Chapter 8: Magic Wands in Fairy Tales

Chapter 8:

Magic Wands in Fairy Tales

Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

Preface: Meeting Paul Brunton in Vevey, Switzerland (August 31-Sept. 2, 1979), he told me that his first spiritual mentor, Allan Bennett, aka Ananda Metteyya had invented a rod that could destroy the world. I was skeptical, saying the Manhattan Project created the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but not the whole world. PB said Bennett's rod was more powerful, and suggested I study Fairy Tales on the lost art of magic wands. That assignment PB gave me 41 years ago, has been lying dormant for me take on serious study. I just know Fairy Godmother converting the pumpkin into
a stagecoach for Cinderella, and the Blue Fairy using her wand to turn Pinocchio into a real boy. Ann told me about the Stepdaughter stealing the witch's wand in the Grimm's fairy tale "Sweetheart Roland". Recalled Glinda. Good Witch of the South in The Wizard of Oz and Wizard Merlin using magic wands. Summarizing these stories below.

Magic Wands in Fairy Tales

Fairy Godmother
in Cinderella
Blue Fairy
in Pinocchio
Good Witch of the South
Glinda in Wizard of Oz
Wizard Merlin
in King Arthur
Stepdaughter
in Sweetheart Roland

Pumpkin turned into
stagecoach for Cinderella Fairy Godmother in Charles Perrault's Cinderella (1697)—
"Well," said her godmother, "be but a good girl, and I will contrive that you shall go." Then she took her into her chamber, and said to her, "Run into the garden, and bring me a pumpkin." Cinderella went immediately to gather the finest she could get, and brought it to her godmother, not being able to imagine how this pumpkin could help her go to the ball. Her godmother scooped out all the inside of it, leaving nothing but the rind. Having done this, she struck the pumpkin with her wand, and it was instantly turned into a fine coach, gilded all over with gold... Her godmother then touched her with her wand, and, at the same instant, her clothes turned into cloth of gold and silver, all beset with jewels. This done, she gave her a pair of glass slippers, the prettiest in the whole world. Being thus decked out, she got up into her coach; but her godmother, above all things, commanded her not to stay past midnight, telling her, at the same time, that if she stayed one moment longer, the coach would be a pumpkin again, her horses mice, her coachman a rat, her footmen lizards, and her clothes would become just as they were before.

Blue Fairy turns wooden puppet
Pinocchio into a real boy when
he proved to be brave & unselfish Blue Fairy in Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (1883)—
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Collodi was made into a Disney movie Pinocchio (1940). with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The song "When You Wish Upon a Star" won 1940 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Woodcarver Geppetto made a wooden puppet Pinocchio and wished it was a real boy. A Blue Fairy waved her wand making Pinocchio move, but said "You have life, but to become a real boy, you must prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish." Unfortunatedly, Pinocchio didn't go to school, playing hooky, singing "I've got no strings
to tie me down". Going to Pleasure Island with Lampwick, turned him
into a donkey. Only when he rescued Geppetto from the belly of a whale, did he show courage. Finaaly the Blue Fairy made Pinocchio a real boy.

Glinda, Good Witch of the South
taps Dorothy's ruby red slippers
to bring her home to Kansas Glinda, Good Witch of the South in The Wizard of Oz (1939)—
Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sold 10,000 copies in 1901, and 3 million by 1958. The story chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone. The 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale alongside Frank Morgan as Wizard, Ray Bolger as The Scarecrow, Jack Haley as The Tin Man, Bert Lahr as "Zeke" The Cowardly Lion, Billie Burke as Glinda, Good Witch of the South, and Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West. It's interesting that the Wizard is never shown wielding a wand. Neither does the Wicked Witch of the West, who thrusts her broom to make fire and smoke to reek havoc and chaos. No wonder the Wizard wants the Witch's broom to grant Dorothy's wishes. Only Glinda, Good Witch of the South is shown with a long magic wand with 5-pointed star on top. She uses the wand to tap Dorothy's ruby red slippers to send her back home to Kansas. Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was voted # 1 Best Song of all time— magic of music more powerful than magic wands.

Wizard Merlin mentors
King Arthur on shape-shifting Wizard Merlin Mentors King Arthur (1136 AD)—
Merlin the Magician, as his name has been popularized over the centuries and his story has been dramatized in numerous novels, films, and TV programs. The powerful wizard is depicted with many magical powers, including the power of shapeshifting, and is well-known in mythology as a tutor and mentor to the legendary King Arthur, ultimately guiding him towards becoming the King of Camelot. Merlin is often shown holding a wand (1, 2, 3). While Merlin the Wizard was a very prominent character in the stories of Camelot, that is not where he originated. Writer Geoffrey of Monmouth is credited with creating Merlin in his 1136 AD work, Historia Regum Britanniae— The History of Kings of Britain. In Ch. 9: Wizard Hat from Platonic Lambda: Soul of the Universe, "Merlin with Wizard's Hat & Mentor to King Arthur" is discussed from eight sources.

Stepdaughter used magic wand
transform Roland to a lake
and herself into a duck
to escape the witch Witch's Magic Wand Stolen in Sweetheart Roland (1812)—
In Grimm's fairy tale "Sweetheart Roland" a witch's daughter wanted the stepdaughter's pretty apron. So the mother said she'll kill the stepdaughter to give her the apron, telling her to sleep near the wall. The stepdaughter overheard, and switched positions. She told her sweetheart Roland "My stepmother tried to kill me, but she killed her own child instead. She'll come after us." Roland said "You had better take her magic wand, or we will not escape." The girl got the magic wand, and hurried away with her sweetheart. The Witch put on her many-league boots, and overtook them. The girl used the magic wand to transform her sweetheart Roland into a lake, and herself into a duck in the middle of the lake. The Witch couldn't lure the duck to shore. Next day, stepdaughter changed herself to a fower and Roland to a fiddler. The Witch tried to pluck the flower, but Roland's magic music forced the Witch to dance non-stop till she fell down dead.

Elf Tikka used magic wand
in film Bright (2017)
Elf Tikka's Wand in film Bright (2017)—
On Feb. 3, 2019, Al Guzman drove me to Richmond to see Felix at Whins Court. Felix put on "Bright" film (2017) from his Netflix on his 70"-wide TV screen for me to watch. Film was directed by David Ayer, starring Will Smith & Joel Edgerton. These two Los Angeles policemen rescued Tikka (Lucy Fry), a Bright elf who possesses powerful magic wand that the police, federal agents, and Inferni wanted. Film is set in an alternate present in which humans and mythical creatures co-exist and details an LAPD police officer and his orc partner confronting racism and police corruption while protecting a magic wand and the elf girl who wields it. While it has negative reviews from critics, it has become one of Netflix's most streamed movies ever. Rare magical artifacts known as magic wands exist, but only a very few people called "Brights" can wield them without dying. Ward (Will Smith) used the wand revealing him to be a "Bright" as well.

— Peter Y. Chou
Mountain View, 11-22-2020