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If this is your first visit, please read this.
Feb. 12, 2009
Between the rain torrents of my last blog entry and the almost-spring sun glow of a few days since, sits today. Gray. The sky, the river, the bare branches of the alders – even my breath in the early morning chill floats off in a swirl of gray. When faced with a world of non-color, (OK, not totally – the fir trees and the grass are green) I do one of two things: I put my head under the covers, close my eyes, and watch a movie, or I go hunting for a gateway into Faerie. This morning I did the latter.
The main gateway we’ve always used broke apart in a fierce storm this Winter and now only works intermittently. Here’s what it used to look like.
When it was open, I could always find sparkle and color on the other side. Bright red holly and huckleberries, or pink and golden apples, depending on the time of the year, of course. But no matter what time of day or year, the light was always different on the other side of the gateway. If I came to the same area of the woods from a different path, that special spot just stayed the same as all the other places at Woodland Springs. But when I entered that portion of forest through the gateway, having first paused and asked permission and made the secret sign, then everything changed when I stepped through the doorway.
It reminded me a little of Star Gate – or, maybe more like the doorway in the back of the closet that leads to Narnia. Magical gates are never open all the time and they often require some kind of secret word or symbol to open them. Gates to Faerie are like that. Have you ever come across a natural archway or crossing of branches that made you stop for a second and wonder what would happen when you stepped through? If you pause and lay your hands on either side of the opening, close your eyes, and ask for the secret to shift the doorway, you may be given a song, a word, or a symbol to trace in the air. You might also be told to stand on one foot and hop through, turn around three times moon-wise while standing in the center of the gateway, or to sit down and wait until the sun touches the top of the arch. Or a whole world of things the Fairies are capable of thinking up!
The main thing to remember when you stumble upon a place that might be a doorway to Faerie is STOP! Recognize that you have found a potential treasure, honor it from your heart, and let the Fairies see who you are. If they know that you are a Fairy Friend and if the energies are aligned the right way, they may invite you to cross the threshold. Just remember that it’s easy to get lost in Faerie and some mortals choose never to return.
I didn’t find a gateway today but I had a great walk. Soft rain left shining beads hanging on the ends of the gray branches, reminding me that, even in the gray, this world is beautiful, too.
If this is your first visit, please read this.
January 27, 2009
The rain scuttles sideways across the meadow, so dense at times the trees on the other side of the river are merely shadow in mist. The sun has been shining brightly for days, so a day of rain like this is a welcome treat; when it continues for a week or more, there’s a temptation to pull the covers over your head until it’s over. Fortunately, this time, it’s only a day or two before the sun is scheduled to return.
I’m always struck by how different a walk in the woods is in the rain. The mosses and lichens all wake up, wriggle their tendrils, and happily slurp the drops that balance on their points. No matter how softly I walk, every step makes me feel like Paul Bunyan, creating a new lake with each footfall. Standing under the sheltering bows of a fir tree offers a moment of relative dryness – until the breeze shakes loose a waiting shower. Enjoying the fire and watching the rain through windows is definitely a good idea.
This is wonderful thinking and dreaming weather in the quiet time of year here at Woodland Springs. The alders and maples, even the great fir trees are in deep slumber and, although the deer, porcupine, and many birds still visit each day, their energy seems muted, as though a part of them dreams deep in the Earth with the trees on the root roads.
I used to label my feelings this time of the year as "depression" until the Fairies took me on a dream journey deep into the heart of the Otherworld and showed me the Faerie Quiet Way. I was led down wooded pathways and, on every bush and tree I saw, at least one Fairy slept, curled around a mound of seeds. I had been told not to speak so I held my questions until my guide brought me back to my side of the veil, but then I could no longer contain myself. “What are they all doing?” I asked. “I’ve never seen so many Fairies, so still!”
For once, Light That Listens seemed wiling to answer a question directly, something Fairies rarely do. “They are each dreaming with the seeds of their plants,” she told me. “Gently infusing them with the encouragement they will need to wake up and sprout when Spring comes to call them.”
And, also for once, what a Fairy told me made sense. I wonder what seeds I have tucked away that need a little dream nurturing. What as yet un-sprouted ideas and projects will Spring call forth from me? What a good excuse for an afternoon nap!
If this is your first visit, please read this.
January 17, 2009
Beginning a blog is a little like entering in the middle of a conversation or ten chapters into a story. There’s so much that has gone before that acts as foundation for the words now finding their way to the page, but no quick way to share that history. Maybe the past tracks are not necessary here. This space is intended to be about events and thoughts at an intersection between two worlds: 1) The Enchanted World of Fairy Woodland, located at Woodland Springs, on the Yaquina River, just a few miles from the wild NW Pacific Ocean; and 2) The Realm of Faerie, which exists at the edge of Woodland Springs (and many other places but that’s for another time), in a slightly different dimension, separated by a veil of mist but accessible through certain gateways.
The Fairies visit us more often than we have managed to step through to wander in their realm. In the full moon light, on especially misty mornings around solstices or equinoxes, on special holidays like Beltane or Samhain, the usually hidden doorways are a bit more evident but, even then, we still need an invitation and a Fairy guide. On a gloriously sunny day in January (a rare occurrence on the Oregon Coast), our Fairy friends are much more likely to come and play in our world than to invite us into theirs.
Even the deer seem to be wandering elsewhere today. They usually come for their daily meal of grain mixed with molasses by 9 or 10 A.M. but it’s now early afternoon and they still haven’t made an appearance. I was hoping they might have a few words to contribute to the blog but perhaps the Fairies needed deer magic elsewhere today and lured them away. I suspect that may be the case because I hear Fairy voices calling to me as well – a day as unequivocally gorgeous as this one deserves to have companionship. This is not a day to spend indoors. The Fairy voices are calling me to an afternoon stroll through the woods – I don’t know anyone who could resist such a summons so will close this commentary for today and look forward to telling you about the walk tomorrow.
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