The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

One of the nicest things about having an up close and personal relationship with my faerie friends is meeting others who travel the same magical path. The Fae it seems, just naturally attract others who share the same love of these ethereal winged creatures. My friends often tell me that they passed my house in the predawn mist and saw faeries dancing on my front lawn, or send a quick e-mail to ask me how to deal with a particularly moody pixie that keeps up ending all of their flower pots. As delightful as these beings from the realm can be, they do have a mischievous side.

Just recently, a good friend of mine introduced me to John Probst. John has just finished a book that Linda Biggs illustrated titled “Her Rainbow World”. You can read  the article about them here. Linda’s love of fantasy art comes through in her use of bright colors. It’s this use of colors that sets her apart from other faerie artists. Arial tells me that her friends love the colors (they remind them of the flowers, and some of the pictures even resemble their friends). John has a website where you can see a few of the illustrations from their book. I am still waiting for my copy…Marilyn?

This morning, as I was having my coffee, Arial was sitting on my shoulder (her usual place) and braiding the ends of my hair. I have never understood why she does this, I have just learned to accept the ways of the Fae and don’t ask.  Anyway, we are just sitting on the chaise lounge enjoying the summer morning and all of a sudden, she flips her wings once and shoots for the door squeaking  “Come, you must go to your computer machine.”

Like I said, I don’t even ask why. Faeries have an intuition that surpasses anything I have known. “Hold on Arial, I have to get the computer started.” I wasn’t really ready to start the day, but she was so insistent. After I had the computer running, I looked over at her and said “Okay, what am I looking for?” She smiled at me as she perched lightly on the edge of the monitor.

“The letters, look at your letters.” Arial is trying to understand the computer, but she has a hard time with the buzz words. “Do you mean my e-mail?”  Her smile broadened. “E-mail, that’s right, look at your e-mail. You will like it.” I couldn’t get my e-mail opened fast enough. Arial kept buzzing around my head. “Arial, please settle down, your flitting about is very distracting.”

Once I got the e-mail opened I saw at once what she had wanted me to see. Kat, a friend on LinkedIn, had sent me a note to introduce me to Patricia Saxton. Patricia has written a book entitled “A Book of Fairies”. I am looking forward to talking with Patricia more about the subject of faeries…wait a minute,  Arial is trying to get my attention. “Whats that? Arial reminded me that you can find Patricia’s book in her boutique.

I would encourage you to visit these sites and show your support of these writers and artists. To quote Arial, “Mortals who love faeries make the best friends!”

I felt a tangible shift as I stepped into the fairy ring. A soft breeze began to sweep through the meadow, it carried the sent of lavender and jasmine as it swirled around the circle. I heard the rustling of a thousand  faerie voices blowing on the breeze, soft at first, then growing louder. I spun around and peered into the gloomy recces of the tall pines looking for the whispered solicitations, then, In one gigantic explosion, the air was filled with faeries.

I couldn’t see Arial anymore, she was lost in the frenzy of the faerie celebration. At the edge of the clearing, fireflies flew in and out of the flowers on the bleeding heart bushes, making them glow a soft red, still others flickered like tiny yellow candles moving in and out of the shadows at the edge of the clearing. Mixing with the melodious voices of the faeries were the sounds of the night. Frogs and crickets added the counter point to their song.

The faeries circled and spun, diving in and out, their delicate wings fluttering through my hair. In an attempt to find Arial, I moved closer to the center, making sure not to step on any of the spiraling faeries. They were everywhere, flying on humming birds, and hiding behind flowers. I had been to the realm of the fae before but I had never seen so many different types of faeries, they were all shapes and sizes.

The rhythmic melodies of the faeries were becoming more enchanting and I found myself swaying with the magical music. I caught sight of Arial just as a legion of faeries  lifted me into the air. Normally I would have been unnerved by the sudden change of altitude, but the high pitched singing had filled my ears and I was caught up in the turbulent dance of Midsummer. It looked as if I were dancing with the stars themselves, whirling faster and faster until everything blurred together. I heard musical voices whispering to me to leave the mortal world behind.

The night passed into early morning and still we danced, twisting and leaping, until I felt as though I had merged with the fae. All memory of my mortal world was slowly seeping away. This is wonderful! I have no ties to hold me back, no responsibilities. I am grace and spontaneity! At this moment, I had given myself over completely to the faerie realm, I couldn’t even imagine going back.

I was so caught up in the euphoria of the moment that I hadn’t noticed Arial spinning close by. She had a look of understanding on her face. “Kind One, we must get back to the ivy hedge before the sun’s rays hit the meadow.”  I felt like cold water had been splashed in my face. In the east, the sky was beginning to show the first light of day. The celebration was already beginning to fade from my memory and I became aware that I was floating high above the ground.

“No Arial, I don’t want to go back, I’m one of the fae now, I’ve been invited!” Arial held her wand over her head in both hands and spoke in elvish. The wand began to glow as we slowly drifted back toward earth. Arial spoke, her words soft in my ear. “Hold out your hand.” Reluctantly, I gave in and held my hand forward. She waved her wand  and a small polished stone materialized in my upturned palm.

The stone was soft pink rose quartz that had a hole in the center. I watched as black cording twined around the stone then draped itself over my head so that the pendant hung over my heart. “This is beautiful Arial, thank you, but what do I do with it? Does this mean I can stay?”

Arial smiled. “The Fae need your help on the other side Kind One, your work and the people who love you are there. You are much to important to us to stay in the realm.”  She could see that I was having a hard time remembering. “Hold the stone up to your eye and look through it, you will understand better.”

I brought the crystal up to my eye and gazed through the center. The faeries I had been dancing with were fading into mist, their delicate hands reaching out for me. The last thing I saw was their large liquid eyes as the mist enveloped them completely. The scene was replaced with a picture of my backyard. My three Chihuahua’s were sniffing at the bottom of the ivy hedge and whining, then the scene dissolved.

I let the stone fall. “Arial, I remember! I must get home, what was I thinking? What time is it? How long have I been gone?” Arial’s countenance brightened, She held her wand up and waved it over my head just as the suns rays peeked through the pines. I held my hand up to shelter my eyes from the stabbing light and found myself standing in the shade of the old oak tree that grew by the wall of ivy marking the boundary between the faerie realm and my yard on the other side. Looking down I found Odette clinging to my ankle and thought that this was how we got here, but it seems so long ago now…

The mornings are cool in the summer, it’s the only time I can sit in the backyard and watch my faeries come and go through the portal in the ivy hedge. I’m sitting on the chaise loung and my thoughts come back to me as the memory of the Midsummer celebration fades. The wind chimes are blowing in the breeze and my little Edie is asleep on my lap. Arial is on my shoulder braiding my hair, and the gnomes, Warren and Odette are over in the garden trimming the chives

I turn my head to look at Arial. “You know what Arial? I really do love my backyard.”

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.

by Bill, guest blogger for today

My wife says the fairies call her the Kind One. Kind One, hummm. K.O. for short. In boxing K.O. means knock out. I guess that’s about right she’s always knocked me out. My KO, I think I’ll call her that from now on, it rolls off the tongue easy and is kind of fun. I don’t know what she is going to say, but unless she reacts with the boxing type of KO, I’m going to do it.

She says that the fairies told her that she has fairy blood and has descended from a line of enchanted royalty. That doesn’t surprise me either. She’s tall, on the slim side, and has a long graceful neck. That song that Jerry Lee Lewis used to sing where he said, “There’s nothing in the world like a long-necked girl, makes me feel so funny, makes me spend my money” is about right too. When you think about it nothing is more regal looking than a slender princess with a swan-like neck. Also, she has long auburn hair. It looks brown indoors, but in the sunlight the red glimmers through. Her eyes are green and again it’s in natural sunlight that you get the full effect. Ya,she still KO’s me.

She’s a strikingly beautiful Celtic lass. Going back many generations it isn’t inconceivable that with the way the Irish mixed it up with enchanted beings that she could have fairy blood after all. What is it that Shakespeare said? Oh, yeah “there are more things on heaven and earth , Horatio, than are dreamt of  in your philosophy.” Of course he was talking about ghosts and we’re discussing fairies. Fairies/ghosts, if you’ve got one, why not the other? And I do believe in ghosts I’ve had some up close and personal experiences with that lot. The ones I’ve met haven’t been been malicious, but still even the lost and confused ones can startle and unnerve you. Maybe I’ll tell you about them someday. If you really want to know and you ask nice.

I still don’t see the little critters, she insists that I do and that I just forget. Maybe she’s right, I do forget things sometimes. Just last week I gave her a birthday present a week early because I looked at the calendar wrong. I didn’t forget her birthday, I just remembered it early. I was forgiven because I picked out just the right thing.  Whew!

I may or may not see the fairies, but I am aware of KO’s comings and goings. I can look out the window and see her relaxing in the lounge on the patio, and the very next moment she’s gone. Sometimes I swear there is a quick golden shimmer left behind,  like when a photographer takes a picture with a flash, and it leaves that bright circle that stays in your vision for awhile. Yes, it is just like that.

I only tell you about this because that golden shimmer happened just this morning. When she gets back I’m sure she will write it down and we will all know about it.

When she returns from her travels in the fairy world she has these amazing tales to tell. She writes them down and I read them because I want to know where she is going and what is happening. Don’t you want to know what happens to the people you love too? Some of the stories scare me. She only wants to help the little darlings, but I’m afraid that harm might come to her by doing that. Without the fairy blood what could I do? Maybe we would have been better off if that darn portal was closed and closed permanently. I wonder if there is something I could do? Hummm.