Real or Ephemeral?
REAL OR EPHEMERAL
There is an old song by the 60s group, The Lovin' Spoonful. Do you believe in magic? Well, do you? Man has been a sentient and reasoning being for thousands of years. But before science and the scietific method there was magic to explain the world around him. The world was full of wonder and mystery. But man has always needed a way to relate to the things he sees, the things he hears, the things he feels. He has never been able to simply accept and go on. He needs to explain. From this he created a world of magic. Beings that were created by his own need to fill in the gaps in his perception of a given phenomenon. Or were they just creations of his mind? Was he in fact describing things that he was able to sense with abilities that we have muted and silenced because they no longer have a place in our science?
Are there Gods and Goddesses that we no longer believe in. Do elves, nymphs, sprites, and spirits exist. Do we reject them in favor of "reason". These are questions that we have dealt with in philosophy and art for millenia. These are questions that have never been totally answered. I have had my own reasons to doubt my rational beliefs. I do not ask that you believe me. That is for you to decide for yourself. I hardly believe it myself, but I can not reject what happened.
Several years ago I was much more adventurous. I took a walking tour of the Irish countryside to "experience the real Ireland". I had no idea what the "real Ireland" was and what was in store for me in those ancient woods. But I saw one day begin as a rational man and saw the next sunrise with doubts that have yet to be settled.
I had left the bed and breakfast with only a small rucksack and a lunch made by the hostess. She was a lively and exuberant lady of indistinct years. But full of life and energy. As I was leaving she asked where I was going on my hike. I told her about my route and I saw a mischievious glint in her eyes. She told me that the woods had a long and very interesting history and that she would tell me some of the stories about them when I got back. I am a history buff and I learned to read with science fiction and fantasy novels. I am enthralled by stories of knights and maidens, socererors and witches, Druids and Mother Earth. I left with my curiousity aroused and a hunger to see what was so mysterious about these woods.
It was late spring, the moon was in its full phase and the weather was warm and pleasant. I was expecting to be gone for only a few hours and return in time for dinner and an evening of local legends. But I also wanted to set this stage with an exploration of the woods. I could see as I walked the path that entered the woods that they were indeed old and had an ancient history. I could find no signs of cutting and clearing as you would expect around a rural and farming land. These woods had been undisturbed for a long time. They were peaceful and quiet but not in any way depressing or forboding. It was a calm and comforting feel. A feeling that you have when you turn onto you home street and pull into your driveway. A feeling of security and peace.
I followed the path because the growth was so old and undesturbed that I was concerned that I would become lost. It lead on a winding route deep into the heart of the woods and finally came to a small stream with a very inviting clearing. I knew that this was the proper place to stop and rest. I laid the blanket out and laid back against my ruck sack and began to drowse. I must have been that way for a long time because I lost all track of time. But I was not the least concerned.
I was half asleep when I detected a strangely mesmerizing fragrance. I had never smelled anything like it before and I opened my eyes and tried to see what flower or shrub it was coming from. And then I heard the tinkle of small bells and a female giggle. I was positive I was alone and that there was no one nearby. But I was also too relaxed to get up and go looking. I simply lay there and let the soft tinkle and sounds slowly enmesh me. The next I remember is the moon high overhead. I have no idea how I lost that afternoon. But I felt I had better get back before my hostess became concerned about me.
As I was standing up I heard a soft and distinctly melodious voice ask me why I was leaveing so soon. This startled me and as I spun around I found a Lady dressed in a long, flowing, gossamer like gown. She was a breath taking Lady of regal bearing and stature. Her hair was red and flowed past her waist. And her skin alabaster fair without blemish. She was nearly as tall as me and was of an age where the girl was evolving into the mature Lady. She exduded a sensuality born of nature. Altogether she was breath taking. I have no way of explaining it, but I felt that rather than there being a mystery of why she was here, it was only natural that she was.
I was hypnotized by her and it took a few moments for her question to register and for me to answer it. Of course there was no reason for me to leave just then. And I sat back down on the blanket. She walked over to me and sat down on the blanket edge and adjusted her gown around her legs. We began to converse, but I remember nothing of what was said. Only that there was nothing else in the world that I wanted to do but sit with the Lady in this warm spring evening. We talked for the longest time and the feeling of warm sensuality grew. It started as a mere curious tension and grew as we talked. After a while she moved a little closer to me on the blanket. He hand came up and her fingers lightly brushed my face. My skin felt a tingle that I have never felt before. I wanted nothing more than for her to touch me again. Slowly our conversation died. Not out of exhaustion, but out of a change in focus. Again her hand came to my face. But this time it lingered and I could feel a small electrical like sensation flow from her fingers to my face and down my neck to my chest. I must have stopped breathing for a moment until she broke the contact.
By this time we wre sitting facing each other and her arms came up to my shoulders and around my neck. With a strong and gentle pressure she pulled my face to hers. Our first kiss was not explosive. Rather it was like a small smoldering fire that begins to build to a full flame. My arms reached for her and I felt a warm and giving body. Again, it was the body of a fully grown woman, not the small child like girls that I have known until then. I returned the pressure and felt our bodies come together. She was the embodiement of deep and overpowering passion. A passion that wells up in a man from the deepest wells of his being. From a place that he was not aware existed. But a place that is rooted in his very cells. It reaches back to the ancient near animalistic lusts of our ancestors. But also has the addition of love that seperates man from the rutting breeding of the animals. I was completely her captive.
I have only fragments of memory of the rest of the night. I remeber sweet fragrances, warm touches, wild abandon, and ever present the heated passion of man and woman. I remember her lips and her fingers. I remeber the feel of her body under my hands and how she would respond to my touch. And I remember the final cliimax of our bodies joining and becoming one. But also I remember the feeling that this is not just a man and a woman. This a universe of feeling and a release of ancient energies. These energies were focused through our bodies and radiated outwards through out the woods around us. We were two Earth souls radiating energy and feeling it course through our bodies as we reached our final release.
I fell asleep after that. Or maybe I was enchanted to a sleeping state by her power. But when I awoke it was sunrise and the mists were just clearing. The Lady was no where to be seen. I felt as if it had all been a waking dream. It had that slight feeling of unreality as if it were a dream. But then I found the scratch marks on my back. I knew then that something had happened. I am not completely sure what it was, but I do know that it did indeed happen.
I packed my things and hiked back to the bed and breakfast. My hostess was in the kitchen just preparing breakfast when I returned. I apologized to her for being gone and expressed my hope that she had not been worried unnecessarily. Again, I saw that twinkle in her eye. She gave me a knowing smile and said that she had not been concerned in the least. Then she asked me if I had met the Lady.
I was surprised by her question. I must have looked puzzled to her and she told me that she had a pretty good idea of why I had not returned the previous evening. The rest of the day was spent in her kitchen as she cooked and cleaned and told me tales of the Lady of the woods. No one knew for sure if the Lady is an ephemeral projection of the woods. Or if the Lady is a spirit, a ghost, a Goddess or a last remaining descendant of the elven people. But all agree that she is a part of the woods and from time to time she uses a passing stranger to focus her passion and energy to give new life to the woods. She is a true Earth Mother.
Science or magic? An ancient soul with a purpose? A figment of my imagination? I know that the last is the least likely. After all, I had the passion marks to prove to myself what happened was real. Real, but something I can not explain. Real, and something that I hold close to my soul and will carry with me to my final breath.
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Posted on Nov 18, 2003 by cobaltblu
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