healingwords: poetry for the soul

In a few more days these threads of delicate light will be floating free over the countryside, seeding a new beginning for the thistle. 

I reminded today of my lovely Dad and his fairy stories, told to me when I was a child and repeated to his grandchildren. I miss him today and everyday and the garden where he and my mother created a wildlife haven and where we sat together with the birds and the fae. 

Today I was reminded by a poetry prompt of fairy stories with my Dad when I was a tiny child. He continued to tell us fairy adventures based in our garden or the countryside all through my childhood and with my own children. Now I still see the fairy hand in a breeze of dandelion clocks, autumn toadstools rings, mossy tree stumps and wooded areas that have that special feel. 

On an uninspired, tired day I was delighted to receive this lovely photograph of a foxglove flower from my brother Chris Knight on his visit to Kinver woods near Stourbridge in England. The foxglove was one of my favourite flowers when I was a child and I was told many tales about the plant, reflecting its rich history in myth and medicine. The bell like flowers could be slippers for the wily fox to soften his pad in the hen house, or they were homes to tiny flying fairies, hiding from view. They would make a perfect purple hat for a pixie or a silken bed for fairy babies.  The plant itself is seen to sway on its tall, leggy stems even when there is no breeze and another myth suggests it is bowing in respect to the passing Fae.  I was not allowed to touch the plant, only look as it would upset the fairies. A little older and not such a believer in fairies I learned  that it is highly poisonous, causing stomach upsets and even dangerous heart effects if any part of ...

Herbal infusions are popular in Spain, many different kinds are sold in supermarkets and locals still make their own with herbs picked from the countryside. In my local area rosemary, thyme, chamomile and fennel grow wild. Thyme is recommended as an antiseptic and for use with coughs, colds and respiratory infections. It is also said to have a calming effect, bringing serenity and strength. Folklore calls thyme tea 'infusion de las hadas', as it said if you drink this and sleep on a fairy hill or in a fairy wood you will meet with the fairies and goblins or speak to them in your dreams. 

I came across this hidden, little patch of flowered green close to the dried river bed near my home. It looked like a perfect rock garden as if the succulents, grass, herbs and flowers had been planted around the rocks by an unseen hand. 

When I was a child we always called thistle fluff  'fairies' and I would run around trying to catch them as they danced on the wind.  Blowing a dandelion head was either counting time with my puffs as the clocks blew away or releasing more fairies on the wind. Seeing their sparkle now still makes me smile.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

Today is a national holiday in Spain where the children take the chance to play with their gifts before back to school tomorrow. Many will be tired and over excited after going to see the Three Kings on the evening of the 5th. In our village the Kings parade with the band from church to the Cooperativa where they sit on their thrones and give presents to all the children, followed by family suppers. Today I take down the green and decorations which have cheered the house since before Christmas. It always seems bare afterwards, waiting for another year.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

The dew drops on this finger size shoot of new pine reminded me of the hidden world beneath us, where microscopic creatures colonise the soil and bugs and beetles scuttle out of sight. Who knows who might dance around this tiny Christmas tree.  © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

I love this tiny plant, peaking out of the undergrowth, the stripes reminding me of a city suit. It reminds me of a childhood fairy story where the good people sewed their clothes from the plants and flowers around them. I can still picture the illustrations but have no idea of the author or illustrator. I would play in the garden with bits of leaves, acorn cups and flowers, fashioning them into tiny hats and clothes.  © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

The Three Fairies Dancing sculpture at the Rollright stones is the work of environmental sculptor David Gosling and his son Adam and reflects one of the legends associated with the stones. It is said that fairies live beneath the Kings stone and come out at night to dance around the stone circle. The sculpture is inspired by William Blake's painting 'Oberon, Titania and Puck with fairies dancing' from A Midsummer night's dream. It is a nice thought that Shakespeare may have known the Stones as they lie close to the old Stratford to London road. The dancing fairies have an amazing energy, they seemed semi real on a windy, grey day and were perfectly at home next to the Stone Circle and near the beautiful wood sculptures in the Whispering Knight's wood project a few hundred yards from the stones.   © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

Cnoc Meadha woods in County Galway cover the hill celebrated in legend both as Witches Hill, The Hill of Maeve and the place where Finnbheara, the King of the Connacht Fairies held court. Winding through oak, ash, hazel and beech trees to the stone cairn at the top of the hill where Queen Maeve is said to be buried, there is a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding counties, to the sea.  On a warm Autumn morning, with light filtering through the trees, it seemed a place of magic and mystery, both in its woodland elements and with the numerous fairy doors at the base of trees which rather than seeming twee or commercial appeared as a natural part of the wood. It was certainly a place to stir the imagination.  © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved

The air in the 'campo' is full of fairies, the flying wisps of our wishes. When I was a child I would blow the fairies and watch them float away, carrying my dreams.  © 2019 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.