A few guidelines for travel in the other worlds

In shamanic cultures, there are usually 'dos' and 'don'ts' for what the one who journeys can do. But European cultures have lost the concept of travelling, and the groundrules for practice -- or have we?

Remember those fairy tales you met as a child? Maybe you read them avidly, maybe you attempted to avoid them altogether. Diana Paxson points out that fairy tales hold, in their events, many clues for journeying. This seems to me especially the case for tales where the hero or heroine is on a quest, in unfamiliar territory. Some examples: the tales of the 'fool', the youngest son who will win the princess' hand; Grimm's tale of the girl who fell down a well and returned laden with gold (her greedy step-sister being less fortunate); the young woman who befriends a magic beast who later becomes human; the young knight whose horse is able to get him out of trouble so that he can complete her quest.

In this short account I'm attempting to distill some rules from these tales. I'll follow it up with a retelling of one of them, though this may take a little time.

In the tales, the adventurer is on unknown ground. Seemingly-impossible tasks are set. Help comes from strange quarters. And, there are the examples of those who don't meet requirements, the elder brothers who fail because of their self-seeking natures and unwillingness to share what they have; the step-sister who travels only from greed, and does not give help when asked; and those who think that talking to animals is beneath them.

The Flying Ship

Let's examine a story I like to tell. It's known by a variety of names, and has versions from Norway, Scotland, Russia, even from Nova Scotia. I know it as 'The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship'.

The king has made a proclamation that only the one who fulfils an impossible task can marry the princess. Our hero's two brothers use this as a way to get out of the house. Off they go with their packed lunches, and refuse to give any to the bird, the squirrel, or the old man who asks for a share. They disappear from the story. The third son, a boy known for his kindness, finally goes also, with dreams and visions in his head, though his mother warns that he's the fool of the world who will give up whatever he has, if someone asks.

He shares his food, and talks to the old man, telling him his dream of making a flying ship, thus fulfilling the impossible task. The man gives advice, which the boy follows: a set of procedures, followed by the injunction that when he has his ship, he must take on board those he meets on the way. In completing the procedures the boy falls asleep and wakes to find the ship before him.

In his journey to the palace, he meets several very strange-looking people, each of whom has a particular attribute or skill, and invites them on board. Arrived at the palace, the king sets a serious of further 'impossible tasks', each of which is overheard by one of the strange friends, and performed by another of these friends. Eventually the king has no more tasks, the princess makes her wishes known, and the marriage takes place.

This story has almost all the ingredients met with in journeying: it lacks a defined 'animal ally', instead including the series of strange people. It lacks any threat from the creatures met -- the threats all come from the king with his increasingly-difficult demands.

Mother Holle

Grimm's story of the girl and the well is a somewhat simpler version, but one which brings out a few different points: a girl is spinning by a well and rinses her spindle in order to wash of blood from a bleeding finger, occasioned by the rough wool. The spindle slips, and in trying to retrieve it she falls in. She finds herself in another place, a country in which an apple-tree laden with apples, and the baked loaves of bread within an oven, call out to her for help, which she gives. Arriving at a cottage, she's greeted by Mother Holle, who appears as a terrifying 'witch'-figure and who offers her board and lodging in return for service. She works diligently, shaking Mother Holle's feather bed so that the feathers fly about. When she becomes homesick, she returns with Mother Holle's gift, a shower of gold.

The envious step-sister also makes the journey, throwing a spindle into the well and jumping in after it, running past the oven and the apple-tree and also taking service with Mother Holle, but not completing her tasks. Her reward on returning is a shower of sticky pitch.

There are other stories in which the heroine or hero ventures into dangerous situations, with trolls, monstrous beasts, and so forth. Sometimes companions may be endangered and it is up to the hero to rescue them. Often the skills stressed are those of listening and consulting, then finding a way round (often told this by a being whom the heroine has previously helped.) At other times the hero is himself in danger and is rescued by calling to a being who has promised to come when called -- the horse who breaks down the door with her hooves, the eagle who swoops down when the heroine waves her feather, and so forth.

Here's what I've digested from these and other stories.

Ground rules for conduct

Basic principles

Be aware of what is around. Look before leaping. Don't rush into situations.
Speak to those that you meet. Always be polite and courteous. Be truthful when they ask you questions
If a creature asks to come with you, accept their company or help. (Caveat below -- if they put conditions on their help, be wary!)
If some creature or person asks for help, give it. If the help is beyond your means, explain this -- the creature may tell you how to fulfil it. Your ally may assist you, if you ask. The help may be needed within the journey, or in ordinary reality.
If you make a promise, keep it. This is regardless of whether it refers to actions within the journey, or those you should complete in ordinary reality.
If some creature or person asks you to share food, share it.
If a creature you've helped gives you a token, poem, or anything else, keep it. It will later be useful.
If you undertake a task, do it to the best of your ability.
If you cannot do a task, ask your ally or those with you.
If you want to go home (return to a safe place in the journey, or wake to ordinary reality), say so.

Now, a few caveats: There are stories in which the unwitting hero/ine is offered help with strings attached (often from a fair-seeming character) and doesn't check out the conditions. If possible, check these out first! Also there are stories in which a character is taken somewhere with the promise that they will see wonderful things or learn something new. This promise may not be all it seems: often the hero/ine is rescued by a friend or ally -- ask your animal ally whether you should go, and make sure he/she/it knows how to reach you.

And there are stories in which the heroine eats or drinks, and is then bound to serve, or often falls asleep . . . remember Snow White eating a poisoned apple?

And a different kind of caveat. If someone asks for your help, any reward they later give is up to them. Bargaining is usually not a good idea: they will take you literally, and may fail to give help when it's most needed because you have set conditions.

So, some don'ts:

Don't journey without contacting your ally sometime near the beginning of the journey, or before you start.
Don't venture into strange places, or go off on the suggestion of strangers, without asking where you will be taken and why, or without checking with your ally or friends met on the journey.
Be careful what you eat or, particularly, drink. Ask your ally, and if in doubt, don't. (You can pour it out as an offering.) But if you have promised to (for instance) attend a feast, you must keep your promise . . .
If a creature asks for help, it's probably best to not set conditions on the help you give. It will make its own return, in its own way.

Other points to remember:

Often in fairy tales, the series of impossible tasks turn out to be possible, with help. Occasionally, though, the series is circular: if so, there is a way to break free of it, to cut the loop. Those of you who know the Eddas will remember Svipdag. If you're presented with a circular series of events, ask who will fulfil the requirements.

One final rule: If you need help, call for it!

Final notes:

I've made reference throughout this page to European fairy tales. However if we look to, for instance, African stories, many of the same motifs are to be found: the quest, help to strangers, beasts that give advice and assistance and so forth. The concept of otherworlds, and the ability to travel within these, is found worldwide. The symbolism, however, does change from one culture to another, and it helps to immerse yourself in the myths, legends and fairytales of the culture and cosmology within which you travel, which for most of us is whatever we grew up with.

Finally however: the journey in the 'quest' fairytales may be predictable to the hearer, but to the woman or man of the story it is strange, unusual, and amazing, often puzzling and perplexing. No rules are absolute, including those on this page, except for maybe one: go and read the stories.

(My apologies if this all sounds like Dungeons and Dragons (a sort-of reversed version). They used the same sources. . . the fairy tales and folktales of Europe, and from around the world.)

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