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| Photo copyright Sean Heavey / Barcroft Media |
For those who are new to this blog, please permit me to introduce myself. My name is Keena. Christine asked me awhile back to write some guest blogs for her and I have carried on longer than she expected (although not as consistently as I should have, I must admit).
Although I am a Faerie, I do not look at all like Tinker Bell. Faeries come in many sizes and kinds. I am, in human terms, five-foot-four-inches tall, I don't have wings, and I look similar to a human in her mid-thirties. This enables me to live among humans in a town called Baile Eile without anyone (except a very close friend) knowing that I am a faerie. I minister as an Alternative Medicine Practitioner and an herbalist, and the townspeople accept me as one of their own. During the time I've lived here, I've come to have great affection for them and love my life here. I wouldn't want anything to spoil that. However, my niece, Siobhan, who's only been here for a week, may manage to get us both run out of town!
Siobhan is my sister's child. She is sixteen and a half ages old and, overall, she is a fine faerie. I am quite proud of her. She is intelligent, courageous, resourceful and even charming--when she decides to be. But she still has some growing to do, particularly in the area of considering consequences before acting and in using her power responsibly. Siobhan was born with the ability to create thunderstorms at will. She likes to create storms when she gets bored and feels in need of a little entertainment. Her mother told her that her "entertainment" might adversely affect others. Still, she stirs up storms whenever she believes she can get away with it. Actually, I don't really mind that. I was her age once and I was at least as mischievous and rebellious as she is. If that were the end of the story, I would say, "Let her have her fun, as long as she chooses her moments judiciously."
But that's the problem. Siobhan's judgment needs some fine tuning. She also needs to contol her feelings, especially her pride and indignation--both of which are ever at the ready. Recently, Siobhan encountered a seventeen-year-old human guy, Ewan McAshinagh. A quite decent young man usually. I've known him since he was born. His mother is my closest friend in the human world. (She knows I'm faerie; he doesn't). Anyway, Siobhan is rather beautiful so Ewan flirted with her. Unfortunately, Siobhan doesn't know anything about flirting. (In our world, she's only just become old enough to be courted).
Well, Siobhan misinterpreted Ewan's flirting and teasing as condescension and insult. So she went into default mode, summoned up a thunderstorm (which she can do with a casual squint of her eyes) and hit his bicycle with lightning. Fortunately (for her, because I would have murdered her in a most painful way had it been otherwise) Ewan wasn't on or near the bike at the time. Also (again fortunately for her) he didn't know she was the source of the storm and the destruction of his beloved bicycle. He thought it was all a freak accident.
Now, Baile Eile is not a very big community so word spread quickly through it. After hearing the rumors of this lightning-fried bicycle incident, I (as casually as possible) asked Ewan to tell me what happened. He did and when he mentioned that it happened shortly after he had met this pretty but haughty teenage girl who was new to town and who would't tell him her name, I knew the incident had been no accident.
So Siobhan and I have since had a conversation about the responsible use of power. Siobhan genuinely had had no thought about hurting Ewan himself...well, not physically. Her actions were spiteful but not malicious. Still, anyone who has the ability to create lightning at will, needs to be able to deal with her anger in a healthy way. With great power comes great responsibility!
Oprah once asked, "If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?" Someone interviewing the cast of the BBC series, Merlin, asked the cast, "If you could have one of Merlin's powers, which one would you want and why?" So I ask you to consider a similar question:If you could have one magical ability, what would you chose and why? Then consider: What would you do with that power? In what ways could you benefit others with it? Or do you want the power just for your own benefits? What drawbacks would there be to having that power? What responsibility would you suddenly have to deal with as a result of having that power?
As always, I wish you many blessings!Keena
P.S. Watch out for thunderstorms--and peeved Faeries!
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