Francisco Vaz da Silva is Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University Institute of Lisbon, in Portugal. He works on symbolic representations, which he mostly addresses in the fields of fairy tales, religious art, and comparative anthropology. On these and other topics he has published many articles and several books. His latest book is The Meanings of Enchantment: Wondertale Symbolism Revisited (Folklore Fellows' Communications, 2023). Francisco was a Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu (2016), the University of Reykjavik (2013) and the University of California, both at Berkeley (2001/2002) and Los Angeles (2009). He serves on the editorial board of Cosmos (UK), Cultural Analysis (USA), Marvels & Tales (USA), and Narrative Culture (USA).