1. "Sneewittchen": "Both elements of this compound word are in Low German, although the tale itself is recorded in High German. The High German form of the heroine's name would be Schneeweißchen." The literal translation is "Little Snow White" (Ashliman 2002).

2. Middle of winter: Midwinter is the turning point of the seasons, the beginning of the Sun's ascendant phase.

3. Pricked her finger with the needle: The accidental pricking of a finger also occurs in Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty.

4. White as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood: The three colours, white, red and black represent the three aspects of the Triple Goddess: maiden/mother/crone.

5. Called Little Snow-white: Although she is as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, she is named after only one of these aspects of the feminine.

6. The King took to himself another wife: In the first edition, the version closest to its oral sources, Snow-White's jealous antagonist is her own mother. In the edition of 1819, the Grimms here added the statement that Snow-White's mother died during childbirth, and that her father remarried, so the jealous Queen was made her stepmother (Ashliman 2002).

7. She had a wonderful looking-glass: The first 'mirrors' were pools of water. In Greek myth, the youth Narcissus caught sight of his own reflection in a pool and fell in love with it. He gave his name to the modern psychological term narcissism which indicates an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own appearance and concerns.

In this story the mirror represents:(a) the 'male gaze' which objectifies the female,(b) the husband/father who is otherwise absent from the story and for whose approval both Snow White and her mother compete.

8. The looking-glass answered: The clairvoyant speaking mirror is a common motif in Asian & European folk tales. In some cultures it was believed that the reflection in a mirror represented the Soul, which is why it is bad luck to break a mirror.

9. Seven years old: Seven is the age of transition from child to maiden.

While seven was often considered the age of transition from child to adult in past centuries, the stated age is often ignored in illustrated or film versions of the story and made to appear much older. Since the story does not mark a significant amount of time, the image of a seven- year-old child marrying the prince at the end of the story fails to appear romantic, but rather abusive. In some versions of the story, the child continues to grow into a young woman as she sleeps, proof that she is not quite dead although not quite alive either, but nonetheless justifying the dwarfs coffin-side vigilance.

10. Heart: The earliest versions of the tale used the lungs and liver instead of the heart.

11. Boar: The boar represents courage and lust. In Norse mythology the boar was sacred to the divine twins Frey and Freyja who were the deities of sexual desire & fertility.

12. The wicked Queen ate it: Some believed that by eating certain organs one acquires the characteristics and the power of the person one eats.

In this instance, the queen is trying to make Snow White's beauty her own by ingesting a part of the young girl.

12. Great forest: The dark and mysterious forest is often a place of exile where psychological growth occurs. It symbolizes the unconscious, the realm of the psyche. It is often a threshold through which the soul encounters the perils of the unknown and survives as a wiser person.

13. Seven: The number seven is the number of completeness and totality - it is the sum of three (the number of the heavens - the triple goddess, the trinity) and four (the number of the earth which has four corners, four elements, four winds, four seasons, etc).

14. None of them suited her: Snow White's eating of the food, testing of the beds, and discovery by the dwarfs is similar to Goldilocks' trespassing upon the Three Bears, albeit with different results.

15. Dwarfs: Dwarfs in symbology represent the underdeveloped and the unformed. They are pre- adolescent and not developed sexually. They live an immature and pre-individualistic form of existence that Snow White must transcend. (In the original story they are not individualized and Walt Disney by giving them names and personalities has destroyed their meaning in the story.) The dwarfs are also close to the earth (they mine for gold which is the incorruptible metal) and they represent the unconscious and amoral forces of nature.

16. She stayed with them: The period of time Snow White spends with the dwarfs is a period of latency and repressed desire. Snow white learns about the work ethic and is socialized into woman's domestic role, but the question of her womanhood, her sexual desirability as a woman, which was raised by her mother's mirror, has been put aside for a time.

17. She had at last thought of something to do: The three temptations of Snow White are symbols of life beyond the cottage and they appeal to Snow White's vanity and narcissism, her need to look sexually desirable, her awareness of how she looks in a mirror. Three is sacred to the Goddess of Love and Desire, Aphrodite who is Queen of the Three Worlds.

18. Yellow, red, and blue silk: Yellow (gold) represents the soul, red (the color of blood) represents the body and blue represents the intellect.

19. I may let the worthy old woman in: Many fairy tales involve the breaking of a command or a taboo. There can be no psychological growth until the old rules are broken and the new order can flourish.

20. Lost her breath and fell down as if dead: The first temptation relates to Snow White's body, but the bodice laces bind her too tight and she cannot breath - breath is a symbol of the spirit.

21. Poisonous comb: The second temptation relates to Snow White's head and her hair. Combs were an attribute of Aphrodite, the Sirens and mermaids all symbols of female desirability. Hair is a symbol of fertility and virility, but the comb tames its wildness and its poison nearly kills her.

22. Apple: The apple was sacred to Aphrodite and represented knowledge, especially sexual knowledge, fertility and love.

In times past, offering an apple was a symbol of love and affection (Philip 1997).

23. Hardly had she a bit of it in her mouth than she fell down dead: The apple is lodged in Snow White's throat - her organ of speech is blocked and she cannot articulate her needs or her individuality.

24. She breathed no longer and was dead: Snow White must die to the pre-pubescent world of the dwarfs in order to be eventually reborn into the adult world.

25. Coffin of glass: Snow White in the glass coffin is like a butterfly in the chrysalis stage, awaiting to emerge as an adult. The coffin is glass so her body is on display and continues to be an object of male desire.

26. King's son: In many fairy stories the sleeping heroine is woken by the kiss of a man (eg 'Briar Rose'/'Sleeping Beauty'). In this case it is his love and devotion that (indirectly) cause her awakening. In either case this symbolizes the fact that a girl must be awakened to womanhood by a man.

27. Stumbled over a tree-stump: "Beginning with the edition of 1819, the poisoned apple is dislodged when a servant accidentally stumbles while carrying the coffin to the prince's castle" (Ashliman 2002).

28. Iron: Iron was the only metal not sacred to the goddess so it is used to punish the evil mother who represents vengeful female energy.

29. Slippers: Shoes are a symbol of female sexuality, hence the custom of tying shoes to the back of a wedding car.

Footwear is important in many popular fairy tales, such as Cinderella's slipper, the boots in Puss in Boots, and the worn-out shoes in The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

30. Dance until she dropped down: The theme of footwear that makes you dance until you die was later used by Hans Christian Anderson in 'The Red Shoes'.

31. Dead: Bruno Bettelheim interprets the story as a classic mother/daughter conflict in which children receive cathartic pleasure in seeing the mother/stepmother endure a horrible punishment for her crimes against innocent youth (Bettelheim 1975).