Unicorn in the Closet

So the other day I was at work, minding my own business, and going about my duties. I believe I was packing a box for shipment. Suddenly I felt this strange but familiar wave of bliss wash over me. I had been getting these for a few days, and didn't know exactly what was going on, shrugging it off as more energy shifts that have become common-place for me. But this day I remembered something. Many years ago I had been experiencing these same sort of feelings, again not knowing what they were, until by chance I heard someone describe exactly what I was experiencing then say, "That's how you know when the unicorns are around."

"Duh!"

"Hi Amaranth. How are you?" I smiled, silently greeting my unicorn spirit guide. Again that same wave washed over me, as if he were giving me a hug. Unlike most of my other guides, Amaranth normally doesn't really 'speak.' I don't normally hear words in my head with him, but just feel his presence, which ordinarily is enough -- There's not a lot that needs to be said with unicorns, seeing that they are the very embodiment of Truth and Purity. There's not much more ever needed but their very presence.

This time was a bit different. This time, I got the distinct impression that Amaranth was chuckling to himself, and, though it didn't seem to be in the form of a linear sentence, a message popped, fully formed, into my mind which basically said, "So you promised to talk about unicorns in your blog. When's that going to happen, huh?" I literally broke out with a laugh, which I quickly stifled, looking around to make sure no one had heard or noticed. They hadn't, and I began chuckling to myself.

So, unicorns...

I don't remember a time when unicorns weren't a part of my life. I've always been drawn to them (and I've always drawn them). People have given me gifts of various unicorns, because they reminded them of me, and in a way I've always identified with them.


They are, as I said above, the very embodiment of Truth and Purity. They are the presence of Light itself. And they are the essence of wild, untamed, innocence that I have difficulty putting into words or describing to people, because most people don't seem to draw a connection between 'wild' and 'innocent.'

But these are the very things I identify with in the very core of my being. My entire life has been about seeking Beauty and Truth. But not just in seeking them, but becoming them, embodying them. No wonder unicorns have always been significant to me!

At some point I started experiencing the aforementioned energy waves, and with the serendipitous explanation, every time I felt a wave I said hi to whatever unicorn was evidently present. I got glimpses of him from time to time, relatively small (maybe 4 feet tall), scruffy like a goat, totally white, and the word "Amaranth" kept floating through my mind. I had no idea what it meant but assumed it was the name of my unicorn friend, and only later upon researching it, did I find out it was a kind of flower and grain, and the word itself came from Greece and meant "undying."

On a side note, and worth a shiver up the spine, I just popped over to check my facts on the internet (not totally available to me when these events first took place) only to discover that the amaranth flowers were sacred to Artemis (my Matron Goddess) in ancient Greece.

My ex was so on board with all of this that,whenever she wanted extra protection around her or the apartment, she would ask me to station a unicorn alongside her or outside the door. Eventually a unicorn named Corinth, the first unicorn I had seen with a black mane, showed up on personal assignment as her escort and bodyguard, which he took very seriously always answering her requests with a clicking of his hooves and a "Yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!"

Over the years I have been told, by a couple different sources, that I had actually been a unicorn. This was a little much for me, but part of me was thrilled and it was quite an intriguing idea that I enjoyed playing with, even if it were on a purely mythical level. And then I discovered otherkin. Otherkin are people believe that they had formerly been part of the faery realm in a past life, or that they are currently one of the Fae born into a human body. As with most things metaphysical in nature, there was plenty of room for escapism (which I could see taking place in abundance), or using such things to rationalize and excuse staying where one was rather than using it to grow and expand. Yet it really struck a chord and I felt there was something to it, and though I didn't really believe I was one of them, I kept reading everything I could about them. The one thing that seemed to be missing, though, from their ranks, were unicorns. Lots of faeries, elves, and dragons, but I couldn't find any unicorns, other than a cryptic sentence someone wrote somewhere about unicorns tending to keep to themselves.

After I moved out from my ex-wife, and had 24 hour access to the internet at my friends' home where I was staying, I discovered a website dedicated to only unicorn kin. I felt this strange elation, and as I read the introduction to the site -- a welcoming home to unicorns -- tears just started rolling in floods down my cheeks. Could I really be...? Still, not totally convinced I joined the forum, figuring that at least I had a unicorn spirit guide and that had to count for something.

It seems that all I needed was for that door to be opened, to connect with others with similar experiences to help put mine into context, and for the dreams to start. I had one dream where I was unicorn, but it was so vivid I was aware of the mane cascading down my long neck, and when I shook my neck back and forth, I could feel every muscle contract and release, as well as feel a number of vertebrae popping back into alignment.

Still, it wasn't until a normal day at work when a not-so-normal thought process occurred, that I began to question in earnest the possibilities. I had my hair pulled back in a pony tail, but as happens a lot when working, some of the hair worked itself loose from the hair band. At one point a lock of hair fell in front of my eyes, and the initial thought that went through my mind was, "Oh! That's what it looks like when my mane falls across my face."

"Wait... Did I really just think that?..."

The occasional dream or vision or flashback still appears connecting me to unicorns.

Not too long ago when I was receiving Jyorei, I had a vision, or flashback, where:

"In the same session I had unicorn flashbacks. I could feel my horn, and became aware of my cloven hooves, and how fast I could run by digging them into the ground. Then I saw my mate, and snuggled up with her was, apparently, my newborn unicorn foal."

When it comes down to it, whether I was or wasn't unicorn, this time around I am human, and that's where my focus is. Still the unicorn is deeply, deeply embedded in my personal mythology, enhancing my current life, giving me glimpses of magick between the seams of this world, and giving me a model which embodies all the qualities I strive for. Not much else is needed but their presence.

This Blog Brought to You by the Number 1

The other day, on the way home, my friend Kerry and I stopped at Alki Beach. We'd spent most of the weekend in the woods, and it was nice to sit by the water for a while. It's kind of nostalgic for me because Puget Sound reminds me a lot of the North Shore of Minnesota, where I spent a large portion of my childhood weekends, camping with my family.

Anyway, on our way down to the sand we were stopped by a couple of Hare Krishna people, and listened to what they had to say. As he was talking, one man said one of the most profound things I have ever heard. He said, "One plus one equals one."

Beyond this physical plane, in the realm of Newtonian Physics where duality seems to rule, everything is one. It is union. It is fusion. One plus one does equal one.

My mind then turned toward relationships. You can not be completed by, nor can you complete someone else. Each partner is a whole -- one. Not a half, not 3/4, not 33/54. One whole plus one whole equals one.

Namaste. We are one.

Snow White Moment #146

My ex-wife used to call me "Snow White." Now were I a 'normal' guy, this would probably have been taken as an insult, but it is actually one of the nicest compliments I've ever received -- obviously, since I'm still talking about it. :)

Part of it was from my fair skin and dark hair, but the main reason was because children and animals tend to be very attracted to me. I still, standing in line at the grocery store or in similar circumstances, tend to be the center of attention for any baby or youngster in line ahead of me, and I have lost count of how many times I've heard the sentence, "Wow! He/she never acts that way -- especially around men!" when someone else's dog or cat is instantly friendly with me.

As long as I remember it has always been that way. I have always loved animals, and vice-versa. That is part of the reason Tarzan was the greatest hero of my childhood and why St. Francis is, to this day, still my favorite saint. One time, when I was a kid, and to my mother's dismay, a pigeon followed me home, perched on our garage roof and refused to leave for quite some time. When I was in Boy Scouts I learned how to pet bumble bees. In high school I was taking classes at the Minnesota Zoo, and one of the gibbons (Archie) started recognizing me and would come swinging to the closest tree branch and follow me around whenever I came near his enclosure (Even now, 15 years or so since I volunteered at The Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, one of the cougars there still recognizes me and will come right up and follow me as I walk around his enclosure). It was instances like these that my ex and I came to refer to as "Snow White Moments" -- And which make it not surprising I became an Animal Communicator.

Other Snow White Moments include the time I spent a couple hours in a park petting a wild goose who singled me out and followed me everywhere, refusing to leave me alone.

More recently, at an SCA equestrian event, I was helping set up. Before I'd gotten there they had already put up a pavilion in the pasture, and there were a couple of guys struggling to keep the curious horses away from the tent. I walk up, stand in front of the guys, and instantly all the horses walk up to me. I start talking softly to them, and petting their soft noses, and when one would start trying to move toward the pavilion, I'd just lean into him and nudge him in another direction, still speaking to him softly. The two guys just stood there with their mouths open. Later at dinner someone asked how long I'd been working with horses, and I have to admit being pretty pleased by the shocked expressions when I answered, "Oh, I don't. Well, I volunteered for a number of Saturdays at a horse ranch when I was in high school, but that was 20 some years ago."

And on two separate occasions in the past year I have had personal encounters with wild moles, once where I got to pet one, and once where one surfaced under my bare foot while I sat beneath a tree.

So those are just a few of what have come to be pretty run-of-the-mill occurrences for me, but that brings us to this past weekend and my latest Snow White Moment, which was particularly magickal. I was spending the weekend at a friend's cabin in the woods, and I had decided to take a nap in her hammock. I was lying on my side, head resting on my arm, facing downward. I was enjoying dozing in the sun when I suddenly heard a thrumming sound and I opened my eyes to find a humming bird hovering mere inches away from my face, staring at me, eye to eye, through the hammock webbing. The moment seemed to last quite a while before the little guy took a final pass around me to check me out, and then buzzed off. I laughed and was grinning from ear to ear! The fact that these moments are relatively common place for me does not seem to change how magickal the experiences still are.

Picture drawn by me and my ex. I drew my face and arms and she drew the dress.

Stormy Weather

It's been an interesting week, particularly the last few days before the weekend. Somehow I got caught into a tailspin and was a mental and emotional mess. I felt like I had no defenses, like my skin was raw and every little thing, every word and every new bit of information, felt like a tiny arrow piercing me, causing me literal pain. My head was spinning and unable to process just simple normal day-to-day stuff. I felt totally overwhelmed and over stimulated, and was at a loss for what the heck was going on. The hardest part was that it all seemed so familiar, like emotions that I hadn’t felt for years, that I had believed dealt with and done. It was as if all the growth I had made in the past several years had disappeared like the mist of a dream, and I suddenly woke up as a teenager again.

I am finally pulling myself out of it but, PHEW, what a ride. Every time something like this happens I have to remind myself of a few things. That feeling bad, lost, overwhelmed, etc, is not bad, that it does not mean there is anything wrong with me, and that it is not a failure. It's easy for me to get caught in self-judgment when I go straight from feeling so strong and empowered to feeling like I'm hitting rock bottom with no self-worth. Of course neither am I at rock bottom nor am I worthless, and what helped me turn these feelings around was dropping into my center, my heart, where I knew these things to be false. The feelings were still there, spinning around me, but there was a peacefulness at the center -- again, the eye of the storm.

On my way to work I was asking Artemis about it and her response was something along the lines of "It's a storm. It can't be anything but a storm. Nothing you do can change that. Best thing to do is hunker down and wait it out."

That is exactly what I learned from having panic attacks for so many years. When a wave of panic began to wash over me, I learned to just sort of surrender and let go. "You know what this is, it's not going to hurt you, and it will be over soon." As much as I may have felt the impulse to fight it, or to find a way to fix it and make it better, nothing I did could change it. It was not a logical thing, so thinking was not going to save me. Best to just hunker down and wait it out. Keep telling myself that while the feelings are valid, as all feelings are, they are not true. They, not being based in reality, are irrational, and like a friend recently told me, "There's no talking to Crazy."

Like a storm whose chaos may not make any sense, these periods of bad feelings are cleansing times. In order to flush things out there is going to be a lot of dirt and grime coming to the surface, which makes it usually look and feel worse than it is because all you can see is the muck and the mud. But once the storm passes, there is a quiet and peacefulness, and everything is cleaner than it was before.

And though it may feel like a step backwards, with the added feeling of, "Why is this coming up again? I've already dealt with this," there is always forward movement. One of my favorite images for this is Martha Beck's concept of 'emotional shrapnel.' Our emotional wounds don't just hit and affect us in one area of our lives. They are scattered throughout, some deeper than others. The biggest ones are most likely closer to the skin, so that's the major healing that takes place initially, but other smaller shards dig deeper to a point that we don’t even know they are there until, with time and growth, they work their way to the surface. It is not that you’ve gone backwards, regressing to the point where this was a major issue in your life, but rather that enough healing has taken place to force these miniature versions of the original pain to the exterior where they become apparent. It is a healthy sign because there is no longer room for them inside of you any longer. They really are being pushed out to be cleansed and washed away.

The other image that arises for me is that life is not a circle, going round and round and round over the same ground, but it is a spiral, ever ascending. Though you are still going around and around, each circuit is a bit higher than the last so that, even if you encounter some of the issues from the past, each time it is from a different, raised perspective.

So as my mind continues to clear, and I begin to see and feel my authentic self return, I am seeing the puzzle pieces of events and actions that have allowed this latest bit of shrapnel to rise and be released.

But that will have to wait for a future post...

The I of the Storm

I have mentioned before what Artemis keeps telling me, "Be the eye of the storm," and I've been pretty much like, "That's cool. I get it." Perhaps I did get it, but the incredible thing is that it keeps getting deeper. Everytime I 'get it' I find out there's another level I haven't got yet. The gift that keeps on giving -- everytime you have it in your grasp, thinking it to be complete, you find out there's another piece you don't have that will add a whole new dimension to it. Pretty cool!

So what huge revelation have I had about it this time? I'm not sure I'll be successful, but I will try to put it into words. It's really about identity, about who I am. About what I am. Interesting that I keep using the same phrase-- I am. It is about the "I am" of me, the essence, the be-ing of me.

It's recognizing my identity outside of time and space (Oh no! He's going all "woo-woo" on us!), recognizing what is me and what isn't me. Anything that is temporal is not me, not who I am. Therefore any attachment I put onto temporal things as to who I am, number 1, is not true, and number 2, will be worn away by the storm -- painfully or painlessly depending on how insistent my attachment is.

In other words any attachment I place on something temporal, it automatically pulls me out into the storm to be bashed around as I struggle to hold on to something, an identity that isn't mine. It pulls me off center, putting greater value on some thing (a thought pattern, a definition, a favorite shirt...) than on my true identity.

I keep returning to one of the first, and one of the best, metaphysical books I've ever read: The Nature of Personal Reality by Jane Roberts. Jane was a medium who channeled a being named Seth, and this is one of the books he dictated through her. His main point -- You create your own reality. I love the imagery he uses of your life, and everything around you, being a reflection of you, like your breath upon a window. The world around you is a natural result of your being, it is arrayed around you, and changes as you do.

That's why the more I try to control circumstances outside of me, the more futile it becomes because I am trying to change a result, not the source -- like taking care of the symptoms rather than the cause. And conversely, the more I let go of the outside world, not lacing it with expectations of certain outcomes, waiting for outside things to change for me to feel better, the more harmonious my world flows and the better I feel.

I keep being drawn back into what I learned in Tai Chi (which I am attempting to once again work into my everyday schedule) and how it's a relaxing into the center that makes you stronger, not the tightening up and pushing outward. The latter actually puts you have balance and allows outside forces to have better control of you. The experiential component of this for me was walking from one end of a fallen tree to the other. If I started to lose my balance and I tightened up and got all stiff, I was almost certain to fall of the tree. But if I started to lose my balance and I relaxed, my center of gravity lowered, I became more grounded, and (most of the time) was able to stay on the tree. It's the letting go and moving back into your center that allows you to keep balanced.

And so I am learning to remain in my center, my eye (I) and allow the world around me to spin in it's beautiful kaleidoscopic dance, reflecting more and more the wonders and miracles of my true being.

I am never quite sure if my words get across what I'm trying to say, finding that sometimes poetry works better for expressing that. And in that vein I am including a song I wrote years ago that sums it up nicely...

EVERY FOOTSTEP

Here I stand where my heart is free

The Universe arrayed about me

With every possible path laid at my feet

Every time my pathway changes

All the Universe rearranges

To bring me back where circles are complete

Every moment is a new beginning

And every heart beat is a new song singing

And I wonder where I thought I might have been

No matter how far I may seem to journey

There's just no way to leave Eternity

And every foot step brings me home again

With my heart I realign

In clarity the choice is mine

For what it is I truly wnat to find

I choose my path in perfect freedom

knowing each way finally leads on

To the place we never left behind

Every moment is a new beginning

and every heart beat is a new song singing

And I wonder where I thought I might have been

No matter how far I may seem to journey

There's just no way to leave Eternity

And every foot step brings me home again

Cleaning Up

Note: Tonight I received the following email message forwarded to me on a shamanic email list I belong to. Synchronistically, last week at the monthly Jeshua channeling meeting someone asked about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. His response was basically the same as what I read in this message tonight from Mary Getten, a well known local animal communicator.

And so, with permission, I wish to share that message with you here -- A message of hope and empowerment. Thank you Mary.


From: Mary Getten <mg@rockisland.com>
Date: May 3, 2010 10:09:34 AM PDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: oil spill

Hi Everyone,

There are many people feeling helpless and angry right now about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You don't have to feel that way. I would like to suggest some simple things that you can do to make a difference.

1. Be an armchair environmentalist. Communicate with the animals in that area to let them know about the dangers of getting oiled and where to go to be safe. The birds need to be told that if the water looks like this (show them an oil slick on the surface), that they should keep flying. The dolphins, turtles, fish and other swimming creatures, need to know that if they see an oil slick or dark spot on the surface, they should not come up there. Also if they see a dark mass in the water, they should swim away from it. Step by step instructions are included below.
2. Hold the vision of the gulf being clean and healthy. Don't hate the oil, love it back into the ground. If enough people connect with the oil (Deva of the oil) and explain that it needs to go back into the earth and seal up the hole where it is escaping, this kind of miracle can happen. Do the visualization/meditation/communication included below.
3. Call and write your senators and representatives in congress, President Obama, and the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson. Speak from the heart about what this oil is doing to the environment, the economy and our wildlife. Ask them to stop the drilling to prevent more disasters.

Thanks for your help in turning this disaster around. Every little thing that you do WILL make a difference.
mary

CONNECTING WITH A DEVA OR NATURE SPIRIT

• Each type of animal, plant or mineral, has a Deva or nature spirit that “looks after” all the beings in that group. You can communicate with this Deva, to easily get a message to all the beings of that type.
• Determine which Deva you want to connect with and what you want to say or express. In this case, you want to let the birds know that they should not land on the water if it has oil on it, the swimming creatures should not surface or swim in those areas, and the bottom dwellers need to march away as well. Tell the dolphins that they can swim south into the Atlantic or the Caribbean and be safe.
• Get quiet. Do a grounding meditation or use some other technique to move into your heart center.
• Set your intention and call out to the Deva of __________________(bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, sea birds, etc). You can also connect with the Deva of the Gulf of Mexico and ask that ALL wildlife be safely moved from the oiled areas, but connecting with the more "specific" devas seems to be more powerful.
• Wait for the energy to come in. If you don’t feel it right away, call again, and ask if the Deva is there.
• Introduce yourself and tell this being why you have contacted them.
• Tell this being about the danger of the oil and urge them to lead the animals to a safe area. Explain what happens if they get oiled. Tell them how much we love and appreciate these beings and how we want them to be safe.
• Acknowledge any communication, feelings, pictures or perceptions you receive.
• If you do not understand something, ask for clarification. Keep asking questions until you understand what you are hearing, seeing or feeling. Keep talking to the Deva until you are sure that you have gotten your message across. Send mental pictures of the dolphins (or whomever) speeding through the water to the unsoiled regions. Apologize for this terrible accident.
• When finished, thank this being for sharing with you and ask if there is anything they would like to tell you, or that you need to hear. See if there is anything else you can do to help.
• Come back to your physical reality and record what you got.
• Do this with as many Devas as you can, as often as you can, and keep sending the mental picture or visual of the animals leaving the oiled areas and being safe elsewhere.
  
  HOLD THE VISION
  
• To create something in your reality, you must see it as you would like it (not as it is). In this case, we want to see the Gulf of Mexico clean and shining, healthy and free of oil.
• To get to this state, we’ll connect with the Deva of the Oil in the Gulf of Mexico as we did in the exercise above. Tell the Deva that the oil now in the Gulf needs to go back into the ground and that the hole must seal itself closed.
• Explain how many creatures are being hurt. Tell the Deva and the oil, that you understand that it means no harm, but that it is creating problems for all the wildlife.
• Sending loving energy to the oil while you visualize it swirling like a tornado in the water, and going back into the hole it came out of.
• Hold this vision for as long as possible, all the while thanking the oil for going back into the ground and telling it how much you love it.
• See the hole in the bottom of the sea closing up.
• Keep sending love to the oil and thanking it for going back into the ground and sealing the hole.
• Do this as often as possible. There is power in numbers and the more that this information/request is made, the quicker and more complete this will happen.
• You can also hold the vision that the humans involved find a simple and easy way to stop this, and ensure that it never happens again.

Thanks so much for using your telepathic abilities to work with the oil and help the wildlife find safe passage to clean areas.


Many Blessings to you,
Mary

Mom... Dad... I'm Fae

The following entry is a reprint of a post I published in an earlier, private blog. Beltane (May Day), the part of the Wheel-of-the-Year where the Fae become more active, felt like a fitting place to share this again:

Note: This entry became a lot longer and more involved than I had originally planned. In fact I was considering breaking it into two posts. It is, again, a story from my personal mythology, in fact MY story from my personal mythology, and how I came to be. If you would like the story only, you may skip ahead to the blue section. Otherwise you will get the whole DVD-special-features-behind-the-scenes-making-of documentary. Either way, thank you for reading. :)

Since I can remember, I felt like I didn't belong with my family. Even people on the outside would ask how I ended up with them. It never occurred to me that I really might not belong with them until a seed thought was planted in my mind.

At school one day, I don't remember what grade I was in, another student's dad saw me and said, incidentally, "Corrigan. That's another name for the little people." The full importance of that statement, and the hidden meaning of my last name, didn't hit me at first, but the seed began to grow over many years.

As I outgrew my childhood beliefs and structures, and my world developed and expanded beyond the accepted boundaries of my up-bringing, and my family, these fish-out-of-water feelings only increased, and most of the time, even in my own mind, it was me who was, at best, weird, at worst, wrong.

But as my world grew and began to include ever expanding possibilities of various dimensions and parallel worlds, inevitably I became introduced to the realm of Faerie. Granted it started slowly with "wouldn't it be cool if...", fueled by images of the Cottingly Fairies and the like, but it has blossomed into, not only a full-on belief, but a complete knowingness of the existence of the Wee Folk. Actually to the point of missing the little blue sparkly flashes of light, seen out of the corner of my eye, when my apartment faeries are being, perhaps, a little too quiet.

Even from the beginnings of my forays into Faery, that statement of my last name being ‘another word for the little people’ never left me. So you can just imagine my delight at the point where I discovered a dictionary of the faery folk, and verified the truth of that statement. Perhaps ‘delight’ is not the proper word. More of an Oh-my-god-and-holy-crap-it's-true-dumb-founded recognition of another cosmic puzzle piece falling into place . Yes. Quite delightful.

I believe it was at that point that the seed began to germinate, and a story began to form in the back of my mind as to my true origins. I had read about 'star children' and the different indicators, most of which I fit, that would suggest you were an alien born into a human body. Yet that didn't quite sit right with me. I felt too connected to the earth to be from somewhere else. But, were I changeling, a faery baby switched at birth with a human baby, that just felt so much more plausible!

None of my research into Corrigans, or Korrigans, contradicted my story, but rather fueled my excited imagination. The Corrigan originate mostly from Brittany, and are the type that appear as human women, who sit by pools of water, alone or sometimes in groups up to nine, combing their long hair in the moonlight. During the day, though, they take on the appearance of old hags. They are also shape-shifters, able to change into any creature they want.

Now I hadn't meant to recount the whole story here, just give bits and pieces and highlights as I had them figured out. However, when I began writing, things just started to flow and, before I knew it, I had what follows. With all of that in mind, this is the story as I've reconstructed it so far... (*Ahem!*)


Once upon a time, there was a magickal pool, and around this pool sat nine sisters. At least they sat around the pool at night, combing their long, glorious hair that shimmered in the moonlight, because that was when they appeared beautiful and young. During the day they stayed out of sight for in the sunlight they had the appearance of old, wrinkled crones. This was slightly offset by their ability to change into any creature they desired.

One of the sisters, My'riad, wishing to be alone one day, assumed her favorite shape, that of a unicorn, and wandered out into the sun dappled forest. So lost in the beauty of the woods was she that, not until the snapping of a twig brought her back to the present, did she realize she was not alone.

In a single instant, she saw the arrow pointed at her, saw it loosed from it's string, saw a hand strike the bow, and watched the arrow whistle harmlessly into the under brush beside where she stood. Without thought she fled, disappearing into the trees, but, as is the habit of most curious wild creatures, she circled back around to investigate what had, just moments ago, threatened her very life. What she saw was two men, one of whom was red in the face from screaming at the other man, "Bastard! You cost me a unicorn! I could have been set up for life! How dare you interfere with my shot! If I see you again you will pay with your life!" And the man stomped, very noisily, off into the woods.

The other man stood silently for a moment, watching where the first man had gone, then without turning his head, he said quietly, "You're not a real unicorn are you." The only answer was a gasp as the faery woman's, currently fuzzy, chin dropped and her eyes widened in shock. Who was this man who not only sensed her presence, but that she wasn't who she appeared to be? He turned toward her, reaching out an inviting hand and an even more inviting smile. Darkness had begun to fall so she allowed herself to slip back into her human form -- her beautiful, young human form -- and slip her hand softly into his. There was a rush of energy as they touched and, beneath the splendor of the rising moon, they kissed for the first time.

They kissed many more times that night, among other things I can not mention without having to tag this blog as unsuitable for minors, and as the first rays of the sun began to break across the horizon, he whispered softly in her ear, "I know who you are, and I release you." Her mind reeled as she was overcome at this, for this is the only way a Corrigan may become, and remain, young and beautiful -- A human man who loves her enough to allow her to be who she is. A joy she had not known washed over her, coupled with the certain knowledge that a miracle had been conceived within her.

My'riad returned with him to his cottage in the woods where they lived happily together for some time, and her belly continued to swell. One evening, though, her husband did not return from his hunt. Her concern grew and she set out in search of him, again taking the unicorn's shape, as four legs could carry her more swiftly than two. Oh! If only she had had six, perhaps she would have arrived in time! As it was she happened upon the scene to see her lover freshly fallen to the earth, an arrow protruding from his chest.

The anguish that issued from her throat was unearthly, and some say it froze her beloved's slayer in his tracks, even as he attempted to flee. Literally froze his heart in his chest. His life ended by she who would have earlier been his prey, for he was the previously mentioned man making good his threat against her husband. Then shifting instantly back to human form she cradled her love's head in her hands, caressing his hair with her fingers and bathing his face with her tears. One last kiss on his cold lips was all she could bear and she had to go. Just get away, as far and as fast as her four legs would carry her!

In another part of the forest, a hunter heard a creature crashing through the forest and moved to intercept it, to see what manner of beast could make such an ungodly wailing, and to put this beast out of its misery. And so it happened that for the second time, My'riad came face to face with a nocked arrow intended to take her life.

"Please, my Lady, do with me what you will, but pray do not harm my babe!" A soft growl rose from My'riad's throat.

With this a smile flickered at the corner of the hunter's mouth and she slowly lowered her bow. "You're not a real unicorn are you."

"No my Lady," My'riad replied with a bow as she shimmered back to her true form, at which time her pregnancy became blatantly clear.

"Fear not precious one. You and your babe are safe now, for you are under my protection."

My'riad, having pushed herself to her already emotionally strained limits, nearly passed out, but her tears turned from grief to relief for she knew that the Huntress Goddess before her was also the Goddess of Childbirth. And so, whether because she was Fae, or because the Goddess of Midwives personally delivered her baby, she had the easiest of labors and was soon holding a beautiful boy child to her breast.

"I know this one," Artemis whispered, gathering the supple deer hide back around a tiny wiggling leg that had escaped the bundle, held by the new mother. "And so do you," She added, looking My'riad in the eye. My'riad balked, then began to cry, for in her babe she recognized the essence of her slain husband.

"And this one," continued the Goddess, wrinkling Her nose and winking at the child, "remembers me, don't you my little wolf?" The baby laughed and waved his arms. "How would you know my son, M'Lady?" "He lived a lifetime, long ago, as one of my children in a forest far from here. A place called Sherwood. And before that he spent time as one of my beloved beasts, the wildest, yet gentlest of creatures -- whose form, by no accident, is one that you know well." She smiled again as She traced a spiral, ever so gently, upon My'riad's forehead.

"Now, Daughter, there is some unfortunate business to attend to." My'riad's heart sank into her stomach. Hadn't she been through enough? "Because your child's blood is partly mortal, he can not be raised among the Fair Folk. His path leads into 'Man's World', where he will be challenged, true, but he will thrive, I promise you. He will bring to human minds and hearts a joy and whimsy born of his faery blood, and a hope they can not understand, yet will they be drawn to it like moths to the flame."

"And fear not for I will watch over him, instilling his heart with a love of the wild and a taste of the Faery Realm, that he may find his way back to his origins. And find his way back he will, for he is now my adopted son. He will be able to track and read the signs."

"What signs?" Demanded My'riad, "I will not give up my only son, even to you, without reason!"

"Calm yourself Daughter. I know of a family whose heritage is very spiritual, overflowing with holy men and women, through the monasteries and churches of Eire..." "Catholics?!" My'riad interrupted, showing her disdain by almost gagging on the word. Artemis continued unfazed, "And their surname is 'Corrigan'. He will gain enough experience and knowledge in his youth to maintain a solid footing in mystical matters, enabling him to make the leap from religion to spirituality. His name will be his first clue as to his true origin, and he will spend his life endeavoring to find that truth."

The Goddess of the Wild smiled pridefully as only a god, who knows of things to be, could.

"Oh yes. He will return."

Heart and Brain

My heart and my brain decided on a race

My brain wasn't worried, he knew he could out-pace

That silly little heart cuz all she does is sings

But when he wasn't looking, my heart had sprouted wings

And it wasn't that the race she won, she flew rings around my brain

Who, failing to analylize, went quietly insane