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To: tiernan@mad.scientist.com
Subject: TirNanOc, Issue #108
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Sorry for the lateness of the issue... the Holiday season is a hectic one
for me, despite several pleasant new developments in my life. We're having
a mild winter here in the Northeast so far and I've been taking advantage
of the comparatively good weather to do a lot of running around.
This list has been active for just over two years now, and in that time
it's grown from a small subscriber base of less than 20 people to 114
subscribers, with a supporting webring consisting of over 20 sites and an
IRC channel with over fifty people on the userlist (The channel #TirNanOc
has a 'bot called, appropriately, Des`Tai, which maintains among other
things the userlist). It is a never-ending source of amazement to me how
much the Call to one another has brought so many of us together to form an
actual Community online. In that time, I've had the pleasure to become
good personal friends with many of you, and I know that a number of other
good friendships have come about because of our connections to one another
via this and the many other resources available to us online as a community.
In this season of Yule, as we prepare to celebrate the returning of the
Light, I pause to reflect upon TirNanOc and what is has become. It has
been an adventure thus far full of discovery and hope, learning and growth.
I look forward to the next couple of years... who knows what they shall
bring?
May Peace, Joy and Hope surround all of you in this and every Season.
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From: "greyhawk" <greyhawk@crisscross.com>
To: "Tiernan" <tiernan@mad.scientist.com>
Subject: TierNanOc
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 1997 08:34:50 +0900
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Greetings Kith and Kin,
I find myself in an odd, and uncomfortable position.
Normally, I spend my
time and effort encouraging union, harmony, and the realization that at our
most fundamental level we are all One. The world we live in is very
divisive, encouraging as it does the value of competition over cooperation,
a concept that is as impossible for my mind to grasp as would be a fish
breathing air and walking about on its fins or tail. Nonetheless, the
point I wish to bring out today is the necessity of difference and the
wondrous nature of diversity.
Specifically, I am writing in response to the many
contributions of the
Silver Elves. While I recognize the value of their contributions, the
importance of the ideals they represent, and the beauty of their person, I
cannot support the presumptiveness and even the arrogance of their
self-appointed position as representatives of all that is Elfin. In the
world that I call home, there are three distinct primary Elfin cultures,
each of which is divided into hundreds, possibly thousands of sub-cultures.
The three primary groups are Mountain Elfs, Woodland Elfs, and Urban Elfs.
The qualities and attributes which the Silver Elves claim apply to all
Elfin folk are only strongly present in the Woodland Elfs of my homeworld.
Woodland Elfs are light, happy folk, much given to feasting and
celebrating, they sing to one another or speak in verse when simple speach
would do just fine, they are prone to spontaneous outbursts of merry
laughter at seeing such mundane things as clouds and flowers. Among
themselves they emphasize the importance of agreement and conformity to a
happy ideal that smiles constantly. They are very enjoyable folk to be
among.
The Mountain Elfs, on the other hand, consider their
lowland cousins to be
air-headed dreamers who have little concept of reality. They are quick to
point out that when faced with the darker aspects of life such as sickness
and death, the Woodland Elfs abandon the sick whom they cannot heal and
pretend that those who die have simply disappeared. When asked about a
deceased friend or relative the Woodland Elf will often reply, “Oh, he’s
gone on a long trip and will not return for awhile.” Mountain Elfs find
these attitudes appalling and unrealistic.
Mountain Elfs tend to emphasize the importance of the
real. When they
come together their conversation is mundane and serious, focusing on such
things as the migration patterns of wildlife, changes in the terrain and
the availability of water. They seldom celebrate, and even when they do,
their festivities are somber affairs featuring slow, almost ritualistic
dance and eerie melodies of pipes, flutes and drums. Their songs and
poetry, in those rare occasions when they compose them, deal with themes of
death, rebirth, loss, and grief. Their stories, often told in vivid,
realistic prose, deal with wars, famines, and the struggle to live life to
the fullest when faced with adversity. They are not a happy people,
smiling seldom, and have much in common with the dwarfen miners that also
frequent the mountains and high valleys. As a result, when they do smile,
or laugh, or share a fine joke, the richness of the experience remains in
memory for a long time and will often bring a small smile to light their
faces when they are in the depth of some difficulty.
The hardness of the Mountain Elfs is just as valid as
the lightness of
their Woodland cousins, and just as Elfin. Good times and bad times are
experienced by all life, sentient or not, and to presume that one
perspective is somehow more valid, or more real, than another, is not so
far from assuming that one race is somehow superior to another, or even to
all others. To then go on to claim that the particular views which you
follow somehow apply to everyone with a particular set of common attributes
is arrogance in the highest form.
I personally find the presumptiveness of the Silver
Elves highly
offensive, and I suspect that the reason we have heard so little from our
darker cousins lately is related to their shameless use of the third person
and their assumption that all Elfin and Otherkin are somehow magically
transformed into “divine beings of light” simply by reading their prose.
Such presumptiveness, such arrogance, will only serve to drive away other,
equally valid persons with equally valid experiences to share, especially
if those persons or experiences are of the darker side of life.
Light is not more valid, more spiritual, more ethical,
or even more Elfin
than darkness. Both light and dark must work together, either in dynamic
opposition or fluid cooperation, in order for the Wheel of Time to spin out
the Tapestry of Life which gives form to the reality we experience.
Humankin, Elfinkin, Vampires, and all Otherkin, come in both pleasant and
unpleasant flavors and there exists a need to share both perspectives in an
environment conducive to open discussion. The presumptive use of ‘we’ and
the assumption that they represent all Elfinkind, is as divisive as last
summer’s arguments over whether humans or Elfs were more ‘advanced’. What
is needed is more openess, not new prejudices disguised as edification.
at
your service day and night,
greyhawk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was young, I dreamed of castles in the clouds.
Now that I am old, I build them.
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Date: Sat, 06 Dec 1997 14:26:11 -0600
To: Joanne Kline <tiernan@mail2.nai.net>, elflist@murkworks.net
From: Lanthinel <lanthinel@softhome.net>
Subject: To My Siblings Among the Sidhe (A Post)
This post is directed mostly towards my brothers and sisters among the
sidhe/elves. Please take note that it is full of generalizations, and
should be meant to be viewed as a series of thoughts, postulations, and
matters of discussion--and not as an attempt at a definitive word on the
subjects involved. IMO, so to speak...
Also, I have opted to borrow some terms from the Changeling: The Dreaming
game from White Wolf mostly because it provides a common language to work
from. Many of us are familiar with that game, and the rest of us should be
able to figure what I mean out (I hope).
We are creatures of Legend--we seek the Mythic in all the things we do.
The other fae who exist, generally speaking, are more earthy folks. Their
lives do not revolve around an epic framework (at its core). Satyrs tend
to do their dance; sluagh tend to dwell and whisper; boggans tend to remain
quiet and do their chores; nockers pour themselves into their crafts;
trolls do their duty; redcaps are psychotic; and pooka--do whatever pookas
want to do. Who are the rabble-rousers? The sidhe. We see demons in the
darkness; we speak of grand destinies; we speak of a unified fae.
Aye, we are nobles--it comes with the ears. And because of this epic
thread we dream about and live in, we react much more strongly and badly
to...the mundane and banal. It is, in many ways, beneath us. Our minds
and spirits seek loftier and higher ideals and goals--what does quarterly
profits compare to eternal beauty or love or adventure? We wither in
banality's glare, becoming pale shadows of ourselves, or go mad. The
others do seem to have an easier time of it...they slumber in human shells
and go about their way. I speak generally, of course. There are untold
numbers of exceptions.
Why do we seem to be so common among those who have Awakened? Why? It's
because our nature is to strain against the mundane and banal, and to rise
above it to the surface--to try to breathe and survive whole. Yet, we
forget why we are the nobles. We merely remember that we are/were. So, we
seek to convince others of our nobility and nature and superiority. We
weave illusions about ourselves of impossibly grand destinies, of
impressive courts and councils and great foes. Many of us do have these
things in truth, but we glamour ourselves beyond the truth and get lost in
the illusions.
In Changeling, the noble have their courts and holds and the like. Exiled
from Arcadia, they seek to continue as they have by assuming control in a
feudal manner. So desperate are they to reclaim their dream, that they
fail to see that they create a mockery of it of consensual lies and
illusion. They have forgotten the faces of their fathers, they have
forgotten the face of Dana. Something similar has happened to us here. We
let the Dream move us and weave us, and forget that we can weave the Dream.
We forget that feudalism IS wrong in the manner it is expressed. We can't
force the other fae to follow us as their leaders; they have to believe in
us and CHOOSE to follow us. Yes, we may sit high in our towers, surveying
the lay of the land--but, what is all that if we do not have the boggans
and nockers working to make things and keep us fed, clothed, and supplied?
What do we do without trolls performing their duty as protectors and
warriors? What do we do without pookas to confuse us and satyrs to remind
us to dance and redcaps to remind us to smack them and sluagh to remember?
What are nobles without a nation who believes in them and supports them
willingly? Delusional fools who only inspire malice, derision, and annoyance.
We have to inspire our cousins among the Fae to dream, to Awaken. They are
out there among the population, sleeping among the humans. And there are
humans who Dream well, too. We have to inspire a nation to form so that we
CAN Stand when the time comes, and make it last beyond the reach of our
swords and guns and magic (though magic can stretch far).
We are the sorcerers, knights, warriors, gunslingers, champions, priests,
hunters, police, teachers, protectors, guardians, scholars, Dreamers who do
all these things for the Land, the People, Deshtai, and Ourselves.
Which brings me to the idea of tradition.
Many among us speak of reviving and living our traditions here on Earth.
Tradition helps provide a backbone, a common thread, a focus, and a
societal structure around which a community can develop, and people can
develop without living in the vacuum many of us Awakened into. The only
problem is that, unlike Changeling, we all aren't from one place and one
society.
We hail from disparate realms: "Aelfheim", Tir Nan Og, Abrahor (in my
case), Greyhawk's Realm, Alfheim, among others. There is no golden Arcadia
we all call Home. The traditions, societies, and histories of these places
are very different (though they share many common threads). What
traditions are we to use? What traditions work and are enlightened enough
to be beneficial to the People as a whole without simply being "tradition
for tradition's sake"? Are we to be reduced to dwelling in separate
communities? Tir elves in Tir communities; Tulari (light elves of
Aelfheim) in Tulari communities?
It seems obvious that Earth is to be a (I don't want to use the word "the")
focal point for something on a multiversal scale. Why are all these fairly
distinct elements of Fae in the multiverse coming together at this time on
this rock? Some talk about prophecies, some talk about chances for the Fae
to return to Earth with a "vengeance", or at least a second (third,
fourth...) chance. Maybe we won't know and we're part of some natural
cycle of spiritual migration. Maybe we were all just really bored and
decided to come here because it's supposed to get interesting (this one
seems to appeal to me for some odd reason). It does seem extremely
presumptuous folly on our part to think we're the only thread in the
tapestry.
The Dreaming is our connection to that greater tapestry and the textures
that create it. It is our subconscious (and as time goes on, hopefully
more conscious) connection to the greater whole, as well as a means to
influence and manipulate it. As I stated in my essay on the elven star, we
are creatures of Connection--our connections to the Land, the Dream, and
each other define us and gives us our power. If we Sunder something's
connection to the greater whole, to the Dreaming as it were, we weaken it
and make it a hollow shell. It fades and eventually is worn away by the
rest of reality. This is a lesson for us. The Sundering tore us from the
Dream and the Land and each other, and we became hollow shells who were
filled with the Dreams of Humanity. We took on roles (parts) in some other
fairly mindless Dream, forgetting that we once controlled our own Dreams.
Without connection and a sense of balance, we were swept away in the tide.
We are only now, for whatever reason, reforging that connection and
striving to live our own Dreams as we choose, by Ka and Deshtai.
(Note to TirNanOc list subscribers: There, I finally said what I really
wanted to convey in last week's post on the Dreaming.)
Mind you, we are not simple archetypes. Most of us have lived many lives,
not all of them purely Sidhe. Again, remember I speak in generalizations.
Until next time, since my post seems to have gotten out of hand size-wise...
Take care and Dream well,
-------------------------------------------------------
Lanthinel Devir
"Understanding is a three-edged sword." -- Kosh
"I believe in the multiverse and all that it implies." -- Michael Moorcock
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Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 11:51:18 -0500
From: Sonja Kassal <110174.2763@compuserve.com>
Subject: Submission to TirNanOc
Sender: Sonja Kassal <110174.2763@compuserve.com>
To: Tiernan <tiernan@mad.scientist.com>
Greetings all,
I really want to thank those of you who responded to my last post -- your
kindness truly meant a lot to me! Actually, the advice itself helped more
than I had believed possible. I appreciate your realism and understanding
that this isn't just going to go away instantaneously, and I also am
grateful for the hope you expressed: you have experienced and "recovered"
from this before. Chiller's thoughts on death and Tuck's words about
seasons rang especially true. It also helped to get a Christian point of
view that I could relate to completely without feeling threatened. (I am
Christian, but some people really do seem to thow "spiritual twinkies")
Viator, welcome to the list, and don't worry at all about "offering advice
out of nowhere"! I actually don't know what a purification ritual is and
would like to try one if you could describe it to me.
I am still fighting this sickness... I had already been trying to enjoy
the winter weather here (in Connecticut, BTW), and it does feel good. It's
strange... there are some times when I am happy and think I can feel God's
presence and the meaning of my life and the universe, but then my brain
takes over and starts asking questions. I have to wonder, for example, why
there should be any lack of faith if there really is a God. Shouldn't we
just *know* of his existence for certain? I also have a very deep fear of
spirituality merely being some emotional need to keep us contented rather
than an actual meaning and reality. (That's not expressed very well, but I
hope you can still understand.) The thought of God as merely being an
invented idea nearly makes me panic! Life HAS to have meaning, doesn't
it?? I also have developed a significant fear of death, both my own and
other peoples' I wish we could know for certain what happens! Despite
all of this, though, I am doing my best to take everyone's advice about
not trying so hard to find the answers. I agree with you in that beating
my head against this wall is basically useless, but it's sometimes
difficult to just relax. Again, thank you so, so much. I believe that I
am slowly regaining bits of my old self and old beliefs (perhaps somewhat
modified) and I am hopeful that eventually I will be able to look back on
this situation with a greater understanding.
On a different subject, I thought some people might be interested in this
desciption. It came with a piece of jewelry called a "Sidhe Knot" that my
friend (some of you may remember Druanna) gave to me:
"The ancient round barrows called Sidhe, are the domains of Fairies. In
Celtic myth, the Tuatha de' Danann the ancient people of Ireland, made
themselves invisible after their defeat in battle. They disappeared and
went to life in the Sidhe, today the Tuatha de' Danann are called the Fairy
Folk. It is said they appear to humans at these Fairy hills on Midsummer's
Eve. Their knot honors the spirit of the Fairy Folk"
Any comments on the accuracy of this from those of you who are Tuatha de'
Danann and have Memories? I'm sure it's not quite right (I thought, for
example that "Sidhe" is the name of a people rather than a place), but I
was wondering how much merit this legend has.
Tihr a' Lahn,
Shirl
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Until Next Time...
Happy Holidays and
Blessings Upon Your Ways
Tiernan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .|.
TirNanOc - An Email List in Digest Form - * -
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And the Humankin who Believe ~X>}
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