Loathly Lady doll

The Loathly Lady arose from the stories that one of my mentors, storyteller, writer, Sharon Blackie tells, tales of fearsome crones who dwell deep in the forest, their ugliness a chosen mask. Though they appear hideous, they can just as easily take on the shape of a radiant young maiden. In the old tales, they test those who cross their paths, revealing the truth of a person’s heart by how they respond to what they believe is unbeautiful.

The Loathly Lady who came to me appeared in a waking dream. She showed me the “rents,” the delicate tears in the shimmering web that wraps the Earth. Then she offered me a task: to take the tiny stars from her bowl and place them gently into any openings in the sky where I sensed the fabric had worn thin.

At first, these stars looked like small, round seeds with hard, nut-like shells. Only when I cracked them open did the true light inside appear. Her own body shimmers with constellations. She gathers the world’s protective web in her hands, keeping it from unraveling. In this way, she is a Great Mother, an Earth Mother. She asks us not simply to witness her labor, but to join her in the work of repair.