Getting in touch with Faeryland
I like to celebrate the seasons. I’ve just been told that’s a pagan thing to do; but isn’t it rather Christian, too? If it isn’t, it should be! After all, we believe in God the creator. So he created the seasons and I must infer that he enjoys them. Therefore, if I enjoy them and celebrate them as well there shouldn’t be anything particularly pagan about that!
I didn’t post about my Autumnal Equinox celebration because I was in Wisconsin at the time. But it was pretty good. I went to a farmer’s market with my Mom and Dad, and we looked at Lake Winnebago, and I hugged a lovely birch tree.
The thing about birch trees is that as far as I can tell there’s a blight that’s killing them (at least I’ve heard as much, though I was unable to confirm it a la google). This is truly tragic. Birches are the loveliest of trees. Almost all the ones in my part of Ohio are dead already. Be sure and shake hands with one if you ever meet it, for they say there’s nothing to be done about it and soon they’ll all be gone.
I have officially began my Autumn baking. I made apple cake with pecans. And gobs of cinnamon, too. And whipping cream. Yum. Soon I’ll be doing stuffed squash and squash soup and baked apples and pumpkin bread. Lovely.
Today I spoke to a faery over Skype. How do I know she’s a faery? I just know. She blesses handfastings and births. She celebrates and enters into the changing of the seasons. She has a thing for shoes.
Yes, she’s certainly a faery. It’s so seldom you are sure you’ve legitimately come into contact with one!
October 11th, 2006 at 7:52 am
Pagans also bake apples. You’re going to hell.
I bet some of them even go to Wisconsin every now and again.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Lol I love you too, Tommy. Well, being a pagan is better than being a dirty hippy, right?
October 11th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
you are amazing.
if i come visit you, will you make me some apple pie? my favorite singer’s name is Bjork and that means birch tree in icelandic… i hope she doesn’t die soon. if it’s not on google, it’s not a fact
now, about fairies: all should know that i’m an avid believer. in jr high, i used turn my jacket inside out and wear bells, coins, keys, etc. as bracelets, on key chains and in little bags of glitter every friday in celebration of “gentry day” (yeah, i made it up, but still!). i actually know how to get into fairyland (weather as a captive with no chance of return if you drink their drinks, eat their food or accept their flowers, or out of your own freewill). people here don’t believe in fairies. some have even asked me how i can believe in fairies AND God (like it’s some kind of extraordinary task that no mere human could ever accomplish). in Germany however, they thought it was perfectly awesome to believe in things of the sort. i mean, i believe God created all the things in the skys and waters and stuff.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Erica, exactly! I hope you’ll meet a fairy one day. I’ve never yet succeeded in seeing one, though I think if I keep beliving then one day I might.
I’ve found that in some Latin cultures, any kind of superstition is rejected by congregations that consider themselves to be spirit-filled born-again Christians. Here’s the thing to realize: mainstream Christianity in, for example, Guatemala (I want to use an example of a place I’ve been myself, though I’m told by people who have spent time in other Latin American cultures that they are much the same) is a blend of Catholicism and the old indigenous religions. So, for instance, you can find quite good Catholics who also give sacrifices to statues of the old Mayan god Maximon. It is very sad for me to see people still believing that Maximon can heal their children; they place the children in his arms and pour alcohol into his mouth and stick cigars in his mouth (alcohol and tobacco are the offerings he considers important). It’s like, they reach out to this figure that (I believe) cannot help them. This is further complicated by well-meaning missionaries who, years and years ago, attempted to convert people by identifying the catholic saints with the myriad of minor deities in the indigenous culture.
Today, when converted by protestant missionaries, many people in these cultures reject not only these mayan gods but also the Catholic saints and any form of superstitious belief, and will talk only of Jesus. Can we blame them for lumping fairies, dryads, naiads, elves, dwarves, sprites, fauns, etc. in with the indigenous deities who rule the waters and skies and forests?
I personally believe that these creatures do exist, although they do not have power to rule and should not be considered divine. This belief probably wouldn’t satisfy a scientist; for they believe only what they can prove. To me, though, it just seems easier to me to believe that there are things we haven’t been able to prove or discover than that we’ve found everything there is to find already! They world, and indeed the universe, is too big for that.
So yes, I do believe in fairies. And I am going to dress up like one for halloween, too. I am going to be a lavendar faery, complete with wings! What will you do for Hallween? Do they have a Brazilian equivalent to Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos? What are their traditions?
October 11th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Not sure about the Christography of it: however, we’d certainly all be in much better shape if we recognised the seasons. Our insistance on pretending summer, fall, winter and spring are all the same through heating and air-con and the like is the cause of a lot of bodily ills. We’re built as seasonal beings, and if the “pagans” are the only ones who recognise that then, fine; sign me up.
When I was in Brazil we had a holiday from school sometime around September/October which was very much like Day of the Dead or All Hallow’s Eve/All Saints. I was on a bus to some other part of town and passed a graveyard and it was packed with people visiting their loved ones. All on the same day. Forget the date; it probaby *was* All Souls, actually.
Voodoo is an interesting combination of Catholocism and ancient superstitions. Although, in its case, it was born of the slave trade, rather than by missionaries.
Faeries are cool. I especially recommend sleeping in their spare bedroom. Most comfy.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
My allergies are seasonal and that has everything to do with my health and wellness but nothing to do with HVAC.
October 16th, 2006 at 5:57 am
Mel, I tried calling you, but your phone is not taking incoming calls….?
October 16th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Hey, Jenny…
I was gone over the week-end and my phone was stolen so I put a hold on the line…I’m trying to get it all sorted out now that I’m back…exciting times!
-Mel