WonderLit^™ rocks! It is so much fun and multifaceted. The learning is applicable to where I have been, where I am now, and where I want to go. It’s been very interesting from the instructional design perspective to experience how Michelle Tocher, the course author, pegged so many of the things that learners are demanding these days—very personalized learning, total engagement, depth, relevance, and options (no single answer is the right one.) I’m much more able, after taking the WonderLit^™ course, to expand my viewpoint as a writer, fully developing my characters, which substantially enhances my readers’ experience. I loved this course, and I’ve gained immeasurable strength and peace as well as empowerment on this magical journey back to my strongest self.”

– Jen Berghage, Veteran Instructional Designer, Penn State World Campus, Artist, Writer, and Beadweaver

I am completely in love with the concept of Wonderlit^™. I think you created magic with this site to help so many out there who are struggling for an outlet to channel what they are going through. This is a great thing. It certainly is helping me a great deal. After the beautiful influence I had from your words, the inspiration I felt every time you guided me with a fairy tale and the other stories on your blog, I have decided to write my own fairy tale collection for my final dissertation next year.

– Hariny V, Madurai, India

First let me say, WonderLit^™ is brilliant!! Really Michelle, it is truly a huge gift you are bringing forward by creating this process, It's all so clear and so much fun!! I chose the story of "Vasilisa the Beautiful" and her encounter with Baba Yaga. I've been writing reams and reams of words and sentences and paragraphs. Sometimes when I'm stuck with one of your prompting questions, I'll go outside and just start talking my way through it. Actually it's more in a singing/chanting style. I did a very intense one the other day when I became the skull that burned up the stepsisters and stepmother. Wow!!! Did that skull ever go for it!

– Wendalyn Bartley, Composer

I met Michelle when I was coming out of a year-long struggle with postpartum depression and anxiety, and was looking for something that would help me make sense of my experience. I signed up for WonderLit^™ and it was so healing. Throughout the course, I worked with The Handless Maiden, a German fairy tale told by the Brothers Grimm. Like many fairy tales, the story provides compelling insight into aspects of the unconscious, and is particularly relevant as a story of initiation through loss. Putting myself in the shoes of the young woman who wandered the woods for seven years, I discovered that my transition to motherhood was also an initiation, and that I had lost a part of myself too. Through active imagination, creative prompts and visualizations, the story came alive in me, and I discovered parts of myself that had been buried for years, and a well of resilience that could see me through this major stage in life. Michelle’s work is magical, offering access to lost rooms of mythic wisdom, where you can discover yourself there.

– Kristen Roderick, Ceremonialist, Rites of Passage Guide & Fiber Artist www.spiritmoving.org

I was surprised to find almost all parts of myself in my story (The Handless Maiden), and I came to respect all the parts equally. The sweet maiden, victim of youth; the bumbling father, tired, old and penniless; the scheming devil, powerful, dark, necessary, yearning to win the only elusive prize he cannot attain; the heroic soldier, invincible, suddenly lost in the woods, near death, humbled; his mother, the wisest of them all—but like the rest, vulnerable….. I grabbed hold of each of those roles at various times throughout (and well, after) the course, wrestled with them, judged them, and ultimately, embraced them. The magic of the work/fun is the opportunity to give voice and expression to one’s roles, to “out” them safely—disguised as characters in a play where the outcome is known, all in a safe and warm environment.

– Andy Frank, Broadcaster

I love the way Michelle approaches stories. It’s very open and compassionate. She lets you discover your own relationship to the fairy tale. She doesn’t have her own definite point of view or agenda so she really opens up the story for you. You can go in different directions. You can be the mirror, the hair of Rapunzel … you can create characters that aren’t necessarily even right there in the story. When I am working with people in a writing workshop or a counselling session, I sometimes relate their problems to these stories to help them see that it’s not just their own particular problem but there is a mythic, metaphorical element that they can relate to.

– Ellen S. Jaffe, Poet and Psychotherapist, author of Writing Your Way: Creating a Personal Journal, Skinny-Dipping with the Muse (poetry) and other books.

Through Michelle’s courses, I learned how to enter into a story, discover the characters, and let the story unfold. The process was magical and brought me back to my childhood love for fairy tales. Since then I've attended every class and workshop of Michelle's that I could. I've explored characters such as the Thirteenth Wise Woman, Cinderella, and the Fairy Godmother. Michelle's work brings light to dark places, and magic to illuminate our everyday lives.

– Katie Curtin, Life Coach and Founder of "The Creativity Cafe"

Michelle is doing what no one else is doing, using active imagination to make fairy tales and myths truly relevant in the 21st century. She's an amazing teacher and guide.

– Annie Jacobsen, Jungian psychotherapist and author of the novel Watermelon Syrup (2007)

A fairy tale provides us with a rich landscape to explore, and Michelle Tocher is a very sensitive and highly skilled guide. She helped us use our imaginations to enter that world, befriend its people, and, with gratitude, take our leave, blessed with deeper self-awareness, compassion and hope.

– Jean Sheppard, teacher and writer