The heroine of this story, Aurora, is a gifted, beautiful dreamer.

MATERIAL

Champlève beads, freshwater pearls, gold plated butterfly earstuds.

 STORY

Aurora is the beautiful princess of a kingdom who falls under the spell of a witch. One version of her story goes like this:

Aurora is the daughter of a king and queen who are overjoyed at her birth and invite all the fairies in the kingdom to her christening. The fairies all give her a gift, such as beauty, wit, grace, dance, song, and kindness. However, the king and queen forget to invite one fairy - the fairy of death -, who becomes infuriated and curses Aurora to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die on her 16th birthday.

One of the fairies is able to soften the curse, so that Aurora will not die but instead fall into a deep sleep. The king, in an attempt to protect his daughter, orders all the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be destroyed.

However, on Aurora's 16th birthday, she discovers a hidden spinning wheel and pricks her finger, falling into a deep sleep. The kingdom is put under a sleeping spell along with her, and a thorny forest grows up around the castle to keep people away.

Years later, a prince comes to the Sleeping Castle. The thorn hedge that grew up around the castle after Aurora fell into her deep sleep is said to be impenetrable, with thorns so sharp that they can pierce even the toughest armor. It is also said to have a magical quality, opening and closing itself at certain times. The prince must navigate through the thorn hedge trying to reach Aurora, and when he has passed, the sharp thorn hedge closes again behind him. The prince falls in love with the sleeping Aurora. He wakes her up.