer was one of my personal favourites, catchy and rhythmic, just like the dance itself, telling the tale of dancing for the crow. The latter section of the narrative demonstrates how children can use this story in a ‘pow-wow’ style dance with drums.

The Faerie story ‘Littlewing and the Phoenix’, tells the story of how Littlewing meets and helps the ancient bird to die to allow his – and her own – rebirth.  A beautiful tale of hope for children who are faced with death in their young lives and certainly a tale that should be told in schools.

Trick or Treat is an educational play about the origins surrounding todays Halloween celebrations.  Resembling the story of ‘Scrooge’, a feel-good tale with punchy prose and comedic elements, which is produced in play form towards the back of the book for use in classroom or similar settings. In short, the stuff kids will love both performing and spectating.

How many children have trouble getting to sleep?  In the section entitled ‘Rituals for Children and Notes for Parents and Teachers’, it begins with a ‘Bedtime Journey Meditation’.  How I wish I had had the foresight to have taken my own children on these journeys.  What child could resist relaxing and letting their imagination take them away on a magical trip of faeries, dragons, unicorns and angels?  A perfect platform to encourage your young ones to relax into peaceful sleep.

The Full Moon Chant is beautifully written by the Grove’s own ‘Short Faerie’, and our children should understand the power of the moon and the strength we choose to harness in pagan belief.

Whether it is given as a gift for a child, or as a teaching resource for educating children across multiple religions and beliefs, this narrative is a must for all.  Beautifully illustrated and of a perfect size for young readers, it has become an important addition to my bookshelf of pagan literature and something I wish was published many years ago, when my own children were young.

Paula-Jayne Wilson-Church