Episode
Why We Need Fairy Tales Now — with Sharon Blackie
- Podcast
- Wonder Cabinet
- Published
- May 9, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2722
- Processing state
processed
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/wonder-cabinet-7409328/episodes/why-we-need-fairy-tales-now-with-sharon-blackie/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/wonder-cabinet-7409328/why-we-need-fairy-tales-now-with-sharon-blackie.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Sharon Blackie is one of our foremost fairy tale interpreters. In her new book, “ Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now, ” she reclaims the subversive fairy tale heroines of the past. Not passive, well-behaved princesses — think Tatterhood instead of Cinderella, the Fox Wife instead of Sleeping Beauty — figures from centuries-old European folk tales that were whispered over hearths and spinning wheels, and handed down from one generation of women to the next, not as children’s entertainment but a blueprint for survival, maps for soul retrieval and cultural regeneration. The brave, smart heroines and wise old women in these tales offer us an alternative, “post-heroic” model of psychological development, Blackie says. A code of ethics based on kinship with the more-than-human world of animals and plants, and a celebration of old-fashioned virtues like compassion, kindness and reciprocity. Fairy tale heroines, Blackie says, don’t slay dragons — they make them part of the team. Fairy tales are part of our collective unconscious, a storehouse of archetypes and images that predate the modern world. There's a bridge back to the enchanted landscapes and animist sensibilities of our ancestors — a gateway to wonder. In this conversation, Blackie shows us how to unlock their power and find our way back the imaginal world. – Website "The Art of Enchantment" Substack "Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now" The Nostos Institute Sharon’s other books – 0:00 Introduction 2:25 Why Fairy Tales Are Survival Stories 12:25 Beyond the Hero's Journey 27:05 Jung, Hillman, and the Imaginal World 41:45 Active Imagination and Closing Thanks Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can sub…