Mr Changeabout

inspired by a "found" photo of broken puppets and Le Enchanteur's message about Mr Changeabout pulling the strings of your characters

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but Le Enchanteur knows for sure, but I found myself at the top of the Faraway tree. I was at the top of the ladder leading to a hole in the clouds. There wasn't a soul about. Silky wasn't at home, Dame Washalot hadn't thrown any water on me and the angry pixie's curtains were drawn tight. I put my head through the hole. A green and pleasant land stretched before me with chocolate-box-picture buildings. I climbed right the way up and stepped on to the grass. I could hear birds twittering and it reminded me of a spring day back at home. It looked an idyllic setting.

I set out towards the nearest buildings to see if there was any sign of life. On the outskirts of what appeared to be a village, I came across an old chest from which came the sound of moaning and crying. Curious as I am, I approached cautiously and listened for a while before tapping on the chest. Immediately there was a short silence followed by calls for help. I lifted the lid.

Inside the box, in a heap of broken and twisted limbs and tangled strings lay a number of puppets. "Help us, please" they pleaded piteously. I carefully lifted them out and laid them gently on the grass. What a sorry sight they made. Their heads lolled to one side and some of their limbs had a most unnatural look to them. I sat down on the grass beside them. "Whatever has happened to you?" I asked.

With one voice they replied "Mr Changeabout". "Mr Changeabout?" I echoed. "Who is he and why did he do this to you?" One of the puppets, which seemed to be in better shape than the others, replied, "we were once part of a travelling puppet theatre, called the 'theatre of dreams'. We came to the land of spells hoping that we would be able to charm and delight our audiences. At first we did just that and then somehow or other Mr Changeabout got to hear about us." Another voice took up the story. "We set up our theatre in the grounds of the school at the edge of the wood. All the children came to watch us, including Mr Changeabout. At the end of the show he came backstage to talk to us. He seemed to be very enthusiastic about our little play and invited us to go and visit the children in the school the very next day." "And somehow it all went wrong?" I asked. "That's exactly what happened" the first puppet replied. "Mr Changeabout settled the children in their seats and then he sat down in the front row. He clapped and he cheered at the end and we were all very pleased. Two minutes later he changed into a raging fury "calling us all sorts of names and said that we were the invention of the devil. He picked up our travelling theatre and flung it to the ground. Next he grabbed hold of us and bundled us into this chest, which is what we use to transport our props, with no thought for our wellbeing. In fact, we're sure he deliberately mishandled us so that some of us would get broken and we wouldn't be able to do any more shows for a while. Then he got one of the giants to carry the chest outside and dumped it, with us still inside. You can imagine how upset all the children were. Then the giant brought our theatre out here and jumped up and down on it. We could hear the wood breaking from inside the chest. It was heart-breaking".

Just as they finished their tale of woe Silky and Saucepan Man arrived. I briefly told them what had happened. "Is there anything we can do to help these poor puppets?" I asked Silky. She bent down to have a closer look. "I think I can repair them and Saucepan Man has a friend called Mr Fixit who, I'm sure, would be able to mend their theatre. I don't think the land of spells is staying here for very long so we will have to be quick and find Mr Fixit."

As soon as Saucepan Man heard Mr Fixit's name mentioned he started banging and clashing his pots and pans. "I know just where he is at the moment" he said. "On our way through the hole in the clouds I saw him at 'ye olde worlde cottage dairy', sitting with the angry pixie, eating an ice cream. I'll go and get him now". He clattered off to find his friend and they soon returned. Mr Fixit brought his toolkit with him and soon set about putting the theatre back together again. Silky picked up the broken puppets one by one and carefully re-threaded their strings and put a stitch or two into their costumes and soon they looked good as new. Fortunately none of them was injured - the damage had appeared much worse at first glance. They were, however, still feeling a bit bashed after their ordeal so Saucepan Man suggested they all go and have an ice cream to cheer themselves up again. By the time they returned, with traces of pomegranate purple pie ice cream dribbling down their chins, Mr Fixit had put the theatre back together again.

I suggested that we keep them company until the next land appeared and they were able to leave without being bothered further by Mr Changeabout and they all thought this was a good idea. We certainly didn't want to meet this horrible man so we all moved as close as possible to the hole in the clouds. When the next land appeared, the land of dolls and soft toys, they jumped down on to it and Mr Fixit and Saucepan Man handed the theatre down to them and the new land moved off. We scrambled down the ladder as fast as we could and went for tea with Silky in the peace and quiet of her lovely house in the tree and the angry pixie decided to stop being angry for a while and came and joined us.

Baba's Seed Fingers

copyright Monika Roleff 2006.

A Reading With Intuition

In the Land of Spells and Enchantments Intuition, one of the guardians of the Lemuria Mysteries, offers to look through her third eye and do a reading for you.

ChangeAbout's Puppets

Are you feeling like a puppet on a string? Be wary of the Enchanter, MrChangeAbout, who likes to pull the strings and make people dance to his tune.

Meeting Baba Again

Meeting Baba again,

cautious to watch my words,

asking about the Land of

Spells and Enchantments.

"Where is it?" she said, looking

at me sharply. "It's everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

Some quick steps forward,

taken to a tree at sunset.

Baba's apron hung full of seed bounty.

Seeds in the grass, seeds on the

limbs and boughs.

"I see."

Waving her wizened hands wide,

of a beauty like sun-baked

rock, sturdy, knowing and complete.

"This tree is like that now, and it

will be like something else come sunrise."

Nodding, to me it seemed so, it was true.

"Not magic?" I said.

"Oh magic of a kind, but you

must see it. See it for what it is."

"It is magic then," I said.

Saying nothing, she placed a gathering

of seeds in my palm. They

were warm from her

sunbaked hands.

copyright Monika Roleff 2006.

While I was looking around the market in the land of spells and enchantments, I found my old friends the gypies plying their wares. They gave me the secrets of the Gypsy fortune stones to share with you.
Gypsies are full of enchantments and believe in magic - they always go up the Faraway Tree when the Land of Spells and Enchantments is there to stock up.
Gypsies make their own fortune stones by painting the symbols on small river stones or glass stones and keeping them in a soft velvet bag, big enough to fit round your hand. To read the stones, take a handful from the bag aty the time of the full moon and throw them in front of you. Read the stones that fall face up first. If any fall face down, read these last - they are secrets just for you to know.
You must chant this poem when you are casting the stones:

Stone O'Leary, Stones O'Leary,
By the full moon show me clearly.
Give to me an answer now
Show me what I have to know.
Let my eyes see far this night,
That I may live my future right.

The meanings:

Water: A long journey, as the Irish say, `across the water'
Sun: Success, brilliance
Star: Luck. Your wish will come true
Heart: Love and happiness
Wheel: Change, for good or ill
Bag of Gold: Luck with money
Moon: Pay heed to your dreams
Eye: Querent, truth
Grain: Harvest, outcome
Dagger: Danger, an enemy
Rings: A wedding, a reason to celebrate 

Fortune Teller

The Crystal Ball

le Enchanteur holds up the Crystal Ball. What is the message of her ball?

Forest of Enchantments

Beware the Forest of Spells and Enchantments for this is where Baba Yaga Lives. Those who enter her house will spend a lot of time sorting seeds and grain and doing other work for her. But Baba has knowledge about spells that is well worth learning.

Everyone gathers, expectant, each looking forward to visiting the land of spells and enchantments.

The Enchantress tells us all that our guide is the doll she is giving each of us. (Find a doll or make one) She tells us that if we should lose our way, or be in need of help, all we have to do is ask the doll what to do. She says that the doll will assist, that we must keep her with us at all times, that we must not tell anyone we meet about her and that we must feed her when she is hungry and give her drinks if she is thirsty

You greet your doll and introduce yourself and when you look up again everyone has gone.

The doll says that you have to go through the Forest of Enchantments and ask the old lady who lives by the lake the way to the main market place where all the purveyors of spells and enchantments are gathered. She assures you that she will know how to get there. Having read all your fairy stories you realise that going to ask the Baba Yaga anything could prove interesting.

Baba Yaga is the fearsome creature, the crooked woman whose nose is hooked like a bird of prey. Her name means 'to know, to see, to forsee' and she is the seer associated with the moon crescent. The Baba Yaga has the power to transform herself into a myriad of shapes, often a toad, sometimes a hedgehog, frequently a bird. The Baba Yaga is often depicted as an evil old hag who eats humans, especially children, but she is known by many to be a wise, prophetic old woman. In appearance she is tall, bony legged, pointy headed and has dishevelled hair.

Your doll informs you that the hut she lives in has a fence around it made of human bones and topped with human skulls and eyes intact. The gate is fastened with human legs and arms instead of bolts and a mouth with sharp teeth serves as the lock.

According to the doll, who seems to be a font of information, one person who lived to tell the story said that "she commands the sun and it obeys her, she changes the stars in their course, she causes clouds to form in the air and makes it possible to walk on them and travel the country. She can turn herself into a young woman and then, in a twinkling of an eye turn herself back into an old woman. She has to the power to turn a man into an animal and she likes to move freely along roads and valleys and over mountains. Her business is to cast spells, gather herbs and stones, make pacts and agreements."

Right! you think.

As you climb through the hole in the clouds you realise you are in the Forest of Enchantments.

Document your time there and your time with the Baba Yaga who, of course, will set you tasks before helping you to reach the main market place.