Poet and storyteller Robert Bly wrote, “The drama is this. We came as infants, ‘trailing clouds of glory,’ arriving from the farthest reaches of the universe. . . . In short with our 360 degree radiance. . . . And we offered this gift to our parents. They didn’t want it. They wanted a nice girl or a nice boy. That’s the first act of the drama.”

Christopher Kaczor, “The Myth of Vampire Children,” First Things, February 2015, 17–18.

virtual Child operating as a cultural reservoir for hopefulness and longing.

Why do fairy tales trigger such strong reactions years after they are first encountered? Do they change us in some way, and if so, how?