The Fey realm

Magical creatures and people who exist on the edges of imagination and reality.

Puck

The Green Man

Like the Mother Goddess Image, the archetype of the Green Man is enduring and powerful . He appears as a leaf covered figure, and although seen as a pagan symbol oddly occurs most often in churches. The small leafy face is often tucked away in small carvings on the ceiling, probably nearly unnoticed by those good Christians below. He was often shown as a head only surrounded by leaves, or indeed with them fountaining from his mouth. He is a symbol of fertility and luck, and was probably put there by masons wanting to hedge their bets. He appears in many European cultures in various guises, in Germany he is Blattqesicht, in France le Feuillou, and in Greece his counterpart is Dionysus god of vegetation, wine and divine rapture.
This pagan divinity of rebirth, and the cycle of nature, has metamorphosed as others have. In the Arthurian cycle he became the deathless Green Knight that tormented Sir Gawain. His pact with the knight involved the removing of heads which he could endure perfectly well, and certainly much better than poor old Gawain.
The Green Man is the name given to one of the strongest forces of nature, that made primitive man aware of his own mortality. Perhaps knowing there is a cycle to all things made it easier for him, much as it does to us today.

The Morrigan

The sound of a raven's call over the battlefield was once enough to send fear into even the most fearsome of warriors- for such a sound could only mean that the Morrigan, The Phantom Queen was abroad.
The Morrigan was either a single deity, or could be part of a trio- like many other Celtic deities. Macha and Badb were often her companions in this triumvirate, meaning respectively 'battle' and 'fury'. She was a powerful, and fickle goddess though- for she could both doom and bless. As one of the Tuatha De Danan she helped overthrow the Firbolgs, but also later she caused the death of Erin's greatest hero Cú Chulainn. She had many forms either appearing as the crow hovering over the battlefield, or the Washer at the Ford, who washed the bloody clothing of those doomed to die in oncoming battler- or even occasionally as the beautiful young maid, who through her sex could bring success. Before the battle that secured Eiren for the Tuath De Danan, she slept with the mighty Dagda, and aided him in combat. So she had the power of both death and life in her hands- both sides of the same coin- perhaps why she was so feared.
But even a goddess can be influenced by love. And when Morrigan met the mighty Cú Chulainn, she lost herself, and offering up herself to him more than probably expected him to be delighted. Unfortunately the hero was not so clever and did not recognise who she was. Morrigan like many other spurned women, turned a little nasty at this point, condemning his wife Emer to remain childless. She appeared as the Washer of the Ford to him, and then finally forced him to break his geas, never to eat the flesh of a dog. Thus Cú Chulainn was condemned to die.
Try reading Morgan Llewlyn's "On Raven's Wing" for a magnificent tale about the Hound of Ulster and the Great Queen.

The Art of Froud

If ever one man has captured the essence of the Still Folk, it is Brian Froud. He has produced several beautiful books on the subject, as well as working on two of my favourite movies The Dark Cyrstal and Labyrinth.
His wife Wendy does beautiful fairy sculptures, and also worked on the same movies. Heck their son Toby was the baby in Labyrinth- what a talented family.
If you want a visual peek into the unseen realm this is the place to go. Click on the lady Shidhe to visit Froud's world.

Or click here to see their fantastic Winter Child. (1.7Mb)




©Brian Froud