Article January 18, 2016 ISSUE

Negative pronouncements—powerless

Blythe Evans

Remember the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty”? Briefly, as the king and queen introduced their baby daughter at a royal banquet, six woodland fairies gave their blessings until an uninvited fairy unexpectedly showed up. She was angry and jealous. As her “gift,” she pronounced the princess would eventually prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. But there was one more fairy in attendance who hadn’t yet given her gift. She was able to find a way for the negative pronouncement to be reversed. Adventure ensues, and, of course, there is a “happily ever after.”

Now, fairy tales are only fairy tales, but as I read this story to a little friend recently, it sparked my interest in an unusual way.

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