An Analysis of a Fairytale II
An Analysis of a Fairytale II: The Devil with Three Golden Hairs
Roland Matthews (2021)
Since the last fairytale analysis, The White Snake, has continued to be one of the most popular of my blog posts, I have decided to do another one. Many, if not most, of the tales collected by the brothers Grimm1 in the early 19th century have some element of magic, whether it be talking animals, witches casting spells, or Princes taking on impossible quests to save a Princess from some unpleasant enchantment, but I will be focusing on the ones that seem to have a somewhat alchemical slant, or at least what could be interpreted as alchemical symbolism.
In this story, a boy is born with a caul / veil, meaning the amniotic sac is still surrounding the baby, and was considered to be very lucky and rare. In fact, this event only occurs in 1 out of 80,000 births.2 There was a local prophecy saying that this child would grow up and marry the Princess in 14 years and take over the kingdom. The King hearing this, was not pleased and sought out the child. Eventually the King found him and paid his poverty-stricken parents in gold to purchase the infant, whom he later placed in a box and cast into a river. The box made its way to the shore near a mill and was recovered by a miller and his wife who had no children, who were happy for the miracle and raised the boy as their own. 14 years later, the King was out and about during a horrible tempest and entered the very same mill to seek shelter from the storm. He discovers that the boy is the very same that he thought he had disposed of so long ago and sends him as a messenger with a sealed letter to the Queen telling her to dispatch of him. On his journey, the boy gets lost in a forest and ends up spending the night with a band of thieves. The leader intended to do him harm while he slept, but out of curiosity reads the letter from the King and takes pity on him. The robber then forges a copy telling the Queen to marry this boy immediately to the Princess, which she does as soon as she reads it. Later, the King returns and his distraught finding his daughter married to the boy and decides to send him on an impossible quest: obtain 3 golden hairs from the Devil himself. On the way, the boy passes through various villages with problems of their own. The first, used to have a fountain that flowed with wine, but now, not even water comes out. The second had a tree with golden apples, but now, not even leaves are growing. The third and final issue is with the ferryman who carries the dead. He goes back and forth, endlessly without relief, and wonders how he will ever get to leave. The boy finds his way to the underworld and meets the Devil’s grandmother. She takes pity on him and turns him into an ant so that he may hide from the Devil. As the Devil is sleeping, the grandmother plucks 3 of his hairs and questions him about his dreams, which ends up revealing the solutions to the previously mentioned problems. As the boy returns home with the 3 golden hairs plucked from the Devil’s head, he tells the ferryman to give his oar to the next passenger and leave. He tells the people with the tree that there is a mouse gnawing at its root, and the people with the fountain that it is being blocked by a toad under a stone. Everyone is so pleased with his solutions that he returns to the kingdom with the 3 golden hairs, 4 asses laden with all the gold they can carry, and tricks the King into becoming the new ferryman, thus leaving him with his Princess bride and rulership of the kingdom.
So, what does any of this have to do with alchemy? The image of a child born en-caul seems to be similar to the image of the alchemical child created within the flask. The story is somewhat reminiscent of the story of Moses from the biblical story of Exodus. According to that story, the Pharoah of Egypt decides to kill all the male children of the Jews by throwing them into the Nile to drown. In a similar fashion, King Herod of Judea in the New Testament book of Matthew orders the massacre of all male children in Bethlehem. Both of these allegories could be referring to the alchemical “blood of innocents” or the sulphur obtained from the mineral work. In addition, the story of Noah and the flood as well as the Egyptian myth of how the god Set also put his brother in a casket into the Nile trying to get rid of him, seem to reflect a similar theme of a container with a precious cargo being set adrift. On one level, this may be a metaphor about the soul being placed in the body at birth and sent down the river of time / life. But there is also a separation that takes place in each of these tales.
A miller is one who owns or operates a mill, usually a heavy stone moved by mechanical means to crush grain into flour. This is also what the alchemist does to the material, usually with a mortar and pestle, to start the process of separation. Also, again in the book of Matthew 18:6, a millstone is mentioned along with drowning. There is a theme of crushing and dissolution. The number 14 has always had an astrological or alchemical significance to me because it is related to the 7 planets and their reflections. It could also be related to the two-week period between lunations, or New Moon to Full Moon and vice versa.
Why would the Devil have gold hair? The Devil in the Tarot is associated with the zodiac sign of Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn, which in turn is associated with the metal lead. Basically, the quest that is given is to obtain gold from lead. Thieves are tricksters ruled by Mercury, god of hermeticism, as well as universal solvent of each of the 3 kingdoms. This may also be the reason for the 3 riddles. Wine is considered to be of a solar nature and associated with the Sun. It is also the source of ethanol, or philosophical mercury of the plant kingdom. A toad is often seen in alchemical diagrams. According to Prinke’s interpretation of the Ripley scroll, as found on Adam McLean’s alchemy website, the black toad symbolizes the nigredo stage of the first matter. It is of interest here that he mentions that “the toad first drinks the juice of grapes”.3 Also, the fact that the toad is under a “stone” may be referring to the philosopher’s stone. Any time I see a tree with golden apples, it always reminds me of the Greek myth of Hercules and the garden of the Hesperides, an alchemical tale in its own rite. These immortality granting fruits of the gods are also symbolic of one of the philosopher’s stone’s gifts. As for the mouse gnawing at its root, it is something small and unnoticed even though it is right in front of you, causing major destruction. The ferryman could represent the cyclic repetition of circulations, as well as the mercurial psychopomp traversing the above and below.
Ants, like bees, are social insects who work tirelessly for the good of the colony and in service of the Queen. Therefore, the ant is a suitable role model for the aspiring alchemist and the “Queen” could be any form of goddess or something similar to the concept of Sophia, or the Shekinah. It is interesting that the solutions to the problems he encounters are obtained from dreams. This is sometimes how the ONE communicates with us, especially when it is in order to give aid to others.
The 3 golden hairs along with the 4 donkeys carrying gold give us the frequently repeated numerical symbolism of 3 and 4, the triangle and square, the alchemical principals and the elements, as well as the qualities and modalities of astrology. The 4 donkeys have 4 legs each giving us 16, also an alchemical number of 4 elements with 4 sub-elements each, which are represented by the 16 court cards of the Tarot and symbolize the 16 personas of Jungian psychology.
Finally, our “Prince” being the conscious ego, returns from the underworld / unconscious with treasures obtained from the Devil / shadow, to be united in the chemical wedding to the “Princess” / anima, and is elevated to his rightful place as the new King / higher self of the kingdom / body. Or in practical terms, after going through the various alchemical stages and processes, the sulphur is joined through the mercury with the purified salts creating the philosopher’s stone, thereby transmuting lead into gold. Solve et Coagula.
1. https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/en-caul-birth
2. Grimm, J. & Grimm, W. (2011). Grimm’s fairy tales (trans. by Hunt, M.). San Diego, CA; Canterbury Classics / Baker & Taylor Publishing Group.
3. Prinke, Rafal T. (1991). Hunting the Blacke Toade (Article originally published in The Hermetic Journal. 78-90.) found online at https://www.alchemywebsite.com/toad.html
