November 26, 2024 • 30 mins
http://forbiddenknowledge.org
Ever wondered how Scottish fairy tales intertwine with the legendary tales of King Arthur? Unearth the mystique of these tales as we uncover the enchanting connections between the fay and figures like Morgan le Fay. With a captivating story from Donald Alexander McKenzie's "Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend," we explore the astonishing journey of a woman who gains the ability to see spirits. This episode promises a magical exploration of the fairy tradition's recurring influence on legends both ancient and modern.
Journey with us into the otherworld, where fate, folklore, and mythology weave a rich tapestry of mystery and transformation. We'll meet a mysterious woman in green, a symbol of nature and abundance, who brings forth a tale of hospitality and destiny. Through the symbolism of new clothes, delicious cakes, and alchemical metaphors, we'll discover how these elements reflect ancient customs, beliefs, and the fascinating link between the earthly and celestial realms.
The concept of second sight takes center stage as we explore its presence across various mythological traditions. Tales of magical transformation, such as Taliesin's enlightenment and the vision granted by a fairy's touch, highlight the dual nature of mystical experiences. We'll delve into initiation rites and their symbolic gifts, reflecting on how these narratives connect to broader themes like ancestor worship. Join us as we unravel the complexities of fairy folklore, inviting you to appreciate these timeless stories that continue to captivate and inspire.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome back to the Forbidden Knowledge
Podcast.
My name is NathanielHoyt-Macher and I will be the
show's host.
Last time we were talking aboutthe elucidation and the
Arthurian myth and tradition andthe fairy accord or the fairy
agreement or something alongthose lines with it, depending
upon how you want to look at it.
And I've been studying moreabout this tradition since then,
(00:27):
meaning specifically the fey orthe fairies or the fair folk or
the good people as they'recalled in various different
traditions and whatnot, and lasttime I kind of uh made it so
that way they were seen assomething similar to elves in my
mind at that particular point,and I still hold that that is a
(00:48):
loosely true idea at this stageof my research and to things
with it.
Today, I thought I would go andshowcase what I've been doing.
I'm going to pull from a veryparticular story.
It's a Scottish fairy tale andI'm just going to read it.
It's not very long, I thinkit's like two and a half three
(01:11):
pages long, something like thatand then I'm going to be going
over what some of the stuffmeans inside of the fairy tale
in order to help us understandthis tradition better.
In order to help us understandthis tradition better, because
obviously they're going to keeppopping up again and again,
meaning the fairies, that is, orthe fair folk or the fae, or
(01:34):
whatever, inside the Arthurianmyth and tradition, because we
even have, where we haveArthur's sister, morgan le Fae
Morgan the Fairy, as I mentionedbefore, le Fay, morgan the
Fairy, as I mentioned before.
So this is something that isgoing to continuously be a huge
returning point inside of thestories and myths, legends and
traditions and lore.
(01:55):
So we need to make sure that weunderstand how this aspect
works, what they represent a bitbetter and whatnot, and I'm
going to continue to look moreinto it than just what I'm
presenting here.
But I figured this would be agood introduction to the
research and what has been goingon with it and how it dovetails
with other things I've alreadyresearched before and have been
(02:18):
looking into, and so, withoutfurther ado, I'm going to pull
from the story now.
So we're going to be pullingfrom a book by Donald Alexander
McKenzie which was compiled orpublished in 1917, which means
that everything that I'm readingif I'm reading it word for word
(02:40):
is now in the public domain.
The book is entitled WonderTales from Scottish Myth and
Legend and we're going to bepulling from chapter nine.
Chapter nine is called A Visionof the Dead and we'll see why
it's entitled that as we gofurther into the story here, for
(03:01):
what's going on.
And so, without further ado,I'm just going to begin reading
into the story here, for what'sgoing on, and so, without
further ado, I'm just going tobegin reading there.
Once dwelt in Nisdale a womanwho was enabled by fairy aid to
see the spirits of the dead inthe other world.
This was how it came about.
One day she sat up spinningwool in her house.
(03:22):
Her baby lay in a cradle besideher, listening to the soft
humming sound of the spinningwheel and her mother's sweet
song.
Suddenly a rustling like therustling of dead leaves in the
wind was heard at the door.
The woman looked up and saw abeautiful lady clad in green and
(03:42):
carrying a baby.
She entered and, smilingsweetly, spoke and said will you
nurse my Bonnie baby until Ireturn?
The woman answered yes, I shalldo that.
She took the baby in her armsand the lady went away,
promising to return.
But the day went past and nightcame on and still she did not
(04:05):
come back for the child.
The woman wondered greatly.
But she wondered even more thenext morning when she awoke to
find beside her bed beautifulnew clothes for her children and
in the new clothes, and todefined that they fitted well.
Excuse me, I misread.
(04:31):
There Morning she woke to findbeside her bed beautiful new
clothes for her children andsome delicious cakes.
Being very poor, she was gladto dress her children in the new
clothes and defined that theyfitted well.
The cakes were of wheaten breadand a honey flavor.
It was a great delight to thechildren to eat them.
The lady did not return thatday, nor the next.
(04:55):
Weeks went past and the womannursed the strange child.
Months went past and still thelady stayed away.
Months went past and still thelady stayed away.
On many a morning wheaten cakeswith honey flavor were found in
the house.
When the children's clotheswere nearly worn out, new
(05:20):
clothing was provided for them.
As mysteriously as before.
Summer came on and one eveningthe lady clad in green again
entered the house.
A child who was playing on thefloor stretched forth her hands
to grasp the shining silverspangles that adorned her gown.
(05:41):
But to her surprise her handspassed through them as if they
were sunbeams.
The woman perceived this andknew that her visitor was a
fairy, said the fairy lady, youhave been kind to my Bonnie baby
.
I will now take her away.
The woman was sorry to partwith the child and said you have
a right to her, but I love herdearly.
Said the fairy, come with meand I shall show you my home.
(06:09):
The woman went outside with thefairy.
They walked through a woodtogether and then began to climb
a green hill on the sunny side.
When they were halfway to thetop, the fairy said something
that the woman did notunderstand.
No sooner had she spoken thanthe turf on a bank in front of
them lifted up and revealed adoor.
(06:30):
This door opened and twoentered through the doorway.
When they did so, the turf camedown and the door was shut.
The woman found herself in abare chamber which was dimly
lighted.
Now you shall see my home, saidthe fairy woman, who took from
(06:51):
her waistband a gobletcontaining a green liquid.
She dropped three drops of thisliquid in the woman's left eye
and said look.
Now.
The woman looked and was filledwith wonder.
A beautiful country stretchedout in front of her there, the
green hills fringed by trees,crystal streams flashing in
(07:16):
sunlight and a lake that shonelike burnished silver.
Between the hills there lay afield of ripe barley.
The fairy then dropped threedrops of the liquid green in the
woman's right eye and said looknow.
The woman looked and she sawmen and women that she had known
(07:37):
in times past cutting thebarley and gathering fruit from
the trees.
She cried out I see many whoonce lived on earth and have
long been dead.
What are they doing here, saidthe fairy.
These people are sufferingpunishment for their evil deeds.
When she had spoken thus, thefairy woman passed her hand over
(07:58):
the woman's eye and the visionof the green hills and harvest
fields and reapers vanished atonce.
She found herself standing oncemore in the bare, dimly lighted
chamber.
Then the fairy gave her giftsof cloth and healing ointments
and, leading her to the door,bade her farewell.
The door opened, the turf waslifted up and the woman left the
(08:21):
fairy's dwelling and returnedto her own home.
For a time she kept the powerof the fairies, of seeing the
fairies, excuse me, as they wentto and fro near her house.
But one day she spoke to one ofthem and the fairy asked With
which eye do you see me?
I said the woman I see withboth my eyes.
The fairy breathed on her eyesthen was lost to sight.
(08:47):
Never again did the womanbehold the fairies, for the
power that had been given to herwas taken away from her eyes by
this fairy to whom she hadspoken.
All right, so there's lots tounpack here, lots of very
interesting material if you knowwhat you're looking for and how
(09:07):
to understand it.
So, first thing it talks about,you know the place where it is
Nithsdale, which is in Scotland.
So clearly there's you know,gaelic, ancient Celtic, whatever
tradition here in which thisoriginated from, ancient Celtic,
whatever tradition here inwhich this originated from.
And we're talking about a questfor the other world and even
(09:28):
mentions that the spirits of thedead in the other world and
this is how the entry of thestory begins here then explains
how it came about.
There's the woman, the earthlywoman.
She sit there with the spinningof the wool in her house.
This is already telling a lot,because we call it the strands
(09:49):
of fate, the threads of fate.
Spinning and weaving of fateand whatnot has always been that
particular way for what it is.
We see this with her spinningwheel that she's doing and
whatnot.
We have the wheel of fortune,the wheel of fate, the wheel in
the sky that keeps on turning,all these similar concepts for
(10:13):
what's going on, the millstonewheel that grinds everything,
these are all shout outs to thatparticular concept that's
happening there on thatparticular concept.
That's happening there on thatparticular front, and you know,
we see all of that.
So that's something to keep inmind.
It's already laying thefoundations having to do with
fate and consciousness and whathappens on that particular front
(10:36):
.
That was there.
Suddenly we see the rustling ofdead leaves in the wind and she
heard at the door.
So now we have the air elementthat's being drawn about here,
all right.
So we have that as we see thishere, when that part comes in,
(10:58):
and then she sees a beautifullady, all right, clad in green
and carrying a baby.
So there's a beautiful womanand she's clad in green, the
color of nature, the color ofabundance, the color of anything
that has to do with with, youknow, green, and I mean being
evergreen and, um, livingforever or whatever, and that
(11:22):
kind of stuff.
We see this with the green manas another example for what's
going on in other myths andtraditions, which plays out in
another tradition with sirgawain and the beheading game
shout out to that particular onewill be there too.
So you know.
This woman then enters in,smiling sweetly, and she so you
(11:44):
know.
This woman then enters in,smiling sweetly, and she speaks
will you nurse my Bonnie babyuntil I return?
And of course, the woman'sanswer yes, that should do that.
This may seem like a verystrange request to someone of
today, but back then villageswere too tiny, things were very
different from how they are.
Hospitality was an absolutelyhuge part of things with that.
We saw that being talked abouteven last time with the, you
(12:05):
know, people coming to the wellsand getting the cups from them
and being fed their favoritefood and whatnot, until the
fairy accords were broken.
So hospitality was absolutely ahuge part of the these cultures
that were going on, especiallyfor strangers, and it was just
expected to have certain thingsdone with it and a certain level
(12:25):
of trust for things, for what'shappening, and so that part
there is talking about thatparticular aspect of things in
order for us to understand whythis would just be there for
what it is.
It's not something that'sunusual at all for this time
period, for when these storiesoriginated.
(12:47):
So she takes the child.
The lady went promising toreturn, all right, so we see all
that.
So the woman wondered greatlywhat was happening when she
didn't come back for it.
And of course, you see, thenext morning when she woke to
find herself, you know, newclothes for her children and
delicious cakes.
This is letting us know about acouple things, or what's going
(13:11):
on here.
We see that there's food that'sleft out.
This is typically what has beendone in traditions by the folk
people, uh, and and folkloretraditions, in order to make it
so that way.
They do this to appease thespirits and to appease people
with it.
They leave food out for them.
In this case, it's some sort ofsweet, delicious cake that's
(13:32):
being left for the children.
Instead, it's just a reflex ofthis notion in the story.
It's the same concept, it'sjust being reversed for how it's
being played out.
The story it's the same concept, it's just being reversed for
how it's being played out.
As for the new clothes, this issomething that plays out with
other things, with the threadsof fate, the strands of fate,
the creating of new clothing.
(13:53):
This was something that wasvery traditional for women to do
for long, long periods of timemaking their own clothes and
making their own stuff, forwhat's going on for the children
and that kind of stuff.
So it's a play on that as welland kind of shaping the destiny
of the children by what they'rewearing and the different phases
of their life, which is why newones pop up as the old ones get
(14:15):
worn out and the children getolder and that kind of thing.
For what's going on.
It even mentions that monthswent past and still the lady
stayed away.
Of course it keeps going onabout that.
Then, you know, summer comes andone evening the lady clad in
(14:36):
green again entered the house,entered the house, and it also
talks about how this child is astrange child and that there is
something that's very specialabout this which actually gets
into the notion of the wondrouschild, which is something that a
scholarly term that has to dowith the Celtic child and being
(14:58):
that is unique of some sort,usually male, not always.
In this case it's a femalechild that we learn about for
what's going on there, and it istalking about how this is some
being that has some otherworldlypowers and otherworldly
understanding of things, andthere's something unique about
this particular individual thatis not true for the vast
(15:21):
majority of other people andother places and time periods
for what's going on there.
So they have that.
That's talking about stuff too.
You talk, we see, about silverbangles, spangles, excuse me,
that's important.
So you have silver, so you havesilver, and then you have, you
(15:48):
know, being going through,passing through as if they were
sunbeams.
So not only does this do twothings, because it's the silver
and gold concept, preciousmetals, possibly an alchemical
metaphor, moving things from alower state of being to a higher
state of being, moving thingsfrom a lower state of being to a
higher state of being, thenotion of alchemical wedding
(16:14):
between the sun and the moon,the silver representing the moon
and the gold representing thesun, which is also why it's
called sun beams.
But there's also another shoutout here, another reference to
the shining ones, as they'reknown in many traditions for
what's going on and that thereare luminous beings that are
being here and that's what isbeing spoken of.
So then the fairy lady comes,takes the child away back to her
(16:41):
realm, where the child belongsUsually.
By the way also, these wondrouschilds are part.
They part otherworldly, beingto begin with a mixture of human
and something of the otherworld and whatnot.
So we're talking about fairiesin this particular instance.
Obviously it's of the faith forwhat's going on here and
(17:02):
whatnot.
So we're talking about fairiesin this particular instance.
Obviously it's of the fae forwhat's going on here.
So then we see that the womanis going to be given something
in return for helping with thechild and doing things with that
for a long time.
They walk through a wood andthen they climb a hill.
They're on the sunny side ofthe hill.
So the illuminated part, ratherthan the non-illuminated part,
(17:26):
which is the play between lightand darkness, here is another
notion for what's going on.
It's also the mentioning ofOcean's Return by nightfall and
then passing of the day, backand forth.
It's also a play on that.
Then they went halfway to thetop.
The fairy woman says somethingthat she did not understand so
(17:50):
clearly she hasn't beeninitiated into higher levels of
understanding that the fairywoman is about to show her no
sooner had she spoken to theturf on the bank in front of
them lifted up and revealed adoor, so a portal, a pathway to
the other world, the world wherethe dead reside, the world
(18:14):
where the fairy folk reside.
So they open through it andthen they shut the door.
Now they're in completedarkness.
This is important to part forwhat's going on.
If you shut the turf door,clearly there's nothing inside
for what's going on.
You're now completely encasedin the earth, which gives us
(18:38):
mother earth a concept and beingthere from womb to tomb for
everything that it provides forus.
We'll play and go into thatconcept a lot more later on, but
just know that that's what'sbeing talked about here as well
in terms of certain aspects,that this is a initiation into
(18:59):
the initiation into the occultmysteries that are happening
here, and this is the remnantsof it passed down in folklore.
She even mentioned that it wasdimly lighted.
Then the fairy woman says nowyou shall see my home, and she
(19:22):
took from her waistband a gobletcontaining a green liquid.
So we see goblet again.
It's the same thing with thechalice from the tradition that
we're talking about, with theArthurian myth and legend, which
is partly why it shows this,because clearly there's
something here and more to it,and the green liquid has its own
(19:45):
meaning which I'm not entirelycertain of yet.
I've heard from othertraditions more of the red gold
idea, which I'm more familiarwith, idea which I'm more
familiar with um.
So I'll have to look into whatthat deeper meaning is, why the
color green there could justrepresent the same notion as
before of the evergreen tree, uhand whatnot, and making it so
(20:09):
that way that it holds likeeternal life on that particular
uh front with it, just like thepine trees, and evergreen trees
never lose their leaves duringwintertime.
Could be something like thatCould be.
I don't know for certain,though.
So, of course, the woman in thestory.
She's now filled with wonderand she sees a beautiful country
(20:32):
stretched out in front of her.
So she's I'm sorry I skippedsomething that's important the
fairy.
She goes and drops three dropsinto her eye, specifically her
left eye, and makes it so thatway she can see.
By doing so, she can now seeanother world in front of her.
(20:56):
So she has now gained thesecond sight, as it is called in
many traditions, allowing youto see other planes of existence
that didn't exist before, thatyou were unaware of, in another
book and another tradition.
For what's going on?
You have what happens withTaliesin, and you have where he
(21:22):
is helping out this goddess andhe's in front of a cauldron and
he's supposed to be helpstirring it, and then,
eventually that particularcauldron has, where it's boiling
up out of things with it, andit makes it so that way from
there's when he gainsillumination and he gains all
(21:44):
this insight into the world andthings that he was never
supposed to know, and originallyit wasn't for him, at least
according to the tradition, itwas supposed to be for somebody
(22:07):
else.
And then there's a wholeanother part that goes on to the
story, for what's going on now.
The reason why I'm bringingthis up is because this is a
direct, a direct shout out tothat particular tradition.
There's also another one thathas to do a slightly different
way that it's been formulated,but it's still pretty much the
same concept.
So this is an Indo-Europeanconcept for sure, at a minimum,
(22:29):
and obviously there are othertraditions that have this goblet
slash, chalice like thing.
It's in sumerian tradition andit's also in the ancient
egyptian tradition, neither ofwhich are indo-european.
So it's something that's morethan just the indo-european, but
obviously it's a hugeindo-european influence.
And what we see is is that thereare three wells and inside of
(22:54):
these wells that are done in thenordic tradition, you need to
drink from each one of them andeach one gives you a certain
level of illumination andwhatnot, and that makes it so
that way.
Odin eventually gets to seethings with it, and one of the
wells he has to cast his eyeinto it in order to get it from
mimir's Brunner.
(23:15):
That's what it's called thewell of Mimir, the well of
memory, which gets us to thenext part, for what's happening
of this particular story as well, and another understanding of
it, which is that there's memory.
You have to be able to rememberthese particular events that
you're seeing on the other sidefor what's happening here, and,
(23:40):
of course, we learn later on inthe story that this is taken
away.
So in the traditions and thisis true of the greek traditions
as well as, like the orphicmystery traditions also bring up
this concept of having multiplewells or multiple cauldrons, or
multiple ways of drinkingthings with it, and so it shows
(24:03):
a duplicitous nature that goesdown the side with it, with one
leading to life, the other oneleading to death, and that makes
it so that way, or to a loss ofmemory and not remembering
anything and just going back tothe regular world without it.
So you have one fairy, one sideof it that shows the goodness
of their hearts and whatnot,because of what was done.
(24:24):
You made it so that way theycould go and see again.
She got to see the realm, shegot to see the realm of the dead
, she got to see where the fairylive and all this other stuff,
for what's going on?
She's even told that some ofthem are there because of the
misdeeds that they did the baddeeds in their life.
Um, you have eventually, though, where the fairy encounters
(24:49):
another fairy that's a negativefairy, one that doesn't want her
to see these things, and it'staken away and she loses the
sight.
So it's showing that in theseinitiation rites, in these
aspects that are going on there,that there's always the chance
that you can lose it and neverfully recover from it and not
(25:12):
remember everything that wasthat way in the stories.
Recover from and not remembereverything that was that way in
the stories.
You see this with otter, andnordic traditions as well.
To make it so that way he candrink from kind of a hag-like
person that's on the other sidewith it, and then there's also
freya, the goddess freya, who'sbringing that to her.
(25:34):
So you have a giantess that'scalled Hindla and you have that
on the other side with thegoddess Freya, and so he can
choose to remember everythingthat was taught to him on that
side of things and make it so hecan bring back that knowledge
to this physical plane ofexistence, this physical plane
(25:57):
of existence, or he can lose itall and either not remember
anything at all or, in somecases, even lead to death and
desolation and destruction.
Um, I think what this is alsoplaying at is that you can
literally make it some way bydoing some of these initiation
rights.
People can be killed if they gothrough them and they're not
properly prepared.
They can die.
Doing with you also have towhere you can go insane doing
(26:18):
some of these things.
Or, for those who go through itproperly, they literally have
knowledge of another world, ofanother plane of existence, and
so that's what's being talkedabout here with this particular
story that is going on here inthe deeper meanings behind it.
(26:48):
Just want to make sure there'snothing else that I'm missing
that's of any importancewhatsoever.
There's gifts that are given toher and healing ointments.
Yeah, so the gifts have to doagain with what they would.
It's a reflex, it's a gift ofgiving it to the people that
were in the burial mounds thatthey would go and do stuff with.
This also probably has to dowith ancestor worship of some
(27:10):
sort, going in there andbringing them with it.
We know that in the Nordictradition, as an example, the
elvish people there are some ofthem that are in a realm that's
not touched by death and thatkind of thing, and so you know
that's going to be playing intothat as well.
Hence why I'm relating this theelves, to the fairies.
(27:30):
I'm not saying they're exactlythe same.
They very well could be.
I need to study this more butthis is where things are on that
particular front, and so I'mtrying to show you that, on this
side of things, there's alsowhy the fair folk, as they're
(27:51):
called in certain othertraditions and whatnot, are, you
know, not necessarily alwaysseen as good.
Some of that is Christianinfluence, in the sense that
anything that's pagan is notgood and therefore you shouldn't
follow it.
Some of it also has to do withthe fact that whenever you're
dealing with forces on otherlevels of existence, other of
(28:16):
existence, you know you neverknow what you're going to get.
You can get one that's going tobe beneficial, you can get one
that's going to be, you know,maleficent and whatnot.
So you have to make sure thatyou're prepared to deal with
either case, for it and that'swhat it showing here is the
dichotomy between the two sides,that there is both good and
(28:37):
evil, chaos and destruction,with creation and light.
And this is clearly a shout-out,a story, a folk memory that has
to do with a much more ancienttradition.
That has to do with a much moreancient tradition, and this is
(28:59):
the remnants of it that havesurvived to the time period of
1917, when this was firstwritten down, and of course,
this is still.
Once it was written down.
It became stagnant and not partof folklore in the sense of
being passed down through oraltradition, and so it hasn't
changed much in 100 years andthere's still lots of this
(29:19):
that's there that can be seen.
So I hope this was fascinatingand that it brought a new light
onto the fairy side of thingsand the accords that can go on
with it.
We'll touch more on this otherstuff.
We're just trying to understandhow some of this works with the
fairy people a bit more.
(29:41):
I feel that this particularstory really illustrates a good
amount of what this is all about.
So thank you very much forlistening.
I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, please like andsubscribe and, more importantly,
(30:01):
make it so that way you sharethis and pass it on to somebody
else who you think would bereally find this fascinating or
enjoy.
Thank you very much, take care.
Hello and welcome back to the Forbidden Knowledge
Podcast.
My name is NathanielHoyt-Macher and I will be the
show's host.
Last time we were talking aboutthe elucidation and the
Arthurian myth and tradition andthe fairy accord or the fairy
agreement or something alongthose lines with it, depending
upon how you want to look at it.
And I've been studying moreabout this tradition since then,
(00:27):
meaning specifically the fey orthe fairies or the fair folk or
the good people as they'recalled in various different
traditions and whatnot, and lasttime I kind of uh made it so
that way they were seen assomething similar to elves in my
mind at that particular point,and I still hold that that is a
(00:48):
loosely true idea at this stageof my research and to things
with it.
Today, I thought I would go andshowcase what I've been doing.
I'm going to pull from a veryparticular story.
It's a Scottish fairy tale andI'm just going to read it.
It's not very long, I thinkit's like two and a half three
(01:11):
pages long, something like thatand then I'm going to be going
over what some of the stuffmeans inside of the fairy tale
in order to help us understandthis tradition better.
In order to help us understandthis tradition better, because
obviously they're going to keeppopping up again and again,
meaning the fairies, that is, orthe fair folk or the fae, or
(01:34):
whatever, inside the Arthurianmyth and tradition, because we
even have, where we haveArthur's sister, morgan le Fae
Morgan the Fairy, as I mentionedbefore, le Fay, morgan the
Fairy, as I mentioned before.
So this is something that isgoing to continuously be a huge
returning point inside of thestories and myths, legends and
traditions and lore.
(01:55):
So we need to make sure that weunderstand how this aspect
works, what they represent a bitbetter and whatnot, and I'm
going to continue to look moreinto it than just what I'm
presenting here.
But I figured this would be agood introduction to the
research and what has been goingon with it and how it dovetails
with other things I've alreadyresearched before and have been
(02:18):
looking into, and so, withoutfurther ado, I'm going to pull
from the story now.
So we're going to be pullingfrom a book by Donald Alexander
McKenzie which was compiled orpublished in 1917, which means
that everything that I'm readingif I'm reading it word for word
(02:40):
is now in the public domain.
The book is entitled WonderTales from Scottish Myth and
Legend and we're going to bepulling from chapter nine.
Chapter nine is called A Visionof the Dead and we'll see why
it's entitled that as we gofurther into the story here, for
(03:01):
what's going on.
And so, without further ado,I'm just going to begin reading
into the story here, for what'sgoing on, and so, without
further ado, I'm just going tobegin reading there.
Once dwelt in Nisdale a womanwho was enabled by fairy aid to
see the spirits of the dead inthe other world.
This was how it came about.
One day she sat up spinningwool in her house.
(03:22):
Her baby lay in a cradle besideher, listening to the soft
humming sound of the spinningwheel and her mother's sweet
song.
Suddenly a rustling like therustling of dead leaves in the
wind was heard at the door.
The woman looked up and saw abeautiful lady clad in green and
(03:42):
carrying a baby.
She entered and, smilingsweetly, spoke and said will you
nurse my Bonnie baby until Ireturn?
The woman answered yes, I shalldo that.
She took the baby in her armsand the lady went away,
promising to return.
But the day went past and nightcame on and still she did not
(04:05):
come back for the child.
The woman wondered greatly.
But she wondered even more thenext morning when she awoke to
find beside her bed beautifulnew clothes for her children and
in the new clothes, and todefined that they fitted well.
Excuse me, I misread.
(04:31):
There Morning she woke to findbeside her bed beautiful new
clothes for her children andsome delicious cakes.
Being very poor, she was gladto dress her children in the new
clothes and defined that theyfitted well.
The cakes were of wheaten breadand a honey flavor.
It was a great delight to thechildren to eat them.
The lady did not return thatday, nor the next.
(04:55):
Weeks went past and the womannursed the strange child.
Months went past and still thelady stayed away.
Months went past and still thelady stayed away.
On many a morning wheaten cakeswith honey flavor were found in
the house.
When the children's clotheswere nearly worn out, new
(05:20):
clothing was provided for them.
As mysteriously as before.
Summer came on and one eveningthe lady clad in green again
entered the house.
A child who was playing on thefloor stretched forth her hands
to grasp the shining silverspangles that adorned her gown.
(05:41):
But to her surprise her handspassed through them as if they
were sunbeams.
The woman perceived this andknew that her visitor was a
fairy, said the fairy lady, youhave been kind to my Bonnie baby
.
I will now take her away.
The woman was sorry to partwith the child and said you have
a right to her, but I love herdearly.
Said the fairy, come with meand I shall show you my home.
(06:09):
The woman went outside with thefairy.
They walked through a woodtogether and then began to climb
a green hill on the sunny side.
When they were halfway to thetop, the fairy said something
that the woman did notunderstand.
No sooner had she spoken thanthe turf on a bank in front of
them lifted up and revealed adoor.
(06:30):
This door opened and twoentered through the doorway.
When they did so, the turf camedown and the door was shut.
The woman found herself in abare chamber which was dimly
lighted.
Now you shall see my home, saidthe fairy woman, who took from
(06:51):
her waistband a gobletcontaining a green liquid.
She dropped three drops of thisliquid in the woman's left eye
and said look.
Now.
The woman looked and was filledwith wonder.
A beautiful country stretchedout in front of her there, the
green hills fringed by trees,crystal streams flashing in
(07:16):
sunlight and a lake that shonelike burnished silver.
Between the hills there lay afield of ripe barley.
The fairy then dropped threedrops of the liquid green in the
woman's right eye and said looknow.
The woman looked and she sawmen and women that she had known
(07:37):
in times past cutting thebarley and gathering fruit from
the trees.
She cried out I see many whoonce lived on earth and have
long been dead.
What are they doing here, saidthe fairy.
These people are sufferingpunishment for their evil deeds.
When she had spoken thus, thefairy woman passed her hand over
(07:58):
the woman's eye and the visionof the green hills and harvest
fields and reapers vanished atonce.
She found herself standing oncemore in the bare, dimly lighted
chamber.
Then the fairy gave her giftsof cloth and healing ointments
and, leading her to the door,bade her farewell.
The door opened, the turf waslifted up and the woman left the
(08:21):
fairy's dwelling and returnedto her own home.
For a time she kept the powerof the fairies, of seeing the
fairies, excuse me, as they wentto and fro near her house.
But one day she spoke to one ofthem and the fairy asked With
which eye do you see me?
I said the woman I see withboth my eyes.
The fairy breathed on her eyesthen was lost to sight.
(08:47):
Never again did the womanbehold the fairies, for the
power that had been given to herwas taken away from her eyes by
this fairy to whom she hadspoken.
All right, so there's lots tounpack here, lots of very
interesting material if you knowwhat you're looking for and how
(09:07):
to understand it.
So, first thing it talks about,you know the place where it is
Nithsdale, which is in Scotland.
So clearly there's you know,gaelic, ancient Celtic, whatever
tradition here in which thisoriginated from, ancient Celtic,
whatever tradition here inwhich this originated from.
And we're talking about a questfor the other world and even
(09:28):
mentions that the spirits of thedead in the other world and
this is how the entry of thestory begins here then explains
how it came about.
There's the woman, the earthlywoman.
She sit there with the spinningof the wool in her house.
This is already telling a lot,because we call it the strands
(09:49):
of fate, the threads of fate.
Spinning and weaving of fateand whatnot has always been that
particular way for what it is.
We see this with her spinningwheel that she's doing and
whatnot.
We have the wheel of fortune,the wheel of fate, the wheel in
the sky that keeps on turning,all these similar concepts for
(10:13):
what's going on, the millstonewheel that grinds everything,
these are all shout outs to thatparticular concept that's
happening there on thatparticular concept.
That's happening there on thatparticular front, and you know,
we see all of that.
So that's something to keep inmind.
It's already laying thefoundations having to do with
fate and consciousness and whathappens on that particular front
(10:36):
.
That was there.
Suddenly we see the rustling ofdead leaves in the wind and she
heard at the door.
So now we have the air elementthat's being drawn about here,
all right.
So we have that as we see thishere, when that part comes in,
(10:58):
and then she sees a beautifullady, all right, clad in green
and carrying a baby.
So there's a beautiful womanand she's clad in green, the
color of nature, the color ofabundance, the color of anything
that has to do with with, youknow, green, and I mean being
evergreen and, um, livingforever or whatever, and that
(11:22):
kind of stuff.
We see this with the green manas another example for what's
going on in other myths andtraditions, which plays out in
another tradition with sirgawain and the beheading game
shout out to that particular onewill be there too.
So you know.
This woman then enters in,smiling sweetly, and she so you
(11:44):
know.
This woman then enters in,smiling sweetly, and she speaks
will you nurse my Bonnie babyuntil I return?
And of course, the woman'sanswer yes, that should do that.
This may seem like a verystrange request to someone of
today, but back then villageswere too tiny, things were very
different from how they are.
Hospitality was an absolutelyhuge part of things with that.
We saw that being talked abouteven last time with the, you
(12:05):
know, people coming to the wellsand getting the cups from them
and being fed their favoritefood and whatnot, until the
fairy accords were broken.
So hospitality was absolutely ahuge part of the these cultures
that were going on, especiallyfor strangers, and it was just
expected to have certain thingsdone with it and a certain level
(12:25):
of trust for things, for what'shappening, and so that part
there is talking about thatparticular aspect of things in
order for us to understand whythis would just be there for
what it is.
It's not something that'sunusual at all for this time
period, for when these storiesoriginated.
(12:47):
So she takes the child.
The lady went promising toreturn, all right, so we see all
that.
So the woman wondered greatlywhat was happening when she
didn't come back for it.
And of course, you see, thenext morning when she woke to
find herself, you know, newclothes for her children and
delicious cakes.
This is letting us know about acouple things, or what's going
(13:11):
on here.
We see that there's food that'sleft out.
This is typically what has beendone in traditions by the folk
people, uh, and and folkloretraditions, in order to make it
so that way.
They do this to appease thespirits and to appease people
with it.
They leave food out for them.
In this case, it's some sort ofsweet, delicious cake that's
(13:32):
being left for the children.
Instead, it's just a reflex ofthis notion in the story.
It's the same concept, it'sjust being reversed for how it's
being played out.
The story it's the same concept, it's just being reversed for
how it's being played out.
As for the new clothes, this issomething that plays out with
other things, with the threadsof fate, the strands of fate,
the creating of new clothing.
(13:53):
This was something that wasvery traditional for women to do
for long, long periods of timemaking their own clothes and
making their own stuff, forwhat's going on for the children
and that kind of stuff.
So it's a play on that as welland kind of shaping the destiny
of the children by what they'rewearing and the different phases
of their life, which is why newones pop up as the old ones get
(14:15):
worn out and the children getolder and that kind of thing.
For what's going on.
It even mentions that monthswent past and still the lady
stayed away.
Of course it keeps going onabout that.
Then, you know, summer comes andone evening the lady clad in
(14:36):
green again entered the house,entered the house, and it also
talks about how this child is astrange child and that there is
something that's very specialabout this which actually gets
into the notion of the wondrouschild, which is something that a
scholarly term that has to dowith the Celtic child and being
(14:58):
that is unique of some sort,usually male, not always.
In this case it's a femalechild that we learn about for
what's going on there, and it istalking about how this is some
being that has some otherworldlypowers and otherworldly
understanding of things, andthere's something unique about
this particular individual thatis not true for the vast
(15:21):
majority of other people andother places and time periods
for what's going on there.
So they have that.
That's talking about stuff too.
You talk, we see, about silverbangles, spangles, excuse me,
that's important.
So you have silver, so you havesilver, and then you have, you
(15:48):
know, being going through,passing through as if they were
sunbeams.
So not only does this do twothings, because it's the silver
and gold concept, preciousmetals, possibly an alchemical
metaphor, moving things from alower state of being to a higher
state of being, moving thingsfrom a lower state of being to a
higher state of being, thenotion of alchemical wedding
(16:14):
between the sun and the moon,the silver representing the moon
and the gold representing thesun, which is also why it's
called sun beams.
But there's also another shoutout here, another reference to
the shining ones, as they'reknown in many traditions for
what's going on and that thereare luminous beings that are
being here and that's what isbeing spoken of.
So then the fairy lady comes,takes the child away back to her
(16:41):
realm, where the child belongsUsually.
By the way also, these wondrouschilds are part.
They part otherworldly, beingto begin with a mixture of human
and something of the otherworld and whatnot.
So we're talking about fairiesin this particular instance.
Obviously it's of the faith forwhat's going on here and
(17:02):
whatnot.
So we're talking about fairiesin this particular instance.
Obviously it's of the fae forwhat's going on here.
So then we see that the womanis going to be given something
in return for helping with thechild and doing things with that
for a long time.
They walk through a wood andthen they climb a hill.
They're on the sunny side ofthe hill.
So the illuminated part, ratherthan the non-illuminated part,
(17:26):
which is the play between lightand darkness, here is another
notion for what's going on.
It's also the mentioning ofOcean's Return by nightfall and
then passing of the day, backand forth.
It's also a play on that.
Then they went halfway to thetop.
The fairy woman says somethingthat she did not understand so
(17:50):
clearly she hasn't beeninitiated into higher levels of
understanding that the fairywoman is about to show her no
sooner had she spoken to theturf on the bank in front of
them lifted up and revealed adoor, so a portal, a pathway to
the other world, the world wherethe dead reside, the world
(18:14):
where the fairy folk reside.
So they open through it andthen they shut the door.
Now they're in completedarkness.
This is important to part forwhat's going on.
If you shut the turf door,clearly there's nothing inside
for what's going on.
You're now completely encasedin the earth, which gives us
(18:38):
mother earth a concept and beingthere from womb to tomb for
everything that it provides forus.
We'll play and go into thatconcept a lot more later on, but
just know that that's what'sbeing talked about here as well
in terms of certain aspects,that this is a initiation into
(18:59):
the initiation into the occultmysteries that are happening
here, and this is the remnantsof it passed down in folklore.
She even mentioned that it wasdimly lighted.
Then the fairy woman says nowyou shall see my home, and she
(19:22):
took from her waistband a gobletcontaining a green liquid.
So we see goblet again.
It's the same thing with thechalice from the tradition that
we're talking about, with theArthurian myth and legend, which
is partly why it shows this,because clearly there's
something here and more to it,and the green liquid has its own
(19:45):
meaning which I'm not entirelycertain of yet.
I've heard from othertraditions more of the red gold
idea, which I'm more familiarwith, idea which I'm more
familiar with um.
So I'll have to look into whatthat deeper meaning is, why the
color green there could justrepresent the same notion as
before of the evergreen tree, uhand whatnot, and making it so
(20:09):
that way that it holds likeeternal life on that particular
uh front with it, just like thepine trees, and evergreen trees
never lose their leaves duringwintertime.
Could be something like thatCould be.
I don't know for certain,though.
So, of course, the woman in thestory.
She's now filled with wonderand she sees a beautiful country
(20:32):
stretched out in front of her.
So she's I'm sorry I skippedsomething that's important the
fairy.
She goes and drops three dropsinto her eye, specifically her
left eye, and makes it so thatway she can see.
By doing so, she can now seeanother world in front of her.
(20:56):
So she has now gained thesecond sight, as it is called in
many traditions, allowing youto see other planes of existence
that didn't exist before, thatyou were unaware of, in another
book and another tradition.
For what's going on?
You have what happens withTaliesin, and you have where he
(21:22):
is helping out this goddess andhe's in front of a cauldron and
he's supposed to be helpstirring it, and then,
eventually that particularcauldron has, where it's boiling
up out of things with it, andit makes it so that way from
there's when he gainsillumination and he gains all
(21:44):
this insight into the world andthings that he was never
supposed to know, and originallyit wasn't for him, at least
according to the tradition, itwas supposed to be for somebody
(22:07):
else.
And then there's a wholeanother part that goes on to the
story, for what's going on now.
The reason why I'm bringingthis up is because this is a
direct, a direct shout out tothat particular tradition.
There's also another one thathas to do a slightly different
way that it's been formulated,but it's still pretty much the
same concept.
So this is an Indo-Europeanconcept for sure, at a minimum,
(22:29):
and obviously there are othertraditions that have this goblet
slash, chalice like thing.
It's in sumerian tradition andit's also in the ancient
egyptian tradition, neither ofwhich are indo-european.
So it's something that's morethan just the indo-european, but
obviously it's a hugeindo-european influence.
And what we see is is that thereare three wells and inside of
(22:54):
these wells that are done in thenordic tradition, you need to
drink from each one of them andeach one gives you a certain
level of illumination andwhatnot, and that makes it so
that way.
Odin eventually gets to seethings with it, and one of the
wells he has to cast his eyeinto it in order to get it from
mimir's Brunner.
(23:15):
That's what it's called thewell of Mimir, the well of
memory, which gets us to thenext part, for what's happening
of this particular story as well, and another understanding of
it, which is that there's memory.
You have to be able to rememberthese particular events that
you're seeing on the other sidefor what's happening here, and,
(23:40):
of course, we learn later on inthe story that this is taken
away.
So in the traditions and thisis true of the greek traditions
as well as, like the orphicmystery traditions also bring up
this concept of having multiplewells or multiple cauldrons, or
multiple ways of drinkingthings with it, and so it shows
(24:03):
a duplicitous nature that goesdown the side with it, with one
leading to life, the other oneleading to death, and that makes
it so that way, or to a loss ofmemory and not remembering
anything and just going back tothe regular world without it.
So you have one fairy, one sideof it that shows the goodness
of their hearts and whatnot,because of what was done.
(24:24):
You made it so that way theycould go and see again.
She got to see the realm, shegot to see the realm of the dead
, she got to see where the fairylive and all this other stuff,
for what's going on?
She's even told that some ofthem are there because of the
misdeeds that they did the baddeeds in their life.
Um, you have eventually, though, where the fairy encounters
(24:49):
another fairy that's a negativefairy, one that doesn't want her
to see these things, and it'staken away and she loses the
sight.
So it's showing that in theseinitiation rites, in these
aspects that are going on there,that there's always the chance
that you can lose it and neverfully recover from it and not
(25:12):
remember everything that wasthat way in the stories.
Recover from and not remembereverything that was that way in
the stories.
You see this with otter, andnordic traditions as well.
To make it so that way he candrink from kind of a hag-like
person that's on the other sidewith it, and then there's also
freya, the goddess freya, who'sbringing that to her.
(25:34):
So you have a giantess that'scalled Hindla and you have that
on the other side with thegoddess Freya, and so he can
choose to remember everythingthat was taught to him on that
side of things and make it so hecan bring back that knowledge
to this physical plane ofexistence, this physical plane
(25:57):
of existence, or he can lose itall and either not remember
anything at all or, in somecases, even lead to death and
desolation and destruction.
Um, I think what this is alsoplaying at is that you can
literally make it some way bydoing some of these initiation
rights.
People can be killed if they gothrough them and they're not
properly prepared.
They can die.
Doing with you also have towhere you can go insane doing
(26:18):
some of these things.
Or, for those who go through itproperly, they literally have
knowledge of another world, ofanother plane of existence, and
so that's what's being talkedabout here with this particular
story that is going on here inthe deeper meanings behind it.
(26:48):
Just want to make sure there'snothing else that I'm missing
that's of any importancewhatsoever.
There's gifts that are given toher and healing ointments.
Yeah, so the gifts have to doagain with what they would.
It's a reflex, it's a gift ofgiving it to the people that
were in the burial mounds thatthey would go and do stuff with.
This also probably has to dowith ancestor worship of some
(27:10):
sort, going in there andbringing them with it.
We know that in the Nordictradition, as an example, the
elvish people there are some ofthem that are in a realm that's
not touched by death and thatkind of thing, and so you know
that's going to be playing intothat as well.
Hence why I'm relating this theelves, to the fairies.
(27:30):
I'm not saying they're exactlythe same.
They very well could be.
I need to study this more butthis is where things are on that
particular front, and so I'mtrying to show you that, on this
side of things, there's alsowhy the fair folk, as they're
(27:51):
called in certain othertraditions and whatnot, are, you
know, not necessarily alwaysseen as good.
Some of that is Christianinfluence, in the sense that
anything that's pagan is notgood and therefore you shouldn't
follow it.
Some of it also has to do withthe fact that whenever you're
dealing with forces on otherlevels of existence, other of
(28:16):
existence, you know you neverknow what you're going to get.
You can get one that's going tobe beneficial, you can get one
that's going to be, you know,maleficent and whatnot.
So you have to make sure thatyou're prepared to deal with
either case, for it and that'swhat it showing here is the
dichotomy between the two sides,that there is both good and
(28:37):
evil, chaos and destruction,with creation and light.
And this is clearly a shout-out,a story, a folk memory that has
to do with a much more ancienttradition.
That has to do with a much moreancient tradition, and this is
(28:59):
the remnants of it that havesurvived to the time period of
1917, when this was firstwritten down, and of course,
this is still.
Once it was written down.
It became stagnant and not partof folklore in the sense of
being passed down through oraltradition, and so it hasn't
changed much in 100 years andthere's still lots of this
(29:19):
that's there that can be seen.
So I hope this was fascinatingand that it brought a new light
onto the fairy side of thingsand the accords that can go on
with it.
We'll touch more on this otherstuff.
We're just trying to understandhow some of this works with the
fairy people a bit more.
(29:41):
I feel that this particularstory really illustrates a good
amount of what this is all about.
So thank you very much forlistening.
I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, please like andsubscribe and, more importantly,
(30:01):
make it so that way you sharethis and pass it on to somebody
else who you think would bereally find this fascinating or
enjoy.
Thank you very much, take care.
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