Where the fae are tangible

I have always enjoyed Neil Gaiman's writing. I took American Gods with me to read in the USA and thoroughly enjoyed Stardust. Last night was the first opportunity to see the film of Stardust in my local cinema and I must admit to going to the very first showing. Films of books are often disappointing if you have let your imagination run riot over the books but I really enjoyed the film and the two hours of screenplay was over all too soon.

There is definitely something deep in the human spirit that hears the call of wild places where the fae are tangible, magic palpable and a Goddess dwells in every spring and grove. I loved the wild landscapes of Stormhold in the film as I love the landscapes of the liminal places of Brighid's Isles. The open grandeur of the North East of England and Highland Scotland; the seascapes of the outer isles are places I visit whenever I can. They bring beauty and magic and wildness to the spirit and we cannot live without such things. Indeed a true teacher is one who opens a child to the beauty and mystery and magic in books, landscape and the human spirit.

It is such wild places that the imagination creates as internal places to enter and explore whenever there is the need to hearken to the Goddess or find healing or sanctuary from the pressures of life. Such landscapes of the heart are a true gift and blessing of the Goddess.

Maybe the rise in the popularity of Halloween has more to do with this than with its obvious commercialism. In the midst of our cities and suburbs, in the midst of our controlled human lives in safe environments, we still need to sense the presence of wild things, to feel magic in the air, to dare to knock on the stranger's door and meet the unknown.