At our Fairy Tales workshop in Los Angeles recently [March 20, 2008], our group presented Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Ugly Duckling- stories of the awakening process. The event was modeled after Mervyn’s talks on The Hidden Meanings of Fairy Tales. He was an engaging storyteller who warmed the hearts and souls of those who heard him. We felt his presence with us that day. As our teacher, he would have been proud to see his students spreading the work that he began in his garden nearly 20 years earlier.
Mervyn taught us that the “fairy stories’ are as popular today as when they were first told, because they are based on the truth from a pure place of the soul, the gods, and love. They are mirrors of life for both young and old.
From the time of the first rehearsal till the workshop, the students’ storytelling and interpretations unfolded and evolved to deeper levels. It was impressive to see many angles (and angels) emerge. Our work is never finished!
Mervyn embodied the spirit of Ugly Duckling. He shared with us how he felt different and awkward growing up in Ireland. He endured contempt from the other ‘ducks,’ symbolic of the Is of the machine – from others and ourselves. Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, judgment and negativity, live in everyone’s home.
Believing life would be better elsewhere, Mervyn moved to England. Similar to the story, he suffered tremendous hardships. However each time he was miraculously saved by the gods. In the Ugly Duckling, ”a peasant found the dying bird, warmed him by the fire and he awakened..” For many of us, Mervyn has played the role of the peasant. Through love he saved us, offered us hope and nurtured our souls. His message continues to grow, even for those who have never met him.
Along his journey, Mervyn taught about the nature of beauty as well as the beast. He understood himself and others. In order for us to ascend along a higher path, we too must discover and understand ourselves. As in Cinderella, the glass slipper must fit: “To thine own self be true.” Mervyn celebrated himself and encouraged us to see that within ourselves awaits the most beautiful swan of all – majestic, graceful, and full of love. A beautiful soul!
Once upon a time there was a school called the Academy of European Arts and Culture, whose founder, Mr. Mervyn Brady, the Irish philosopher, lived happily ever after.
~L
