Protected by Faeries

This past Sunday was an odd day. As a family we slept in, crawling out of bed between 9am and 10am. I finally went into Tatum's room close to 10am, where she was sprawled out on her bed and still recovering from her stomach flu two days before (another story).

After a morning of lethargy, Kenny decided to tackle the day. But first, he tackled his own mouth. With a wrench. I'll leave that up to him to describe.

Between Kenny's personal Fight Club morning and Tatum's lack of energy, I decided it was time to see if some fresh air could perk us up. I packed the girls in the car and headed to Rhododendron Park, a new favorite of ours.

When I pulled up I saw a man in a maroon silk ruffled shirt: odd attire for a Sunday afternoon at the park. I then saw a woman in a flowing skirt and cape get out of a Mini Cooper adorned with earth loving bumper stickers, including one that said "Protected by Faeries". I thought it was an odd choice of car (Mini) and bumper sticker (faeries) considering the woman was, at minimum, 300 pounds.

As I walked into the park I noticed that a sort of official gathering was being set up in the park shelter that typically hosts children's birthday parties and family picnics. However, the people flocking to the tables were not the normal women in khaki Capri's with cupcakes and a group of kids under age 5. Rather, it was an oddly dressed group complete with flowing capes, floral headpieces, and a number of men in Utilikilts. I parked Maya and I at the closest bench to the picnic shelter to (spy) piece together what was going on.

First: there was a greeter that asked everyone "are you here for the wedding" and had them sign into a guest book. A florist delivered flowers and a number of people brought dishes for what appeared to be the early formation of a pot luck reception.

Second: there were a number of lesbian couples, as well as straight couples. And, a number of children also dressed in the same medieval looking garb as their adult counterparts. It was like the renaissance festival without giant turkey legs and fake jousting. (I couldn't help but hope that their parents don't make them wear cloaks and head pieces to school, our young society just isn't hospitable of that kind of different).

Third: One woman stood out as a possible priestess or officiant of the wedding, as indicated by an intricate flowing cream colored cape, leather bound book and sword.

Finally: many of the men had swords (likely fake ones... I hope).

It was about the time that I began counting utilikilts and swords that I put together, based on my little knowledge of the topic, that this was a Wicken Wedding. As if that weren't entertaining, the photographer began taking pictures of the bride and...bride. A lesbian wicken wedding. Could the day get any better?

Tatum asked me to push her on the swings, which took me away from my listening post. However I was rewarded by a little pirate asking me where the bathrooms were. Yes, a pirate. I looked in the field and low and behold, a pirate birthday party. A dozen little boys with eye patches and swords. Where are the hidden cameras people? I'm used to Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Train parties in this park, and now we have a potential battle royale between the wickens and the pirates. Time to hunker down with the some popcorn.

Just as a woman walking by remarked that the forest was a perfect faery forest, Tatum asked to go home. The curiosity seeker in me wanted to force her to stay and watch the day unfold, but one look at her sad little face told me she needed a good nap. So we packed up the car (much to the delight of a wing-wearing woman in a Subaru Outback who needed a parking spot) and headed home to our toothless daddy.

Now I've done a little research on Wicca (On Wikeapedia... Ha!) and there is, in fact, a relationship between Wicca and Faeries. Wicca is a belief system that demonstrates a reverence for the Earth and her natural order. They study/worship the elements of nature, the seasons, and some circles believe in fairies, or faeries. So I did some research on faeries and found a wonderfully entertaining website called the Children of Faerie. I was particularly interested to learn the following about these creatures:

-Only certain people have faery sight (aka can see faeries). All cats have it. (aha... I'm seeing a correlation here between cat ladies and the belief system). If you want to know where they live in your house, follow your cat.
-Unicorns live in apple orchards.
-A circle of mushrooms is called a faery circle, a sure sign of faery activity. Or, a sign you ate some bad mushrooms which lead to "faery activity" if you ask me.
-Faeries are very fearful of anything made of iron.
-If you make a tea of marigolds and rub it on your eyelids, you may see faeries.
-Don't combine marigold tea eye-rubbing with a mushroom circle and an iron rod. That's called the deadly triangle and you'll see Satan. Okay I made that up, but come on. Its kind of funny.

Okay I'm starting to get paranoid that a faery is going to come replace Maya with a faery baby, which is a changeling. So on that: I love faeries! Especially faeries getting married in the park surrounded by skirted sword-wielding men and miniature pirates.

Good night Mother Earth. -Jess