The Ties That Bind ➵➵➵ Chapter 1 .................

On, 6/24/1214 the Fairy World merged with the Mortal World ...and one Fairy started a chain reaction that we can only now reveal. After 7 x 7 & hundreds of years my sentence of silence has finally been lifted. There's no telling who we'll will run into! I did tried to leave you a lot of clues over the last seven years and intervene; but I constantly came up against those Gandraíocht (Gaelic for non-magical) folks - (pronounced Gone-dree-ucked)  but on 6/24/2014 the ban on speaking of those fateful events has been lifted.  

Today!  #InternationalFairyDay 6/24/14; the date my sentence of silence has finally been lifted!

Now, I only have 1 year to tell the whole tale. Will we succeed? Dr. Seuss said "it's 98 and ¾ percent guaranteed." Those are pretty good odds, but things can go wrong and as you'll see ➵ even the best thought out plans can go awry. 

It all started around 1214 or there about; with a kindred Sprite, named Menrva. A Sprite is derived from the Latin word spiritus meaning Fairies, Elves, and sometimes even Ghosts...so be prepared the trail can be Fairy Tale Wicked, scary, generally bad/evil or USA/Massachusetts wicked, which is by the way ➵ very, very, very good!

It's also good to remember that history has a way of repeating itself and breaking that cycle is no small feat.

Our tale starts, ooh about 400 years before the crusades but of significance is the chain reaction started about 700 years ago; by a Fairy named Menrva and she was truly a fairy, named after the goddess Minerva; due to their similar strengths.  

Menrva lived for 100's of years before becoming enamored with a mere man and when she did he was from the Scottish Clan MacLeod (pronounced McCloud) whose seat is at Donvegan Castle on the Island of Skye in Scotland. I have visited and I must impart that to this day it is truly lovely, with the ocean often roaring off the cliffs, magic seems to hover in the air from the lovely gardens that surround it and it has been the stronghold and inhabited by Macleod’s Chiefs for the last 800 or so years.

Our fairy, Menrva, fell in love with a Macleod Chief, for all the wisdom and magic she herself was capable of; she couldn't help herself when it came to defending this man & his clan. With their do or die motto "HOLD FAST" their crest depicting a bull of course. This could also imply their determination to hold the rock and not just mere stubbornness.  Menrva was simply drawn to a human man, her heart told her she must claim him for her own and it seemed he was equally in love with her. 

However, the Fairy King wouldn't hear of allowing one of his own subjects marrying a common human man.

Menrva, knowing how little time men had in the world, was severely distressed; but crafty in nature and determined she used her gift of wisdom to persuade the King to allow her some time with her one and only true love. 

That Fairy King was a dodgy old goat; but in the end he agreed to allow her a "HandFasting" Ceremony - with a catch of course. At the end of one year, she was to return to her kinfolk and take nothing human with her. But Menrva, knew her love would last and that her beloved would defend her and marry her.  Especially, if she bore a child and that would be her defiance in the face of a heartless King.

By the way, "HandFasting", was an ancient custom in the Isles that allowed a man to take a maiden as his wife and keep her for the space of a year without actually marrying her.  If he was pleased with her, he married her at the end of the year and legitimatized any children they had. However, if he didn't love her or wasn't as pleased as he thought he should be... he turned her out, and sent her back to her kinfolk.

You may be surprised, but this type of barbaric situation went on until 1939; when the Scotland Marriage Act - reform it and no longer recognized this cruel and crude arrangement! Sorry, I drifted; some of the things you remember just make you mad.

Back to the happy couple, they lived in harmony, the clan adored their Chiefs bride to be and nine months later Menrva and her beloved Scot bore a son. 

Mother's are a special breed they will do anything for their children; they just love them forever and ever and ever, no matter what! Menrva was just like the Mother in that book  Love You Forever:                           ⇓                                       

“I’ll love you forever,

I’ll like you for always,

As long as I’m living

My baby you’ll be.”

Menrva's love for son was not measurable and as her year arrangement neared its end, she felt the powers that be, pulling her back.  Fairy's have this one very good quality they are unable to lie! But it was the also the Flaw in her plan - and it was killing her; because part of that deal was that she could take nothing human with her and her son was ½ human.  

On June 24, the couple parted ways at the now, pretty famous - Fairy Bridge

 

Pic. AlexBrn

As, Menrva and her Scot struggled to part ways so she could cross the bridge back into the Fairy Realm,  Menrva faltered just as their finger tips almost parted and turned to clutched her Chief. Looking deeply into his tear filled eyes; she made him promise that her son would be well cared for and NEVER allowed to cry! She claimed that the sound of his cries would cause her grief beyond measure! Even in the fairy realm, she would always be watching over him. The young Chief promised and the youngest MacLeod was never left for want or unattended until... 

The Clan and their Chief grieved over the loss of their beloved Fairy. And became increasingly worried about their chief, the Clan thought a Festival, to celebrate the Chief's upcoming Birthday would help lighten the gray mist that hung over the Isle of Skye. 

   Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye 

The Festival turned out to be a grand event and last well into the night with high spirits, music, food, games and dancing! It was so joyous that it could be heard for miles.

Meanwhile, the young nursemaid who was watching over our wee little Scot thought he had finally drifted off to sleep. So after her 3rd story to him; and hearing the festivities, she crept out to a nearby balcony to watch the celebrations and in her phantasy, she didn't hear the baby wake up or his cries.  

Menrva however heard her child's cries in the fairy realm and faster than a comet she was at his side and as she picked him up, she sooth his brow with a gentle kiss and whispers of home. Singing that lullaby to him and adding in a new line; "I will love you forever and ever beyond the stars and infinity; and protect you and yours until we meet again"...and she cradled him and rocked him back and forth, back and forth lulling him to sleep, wrapped snugly in her fairy shawl, Still singing the lullaby, knowing that her magic now had been limited to three (3) major events.

Meanwhile, the maid having thought she heard a lovely serenade coming from inside the castle, returned to see who was singing. As she passed her wards room; she realized the singing was coming from within. Her heart started to beat in a urgent and unnatural way and she rushed into the room where she immediately scooped up her charge; wrapped in a golden shawl with small Celtic Crosses and red dots, that she didn't recognize; the singing continued but she couldn't find its source and rushed from the room to tell the Chief what had happened.  

Menrva's, son grew into a young man he told his father what his mother had whispered to him on that night so long ago.  Expressing that the shawl was a gift for him and his clan and that his mother's magic was intrinsically weaved into the fiber; ensuring that if they should ever find themselves in mortal danger, they need only wave the flag three times and the fairy realm would come to their aid. 

There are now so many foggy myths written about that shawl and its significance (◐.̃◐) and you should know that the truth is always hidden in plain sight.    

Yes, the shawl is made of a golden and very rare silk spun before the crusades; but if you look around the Isle of Skye you'll notice a Celtic influence; hence the Celtic Crosses were inlaid to signify that Fairy's, like the energy symbolized in a Celtic Cross do not recognize linear time (scientists of our time have validated this) and it's humans who experience the unfolding mystery of life looking to the future. These began to disappear once the clan used the flag in a battle against the MacDonald’s, only lasting as long as they were needed to ensure peace between the two clans. 

The red spots were a mix of Rowan and Lady Bugs. Lady bugs because they bring luck and devour plant-destroying pests that can destroy crops. 

The mix of Rowan Berries, noted by Sir Walter Scott in his diary in 1814, is true as well. The Rowan trees are now all but lost to Britain, but they still thrive in Donvegan's well kept gardens.  The trees were left by Menrva, so the birds could eat the berries, as long as they continued to converse with her and other fairies about news of this world; the tress would remain. Menrva also, left them in the shawl for her son and his heirs because of its magical properties such as warding off witches, protection from evil sorcerers and honestly the list goes on... But when the flag was once again used by the clan for a famine that affected their fields and live stock; they to disappeared. 

Magic has its limits. Thus, this protection could only be used three times. And oddly enough, whoever waves it the third time will return with the flag to where it had originally come from. The Chief at once knew the young son was telling the truth and that the flag had to be kept safe. 

The Flag, as I pointed out above is reputed to have been waived twice to date.  Sources say it was used once when the Macleod's were vastly outnumbered by their bitter enemies the MacDonald's. Sensing defeat was upon him, the MacLeod Chief took the flag and waved it three times. As promised, aid came to the Macleod's and the battle suddenly turned in favor of the MacLeod's, turning back the MacDonald's when it appeared that scores of reinforcement where coming in to back them up. A second time the land and crops were destroyed by a plague and the clan's kinsmen were dying of starvation. The chief again raised the flag and the Fairies returned to bring the land, crops and cattle back to life.

The next time, it is used the user will disappear with whatever is left of the flag and the MacLeod's will have to fend for themselves. However, that may never happen because the Flag still radiates some magic, even if just in the form of holding onto a picture of it; which adds to its tatter shape. 

  The ripped and tattered Fairy Flag, Photographed before 1924.

MacLeod's believe wholeheartedly in the legend; documentation of World War II servicemen, who carried a picture of the flag in their wallets all, came home after defending Scotland and Britain’s shores; during the Battle of Britain. Once source said: "The Chief of the clan offered to bring the flag to Dover to wave at the Germans should they attempt to invade."

The flag is still safe in Dunvegan Castle on the Isle Skye; for how long remains the mystery.

Magic is never passed - to be held onto by humans without a heavy price; even when one of those humans is ½ fairy.  Menrva only had a few months to spend with her son. Perhaps if she knew the chain reaction she would cause; she may have chosen differently.  

There is a saying that the iniquity of parents will not be passed down to their children; while right & just it just doesn't always appear to be the case.

I am a descendant of the MacLeod's and a Fairy and I do believe the legend; because I have experienced the price and it doesn't end here as some fanciful tale,the sage takes on new shapes.

I will share more with you soon, dodging the forces that intervene and perhaps skipping over a few century's to get us closer to today. As you, your-self move toward H.E.A.; I need you to keep asking questions, the answers are out there and I want you to have Fairy Tale Access!  

See You Soon

Ћ ℋead ℱairy