The Secret of the Perilous Wood

Part Seven: Defending the Wood Perilous

Now, finally, after a five year wait,: the Secret of the Perilous Wood.

Before we continue, I want to establish a term: Once upon a time, my husband wrote a story called “One Bright Star to Guide Them.” In it, there was a reference to a few fairytale-style enemies. One was the willow women who deceived men’s eyes. The implication was that they could weave webs of mesmerism that ensorcelled and beguiled. I remember them well because at the time, I wanted to put them in a roleplaying game, but I could not figure out what they would actually do.

I do not have that problem anymore, More about that later.

Now, finally, what is the Wood’s secret? To answer that question, I must tell you a story.

This is a true story. It happened long enough ago that travel from America to India was by ship, but it happened. If you wish to hear it yourself, I’ll put a link at the end, though it isn’t told by the person it happened to. Still, the person who tells of the experience also includes some related experiences of his own. It’s worth listening to.

A man wished to understand mesmerism better and how to fight it. He was so interested in this that he traveled to India to study with an Indian mystic and learn about their methods.

As he settled onto the ship, he met another traveler, a Hindu, and asked him if he believed in mesmerism.

The two of them were standing overlooking the front of the ship. It was a lovely day. Stevedores were loading baggage. The docks were busy.

Suddenly, a huge tidal wave struck the ship. The stevedores were swept away. Baggage was washed everywhere. The man had to hang on for dear life. It was a huge disaster.

Then, just as suddenly, it was over.

There was no tidal wave. The stevedores still worked on the deck. The baggage was still there.

The man’s fellow traveler smiled and asked, “Is that what you meant?”

The whole way to India, these two men talked. Our traveler learned from his fellow about how mesmerism is done, and—and this is the point of our story—how to fight it.

The man arrived in India and went to visit the mystic. He was led to a room and left there. A few minutes later, a servant came in carrying a large exquisite vase. The servant lifted the vase and dashed it on the floor, shattering it. Shards of vase went everywhere.

But now, our traveler was onto hypnotism. He realized that he was being mesmerized. He applied the advice that his fellow traveler had given him and, sure enough, the spell broke. The vase and the shards vanished, and he was by himself again.

He felt rather pleased that he had managed this. Immediately, the broken shards of vase reappeared.

He found that he had to really concentrate to dispel them again and keep them gone.

The question, of course, is: What did his fellow traveler tell him that allowed him to break out of the mesmerism of the broken vase?

The answer is: To dispel hypnotism, you need to hold on to a fact. Just hold to the fact with your full concentration. This breaks the spell.

Any fact will do: Two plus two is four.

Let me repeat this again, because, when it comes to the Wood Perilous, this is supremely important.

Truth breaks spells.

And that, my dearest readers, is the Secret of the Perilous Wood.

The Degenerati do not want people reading real fairytales—as opposed to the deconstructed kind—because they know that while the tales are fanciful, in every truly important way, they are also true. And truth breaks the enchantment that their willow women have woven over our eyes, our nation, our world.

Because, as we saw above, that is how mesmerism works.

Get someone to lie, and your power over their mind grows. Your ability to hypnotize them grows. You can convince them that good is bad, up is down, black is white, and men are women. You can take away their sense of reality, and convince them of, well, nearly anything.

But far more important, tell the truth, and the mesmerism breaks.

Truth is what cuts through their power, breaks their enchantments. And that is what we need to do, as individuals but even more as writers. We need to speak the truth.

Even when the whole universe tells us not to.

Remember what I said at the beginning of the first article: how this is a fairytale about you, who have “become lost in a distant land, unable to find home again. It is a story about hope and the forces of darkness, and how all the Powers of Hell are bent upon the purpose of crushing the spirit of our main character."

Don’t believe me?

Did you think I was exaggerating? Do you think your life is mundane? That you are not lost in the Perilous Wood, where the forces of darkness lure and deceive, providing all temptation for you to give in and lie just a little, maybe just this once, so that their willow women’s webs can cloud your vision and ensorcelled you?

I started this article in 2018. Had I finished it then, nothing I just said would have seemed controversial.

But now? What was as obvious as up is up and down is down is now so murky that we can hardly find our way through it.

You might not even have believed me.

But now?

Go back to the paragraph that starts “Get someone to lie.” Go to the third sentence. Read the last three words.

Now, reverse the meaning of those three words—the same way we just reversed up is down to read up is up and down is down—so that you have the statement of fact, the truth.

In 2018, not a single person you know would have hesitated. It’s only been five short years, and yet…

Are you even willing to speak those words aloud?

Next Time: All the Powers of Hell

Previously: Why Does the Perilous Need Defending?

To hear the story about the man traveling to India, follow this link, pick Human A-J, and then Dan Jensen—Practical Wisdom This story is about 34 minutes in.