Some of you may be wondering why I write so much about fairies.
That would be because I have fairy blood.
That might seem crazy but it’s true.
First of all, I’ve always suspected there was magic running through my veins, so I was hardly surprised when I found out I actually was a descendant of the fairies. I performed as Peasblossom in Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe in LA and I met some wonderful people and most importantly, my best friend, Kim. So there, the fairy magic started.
A few years later, Kim and I went to Scotland. We researched my family tree and found out my ancestors had a castle on the Isle of Skye. We visited the castle and on the wall was a huge frame encasing a very tattered piece of middle eastern silk from the 4th century. I asked the little old lady about the piece. She said it was called the “Fairy Flag” and it had protected the clan for centuries. She said in the old days, the clan carried the flag into battle, and even in the last world war, clan members carried pictures of it as protection.
Legend has it the flag was sewn and imbued with protective magic by a real fairy. Many moons ago, one of the chiefs of the clan fell in love with and married a fairy. They had a fairy baby that was spirited away by the other fairies. To this day, they say, the fairies dance on the bridge at night.
This all made so much sense to me. I stared at the tattered and torn piece of ivory silk, mended many times over with thick red thread. I wondered about the hands that had made it, and the hands that had carried it in battle. Were they scared, or confident? Were they shaking, sweaty, peaceful, powerful? And what was the person wearing? What did they look like? Smell like? What sounds did they awaken to every morning? How did they like the long Scottish winters in a drafty castle?
I love letting my imagination run away with me. History is one of my favorite subjects. I roamed the halls of that castle, hoping to see an old portrait of one of my ancestors flaunting their shimmering wings.
Alas, no such luck. But I have to say, I have owned many a pair of fairy wings over the years, and they have brought a lot of joy to the children I work with. They are totally tickled by the sight of a grown woman coming to teach them dance wearing a tutu and fairy wings. “Ah, one of us,” they think, and if nothing else, they know they can be as foolish as they wish and I’ll jump right in and be foolish too.
As the old proverb says, “We are fools whether we dance or not, so we may as well dance.”
Even better if we wear fairy wings while we do it.
