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Breaking the Mother Goose Code: How a Fairy Tale Character Fooled the World for 300 Years
Who was Mother Goose? Where did she come from, and when? Although shes one of the most beloved characters in Western literature, Mother Goose's origins have seemed lost in the mists of time. Several have tried to pin her down, claiming she was the mother of Charlemagne, the wife of Clovis (King of the Franks), the Queen of Sheba, or even Elizabeth Goose of Boston, Massachusetts. Others think she's related to mysterious goose-footed statues in old French churches called Queen Pedauque. This book delves deeply into the surviving evidence for Mother Goose's origins from her nursery rhymes and fairy tales as well as from relevant historical, mythological, and anthropological data. Until now, no one has ever confidently identified this intriguing yet elusive literary figure. So who was the real Mother Goose? The answer might surprise you.
319 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2015
15 people are currently reading
1753 people want to read
About the author
Jeri Studebaker
7 books32 followersAt age 18 I left home hoping to become an archaeologist. Although that didn't happen I did acquire a degree in archaeology and a bit of excavating experience - at a medieval castle in Ludgerhsall, Wiltshire, England, which King John had turned into a hunting castle in 1210 AD, and at Seip Mound, a Hopewell Indian sacred site in Ross County, Ohio.
I also took an archaeology course at Oxford University (Merton College), about Britain when the Romans ran it, and got to work in Oxford's famous Bodleian Library as well as tour some of the more magnificent of Britain's archaeological ruins (Stonehenge, for starters, and Silbury Hill).
Although during my thirties I was a "professional student," I eventually settled down, in Maine, into a career working with refugees. After spending most of my working career helping resettle political refugees from Poland, Russia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sudan, Ethiopia and other countries, I took an early retirement in 1999 and began writing and traveling a bit.
The highlight of my travels was a month-long trip to the Mediterranean islands of Crete and Santorini to study ancient Minoan art (and to nearly expire from delight after a month's diet of Mediterranean food, culture, wine and other exotic spirits). Santorini, which is actually the burnt-out shell of a volcano, stuns the senses: stacks of dazzling white buildings under burnt-orange roofs cling to the inside walls of the old volcano against a sky of midnight blue - and all the while the sun is shining! I haven't written my book on Minoan art yet, but I did finish the first draft of a fantasy-mystery novel set on Crete and Santorini: *Murder in a Minoan Museum*.
In 2012 I temporarily put aside the Minoan novel to write the book *Breaking the Mother Goose Code: How a Fairy-Tale Character Fooled the World for 300 Years*. If you love Mother Goose, fairy tales and goddesses, I promise you: you'll want to pick up a copy of this book. Look for it February 27, 2015, on most online bookstores. Publisher: the UK's Moon Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing.
~
My credentials for writing include a B.A. in anthropology, an M.A. in archaeology, and completion of the coursework for a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology (after which I decided college/university teaching wasn't for me and so moved on to other things).
I also took an archaeology course at Oxford University (Merton College), about Britain when the Romans ran it, and got to work in Oxford's famous Bodleian Library as well as tour some of the more magnificent of Britain's archaeological ruins (Stonehenge, for starters, and Silbury Hill).
Although during my thirties I was a "professional student," I eventually settled down, in Maine, into a career working with refugees. After spending most of my working career helping resettle political refugees from Poland, Russia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sudan, Ethiopia and other countries, I took an early retirement in 1999 and began writing and traveling a bit.
The highlight of my travels was a month-long trip to the Mediterranean islands of Crete and Santorini to study ancient Minoan art (and to nearly expire from delight after a month's diet of Mediterranean food, culture, wine and other exotic spirits). Santorini, which is actually the burnt-out shell of a volcano, stuns the senses: stacks of dazzling white buildings under burnt-orange roofs cling to the inside walls of the old volcano against a sky of midnight blue - and all the while the sun is shining! I haven't written my book on Minoan art yet, but I did finish the first draft of a fantasy-mystery novel set on Crete and Santorini: *Murder in a Minoan Museum*.
In 2012 I temporarily put aside the Minoan novel to write the book *Breaking the Mother Goose Code: How a Fairy-Tale Character Fooled the World for 300 Years*. If you love Mother Goose, fairy tales and goddesses, I promise you: you'll want to pick up a copy of this book. Look for it February 27, 2015, on most online bookstores. Publisher: the UK's Moon Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing.
~
My credentials for writing include a B.A. in anthropology, an M.A. in archaeology, and completion of the coursework for a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology (after which I decided college/university teaching wasn't for me and so moved on to other things).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 6, 2015
Breaking the code, finding the goddess I did not really expect to be convinced by Jerri Studebaker’s book about finding signs of ancient Goddess worship in fairy tales. I’m just not the sort of person who is easily persuaded by much, and the sleight of hand history of Dr Anne Ross, and the chicanery of Robert Graves have left me resistant, to say the least. I’m very wary of circular logic, too. Go out looking for evidence of sacrifice and you’ll see it any time there’s a dead person. Go out looking for Goddess survivals and you can all too easily infer them into anything with breasts.
I ended up persuaded to a degree that surprised me.
What makes this book such an interesting and provocative read isn’t, I thought, the main thrust at all. It’s the details. The histories of where nursery stories have come from and how they’ve changed over time. The correlations between fairy stories and other major cultural shifts. I’d not thought before about the way in which many fairy stories are really at odds with Christian stories. I was, I confess, too busy being cross about the princesses. But now I have reasons to rethink those, as well.
The historical correlations Jeri Studebaker brings together in her book are intriguing. There are many unanswered mysteries here, that will leave you wondering. She has evidence for the political use of the fairy story as a way of making commentary, and the literary place for the fairy tale in Europe as well. That’s without getting into the issues of goose footed women, egg laying, and shamanism. Oh, and magic spells. And how we might envisage a non-patriarchal world. I love this book because the author is cautious about her claims, and keen to remind us when she is speculating and the limits of what the evidence can support. Speculation is so much more enjoyable when we hold our uncertainties with such honour, I think.
At this point, whether or not Mother Goose is really, historically and provably a goddess survival seems a lot less important than what we try to do with her stories, and other such stories, moving forward. It is in the nature of stories to change and evolve over time, being re-imagined to fit the new context. Stories that survive are often stories that can be adapted, or that give us powerful archetypes to work with. So the question to ask may really be, how do we want to work with those archetypes in the first place? What stories do we want to tell, and why? Do we understand the implications of the stories we are sharing?
For me, the book raised another question as well. (Bear in mind here that I am a maybeist, not a theist nor an atheist.) If religion is imagined into existence by people, as well it might be, then to connect with the religions of our ancestors we need their stories, or whatever fragments survive. Take away its stories and Christianity ceases to exist. If religion is based on the experience of living, then through shared experiences, we can come to similar conclusions as our ancestors did. If we reverence the things life depends on, then we can find our way to the importance of the mother, the goose, the eggs and all the other ideas about life fairy tales can carry. If the deities are independently real and active, then of course things that look like them will keep turning up in people’s stories and ideas, for all the same reasons that they turned up in the first place – because they are offered to us by the divine as inspiration.
I don’t know. I still don’t know. I’m fine with this, and I enjoy books like this one that are able to challenge my carefully chosen uncertainty.
More about the book here – http://www.moon-books.net/books/break...
Blog first posted at https://druidlife.wordpress.com/2015/...
I ended up persuaded to a degree that surprised me.
What makes this book such an interesting and provocative read isn’t, I thought, the main thrust at all. It’s the details. The histories of where nursery stories have come from and how they’ve changed over time. The correlations between fairy stories and other major cultural shifts. I’d not thought before about the way in which many fairy stories are really at odds with Christian stories. I was, I confess, too busy being cross about the princesses. But now I have reasons to rethink those, as well.
The historical correlations Jeri Studebaker brings together in her book are intriguing. There are many unanswered mysteries here, that will leave you wondering. She has evidence for the political use of the fairy story as a way of making commentary, and the literary place for the fairy tale in Europe as well. That’s without getting into the issues of goose footed women, egg laying, and shamanism. Oh, and magic spells. And how we might envisage a non-patriarchal world. I love this book because the author is cautious about her claims, and keen to remind us when she is speculating and the limits of what the evidence can support. Speculation is so much more enjoyable when we hold our uncertainties with such honour, I think.
At this point, whether or not Mother Goose is really, historically and provably a goddess survival seems a lot less important than what we try to do with her stories, and other such stories, moving forward. It is in the nature of stories to change and evolve over time, being re-imagined to fit the new context. Stories that survive are often stories that can be adapted, or that give us powerful archetypes to work with. So the question to ask may really be, how do we want to work with those archetypes in the first place? What stories do we want to tell, and why? Do we understand the implications of the stories we are sharing?
For me, the book raised another question as well. (Bear in mind here that I am a maybeist, not a theist nor an atheist.) If religion is imagined into existence by people, as well it might be, then to connect with the religions of our ancestors we need their stories, or whatever fragments survive. Take away its stories and Christianity ceases to exist. If religion is based on the experience of living, then through shared experiences, we can come to similar conclusions as our ancestors did. If we reverence the things life depends on, then we can find our way to the importance of the mother, the goose, the eggs and all the other ideas about life fairy tales can carry. If the deities are independently real and active, then of course things that look like them will keep turning up in people’s stories and ideas, for all the same reasons that they turned up in the first place – because they are offered to us by the divine as inspiration.
I don’t know. I still don’t know. I’m fine with this, and I enjoy books like this one that are able to challenge my carefully chosen uncertainty.
More about the book here – http://www.moon-books.net/books/break...
Blog first posted at https://druidlife.wordpress.com/2015/...
January 25, 2016
I concept of this book interested me. I think the author truly did her homework/research/investigation and presented a lot of interesting facts and theories. I feel, however, that she could have included some illustrations in the book. I did appreciate all the references she provided in case readers would like to do their own searching.
May 6, 2022
Fascinante, atrapante, y muy detallado. Aunque se hace pesado a veces, casi todos los capítulos te dejan con la boca abierta con los resultados, análisis, e ideas de la autora. Aunque no estaba familiarizado con Mamá Orca, sí había leído sobre ella antes, pero jamás se me ocurrió todo el trasfondo que puede haber detrás de ella.
Fascinating, engaging, and highly detailed. Although it gets heavy at times, almost all the chapters leave you speechless with the author's results, analysis, and ideas. Although I wasn't familiar with Mother Goose, I had read about her before her, but it never occurred to me all the background that could be behind her.
Fascinating, engaging, and highly detailed. Although it gets heavy at times, almost all the chapters leave you speechless with the author's results, analysis, and ideas. Although I wasn't familiar with Mother Goose, I had read about her before her, but it never occurred to me all the background that could be behind her.
April 13, 2015
The rhythm of words is a powerful magic. One which we learn to listen to from the earliest days of our lives. Our mother's voice is almost instantly soothing. We listen to the music of our neighborhoods and learn so much about our culture. We are read to as children long before many pick up a book to read on their own. Books with nursery rhymes are often the first stories children hear. Mother Goose reigns supreme over nursery rhymes. But very few have questioned the origin of the magic of Mother Goose.
Jeri Studebaker's Breaking the Mother Goose Code: How a Fairy-Tale Character Fooled the World for 300 Years* goes into great detail about the possible origins and uses of the epic character of Mother Goose. She traces the history of folklore, goddess worship, and politics in regards to the development of Mother Goose. All of this history is well cited, and readers can easily find the cited sources for themselves. I appreciated the emphasis on clear research. Even with this focus on the academics of the question, the authors own curiosity and process comes through in a lively and engaging voice.
The first part of the book focuses on the character of Mother Goose. Mother Goose doesn't appear in every nursery rhyme or ever culture in the same way. The author does a splendid job of tracing the different aspects of Mother Goose (age, flying on a goose, ect) back to their original inspiration. The author also makes a strong case for how and why this character could be a Goddess figure.
The second part of the book focuses on the social and political forces surrounding the creation and distribution of Mother Goose. The theory is that Mother Goose, a representation of the Goddess, was hidden in nursery rhymes to help preserve a Goddess culture. I found the chapter on how specific stories could have been instructions for shamanic magic for healing, love, protecting children and finding stolen objects to be of particular interest. There does seem to be some value to an interpretation like that.
This is a sparse simplification of a great many pages of specific details and intriguing research into the use of Mother Goose over centuries. At the end of the read, which was enjoyable from page one, I'm not sure I found myself wholly convinced. There were parts that sounded so perfectly logical and others that seemed more far-fetched. I was convinced that Mother Goose is a Goddess figure. I was also convinced that some of the stories and nursery rhymes could contain hidden messages. I'm not sure I'm convinced that Mother Goose was a deliberate tool used to hide away Goddess worshiping cultures. For me to believe this theory would have to do further outside research.
If you enjoy folklore, Goddesses, or history, this is a must read. It's wonderful to get a book that is more "Pagan" without being about the same five topics, told in the same way that most Pagan books are. I think most people will enjoy it. Even if you disagree with the author it will give you a great deal to think and chat about.
*I received a .pdf copy of this book for free in order to give a review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Jeri Studebaker's Breaking the Mother Goose Code: How a Fairy-Tale Character Fooled the World for 300 Years* goes into great detail about the possible origins and uses of the epic character of Mother Goose. She traces the history of folklore, goddess worship, and politics in regards to the development of Mother Goose. All of this history is well cited, and readers can easily find the cited sources for themselves. I appreciated the emphasis on clear research. Even with this focus on the academics of the question, the authors own curiosity and process comes through in a lively and engaging voice.
The first part of the book focuses on the character of Mother Goose. Mother Goose doesn't appear in every nursery rhyme or ever culture in the same way. The author does a splendid job of tracing the different aspects of Mother Goose (age, flying on a goose, ect) back to their original inspiration. The author also makes a strong case for how and why this character could be a Goddess figure.
The second part of the book focuses on the social and political forces surrounding the creation and distribution of Mother Goose. The theory is that Mother Goose, a representation of the Goddess, was hidden in nursery rhymes to help preserve a Goddess culture. I found the chapter on how specific stories could have been instructions for shamanic magic for healing, love, protecting children and finding stolen objects to be of particular interest. There does seem to be some value to an interpretation like that.
This is a sparse simplification of a great many pages of specific details and intriguing research into the use of Mother Goose over centuries. At the end of the read, which was enjoyable from page one, I'm not sure I found myself wholly convinced. There were parts that sounded so perfectly logical and others that seemed more far-fetched. I was convinced that Mother Goose is a Goddess figure. I was also convinced that some of the stories and nursery rhymes could contain hidden messages. I'm not sure I'm convinced that Mother Goose was a deliberate tool used to hide away Goddess worshiping cultures. For me to believe this theory would have to do further outside research.
If you enjoy folklore, Goddesses, or history, this is a must read. It's wonderful to get a book that is more "Pagan" without being about the same five topics, told in the same way that most Pagan books are. I think most people will enjoy it. Even if you disagree with the author it will give you a great deal to think and chat about.
*I received a .pdf copy of this book for free in order to give a review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
March 27, 2015
Not the biggest fan. I think she misuses the academic style of writing and her research is shaky evidence for her theories at best. Author has a MAJOR case of confirmation bias that I found especially irritating.
Read a more in-depth review at my blog: https://anonywitch.wordpress.com/2015...
Read a more in-depth review at my blog: https://anonywitch.wordpress.com/2015...
October 11, 2020
An utter delight for feminists, followers of European folklore and anyone who loves Nursery Rhymes and ever wondered from whence did these come?
November 22, 2018
This was super good, definitely recommend.
June 17, 2015
Review on my blog. http://hearthmoonblog.com
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews