Guest Author - Deanna Joseph

Otherworldly beings, known as fairies, inhabit all the wild places of the earth. From the tops of the tallest mountains, to the depths of the oceans, fairies survive and thrive in many different forms.

Many tales have been told of the fairies of the water, for this is a realm largely unknown to mankind. The water is dark and mysterious, and imagination fills in the gaps between the peculiar and the unknown creating tales that bring but a vague understanding of the world beneath the waves.

One of the most frightening of these water spirits is the great Kelpie. The Kelpie is a shape-shifting spirit and one of his forms is that of a beautiful white horse. In this form, the Kelpie is irresistible to mortals, and they find themselves drawn to ride this beautiful steed. When the Kelpie gets a rider he takes them into his enchanted underwater kingdom to remain his prisoner forever.

The Kelpie can also appear as a handsome young man when he wishes to win the love of a maiden. This is easily done for he will shed a tear and she will be drawn to wipe it from his cheek. This is an enchanted tear, and she will find herself in love with him for all time unless she sees him in his true form, which is a pale silvery horse with seaweed for a mane and tail. Of course, this may prove to be difficult as he only appears in his true form at sunset, but if she discovers his true identity, the enchantment will be broken and her heart free once again. The Kelpie, whose heart will be broken, will return to his underwater kingdom to lament over the loss of his true love.

The Selkie is another shape-shifting fairy of the water. She appears as a seal, yet can remove her seal cloak to dance upon the sand. Selkies make wonderful wives, and many a mortal man dreams of capturing a Selkie wife. To do this though, he must steal her seal cloak while she is dancing in her human form and keep it hidden from her for all time. If she ever finds her cloak, no matter how strong her love for her mortal husband, she will return to the sea.

Sirens are the beautiful, but deadly, maidens of the water. They sing enchanting songs that are so hypnotic that any sailor who hears them will sure meet his death.

What messages do these fairies of the water have for us? Is the Kelpie trying to tell us of the mystery of our own sub-conscious mind and of our great need to discover our own inner secrets? Is the Selkie trying to tell us that if we discover our inner light that the marriage between our soul and physical body can become complete? Is the sirens’ message for us that sometimes hearing these inner messages can bring about a transformation, or a death of sorts?

As dark and mysterious as our own subconscious, the fairies of the water bring our deepest fears to the surface. When the light of day shines full upon them, they are never as frightening as we once thought.