PhenomeGNOME BLOG

I think everyone has a right to their own beliefs - and I’m also aware that almost every country except America seems to believe in elves, gnomes, little people, leprechauns, or fairies. (It does seem strange that so many cultures share tales of creatures such as this. Why would they all exist in various cultures as pretty much the same type of creatures?) So I’ve always said, “To each his own.” It’s certainly helped my skepticism over the years to never say never. I guess it’s like Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed.”

Then in 1977, I went to Ireland. I was riding in a horse-drawn jaunting car in a beautiful park near one of the Lakes of Killarney when I happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold, it was a fairy - with wings and all - on an oleander bush. She was beautifully formed, had golden hair, and wore a wonderful blue gossamer dress. I blinked and looked again; she didn’t pay me any mind, but instead went gently from leaf to leaf and flower to flower. I screamed at the driver, “I just saw a fairy!”

He looked back at me as if I were the stupid one. “Of course,” he replied, “they’re all over the place.”

My second husband, who was with me at the time, was of Irish descent and used to tease me about my lack of belief in the little people, fairies, and the like; I’d always tell him that he was nuts. I looked over and saw this “I told you so” grin on his face…and promptly whacked him one.

I’m sure that everyone remembers reading about what happened years ago when they tried to build an airport runway across fairy circles at the Shannon Airport in Ireland. Everything went so badly for months - machinery broke down or just wouldn’t work, and people got sick and injured - that they abandoned the project and went in a different direction away from the circles…at which point everything progressed quite smoothly. If you discuss this with the locals who live near the airport, they’ll simply admit that you shouldn’t mess with fairy circles.

In ancient times, fairies seem to have been more evil, but as time has gone on, they’ve morphed into kindly, mischievous, and caring little people. There was nothing evil about this sprite I saw; in fact, if she’d been bigger, I would have thought she was an angel, thanks to the golden-white glow around her. Francine told me later that I’d actually seen poor, defamed Lilith herself (who I’ll talk about in a bit.) I know what I saw; even now I’d take a lie-detector test because I just don’t go around seeing things (unless I’m asked to tune in on a ghost or happen to bump into one).

So be my guest, and take or leave what I saw. Personally, I’ll always cherish this beautiful visual, which proved the old saying to be true: There are more things in heaven and earth than humans can even imagine.