 Hi, my name is Dany and welcome to Esoteric Moment. Spring has finally arrived in Wisconsin and as you can see, I've gotten sunburned already. It's still very exciting that there is sunshine and flowers and green things and gardening will start soon. So I'm very excited that spring is here. This week I wanted to do another book review and I have just finished Breaking the Mother Goose Code by Jerry Studebecker. This non-fiction work is about kind of figuring out and sussing out the details behind the character Mother Goose. The first part of the book is about Mother Goose specifically and what that character, that archetype, really means in the literary world, in the spiritual world and how it might relate historically to what was going on when she became a figure in popular culture. The author puts a lot of historical and social research into the different symbols associated with Mother Goose like the goose, the eggs, flying, even her age and how she is seen as relating to children. She then compares this to different goddess archetypes and characters and myths that we have seen around the world, especially in Europe. Really the whole point of part one is that Mother Goose is a goddess figure. I think the author does a pretty good job of convincing readers that this could be a possible theory behind Mother Goose. The symbols between Mother Goose and certain goddesses certainly play out. I don't want to give away all the details. I want you to read the book so you really get the theory and evidence in its entirety rather than just my kind of dumb down version for a short video. So if you're interested in how Mother Goose might be a goddess then you really need to pick up this book. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it. The second part of the book is all about the stories themselves and how they might relate to why Mother Goose was created and how she was distributed and used and really kind of the secret coder messages behind some of the stories associated with Mother Goose. So nursery rhymes, folk tales, fairy tales, etc. Here is where I'm not quite as convinced with the author's theory. There's a lot of really intriguing evidence presented about the historical reasons of why people who were worshiping a goddess or having an important goddess figure in their culture might have kind of hidden her away in these stories and used these stories as a way to pass the knowledge and the faith on to children. First, I think the sources for this part of theory would need a little bit more time on my part to be as certain that they're really saying what the author intends says that they are saying. Second, I think it's also a bit more far-fetched. The evidence presented seems logical and reasonable. I'm just not sure it's as comprehensive as I would need to believe that the fairy tales were those specific secret messages. Secret fairy tales and nursery rhymes contain a code of sort, totally by from the author's point of view, but just not sure that I'm quite 100% on board of what those messages mean. There is an interesting chapter called Fairy Tales as Magic Spells and Incantations, and the author takes specific fairy tales or fairy tale archetypes. She uses these archetypes to then show how they might actually be a recipe for shamanic magic or specific spells. Spells for healing, love, finding lost children or objects, you know, wealth, those sorts of very standard human needs that might have been called upon for shamanic magic. This chapter in particular was presented really well, and while once again I'm not sure that's actually the historical reason for the fairy tales, it was presented in a very interesting way. And a modern practitioner would have no problem following that recipe of sorts if they wanted to reconstruct that theory. From this book, really easy to read. It is a bit lengthy as it's nonfiction and it is a pretty academic subject matter, but the author's curiosity and passion for the subject really comes through. I also think that it is well cited and the sources are easy for reader to see and look up on their own. You agree with the way the author interpreted those sources or the credibility of those sources is another topic, but I think it's really important and noteworthy that the author put such effort into making their research approachable and clearcut for the reader to follow through on. People like folk tales or history, politics, goddesses, I really think that you'll enjoy this book. Finally, I know my videos haven't been quite every week, things have been a little busy, but I will endeavor to be a bit more diligent on those videos. So thanks for watching and as always, may you find peace in the sacred grove.