Of the Fay and the Meaning of Birds
- When Birds Still Sang
Ashes heavy, envy's ploy
Angels lost, demons coy
Never ever, nay never again
Would the mighty host of heaven
Revel in Earthly joy
Babel the Resonate
The First Words - 8th stanza
The second aeon came to an end through Envy, the withering instrument wielded by the glistening serpent of the deep. And as this world of unparalleled beauty and harmony faltered and fell from beneath the crushing will of festering spirits long forgotten, as did a host of the most precious angels fall and follow Leviathan towards the budding kingdom of darkness. And so it was, when the sun rose to illuminate and herald the coming of the third aeon, that from then on and until eternity, the Divine forbade the spirits of Heaven to materialize within the elemental worlds of yonder. No angel would walk again upon the Creation, save the occasional messenger of the Divine.
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The Fay were born, on morn of ever
Loving, goodly, gentle, clever
Eden´s tender tenders stand
Gallant wardens of the land
Steadfast in their grand endeavor
Babel the Resonate
The First Words - 13th stanza
When the divine had for the third time completed its creation, they looked about and found it lacking. Or, perhaps not “lacking”, but something was missing. Previously, the world had been filled with song, thought and the chiming cheers of angels, but this time around, it was aimless and without reply or agency. And while the divine pondered what best to do, with a second thought, they created the birds and made them appear out of the clear blue sky as a cherished memory and a reminder of the angelic host now banished from this realm.
But something was still missing. All this beauty, but no one to appreciate or enjoy it, all this mystery but no one to wonder or even ponder it, all this grandeur and no one to tremble in astonishment and appreciation. What the world was lacking was to be meaningful. Meaningful to someone. And so, the divine created beings in their own image, “Adonii beget by Adonai”.
And thus the Fay were born. Big and powerful, strong in spirit, pure in mind and thoughtful. And the Divine imbued them with immortality, intuitively connecting them with all living beings within creation and giving them the gift of channeling the force of life itself to manipulate the elements of creation. And herein lay seemingly their defense against the Enemy; While demons and angels alike enjoy the supernatural powers of controlling the elements of creation through spirit and the ability to channel spiritual powers from beyond the Veil, the powers of the Fay are essentially of nature itself and presumably beyond the grasp of the corruption that ultimately caused the destruction of previous creations.
The sun would never set on this undying first day of the third Aeon, a day that lasted a thousand years. The Fay lived in harmony and immediate touch with all of God's creatures. Death was yet to be hatched and neither would anyone or anything be born, the world was in perfect balance and peace.
And then it wasn't.
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Red-hot and dark, the mark of pride
Dawnbringer readily does provide
For all but the humble
The world would crumble
And the path to Elphame be denied
Babel the Resonate
The First Words - 21st stanza
The lightbringers words and damning whispers would in the end bring about the downfall of the third creation. One after another the Fay fell to his wiles; his foul suggestions and flattering gifts bolstered their ego and overcome by Pride they lost their grounded connection with the living, making them ripe for the corruption of the spirit.
Those precious few who had resisted, remembered and stood their ground, watched as the world crumbled around them. And they were not alone, also the all embracing Divine observed from beyond the Veil as this creation seemingly disintegrated and turned to ashes in their trembling hands. And holy wrath filled the Almighty as his joy turned to dust. The woods splintered, the mountains fell and the waters drained by the will of the Divine and all things living were doomed, as the spirit of Death was created in that instance and was set upon the world to devour the living, lest they too joined the legions of Hell.
Watching all this, the handful of Fay who had stood true and resisted the Lightbringer, realized that the Divine would not spare anyone, that they themselves were in the eye of the Lord, tainted by association with this creation and the end was inevitably nigh. But the desire to preserve the holy creation became stronger than the will to obey the Divine for one last time, so they gathered steadfast and determined in the heart of Elysium.
~~~
Hand in hand in forests nave
Around The Stone a world to save,
Rowan, Moyra, Merlin and Maven
With Morgan and Danu form a haven,
Remus, Lethe, Loran and Flora
With Auberon’s wisdom kindle the aura,
Babel’s voice the doomed allures
Fauna’s sense the beasts ensues
Flora speaks through branch and root
Titania serves forbidden fruit
And Deva does what she knows best
Lays the souls of all to rest
~ Old druid chant
Channeling the life force of what remained living in the world and denying the Enemy a chance to devour it all, Auberon’s court broke a path through the Veil and created an otherworldly haven, drawing on the few living things that were still pure and unbroken in the world, plants and animals alike. An extra-natural world. There, the Fay have stayed hidden ever since, both from the wiles of the enemy and also from the eye of the Divine, they know as is, that the Almighty does not easily reconcile those who have been condemned, even though in their own case, they were innocents swept up by a gathering storm.
While the Fay fear the Lord more than anything, they passionately hate the agents of Hell with all their might and blame them, rightly, for destroying their own chance at Elysium eternal. Each time the Divine has made a new iteration of Earth, the Fay have secretly broken back through from their hidden realm and acted as the guardians of creation they always intended to be. And at the end of each Aeon, when each of the numerous creations have turned out to be a disappointment and a failure and the Divine has decided to raze them and start anew, the Fay have done their best to save any living things worth saving from each of them before they vanished.
It is told that the birds first came to the Tenth Creation during Meirothea’s time, drawn to her voice and charmed by it, slipping through from the old world where memory had wings. But such things are only whispered now, passed through druidic chants and half-sung lullabies. No bird has been seen in living memory, only feathers in empty places, and songs remembered by stones.
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Birds on wings and trees on foot
Dwarfs all covered up in soot
Goblin, Goblin, go away
Home to nasty forest Fay
Wyvern singing songs of joy?
Griffin eating farmers boy?!
Cross my heart and hope to die
Before I see the monkeys fly!!
If trolls and ogres eat my mom
I doubt my father will stay calm
I hope and pray for every day
That filthy Fay will stay away!
~ Well known nursery rhyme
Merlin ~ The Bard of Lyonnesse
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Rowan Moyra Merlin Maven Morgan Danu
Remus Lethe Loran Flora Auberon Fauna Titania Deva
Credits, paintings: Thomas Jones, The Bard, 1774