Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Enchantment of the Swans

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Starting point is 00:01:27 and sign up, follow the link for Get Sleepy Premium in the show notes, or you can subscribe directly with in Apple podcasts. Thanks so much for your support. Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax and we get sleepy. My name is Thomas and it's my honour to be your host. Tonight I'll be reading a sleepy retelling of a fairy tale once collected by the brother's grim, called the Six Swans. In this version of the story, a kind princess commits to a long and challenging task to save her brothers from a most inconvenient in enchantment. In the process, she learns the benefits of patience and determination. Okay, let's just take this time to one wind and transition from our active daily lives daily lives into the peace, holding at the top for

Starting point is 00:03:15 just a moment. Then letting the air gently flow back out. Whether your eyes are open with a soft gaze into the dark space around you, or they might be closed and ready for sleep, you can just bring your focus into the here and now, using the breath as your anchor for that sense of presence. With your next breath in, try squeezing your shoulders up to your neck, holding tension at the top, then releasing them back down as you breathe out, feeling that tension flow

Starting point is 00:04:21 away. Do this a few more times, or for as long as you'd like, until you feel suitably relaxed and grounded in the present moment. Breathing in, collecting tension in the shoulders, then exhaling and letting all that pent-up tension go. Meanwhile, begin to imagine a beautiful castle under blue skies. Picture yourself walking there along the paths of a peaceful garden on a sunny day. This is where our story begins. Their once was a king and queen who had seven children. The first six of them were all handsome brave sons. The seventh, however, was a daughter. As the youngest of the children and the only girl, she was doted upon by the family

Starting point is 00:06:17 and loved by the people in the court. Her name was May and she was as sweet as could be. Everyone who knew her said that her kindness and sunny disposition brightened even the gloomiest of days. All the King's subjects thought the royal family was splendid, and the King and Queen and their children lived a happy and carefree life together at the palace. As the princes grew older, they became a bit tired of being confined within the tame boundaries of the castle garden. So their parents allowed them to begin exploring the woods from time to time. The brothers loved adventuring out onto the lightly warm paths that criss-crossed the forest, and would sometimes be gone for hours, returning happy and exhausted from their games. It was not at all unusual for them to spill rocks, sticks, and other treasures from their pockets afterwards.

Starting point is 00:07:47 And many a royal outfit came home covered in mud. Their mother would frequently hand out a light scolding, but she was happy to see them enjoying the fresh air and appreciating nature. Their sister, May, was too young to wander in the woods with only her brothers to watch her. She was left behind to content herself with little games in the garden. But some days she felt it was a stroke of bad luck to be both the youngest and the only girl in the family. Her brothers seemed to have access to a whole world of fun that she was missing. One day the princes headed out for one of their rumps in the woods and they came upon a path they'd never noticed before. The oldest boy only spotted it because he had ducked down to tie his shoe, and he spied it, winding

Starting point is 00:09:07 away into the underbrush. It didn't take much for him to convince his brothers to follow this mysterious byway, and they were soon pushing down the little used trail, not minding if they lost a bit of their shirt on a branch along the way, or tripped on a route. They were hardly adventurers, and were all determined to find out where the trail would lead. In their pursuit of the mysterious path, the boys didn't notice how deeply they were travelling into the heart of the forest. As they continued on, they were unaware that the bird song they normally heard in the sunnier places had receded

Starting point is 00:10:09 and that they were increasingly surrounded by a heavy gloom. Finally, they happened upon a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a moss-covered stone cottage with smoke coming from the chimney. There was a chicken coop nearby and a large black crow regarded them curiously from a wooden stall near the front door. Ooty think lives way out here, one of the brothers said. Maybe it's a woodcutter, another suggested. The boys scanned the clearing for signs of a large wood pile and found none. In the center of the garden, however, was the strangest thing. A pile of enormous, white swan feathers, as if the person who lived there was in the process of collecting this stuffing for an idler down.

Starting point is 00:11:30 As they stood admiring the size of them, an old woman opened the door and stepped out into the yard. I don't like visitors, she said. What is your business here? Then seeing that a few of them were about to pick up the feathers and examine them, her tone turned to one of caution. Don't touch those, you will be sorry she warned. Unfortunately, her warning was too late. As they stood, each of the four boys who were holding a feather felt a strange sensation.

Starting point is 00:12:23 There was a moment where time seemed to stand still. Then, when they looked at each other, there were only two princes left inside. Where the other two brothers had been, all that any of them could see was a flock of four white swans. Trying to make sense of what was going on, the last two boys grabbed feathers of their own. In moments, the transformation was complete. The old woman opened her mouth to speak again, looking a bit regretful. However, the brothers were in a state of confusion. Before she could say anything, they had flown off into the woods together, leaving only a few snowy white feathers in their wake.

Starting point is 00:13:38 The princes did not return home to the palace that night, or the next, or the next. The king sent many search parties into the woods in an attempt to find out where his sons had gone, but the searches always came back empty handed. After weeks of looking, everyone had to admit that the boys were gone without a trace. Their mother took to her bed in a deep melancholy, and the king could not be consoled. During all of this, their younger sister May was left entirely to her own devices. She wandered the halls of the palace and the paths of the garden restlessly, unsure of how to cheer up her parents, or help to find her missing brothers. One day, months after the disappearance, May was sitting on a bench in the far reaches

Starting point is 00:15:01 of the castle garden. She was supposed to be practising her needlework, but the sun was warm on her shoulders and the flowers smelled intoxicating. She had dropped the tedious stitching on the bench where she sat and was lost in her thoughts, feeling increasingly drowsy. She felt a small movement next to her, and, low and behold, opened her eyes to see a large black crow sitting at her side. It was observing her with a very intelligent gaze, and that its feet was a large ball of golden yarn. She caught her breath and didn't move, not wanting to start all the bad. The crow didn't seem nervous though, and merely hopped a few feet, looked at her one more time, and then spread its wings and flew into the forest. May turned and regarded the ball of yarn.

Starting point is 00:16:35 Leaning over, she picked it up and turned it around in her hands. It was delightfully soft and sparkled ever so slightly in the light. As she turned to the ball in her palms, it rolled lightly off of her fingertips. Unravelling quickly, the ball travelled away from her, down the well-tended garden path, and then disappeared in the direction of the forest. Not wanting to lose her new treasure, may picked up the end of the yarn and begun to follow the string into the woods, rewinding it as she went. The ball kept rolling. It never got entirely out of her sight, but she seemed unable to catch it. Over tree roots, under logs, and between mossy boulders the yarn went. It didn't seem in a great hurry, but its pace also did not slow.

Starting point is 00:18:06 On and on the yarn travelled, never reaching a resting spot. This went on for so long that before she knew it, May was deep into the gloom of the thickest part of the forest. If she had taken a moment to rest in her pursuit of the yarn, the princess would have realized she had left no trail behind her way home either. Finally as the sun moved lower in the sky, the yarn ball rolled up and over a little wooden bridge that crossed a stream. May followed across the bridge and found herself in a snug hollow under towering old trees. In the middle of the clearing was a cottage. The yarn rolled up to the door of the house and finally stopped. May wrapped the remaining loose end around the yamble, put it in her pocket, and lightly knocked on the wooden door. When she

Starting point is 00:19:41 heard nothing and nobody answered, she became bold and carefully pushed it open. Hello, she said that she peered through the open door. Inside the one room cottage were six beds and a table with six chairs. The remains of a fire were smoldering in the hearth. Although she knew she was intruding, May was suddenly so tired, she decided to lie down briefly on one of the beds. She sank gratefully into the soft mattress, her head resting on the downy white pillow. The last remnants of the fire glowed warmly in the grate, and she could see through the window

Starting point is 00:20:49 that the sun would be setting soon. She would just rest for a moment, she thought. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep. May was awakened by a fluttering sound outside the house, and she sat up on the bed. The sun had set, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. Moving to the window, she was amazed to see six regal swans landing in the clearing. As each one gracefully touched the ground, His wings and white feathers disappeared, and there, instead of a bird, stood a young man. May realized immediately that she had found her missing others. Naturally, the boys were overjoyed to see their sister again. A new fire was built in the hearth, and the princes and the princess had a lively evening inside the house, so glad to once again be together. The boys told May what had happened to them

Starting point is 00:22:31 that day many months ago in the old woman's garden and how they had built this house in the forest to hide their predicament from their parents. They explained that with each sunrise, they transformed back into swans. They roamed the land during the day and returned its sunset to their house, where they spent the night in their human forms once again. But brothers, she said, surely there is a way that this spell can be broken. The boys looked at each other mournfully and hung their heads. The oldest prince explained, the old woman regretted that we stumbled upon her enchanted feathers.

Starting point is 00:23:37 However, she says she cannot break the spell herself. May looked from one brother to the next. Is there anyone who can reverse this spell? She asked. The oldest continued. A mother or a sister may, but the task is impossibly difficult. But May was determined to help her brothers out of this dilemma and bring them home to her parents. Go on, she said. Tell me what I must do. You must sow a new shirt for each of us, using only thread and daisies, he explained. Until the last shirt is finished, you can never speak or laugh, not even once. If you do, our chance of breaking this spell will be lost and the enchantment will be permanent. May ponder what her brother had told her.

Starting point is 00:25:00 This would be a difficult task indeed. And she feared she would not have the courage. Still, there was no alternative. She could not return to the castle and ask her mother to take on this impossible test. If the spell was to be broken, she would have to do it herself. The brothers agreed reluctantly and it was decided that she would begin the task tomorrow. Fortunately, the daisies were in bloom. She would begin by collecting as many as she could. Her brothers made her a comfortable bed by the half, and she bid them good night, knowing this was the last word she would speak to them for quite some

Starting point is 00:26:07 time. When May awakened in the morning, the sun was high in the sky and her brothers had vanished. They had left her a plate with some brown bread and soft cheese, as well as a cup of coffee. She gladly ate her breakfast while she thought about what she needed to do. She knew from her many hours in the castle garden that daises tended to prefer sunshine and this was not a particularly bright spot in the forest. How would she search for some daises without losing her way she wandered? Then she had an idea. May took the ball of golden yarn to the doorstep and dropped it on the ground.

Starting point is 00:27:15 Immediately, it rolled off into the woods as if it knew where it must go. May followed after it, but this time she did not roll up the end of the yarn behind her, knowing that she needed to see the way home. The yarn bumped along over tree roots and under fallen logs. It rounded mossy boulders and skipped over streams. After a little while, she saw sunshine ahead. long rolled to a stop in a field absolutely covered in wild flowers. May spent the rest of the morning gathering as many days as she could carry. When her arms could hold no more, she followed the length of the yarn back to the house in the woods,

Starting point is 00:28:28 rolling the ball up as she went. By mid afternoon, she was settled in the cozy cottage with a large pile of daisies covering the table. May realized that although she'd left her needlework behind in the castle garden, she still had her needles and thread in her dress pocket. How lucky was that. that. Grateful that she had paid at least some attention during her sewing lessons, may sat down at the table, and in the light from the window, she found her hard at work by the light of the fire. And so their new routine together began. Each morning, the brothers would transform into swans and fly away. If the weather was pretty, as it often was in the summer and early autumn, May would sit

Starting point is 00:29:57 outside on the steps or in the branches of a nearby tree. Sewing in the dappled sunlight, she would work all day, never speaking even to herself. The work was very slow and difficult, and weeks passed before the first shed was even partially finished. Her eyes grew tired from threading the needle, and her fingers became rough from the flower stems. Still she worked on. She sewed outside in fair weather and inside by the fire if it rained. Sometimes the familiar black crow would appear and sit with her in companionable silence. She did get lonely, but her resolve did not waver. Her brothers tried to keep her spirits up by bringing food and drink and other pretty things to comfort her. One time, it was a lovely red hair ribbon. As the weather began to grow colder

Starting point is 00:31:31 and autumn arrived, they gave her a pretty soft wool cape to keep her warm. Eventually, the days grew short, which was wonderful for the brothers, because they had more time after sunset in their human form. The boys all sat down around the fireplace, telling stories at night. May was careful to listen but not join in. She was always mindful of her responsibility to uphold her vow of silence. As the winter wore on, May soared by the firelight, while the snow flew outside, burying the world in white. One shirt was nearing completion. She had only to finish the sleeve, and it would be done. The snow melted and the crocuses appeared. The days got longer and

Starting point is 00:32:52 brighter again. Finally, a summer dawned, she had one entire shirt made of daisies. It had taken almost one year to make the first shirt, and now May was completely out of flowers. Luckily, it was once again early summer and the flowers had returned. She followed the Yarn Ball back to the field where she'd found the daisies the year before. As she had last time, she filled her arms with as many daisies as she could possibly carry, and then returned to the little house she shared with her brothers, pursuing the yarn trail the entire way. Beginning again, she sowed from morning to night. She sat outside in the sun or inside with a candle. The second shirt took shape slowly but surely. It was completed by the following June. By the time the third shot had been finished another year later, May had grown from a girl into a lovely young woman.

Starting point is 00:34:37 Sometimes while she sat threading her needle, she wondered if she'd ever remember how to speak or laugh again. Halfway through this test of her will, she was as determined as ever to break the enchantment on her brothers. She did, however, miss singing, laughing, telling stories and having some company. She knew that had she been at home, she'd be attending balls and meeting suitors. However, she did not feel that she was making the wrong choice, saving her brothers was more important. She was sitting on the crook of her favorite tree one day, with the black crow keeping her company, when something unusual happened. when something unusual happened. A small group of riders emerged from the forest and stopped in the clearing where she was working. It had been years since she'd seen anyone other

Starting point is 00:35:59 than her brothers, but luckily she remembered not to speak and just stared at these strangers, hoping they didn't mean any harm. The party consisted of three men and two ladies. All All of them were richly dressed in velvet and rode beautiful, noble looking horses. They seemed as taken aback to see May as she was to see them. Looking around the clearing, they concluded that she was alone, and the man on the finest looking white horse spoke to her. Excuse me, do you live here, Miss?" he asked. May was able to nod, but she could say nothing else. Are you here all by yourself, he continued. Surely you aren't surviving out here on your own. May could say nothing.

Starting point is 00:37:17 The nobles discussed quietly among themselves. And finally, the man spoke to me again. Come, fetch your things. We'll take you to the castle where you will have company and safety in our care. I cannot be guilty of leaving a lady in distress. May was not in distress at all. She was not interested in coming with these lords and ladies to their castle. Unfortunately, she had no way to protest without speaking, and they seemed quite sure of their plan. Seeing that they were quite determined to rescue her, she reluctantly gathered the three finished shirts and her needle and thread, and she put the golden yarn ball in her pocket. She might need it to find her way back. The man who had spoken to May helped her up in front of him on his horse and they rode away from the little house in the clearing.

Starting point is 00:38:47 As the trees closed behind them and her view of the cottage disappeared, she felt concern. She knew her brothers would wonder where she had gone. It made her sad to think that they might assume she had given up in her quest to end their enchantment, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. She would find a way to finish the shards and be reunited with them. After riding for some time, May and her newer acquaintances came to a more sparsely wooded part of the forest, which eventually gave way to a view of an unfamiliar, walled city. A beautiful castle stood in the middle of it.

Starting point is 00:39:51 May felt rather shy about seeing so many people after having spent all this time alone for the past three years. But she summoned her most royal sense of dignity and set up straight on the horse. After all, she was a princess. When they reached the castle, some groomsmen came into the courtyard to help the riders down and take the horses. To her surprise, they referred to the man had been riding with a king this entire time. She blushed at the realization, but she could not say anything. As she was helped down from the horse, she merely nodded to the king and to the groomsmine, clutching her shirts made of daisies and waiting to be told what to do. We have come upon this lady alone in the forest and wish for her to be given rooms and garments appropriate for a courtier, the king told the servants.

Starting point is 00:41:33 Looking at her a bit strangely, they nonetheless nodded their agreement, a motioned for her to follow them into the castle. That night, May slept in a gorgeously soft canopied bed that was draped in velvets and covered in a pillowy eyeed her down. She had hung the three completed shirts with her own new dresses in the wardrobe and resolved to find out in the morning where she might get more daisies to begin the fourth. The courtiers were not sure what to make of this lovely and silent young woman, the King had brought back from his excursion. Although they whispered about her in hushed tones and traded gossip about her origins, they all wanted to please the King so they were not unkind to her.

Starting point is 00:42:56 May's initial worries about finding more material for her shirts turned out to be unfounded. As it happened, the castle had an expansive flower garden, and nobody minded that May brought arm-fours of daisies to her room as they grew in great abundance, along with other plants that flourished in the summer. It became commonplace for the lords and ladies to see May sowing her shirts on the veranda in the parlour or through the open door of her chamber. They all secretly thought she was quite strange, never uttering a word and working on this unusual project day and night. The king, however, found that he was slowly becoming enamoured of this silent and beautiful woman

Starting point is 00:43:59 who demanded nothing of him and didn't try at all to flatter him or gain his favour. On the contrary, he was impressed by her dedication and perseverance. In short, he realised he had fallen in love with her. On the one year anniversary of May's arrival at the castle, the king got up the courage to ask her if she would marry him. Surely he thought, if she truly felt something for him, she could break her silence and accept his proposal. He sought her out on the veranda where she was beginning to sow the fifth shard. Nealing next to her, he said, Dearest Lady, you have not been able to tell me your name, but I have become enchanted by your beauty and your peaceful humility.

Starting point is 00:45:18 Would you overcome your vow of silence and agree to be my wife. May set her needle down sorrowfully and looked at the king without responding. In truth, she wanted more than anything to accept his offer because she had come to love him as well. But she was not willing to give up her task, with only two shirts left to complete. She said nothing. The king was dejected. He continued, perhaps you do not love me yet, but I will give you more time. I will ask you again in a year. Maybe then you will be ready to give me an answer.

Starting point is 00:46:26 Another autumn and winter passed by. The fifth shirt was completed. When exactly a year had elapsed, the king came to her again, while she was sowing on the veranda. Kneeling next to her, he repeated, dearest lady, another year has passed and I still do not know your name, but I am head over heels in love with you. Would you now consider giving up your vow of silence and agreeing to be my wife? It took everything she had in her for may not to respond. By waiting patiently for another year and asking again, the King had made her love him even

Starting point is 00:47:30 more. Still, she was not finished with all six shirts. Freeing her brothers was more important to her than marrying the king. She felt it was her duty to maintain her silence. The king was very sad that she didn't respond again. He said, I cannot admit defeat just yet. I will ask you to declare your love for me just once more in a year's time. If then you still cannot break your silence, I will assume you never want to marry me, and I will obey your wishes and return you to your solitary life in the forest. The last year of her task seemed like the hardest.

Starting point is 00:48:50 As the seasons wore on, May tried to speed her process, knowing that she must finish the sixth chart before the king came to ask her for her hand, one final time. It felt however as if the Enchantment slowed the work. Despite May having five years of practice with sewing the daisies, this shirt did not come together any faster than the first five. As the summer season neared, she worked day and night. Finally, one glorious early summer day, she cut and knotted the final thread. All six of the shirts made of dazs were done. To break the Enchantment however, she would have to be reunited with her brothers, and

Starting point is 00:49:56 they did not know where she was. Furthermore, she didn't even know how to get back to their house in the forest. How would she get the shirts to her brothers? Then the answer came to her. That night she rose when the moon was high in the sky, gathered the shirts in her arms, and went to a side door of the castle. Open in the door she poured the golden ball of yarn from her pocket and dropped it on the ground. Leaving the unravelled portion undisturbed behind

Starting point is 00:50:49 her, may begin to follow the magic fiber. It led her steadily through the castle gardens, gardens down the streets of the town and then outside the wad city and into the forest. The moon shong kindly on May lighting her path. On foot it took her many hours longer to cover the distance she'd travelled on horseback three years before. But by morning, May was overjoyed to see the little house in the clearing, looking just as she had left it. Because it was after sunrise, her brothers were already gone. She knew that they would be in the form of swans until nightfall, so she sat down in the house to rest, taking some of the bread and cheese they had left behind. Then, feeling overwhelmed with tiredness, she was in a deep sleep.

Starting point is 00:52:37 May awakened as the sun was dropping lower in the sky. was dropping lower in the sky. Not wanting to miss the arrival of the swans, she gathered, the king rode into the clearing. He had followed her long strand of golden yarn all the way from the castle. Dear lady, he said as he dismounted from his horse. I was so distressed to see you had left this morning, because I am resolved to ask you one more time, if you can break your silence to accept my proposal of marriage. As the King stood there, hopefully, he was distracted by the sound of wings entering the clearing. At that moment, six enormous swans appeared, a lighting near May in the garden. May's eyes lit up at the sight of her brothers,

Starting point is 00:54:10 and before even a moment had passed, she had thrown a the warmth of the afternoon sunlight, the swans turned into six fully grown men. It was the first time they'd felt daylight on their human shoulders in more than six years, and they embraced May with happy tears. Seeing her task was finally complete, May turned to the king with a hopeful expression. Noticing a change in her, he understood that a great weight had somehow been lifted, and he now hoped he would succeed in finally getting her answer. Dear lady, will you now break your silence and consent to be my wife? May gave him her most beautiful smile and finally spoke.

Starting point is 00:55:42 Yes, I will. After that triumphant day, the brothers were reunited with their parents, who were overjoyed at their return. The entire family attended Maze long awaited wedding to the King. Everyone lived very happily after that. May and her handsome King ruled their kingdom together. And it was always said that the queen was a lovely person who is patient, careful with her words, and very, very talented at needlework. your work. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room.

Starting point is 00:57:12 I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. ... ... ... ... ... you ... ... ... ... ... ... you ... ... ... ... you you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Enchantment of the Swans

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