Faery Tales . . .

all images courtesy Ivan Phillips

I know I only got to spend two days as Gaia, but there was so much that happened in that weekend, I'm still flashing back to little moments.

So much of it revolved around the other performers, geting to interact with them again (or for the first time, in some cases!) One of my favorite Flower moments: Saturday it rained in the morning for a while, and rain is the kiss of death for a Fantastickal; we are not water proof. But, I was determined not to be stuck indoors when I had so little time to play, so I threw on a heavy cloak and went out into the downpour. I ended up finding Flower on the Town Square Public House counter, hiding from the rain under the overhang. I ran over and hopped up, and we sat for a little while in silence, both wrapped in the cloak against the sudden chill, watching the weather. There were lots of lovely moments with her, but this was my favorite;)

Hedgehog Faery! She was such fun to play with. My favorite memory was a rare pause on Sunday, when we hid behind a spider web and she "rested" on my leg. Naturally, none of us can truly sleep in costume and makeup, and she was probabaly as comfortable as someone sleeping on a bed of nails, but it still made a quiet, cute moment;)

Bubbles came out this weekend, and it was a joy to watch her bound around with a seemingly limitless energy. I loved closing gate, sitting in the window while she perched on the balcony railing over the gate just a few feet away, watching her blow bubbles to the children below. They would stretch up their hands and chase the bubbles, and you could see that they always believed they would really catch them . . . right up to the moment that they popped! I'm glad that my being Gaia gave her the chance to be Bubbles again for a few days.

Caliban, or "Blue Fish Boy", as he seems to be popularly called, came out on Sunday. Good Lord, every time I saw him, he was bounding somewhere! I would turn, and suddenly he'd be up a tree. My favorite moment with him was when all the fae converged on the stump stage, and a patron put a very young baby into his arms. We have all been handed babies before, we veteran faeries, but this was his first. The look of surprise and wonder on his face nearly matched that of the child's, and it made me remember the first time a stranger entrusted me with their most precious creation. We sometimes forget how lucky we are to do what we do, but seeing Caliban with that baby reminded me.

Grandmother Cobb, or Spidera, was always present, of course. She has been a constant and graceful presence in the glen for as long as I can remember, certainly for as long as I have been part of the Fantastickals, either doing makeup or performing with them. There was a little ceremony on Saturday where we wreathed a very old tree with a woven garland, and I danced just behind her as we circled the trunk. She has always been nearly unbiquitous with the troupe in my mind, and I could not have felt the same sense of peace in the glen without her there.

Phoenix came out at the very end of the day on Sunday, and as soon as I saw her, I ran right over. She was interaxcting with some patrons as drum jam started, and I realized this was my last chance for contact improv. I brought my hand in fronnt of her and she followed it, adding her hand, and then her arm, and then we flowed together for several lovely minutes. I was so glad to get the chance to play with her, even for a short time.

There are other fae I could not mention here (the post was getting too long!), but I had lovely interactions with all of them. If you are in the area and you haven't been out yet, the faire is still running for three more weekends. I encourage you to go out and create your own faery tale;)