Copyright 2007 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
This issue, the old German folktale "Mother Holle" reveals many interesting lessons.
The Story of Mother Holle
Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters; one of them
was beautiful and industrious, the other ugly and lazy. The mother,
however, loved the ugly and lazy one best, because she was her own
daughter, and so the other, who was only her stepdaughter, was made to
do all the work of the house, and was quite the Cinderella of the
family. Her stepmother sent her out every day to sit by the well in
the high road, there to spin until she made her fingers bleed. Now it
chanced one day that some blood fell on to the spindle, and as the
girl stopped over the well to wash it off, the spindle suddenly sprang
out of her hand and fell into the well. She ran home crying to tell of
her misfortune, but her stepmother spoke harshly to her, and after
giving her a violent scolding, said unkindly, 'As you have let the
spindle fall into the well you may go yourself and fetch it out.'
The girl went back to the well not knowing what to do, and at last in
her distress she jumped into the water after the spindle.
She remembered nothing more until she awoke and found herself in a
beautiful meadow, full of sunshine, and with countless flowers
blooming in every direction.
She walked over the meadow, and presently she came upon a baker's oven
full of bread, and the loaves cried out to her, 'Take us out, take us
out, or alas! we shall be burnt to a cinder; we were baked through
long ago.' So she took the bread-shovel and drew them all out.
She went on a little farther, till she came to a tree full of apples.
'Shake me, shake me, I pray,' cried the tree; 'my apples, one and all,
are ripe.' So she shook the tree, and the apples came falling down
upon her like rain; but she continued shaking until there was not a
single apple left upon it. Then she carefully gathered the apples
together in a heap and walked on again.
The next thing she came to was a little house, and there she saw an
old woman looking out, with such large teeth, that she was terrified,
and turned to run away. But the old woman called after her, 'What are
you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me; if you will do the work of my
house properly for me, I will make you very happy. You must be very
careful, however, to make my bed in the right way, for I wish you
always to shake it thoroughly, so that the feathers fly about; then
they say, down there in the world, that it is snowing; for I am Mother
Holle.' The old woman spoke so kindly, that the girl summoned up
courage and agreed to enter into her service.
She took care to do everything according to the old woman's bidding
and every time she made the bed she shook it with all her might, so
that the feathers flew about like so many snowflakes. The old woman
was as good as her word: she never spoke angrily to her, and gave her
roast and boiled meats every day.
So she stayed on with Mother Holle for some time, and then she began
to grow unhappy. She could not at first tell why she felt sad, but she
became conscious at last of great longing to go home; then she knew
she was homesick, although she was a thousand times better off with
Mother Holle than with her mother and sister. After waiting awhile,
she went to Mother Holle and said, 'I am so homesick, that I cannot
stay with you any longer, for although I am so happy here, I must
return to my own people.'
Then Mother Holle said, 'I am pleased that you should want to go back
to your own people, and as you have served me so well and faithfully,
I will take you home myself.'
Thereupon she led the girl by the hand up to a broad gateway. The gate
was opened, and as the girl passed through, a shower of gold fell upon
her, and the gold clung to her, so that she was covered with it from head to foot.
'That is a reward for your industry,' said Mother Holle, and as she
spoke she handed her the spindle which she had dropped into the well.
The gate was then closed, and the girl found herself back in the old
world close to her mother's house. As she entered the courtyard, the
cock who was perched on the well, called out:
'Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your golden daughter's come back to you.'
Then she went in to her mother and sister, and as she was so richly
covered with gold, they gave her a warm welcome. She related to them
all that had happened, and when the mother heard how she had come by
her great riches, she thought she should like her ugly, lazy daughter
to go and try her fortune. So she made the sister go and sit by the
well and spin, and the girl pricked her finger and thrust her hand
into a thorn-bush, so that she might drop some blood on to the
spindle; then she threw it into the well, and jumped in herself.
Like her sister she awoke in the beautiful meadow, and walked over it
till she came to the oven. 'Take us out, take us out, or alas! we
shall be burnt to a cinder; we were baked through long ago,' cried the
loaves as before. But the lazy girl answered, 'Do you think I am going
to dirty my hands for you?' and walked on.
Presently she came to the apple-tree. 'Shake me, shake me, I pray; my
apples, one and all, are ripe,' it cried. But she only answered, 'A
nice thing to ask me to do, one of the apples might fall on my head,'
and passed on.
At last she came to Mother Holle's house, and as she had heard all
about the large teeth from her sister, she was not afraid of them, and
engaged herself without delay to the old woman.
The first day she was very obedient and industrious, and exerted
herself to please Mother Holle, for she thought of the gold she should
get in return. The next day, however, she began to dawdle over her
work, and the third day she was more idle still; then she began to lie
in bed in the mornings and refused to get up. Worse still, she
neglected to make the old woman's bed properly, and forgot to shake it
so that the feathers might fly about. So Mother Holle very soon got
tired of her, and told her she might go. The lazy girl was delighted
at this, and thought to herself, 'The gold will soon be mine.' Mother
Holle led her, as she had led her sister, to the broad gateway; but as
she was passing through, instead of the shower of gold, a great
bucketful of pitch came pouring over her.
'That is in return for your services,' said the old woman, and she
shut the gate.
So the lazy girl had to go home covered with pitch, and the cock on
the well called out as she saw her:
'Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Your dirty daughter's come back to you.'
But, try what she would, she could not get the pitch off and it stuck
to her as long as she lived.
Mother Holle
Frau Holle is the old German Goddess. She is akin to Hel, and she is also an aspect of Frigga. Holland is named for her. Indeed, much of Holland is a big hole in the ground.
The story of Frau Holle is an interesting little tale. The characters are standard in Northern folklore. There is the main character, a beautiful girl. She is in the company of a stepmother and an ugly step sister. You might wonder why folktales make a point of mentioning the characters’ beauty and uglinesst. On a metaphysical level, folktales can be very literal. Beauty speaks both to the physical and to the inner worth. A beautiful person is one with good intentions and good character. Ugliness alludes to inner ugliness. It tells of a person whose character is horribly flawed and unpleasant. Folklorically, beauty speaks of things that are attractive and; ugliness speaks of that which is repulsive.
Stepmothers are a common theme in folk tales. The folkloric stepmother is always an adversary. She is mean-spirited, placing an unjust burden on the good character. Think of the stepmother characters in Cinderella (Ashenputtel) and Hansel & Gretel. Contrast them with the caring of real mothers. The folkloric stepmother is unnatural, a sham, a parody of the real thing. She represents harsh conditions which are not natural to the main character. She is not the real parent, but an outsider. Metaphorically, she can be an outside burden, either as a person, event, situation or thing.
The Well and High Road is better understood as a well at the crossroads. The Well is the Well of Wyrd, and Mimir’s Well. It is a passage to the hidden world of Causes. Below it is the Inner Self and the workings of the Subconscious.
Weaving has much to do with Fate, Destiny and Wyrd. The girl’s Wyrd brings her to the well. She gets cut and bleeds. Blood is life. Here, it is the price of admission. metaphorically, it is part of herself that gains her admittance. She loses her ability to affect her own urd, hence the falling spindle. The confrontation with the stepmother is interesting. She cannot get past the stepmother without having the spindle. Our beautiful girl needs to be able to affect her own Wyrd before she can confront the stepmother successfully.
When our girl enters the well, she comes to a place of beauty. There she will face three tasks. She goes to find the oven and the loaves. Bread is sustenance, and is a symbol of life. it is also the supply we need to live in our world. The girl has to remove the loaves before they burn and become useless. This she does. In so doing, she is protecting her own sustenance.
The next task is to gather the apples before they rot. Apples represent vitality, health and inspiration. These are the apples of Idun, which keep the Gods youthful. Once the girl takes them and piles them, she can move on to the third test.
The third task comes only after an encounter. The girl seel Mother Holle, but she is frightened by the lady’s large teeth. The folktale does not call her ugly or monstrous. This is important. Her only frightening aspect is her teeth. In myth and folkore, teeth allude either to capacity for consuming, or to the ability to enforce ones wishes. Large teeth means a big bite. Frau Holle may be kind, but she has teeth behind it. She can also be fierce.
Can you think of an experience of your own? I can. I remember a show where a woman had caged tigers. They were her pets! I was about to ask if I could pet one, but then one of the tigers yawned. He was about four feet away, and I got a good look at those teeth. I decided that petting a tiger might not be a good idea, even if they seemed tame.
As a condition of residing with her, Mother Holle gives the beautiful girl a set of daily tasks. The girl does them faithfully, and is rewarded. One involves making the bed “so that the feathers fly out.” Her third task is the ongoing work toward attainment. The underground adventure is actually al allusion to work on one’s inner self. It is ongoing inner development.
When she has worked long enough, the girl leaves for her home. She is covered with gold, which means she has attained. She is welcomed back warmly. In this way, she has overcome the burdens represented by the stepmother.
The stepmother decides to send the ugly daughter, but she is entirely mistaken about the whole experience. By not understanding, she has actually set in motion the forces that will cause her disappointment. Do you get a hint of greed here? Is it a feeling of entitlement for something she did not earn?
The ugly girl’s journey is all wrong. She intentionally cuts herself, as if trying to bribe her way in. Once there, she blatantly refuses her first two tasks. This girl is not willing to earn her way. She wants to barge her way to attainment. At Holle’s house, she is given the third set of tasks. Consider that she has not actually earned her way there, as she did not perform the tasks of the loaves nor apples. The ugly girl’s being there is a sham. Of course, she fails at the third task and is sent home. Her payment is not gold, but tar. Ugly, pushy, arrogant and greedy, she wears the stain of her inner flaws on herself.
The tale of Mother Holle speaks as much about character as about attainment. The beautiful girl’s initiation was by invitation. The ugly girl tried to gain it by force. However, attainment can only go to the right person. That is the person who is patient, diligent and of good character. Try as she will, the wrong person cannot attain because she is unwilling to let go of her own personal flaws.
Another way of looking at the story is to regard the loaves and apples as tests. They are tasks that reveal character. A person who passes them may proceed to attainment. A person who fails them will not be abl to attain, as her own shortcomings will get the better of her.
And what are they attaining? If a spiritual task, they are gaining spiritual growth. The story can apply to almost any sort of attainment, if you think about it.
Indeed, who we are inwardly will eventually be exposed in who we are outwardly.
And you though it was just another story of wells and crossroads...
*************
An amusing aside, since Frau Holle is connected to Holland. A Swedish woman married to a Nederlander was trying to explain the quirks of Dutch culture to me. She said that the Dutch love getting things for free. The surest way to draw customers is to offer something free, and the word Gratis is like a magnet to them. Her example was the day her husband came home with seven bottles of wine. When she asked why he bought so much ,he replied, “If I bought six, the seventh was free.” All he could think of was getting the free bottle.
