The Brothers Grimm’s "Rapunzel:" Tears Wash Away Grief

A man and a woman long for a child. The woman looks out of her back window into the walled garden of an enchantress and desperately desires the Rampion (Rapunzel) plant. Her husband goes to get it for her, but is confronted by the intense gaze of the enchantress. He reasons with her, and she negotiates: he can leave with it if they give her their firstborn. The wife consumes the wonderful salad and when the child is born, the enchantress takes it to a tall tower.

Rapunzel lets down her golden hair for the daily visits from the old dame, and her singing attracts a prince wandering the woods. He comes up at night, Rapunzel having reasoned that he will love her better than the lady. Soon Rapunzel unwittingly gives him away to the enchantress, who whisks the girl away to the desert. The prince visits the empty tower, and in grief jumps down, is blinded and wanders the woods, eating roots and berries.

Eventually he finds the desert abode of his love, who is now with twin boy and girl in a desperate situation. Her tears wash the blindness from his eyes, and they go to the castle and live many happy years together.

We think this tale is about development and the thrwarting of it by the enchantress. She wants to keep everything pure and unchanging, and to keep all natural things from fulfilling their purposes. She separates things: men and women, garden and nature, Rapunzel from the mother and the prince. She uses things for her own, and not their own, purpose. In this way she resembles a dragon in many European cultures, the hoarder, the ultimate stagnation, a kind of zombie or virus existing between life and death. And this story is about how love, intuition and faithful suffering can break through the artificial boundaries of the magical tyrant.

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Project Gutenberg Free Rapunzel:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12710

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About our guest:

Ian Reclusado is currently off exploring the poetic wilds of psychology, neuroscience, and spirituality.

He also offers guidance services for those interested in delving into their own inner wilderness.

You can find his weekly dispatches at www.thekindknife.com or follow him on Instagram: @ian_reclusado

I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.