Get something to remember them about:

Make new friends:  http://www.eonline.com/news/796198/meet-outlander-season-3-s-2-new-characters-and-find-out-who-s-playing-them

say goodbye to the old young and get to know the old new him:  http://www.ibtimes.com.au/outlander-season-3-romann-berrux-back-scotland-begin-filming-1530630

“And she was given life.  Some said the goddess Aphrodite heard Pygmalion’s pleas and animated the ivory figure with her own loving hands.”

Cinderella’s pumpkin and mice turning into a coach and horses and her rags to beauteous gown from a fairy godmother was purest enchantment.

And least we forget Snow White’s long nap from chomping on the evil queen’s hexed food—just another example of the genre.

Oh and I can’t forget Alladin and his lamp.  What spell do you think held the powerful Jinn within it’s hold?

“In the wild country of Wales, the Fairy Princes Phianon sought the love of a mortal Prince Pwyll.  Wreathed in the light of her own world she appeared before him riding a white horse.”

The story of Triston and Isolde is part of the larger King Arthur (or not but I’m not looking at that now so for this tale it is) saga.  It seems that King Mark of Cornwall (probably just a mythical place where old nurse hid away and lives happily) was a mature (think old)   ruler who eventually becomes pledged (sight unseen) to the lovely (think young) Irish Princess.  Mark sent his nephew (think young and hot) Tristan–which brings into question just how much wisdom Mark had—well you don’t have to be bright to be rich and powerful.  Any way they became friends to the tunes of Tristan’s music and songs.

Now Isolde’s mother decided to make marriage to the oldie husband by working a spell in the form of a wine when she sent along in the care of Isolde ‘s maid who accompanied her by sip to meet her older groom.  Unfortunately on the way somehow the maid lost track of the wine and Isolde who knew nothing of the drinks properties shared it with Tristan and they were bound forever.

Her marriage to Mark which wasn’t too promising to began with was further complicated with her affection and even infidelity with Tristan and the problems grew so vast that it even came to the attention of the high king Arthur (who heaven knows had a lovely marriage himself and he wasn’t even old and ugly).  Finally one day Mark found them together and stabbed Tristan with a poisoned knife (and we wondered where Shakespeare got his ideas) which eventually killed him a few days later and Isolde was later found dead on his brier.

Course me being the person I am I figured that given the choice between young and sexy Tristan (his name meant “the sorrowfully born child”) and the old and less than appealing Mark she chose Triston and the whole wine spell was a PR cover up for Mark’s injured pride.

As we have discussed in other blogs, persons in earlier ages were accused of placing spells on others to gain all manner of goods from baser things like wealth and sex to higher plains like Tristan and Isolde’s passionate-undying love.

James I (of England while he was James VI of Scotland), was convinced that a witch had cast a spell on a ship he sailed on that was almost sank.  And his belief in this spell contributed to the fact that Scotland was a major persecutor and executioner in the 17th century of witches.

In Salem also in the 17th century many women even a few men were burned or crushed to death (don’t ask) for the spells they placed on others, causing poor harvests, live stock death or disorder and even illness of humans as well.   The belief made for a period of American Colonial Infamy that we have never forgotten.

“All spells had to play their patterns out.  The children of the Irish chieftain Lir condemned to swan shape, rejoined humanity only when the spell was done and they died of old age.”

And even in our modern world of I-Phones and computers where we have the entire world at our finger tips we sing of people having us under their spells.  We watched movies of ice queens and hot huntsmen and w still buy books and movies for our children and ourselves full of Snow White and much more.

Even the former Mrs. Pitt did a stretch as a witch in Maleficent where the movie tells the untold story of a misunderstood villain, the vindictive fairy who cursed Princess Aurora into eternal sleep.
While in the 60’s the Spoonful ask us if we believed in magic.   Any doubters out there only have to look at Harry and all his classmates at Hogswarts (as well as all the adult devotes–to the whole affair, me for instance) to know that yes we all—or a large portion of us still believe in our deepest dreams in the spells that we have been so carefully raised on.

“In the underworld an island castle stood.  Ghostly ferryman took maiden to it, to dance with them there.  But once, a living knight went unseen into the underworld and thwarted the weaving of death’s spell.”

“She who solved the riddle that saved King Arthur was a repulsive crone.  For her fee she demanded the hand of Sir Gawain, Arthur’s matchless Knight.  Gawain was loyal to his king and generous of heard and paid the price.”

“The hag Gawain married was no hag at all, but the fairest of maidens transformed by magic.  By his unfailing courtesy, Gawain fulfilled the spell’s terms to free her, and his reward was a happiness of a measure few mortals ever knew.”

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