29/01/2023
A Faery Tale For Imbolc
Luna Hare was cold. His cream-coloured fur glistened with frost under the crystal white Snow Moon, and his long, silky ears pricked as he heard echoing to him, across the pitch black night, the chilling howl of Wolf. He was stone cold petrified. His journey had been long and hard… and he still had so far to go.
But little did the Luna Hare know that on Glastonbury Tor, the trembling vibration could already be felt …. the unmistakable sound of Imbolc, as Bride the Swan’s beautiful great white wings started to open, to prepare for flight.
Suddenly, in a flash of electric white, she was in the air, soaring over the stark coppiced fences of Cinnamon Lane that bounded the gardens which lapped the river Brue, and then across the blessed jewelled heart of England still glistening with winter’s icy flood water under the stars.
“Come to me, little Hare,” her beckoning voice was like the whispering of angels, the rustling of silken crepe-de-chine embroidered with a thousand stars, “ Come to me. Come on….I will take you… “ and Luna Hare looked up to see this aerial manifestation of infinite Mercy bearing down on him. He quickly hopped on and nestled himself into the soft fluffy down of her huge wings.
They flew through that night together, and the night was long … with hounds baying for his blood below, he could hear the dragons screaming flame-throwers to see them off. They sky-voyaged many days and nights like this together…even through the whole cycle of the Crow Moon… and flew over the Faery Fish, a whale who trumpeted his greeting by spouting the Waters of Avalon in a silver fountain from his head.
And on and on they went, Luna Hare dreaming well-deep, in the snug, toasty warmth, about clouds of bluebells the colour of lapis lazuli, bobbing and nodding daffodils all gossiping merrily among themselves and golden buttercup meadows kissing the sun.
At last, the night of the full Egg Moon came around and Luna Hare peeked out from under the folds of his eider down to see the old and rugged faced harbour master, Macmannam mac Lir, blowing on his conch shell horn and then waving them down. The spume and spray from the enormous waves that his pilot boat created soon merged into the white feathers of the Faery Swan’s slowing and braking wings.
“Here are the Havens,” he cried, “This way. This way. Here you’ll be safe for a while… until it’s time again to be on your way.”
And so it was. Blessed Be.
Wendy Andrew.