THE ELFIN ECLIPSE

A short Story

Enter the world, suspend the thought of who you are and feel the experience envelop you on all sides. For this was the time when they would enter the world of in- between at Beltaine in the Elfin Dell within the woods. Enter it as they do, ready to witness the eclipse.

The circle had been prepared and all the Priest and Priestess of Elphame had to do was enter into it, to engage the mind-key and part the veil to the in-between of bliss. The couple stood before a wooden stile that formed the gateway to the woods, they knew would be theirs on a night such as this. Nissa looked across the meadow to the houses in the village, knowing a blanket of sleep had fallen over them. She did not belong to that sleep, but to the aliveness of magic and the realm that only became visible at the cusp of a time, when the tides of the year climaxed at their fecund peak.

A rush in the breeze played with the leaves and the over hanging branches. A barn owl screeched overhead, momentarily startling Nissa, until she realised what it was. Her Priest, Bonar took her hand in his and squeezed it affectionately, and with that they both began the short woodland walk in the velvet black night to where the faerie circle awaited. On the breeze they began to smell the faint swirls of incense in the air of cinnamon and lavender. All they could see before them were the black outline of trees and the feeling of the soft earth of the footpath as they walked.

As they turned a corner in the track, an awesome sight awaited them, for the Elfin Dell was lit up with a circle of candles like a faerie grotto. The seven Seekers of The Faerie Ring stood waiting like a consul of silent elven envoys. Nissa gasped in wonderment at the beautiful and entrancing sight; the circle decorated in white and pink hawthorn blossom and the Seeker’s cloaks billowing in the Spring breeze.

“It’s time,” whispered Bonar and his Priestess nodded, breaking her spell of awe. She followed him down the winding bracken lined pathway into the secret dell where they were greeted with a kiss and an embrace by each of their fellow Seekers. The Faerie Ring Of Queen Caelia stood ready now and waiting in their woodland circle. The flames from the circumference of candles flickered in the eyes of those who waited for their Priest and Priestess of Elphame to welcome the faerie King and Queen. As the seven Faerie Seekers waited, resplendent in their velvet dresses and robes, they knew that this was the time when the energy grew deeper, almost as if it were a carpet of moss to be walked upon. This was the time when Bonar and Nissa would invoke the King and Queen of Faerie, becoming the mortal faerie monarchs for the ritual journey; the ones who would carry the King and Queen to this in-between place, an eclipse with our time and the Land Of Elves.

Bonar was the Priest of Elphame who lit the silver candles upon the faerie altar. He stood opposite his Priestess before the altar, closing his eyes and raising his arms and the Ring of Seekers felt the shift in energy as he did so. Nissa closed her eyes and as her Priest spoke the invocation she felt orbs of moonlight sparkling and shimmering throughout her body and aura as the Faerie Queen Caelia seamlessly merged with her being. Nissa felt herself plunge into a deeper state of consciousness, filling herself with an electrifying experience, where she felt the stars of the cosmos move and breathe within her.

The Priestess of Elphame spoke her words of invocation to King Sil in a felicitous state of peace and equanimity. Bonar saw himself enveloped within a radiant golden light and a tingling sensation poured through him as he received the presence of the Faerie King Sil. The Priest and Priestess accustomed themselves to the blessed energy that they carried, while the King and Queen of Cobwebs formed an archway followed by the rest of the Faerie Ring, creating a passage of people to the centre of the circle, a symbolic walkway to Faerie Land.

Nissa and Bonar opened their eyes and took one another’s hands, turning to face the archway of Seekers. Giggles and shrieks rang out in the warm night air of May Eve. When the Priest and Priestess reached the centre of the ring, the seven Seekers gathered around them. Nissa stood still while Bonar placed her elven crown of twinkling semi-precious stones upon her head. This is where they would enter the place of stars. This was the sparkly signal; the crown upon the head, the meeting of two places; one earthly and one enchanted. He placed the elven crown, as he always did, slowly and deliberately, with a fixed, steady gaze into Nissa’s eyes. He always placed the crown upon her head as if he was crowning a queen, with an intense feeling of purpose and reverence. Nissa felt how she always did at this point in the rite; completely absorbed in his intensity and feeling transformed from a woman, into one who had received the Queen of Faerie.

Then in turn Nissa took her Priest’s simple crown of twisted ivy. She had to reach up onto her tiptoes to place the elven crown upon his head and they both grinned as she just about managed to place it upon his dark hair. The crowned Priest and Priestess of Elphame held hands, and as if that was the trigger, they both fell into an instant altered state, reaching deep into the realms of their subconscious. The rest of the Faerie Ring closed their eyes and held hand to encircle the Priest and Priestess. Nissa began to see herself in her mind’s eye, journeying on a small boat, travelling alone towards, she presumed, an unknown spiritual destination on a shrouded woodland river, surrounded by a golden glowing light. After a few moments her eyes momentarily flickered open and she saw Bonar deep in concentration holding her hands. She was just about to close her eyes again to continue her mesmerizing, strangely enjoyable boat journey, when something unusual caught her attention.

As well as the Bonar that held her hands, another transparent Bonar, quite distinct all the same in his green velvet robe, stood at the edge of the Elfin Dell watching Nissa. He seemed to be moving further and further out of the faerie ring and she realised at once that this was Bonar’s fetch who was watching her on the other side of the circle. The Bonar that held her hands looked far away in his expression and she knew that he was not with her. She would not usually have been concerned for they were in-between the worlds now and faerie rules applied, but his fetch seemed to be gliding away from her and the sanctuary of the ring.

“You need to come back to me now Bonar,” spoke Nissa, all at once breaking the magical depth of silence. She saw Bonar’s fetch halt, but he did not attempt to come back to his waiting body. She felt that he was disinclined to return.

“Bonar, you must come back to the circle, back to yourself.” Nissa spoke firmly and directly and by now all the Faerie Seekers had opened their eyes. Some could see Bonar’s fetch and others were not able to perceive him. Slowly his fetch began to glide towards his physical body and Nissa saw his shimmering, astral self merge effortlessly with his body. His eyelids began to flicker and he seemed to reluctantly open his eyes. He smiled at Nissa and squeezed her hands.

“What happened, why did you call me back?”

“Don’t you know?”

“I know that I was travelling out of my body and the circle was full of elves carrying lanterns.”

“I wasn’t aware of them. I was travelling my own inner journey on a…….”

“On a boat,” cut in Bonar. Nissa stared into his eyes with an enquiring look. She hesitated to answer him, her mind full of questions at to how he could possibly have known.

“Yes……………..a boat,” she eventually answered him.

“A small wooden rowing boat, except that you weren’t rowing at all, you didn’t need to, it glided all by itself, like you would imagine the Lady Of Shallott to do. It all began when you placed the crown upon my head. I saw elves, the height of humans all around you and the light from their lanterns guided you to the boat. They didn’t speak to you, or even touch you and you didn’t seem to be aware of them. I was moving backwards because I was on the other side of the river to you and everyone else. So why did you call me back?”

“You had glided out of the ring, it didn’t feel right.”

“I had no idea, I was just so wrapped up in what I was seeing. I could see your inner journey and you could see me on mine, but neither of us was aware of the other as part of the same experience. We must write this down in the Book of Elfin and maybe we’ll find out what it means when we have a chance to look back on it.”

“Maybe we will.”

“Where were you going on your boat?”

“To the time of in-between of course, to find…………..” Nissa faltered, suddenly realizing that she had meant to say to find you, becoming aware of the implications of actually saying that, she stopped her words in their tracks. They had both been on different journeys and they had found one another through the eclipse of the elves. The short time of their entering within the time of in-between had brought and epiphany.

“To find what………… or whom?” asked Bonar, obviously intrigued.

“I think we’ll know soon enough.”

By Alicen Geddes-Ward c 2005