The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily

A true fairy story is a work of art. At Michaelmas, in 1795, there appeared a series of stories of which the concluding one was a "Fairy Tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily". This tale tells of magical transformation, yet one which, when the time is ripe, can be experienced by every human being. The author of these stories was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the creation of this "Fairy Tale" was to have far reaching consequences. This book arises out of the inspiration of David Newbatt to bring together the original English translation by Thomas Carlyle with a series of pictures, to help reveal the seven-fold process which unfolds within Goethe's "Fairy Tale", this process being a path of inner development and personal transformation. A long and thorough introduction by Tom Raines is included.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is a giant of German and world literature. Indeed, he coined the term Weltliteratur and spoke Greek, Latin, French, English, and Italian. In addition to its profound quality, the volume of work during his eighty-two-year lifetime is impressive. Among other works, Goethe wrote a worldwide, bestselling novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers, 1774), volumes of poetry, and several dramas, including his masterwork Faust-- a massive two-volume work that was not entirely finished by the time of the poet's death. Goethe also engaged in painting and science, from which came his Theory of Color ("Farbenlehre") among other scientific works--a collected edition that Rudolf Steiner edited and introduced as a young man (see Nature's Open Secret). Indeed, Goethe's body of scientific and philosophical works was one of the most important influences in the development of Rudolf Steiner's early work and for Anthroposophy as a whole. David Newbatt is an artist and teacher who lives and works at a Camphill Community for young adults with special needs in Aberdeen, Scotland. He also teaches art at the Aberdeen Waldorf School. David works in a wide variety of mediums, mainly watercolors, pastels, and acrylics. He has illustrated various books, including a story by Novalis, the poem of Olaf Åsteson, and Goethe's fairy tale. He is also a prolific mural painter. His works have been exhibited throughout Europe. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), born in Edinburgh, was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature, and philosophy. Carlyle's corpus--the best known of which today is his French Revolution (1837)--spans the genres of history, the critical essay, social commentary, biography, fiction, and poetry. He occupied a central position in Victorian culture, being considered not only, in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the "undoubted head of English letters," but also a secular prophet of the day.

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