Description
Educational/therapeutic goals: to strengthen self-confidence, to increase the feeling of trust in one’s own abilities, to be able to accept fear
Recommended age group: 6+
Style of work: individuálna, skupinová
Brief content of the story:
This is the story of Lina, who is nicknamed Red Riding Hood, and Aúúúna, the she-wolf from the forest. Their meeting is sparkling and mysterious. And even though Lina is afraid at first, she overcomes her fear and follows Aúúúna into the forest, where she experiences immersion in the “secret of the wood”. Lina returns home and looks forward to her next meeting with the she-wolf. She visits her in the forest. Here they let themselves be warmed by the sun, they run with the wind, they enjoy the trees, dive into the water, perceive the sky, walk through the meadow and warm themselves by the fire.
Description of the possibilities of professional pedagogical/therapeutic work:
The book itself has a therapeutic character, it was likely written with this intention. The authors gently and understandingly deal with the human desire for freedom, which nourishes the deepest layers of the human soul. They touch on general issues of the cycle of life in images that are easily accessible to children, but do not bore adults.
The book exudes love for nature and essential respect for life. In the center of the beautiful, embracing nature stands a little girl who, with small steps, gets to know her unrestrainedness. Lina’s guide on the road is a she-wolf. Under her loving guidance, Lina learns to understand the world and herself. The girl’s initial fears gradually ease, and by learning about natural laws and the silent power of animals and nature itself, she finds her own strength and independence. Lina undergoes a subtle transformation; she dives into the safety of the earth, flies with the wind and learns to understand the trees. All this enriches her inner world, she gets the opportunity to perceive herself as a part of the world, and the surrounding nature as a part of herself. With the she-wolf by her side, the girl finds her own independence and dignity. In the story, we perceive the dimension of real inner freedom, when fearlessness is characterized by the necessary kindness and care. This conscious respect for oneself and one’s environment is symbolized by the gentle, but still strong and free wolves, who voluntarily stand by the girl’s side.
The she-wolf in our story is the personification of the healthy essence of life. She is part of the nurturing nature that teaches and protects. She communicates with a person if we are open to this communication. We can also perceive her as an internal aspect of every person. She touches that place in our heart that connects us to our deepest desires and dreams of freedom. Thanks to her, we like to enter new adventures, even if we are afraid, thanks to her we discover our own limits, we enjoy the vitality and strength of our body and psyche, we are able to realize our place in the world and appreciate our environment. The image of the single girl, Little Red Riding Hood, is so effective and touching because it shows the possibilities of healthy development, if important information about the world is given to the child in a timely and loving way. Therefore Red Riding Hood can dance with wolves. In freedom, in respect, in dignity, in wisdom, but above all, joyfully.
However, freedom goes hand in hand with a certain responsibility. It is necessary to perceive the limits of what is healthy and beneficial for a person and her/his environment. It is especially important to understand the essence of freedom. Towards to it, we have to build supportive protective mechanisms and a certain caution so that we do not expose ourselves to danger and fall into uncontrolled wildness. Various psychological attractions await on a way to inner freedom; relationships, people, or adventures that can sometimes be very unpleasant. That’s why it’s really important to know the potential dangers, recognize the traps and know how to avoid them. As long as we learn about the world and understand its rules, we can trust that we will pass through the forest full of traps in good health. In that case, it can help, if we open up to our intuitive inner nature and allow ourselves to cultivate it through loving guidance and education. The image of the “shepherd of wolves”, which the authors expressed at the end of the book, strengthens this integration and allows a person to develop such a space of freedom that contains the necessary balance and a healthy dimension of the processing of the intuitive essence. Developing children’s ability to understand nature and communicate with it prepares them to consolidate within themselves the wisdom and strength that tames the animal present in human to the necessary amount and at the same time profit from it what is beneficial for us.
Unlike myths, fairytales are much less burdened by various cultural influences, therefore they can reflect the basic patterns of the human psyche much more clearly. Archetypal images are associated with certain emotional and sentimental factors, so if we only looked at them from an intellectual point of view during therapy, we would be missing out on key information. When working therapeutically with archetypal stories, it is therefore appropriate to perceive the emotional and feeling dimension of archetypes that are reflecting in client. The story of Little Red Riding Hood, who danced with wolves, rewrites the old patterns and focuses on the archetypes of inner strength, freedom, respect for nature and understanding of one’s own nature with the simultaneous awareness of the need to set boundaries that enable healthy and loving functioning in human society.
Literary sources:
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola. 2014. Ženy, ktoré behali s vlkmi. s. 251-294. Bratislava: Citadella. 588 s. ISBN 978-80-89628-39-1
Von Franz, Marie-Louise. 1998. Psychologický výklad pohádek. Smysl pohádkových vyprávění podle jungovské archetypové psychologie. s. 15-28. Praha: Portál. 182 s. ISBN 978-80-71782-60-5
The card of the recommended book according to the mentioned literary sources was created by:
Čaputová, Barbora, Workplace: Spojená škola internátna, Bratislava, Last updated: March 3, 2023
The recommendation from Slovak to English translated by: Mária Trechová, Workplace: PRO SKIZP – Association for support of Slovak Chamber of Physicists, Laboratory Diagnosticians, Language Speech Therapists and Therapeutic Educators, c. a. Bratislava, Slovakia
Recommended way of citation:
Čaputová, Barbora. 2023. O Červenej Čiapočke, ktorá tancovala s vlkmi – reference of a literary work. In Kotrbová, K. et al: Biblioterapia.sk. Bratislava: PRO SKIZP – Association to support the development of the Slovak Chamber of Clinical Physics, Laboratory Diagnosticians, Language Speech Therapists and Therapeutic Pedagogues, 2023. ISBN 978-80-974667-0-1 Available on: https://www.biblioterapia.sk/en/publikacia/professional-reference-of-the-literary-work-about-little-red-riding-hood-who-danced-with-wolves/
The contribution was created thanks to support from the European Union Erasmus+ program, Key action 2 – Cooperation between organizations and institutions, KA210 – Small partnerships for cooperation in the field of education and training. Project name “Prototype of online teaching aid for bibliotherapy”, project number 2022-1-SK01-KA210-VET-000082483. It represents the opinion of the author and the European Commission is not responsible for any use of the information contained therein.
