ArtFire

This is a winning entry for a symbolism contest on DeviantArt. The contest called for an art piece of any sort utilizing symbols and bonus points for anyone who also involved a story of some-sort. I was quite inspired by the contest, so I wrote a short story and made this book to go along with it.

This book is the girl in the short-story's diary, and it follows along the storyline. The book itself is handmade--I cut, dyed, and distressed the pages myself before binding them together. I have never made a book before, and don't know that I ever will again.

The person buying this book will receive the book itself, as well as a printed copy of the short story that goes along with it. The book is a good 20 or so pages long. If you would like to see all the pages, you may do so here: http://talesfromplanetz.powweb.com/component/content/article/154.html

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The short story:
Once upon a time there was a young girl in the bloom of her youth. She lived in a beautiful forest near a small village and, most unusually, liked to read and write. You see, her father was a scribe in the village and taught his beloved daughter his trade. She loved writing so much that her father brought her home small pieces of precious parchment whenever he could. From those scraps the girl sewed them together into a small book. Thus, she spent her days happy in the forest, writing in her book, pressing flowers, and getting to know the spirit of the forest.

There came a day in her sixteenth year that a young woodcutter came into her part of the forest. She followed the sound of his axe until she found him felling a tree. So shocked was she that he would destroy one of the beloved trees in the forest that she flung herself between the tree and the woodcutter's axe. The woodcutter was surprised that this beautiful auburn-haired girl would put herself in such danger just for a tree. So he set aside his axe and listened with wonder as she taught him of the spirit of the forest. Very soon, the two found themselves in love with one another.

One day a witch moved into the forest near the home of the girl and her father. The witch was a wicked woman who wanted the entire forest to herself. She soon tried her best to run the girl and her father out of the forest by using curses and defiling the animals of the forest to turn against them.

The girl's father decided to move into the village to escape the witch's curses, but the girl would not go. Her father and beloved former-woodcutter pleaded with her to come with them, but she could not bear to leave the forest. She stayed while her father and Beloved went to the village for the night.

The witch was angered by the girl's defiance and the way the forest seemed to like her so. The witch came to the girl and wove a spell on her, trapping the girl inside her own beloved book with her writings. The witch cackled, certain in the knowledge that she had gotten rid of the sweet girl. However, the witch had angered the spirit of the forest by ensorcelling the girl. The forest turned against the witch and showered her with twigs and branches and thorns. One of the thorns was large and pierced the witch's cold heart, killing her in an instant.

The girl's father and Beloved later found the witch's body and the girl's book, but there was no sign of the girl herself ever again. The two men mourned her, for she was well-loved by all. They never knew that she was with them still, trapped inside of her book, where she still resides today.

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The symbols are as follows:
The book itself is a symbol of the girl herself, as well as her thirst for knowledge. Included in the book are a few different dried flowers and herbs (jasmine, lavender, and mint), which each has it's own symbolism connected to it. Jasmine is usually thought to symbolize attachment and sensuality, lavender calmness and purity, and mint for healing.

I also have some more obvious symbols in the book, such as hearts to signify the girl's love for the former woodcutter and trees of the forest.

The forest in the story/book is representative of purity, life, and innocence. The witch obviously symbolizes evil while the girl is symbolic of good.

The story as well as the book itself is completely laced with symbols, keeping with the general theme. I didn't list them all, as this description seems to be going on for quite some time.

faux leather, paper, tea, ribbon