There was a slender stream that ran northwest
of the Ridgway Christian Church in Cainsville, Missouri.
It was only a few feet wide and not more than a foot or
so deep. I could have easily jumped over it. The small bridge that crossed the little stream was barely needed.
I suppose the bridge was built for the comfort
of elderly and infirm church-goers.
The running water vanished within a few feet
of the bridge into an obscuring thicket of greenery beyond.
I imagined there were faeries living in that tiny wet woodland. I thought if I watched carefully enough I might catch a glimpse of them.
I never saw the faeries - I knew they were there.
Even now when I see misty pictures of gnarled ancient trees, vines, ferns, mossy rocks, and trickling water I fancy faeries under every dripping leaf. I’m not the only one to do so.
There is a memory lingering in all of us of mysterious dark forests that hide faeries, satyrs, elves, ogres, and every other sort of magical creature.
People all over the world have told stories of woodland spirits that interact with humans. Some are benevolently dreamlike, some are dangerous. These stories have been told for eons, with a thousand different names for each sort of sprit. Despite the multitude of names,
the roles of these beings fall into typical categories.
There are Tricksters, Avengers, Protectors, and Fiends, along with more useful beings supernaturally in charge of bountiful harvests and animal fertility. Often the different powers of these different entities are combined
in a single entity.
One such is the Greek demi-god, Pan.
Pan is a nature god usually depicted with the horns and lower half of a goat. He is most often associated with harvest rituals, primal wildness, and lust. When not performing his usual duties Pan roams the shadowed forests of Greek Arcadia, indecently frolicking with winsome dryads, piping intoxicating tunes, and occasionally luring passing humans into an other-dimensional world that is often terrifying.
There is a partial echo of Pan in Northern European stories of the Greenman, though the Greenman was mostly a vegetation god, echoed in modern times by The Jolly Green Giant of canned vegetable fame. Pan is more famous and more interesting.
The word, panic originally meant, fear-of-Pan. Panic was the Greek word for the terror that so often overcomes humans alone in forest blackness at night. Now we call any sudden irrational fear, panic.
Pan might live in any wild wilderness, as might Faeries.
Pan, like all other ephemeral spirts explained otherwise inexplicable fears, thoughts, and desires.
They still do, though now we use their names only as metaphors. Still, some suspicion remains that there may be more to all this than metaphor.
Were all those people in the past remembering something once real, or were they imaging what never was?
Many moderns who scoff at magic nonetheless carry lucky-charms, consult horoscopes, and believe gypsies can foretell the future. Many more are drawn to movies like, “Lord of the Rings, the Metric, or Pan’s Labyrinth.
They may not believe any of this is real but they do like imagining it. Is their interest only a matter of idle recreation or is some deeper impulse the cause? Either way, the attraction is perennial.
There is an innate sense in the human soul that
the everyday world is not the entirety of the real world. The sense is vibrant in our youth and remains feebly suspicious even into our adult years.
I was convinced faeries must be living in that wet thicket of greenery where the stream disappeared. Wouldn’t any little kid think the same?
Fae is the enchanting glow beyond the mundane.
Fae, Fey, Fay - the spelling varies – as does the meaning.
In some usage Fae means: Fated-to-Die; probably because the use of Fae sometimes ends in death. More broadly, and more happily, it means magical enchantment in general. I prefer, Fae, for the spelling, and happy enchantment as the meaning more interesting to me.
The enchantment produced by use of Faerie Fae is known as glamour. Glamour is still with us. These days it’s produced by Hollywood and Pop-Culture, and we’ve dropped the “u”, though the British have retained it.
Faerie glamour was probably more substantive.
Sophisticated minds reject all magic. That’s why they’re so dull.
As Mr. Churchill once said of King Arthur - If he wasn’t real, he should have been. So too, the realm
of Faerie.
Mystery enriches reality with potentiality.
‘What if ?” inspires all art and exploration. Children seem to know this intuitively. It takes years of higher-education to beat it out of them.
What Fae might be possible for anyone who thought Fae possible.
For some years I designed Annual Report graphics for a man who gave me maximum freedom in my designing. Each year he would bring a text of his foreword to the new report.
We would discuss what had been accomplished the previous year and what he planned to achieve in the coming year.
Then he would stand and say, “Go and dream your dreams”, put on his coat and leave.
He might just as well said, Go and work your magic”. How could I not do my magical best for a man who had such confidence in my dreaming.
This was a subtle form of Fae.
My client had waved a wand of confidence that enchanted me into doing the very best work I could.
You may say that’s not magic, it’s just skillful use
of psychology.
I say the distinction between skillful use
of psychology and Fae enchantment is not as important
as the result.
You might describe as, Fae, any outcome that exceeded expectations, or any happening that changed the way you see the world.
Strangeness happens frequently enough that it might better be thought of as Fae-ness instead of strange-ness.
I thought there were faeries living that tiny wet woodland I remembered from childhood. I thought if I watched carefully enough I might catch a glimpse of them.
Maybe now, I have.
Faerie’s Fay may be science not yet understood.
Who knows what mysteries lie under the darking sky?