Psychosocial Significance

"Luther and the Spawn of Satan: Changelings and Infanticide." http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com. April 8, 2013. Web. November 9, 2014

<http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2013/04/luther-and-spawn-of-satan-changelings.html>

"Luther and the Spawn of Satan: Changelings and Infanticide"

Martin Luther was a leader in Christian history in the 16th century. The Lutheran denomination was named after him. Martin Luther was very much a product of his own times with respect to superstitious beliefs and practices. He believed Satan was responsible for the malformed children known as changelings, and that such exchanges took place frequently. In Luther's theological view, a changeling had no soul and as such it was alright to kill this child. He actually encouraged infanticide of such children, whether they be frail physically or mentally challenged and saw nothing morally wrong with doing so. 

On another psychosocial front, my own theory pertains to women who had recently given birth being swapped with a changeling. I believe it wasn't a changeling at all but was the result of a woman experiencing postpartum depression. Any sort of mental illness or mental incapacitation was not understood as it is today. While today mental illness still holds a stigma it is much better today than it was in previous centuries.

Novel

Donohue, Keith. The Stolen Child. New York: Nan A. Talese. 2006. 

This novel is filled with literary fantasy as well as realism. It is more than merely a story of a child who is a changeling; there are two intertwined stories--one adult trying to remember his "stolen" childhood and one child trapped in time at age seven. It features the story of a grown-up Henry Day and the child Aniday. Donohue writes in such a way that he makes both characters alive, have parallel and mirroring lives, joys and challenges, and allows them to confront one another. This novel was inspired by Yeats' poem. I can hear "come away with me, oh human child" being chanted in the background as the pages turn. 

Work of Art

http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2014/06/21/midsummer/

Noel, Joseph. Painting. 1867. Oil on canvas. Glasgow Museums. JPEG file.

The Fairy Raid by Sir Joseph Noel Paton
Joseph Paton painted this work of art in 1867. It is one of his many paintings based on the 19th century's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is set at twilight in a dark wooded area. It realistically depicts the fairies of fairytales and well as a smaller, more sinister version from the legends. There is meticulous attention to detail. In the distance are standing stones on a hill which make the link to ancient Celtic beliefs in which the artist was very much interested. There is also a human child depicted looking back towards the world it is leaving.

Episode of a Television Series

"Small Worlds" Torchwood. Dir. Alice Troughton. British Broadcast Channel. 12 November 2006. Television.

Credit: TVids.net

This episode of Torchwood portrays a young girl who is a changeling. She is the only child of a single mom who has been dating a man for 5 years. This man is a jerk and is abusive towards the girl but only while the two are in private. The child is very reclusive and does not have any friends nor does she interact with the family much. Most of her time is spent in the forest behind her house. The fairies protect the child from a potential abduction as well as from bullies at school. At the end of the show the fairies come and kill the potential step-father in front of everyone at the engagement party. The fairies have come to take the girl back with them and the mother becomes hysterical. This show was very interesting to me as it is the first thing I have seen to actually depict the fairies as sinister and quite frightening.

Here is the link for watching this particular episode.

http://www.tvids.net/watch451/Torchwood/season-01-episode-05-Small-Worlds

Original Myth- Changelings

Craigie, William Alexander. Scandinavian Folk-lore. London: Alexander Gardner, 1896.

The Line, the Lash and the Curl. "Changelings and Fairy Babies." Myndandmist.wordpress.com. June 24, 2012. Web.

 November 9, 2014

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Many cultures have believed in the long-standing legend of changelings.  It was believed that fairies swapped their children in the place of human children. Human children were believed to be stronger and healthier than fairy children as well as more beautiful. The life span of a fairy child is much shorter than that of a human. Changelings were always hungry and had horrible dispositions and were quite sickly according to the legend. When a family suspected its child had been stolen by fairies it was supposed to either trick the changeling into revealing itself or beat the "child" until the fairy came to retrieve it. Midwives and women who had recently given birth were also targeted by the fairies as childbirth was not easy for fairies. This was believed to be why fairy children were thought to be frail as they were injured during childbirth. They also had voracious appetites which is why lactating women were of particular interest to the fairies. Handsome men were also sought after as they were needed to mate with to produce additional children. 

Fairies were believed by many to be real. Fairytales portrayed them as beautiful and helpful while myths and legends leaned more towards ugly and sinister.

Frances Griffiths and the Dancing Fairies, one of the photographs she and her cousin, Elsie Wright, took of "real" fairies. Many people, including author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, believed the photos were genuine.
Credit: Cottingley.net

Poem

Yeats, W B. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. New York: Macmillan, 1956. Print.

Video credit: youtube
"The Stolen Child" by W.B. Yeats

W. B. Yeats is one of the leading poets of all time. This particular poem, written in 1886, is what lead me to choose the topic of Changelings for my Research Blog. The poem talks about the luring of a child to water by fairies. What small boy, or girl for that matter, would not be tempted by water and adventure? Yeats wrote "The Stolen Child" early in his career and it was said by some to be reminiscent of losing his brother. Others believe it connects with the loss of innocence of a boy moving into manhood. I tend to believe it is more literal as Yeats had a love of Irish folklore and actually published two books on the subject. "Come away with me o human child" is a small part of the poem that has been used in movies and television shows. It depicts the legend of fairies luring human children into a far away land and sending changelings to take their place.

Steven Spielberg used this stanza in the film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001. The film is a mix of a modern day fairy tale and fantasy. In a tale much like Pinocchio, this robot want to be a human boy. I think it was brilliant to pull in a poem from teh1800's to illustrate the timeless longing of becoming human.

Random Encounters...Is there such a thing?

 

 ran·dom
adj.
 Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective: random movements.

pur·pose
n.
1. The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal:

2. A result or effect that is intended or desired; an intention.

In my previous role as pastor, God gave me the priviledge of being able to meet and minister to all kinds of people.  He brought me some of the most interesting and troubled people.  He brought people who made me laugh and challenged my thinking.  I loved being able to speak truth
into their lives and see the light go off when they learned of a lie they had been believing and how it had impacted their life.  Or when they heard God for the first time.  Or when I acknowledged a time in my life when I experienced a similar situation and how God had completely healed the wound.  It was exhilarating and gave me a sense of purpose while shaping the person I am today. 

One of my greatest struggles since becoming a stay-at-home mom is not having these daily encounters.  Today the Lord shared with me He is still bringing me people to impact and who will challenge and inspire me.  I said, "Lord, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm at home now.  No appointments, no meetings, no encounters in the bathroom- it's amazing how many conversations take place in the Ladies Room of an office building."  (I don't know if you have these kinds of talks with God but I routinely challenge Him much like my children challenge me.)  God reminded me of all the people He routinely places in my path.  The cashier at the JoAnn's I like to go to. The waitress at the coffee shop I see each week. The neighbors who have come and gone across the street. The parents of kids my children have gone to school with. The stranger I met yesterday morning at church. The elderly lady who walks by my house everyday. Random people placed in my path. What if thy weren't so random?  What if God placed me in this town, on this street, in this house stategically?  Wow, this changes everything!

As I was chatting with a friend this morning, I was reminded of a story I read years ago entitled, " Pandora's Box".  It was not about the mythological Pandora but was related in a way.  There was a woman named Pandora who died and went to heaven.  When she got there she had a tour guide.  This guide took her to see all the sights and there were many.  You can imagine how grand this tour was.  To end the tour they walked into a room with shelves lining every wall from floor to ceiling.  It was a tall room, in fact you couldn't even see the ceiling it went so high up.  Each shelf was filled with boxes.  (The kind you see on tv that are wrapped with beautiful bows and look like they took hours to wrap.  Where the lids and boxes are wrapped independently so you can easily remove the lid to reveal the contents.  You get the picture.--.--Who has time to wrap like that?)  The guide told Pandora to go ahead and look in the boxes.  As she began to open each box she was speechless at all of the different things  in each box.  Such treasures, such splendor, more than you could ever imagine was in each box.  Box after box the contents kept getting better and better.  Finally when Pandora couldn't stand it any longer she asked, "What are all of these boxes?" "Who do they belong to?"  The guide replied, " They were all to be yours.  These are the blessings the Lord had for you but throughout the course of your life and decisions made you were not able to receive them."  Wow, that story made quite an impact on me.  Seven years later, the Lord used that story to ilustrate a point.  This morning the Lord equated each of those boxes of blessings to people; those random people I mentioned previously.

What if one day you or I have a tour of Heaven and the Lord reveals all the people he meant for one of us to impart something of Him or the ones that could have imparted to me (and wanted to) but out of my wounding, fear or insecurity I didn't push myself to get to know.   Or maybe it was on one of those days when I was too busy and in a hurry to scratch off the next "to do: on the "to do list" so I didn't take the time to get to really listen to those around me.

Each of us, no matter what your title, can be used by God in mighty ways.  Everyday we have a choice to allow the Lord to guide us throughout the day in encountering people with purpose.  Be in tune with His spirit.  Take time to listen when He prompts us to spend a few extra minutes with those people in your path. I have a friend who can't go anywhere without "random strangers" telling her something about themselves. We laugh about how frequently this happens. What if those encounters aren't random at all?  What if she was predestined to impact each and every one of those people in some way?  If each one of us did so what an impact it would make on this world we live in. 

I learned this morning that no matter your title or station in life, God will use us if our hearts are right, our eyes and ears are open and we say yes.  Today I'm choosing to say, "Here I am. Send me.  I'll be a light to people needing hope, encouragement and kindness."  

Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, (NIV)

Matthew 5: 14-16
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (NIV)

Proverbs 27:7
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (NIV)

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (NIV)