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Fhir A Bhata–“Oh boatman, Fare thee well where ere ye be” –Silly Wizard

 

 

 

(I’ve been moving house in real life and very busy. I sometimes neglect this blog but in keeping with my love of art and sea stories and selkies) and with praise for Seanchai Library, a storyteller’s haven. 

I was always enchanted by the tragic  Hans Christian Anderson story of the little mermaid’s longing- (totally different than the saccharine Disney version), as well as the legend of the Great Selkie of Sule Skerry, and all tales of the sea, so this be another…..

 here is your submersible to the mermaid’s haven

The Mermaid’s Journey

by CybeleMoon

wherein she encounters the Great Selkie

“How does one shed their skin and become human?” she asked the great shape-shifter. “The last time I tried to go ashore the dogs howled most frightfully and drove me back into the sea.”

“I don’t know how it happens,” he replied.” It’s not a pleasant experience at all to have your pelt peel back as you emerge in terrible spasms- but oh! the freedom of having two legs to run with abandon on the shore- not as fluid as diving into the foam, nor as powerful as cresting the wave of course- but strangely exhilarating nonetheless. It was where I first came to understand the power of desire.”

“And yet the surf will always call you back home, so you must leave your skin in a safe place where the gulls and carrion creatures cannot worry it. But mostly, beware of men. They are the most cunning and deceitful of God’s creatures. Their whole lives are consumed by desire. If you lose your skin or it is stolen, you will never be able to return to the sea and you will eventually waste away with longing.”

He sighed, “But then perhaps it is different for the mer folk.”