Golinda and Gallopatrot go to the Emerald Isle

The short days were getting longer. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the blue hour created the magic of the darkest phase of twilight. It was time to put Oliver to bed. Yaya felt the muse come alive when he asked for a story.

“Once upon a time there was a Green Fairy called Golinda and her faithful trusted, flying steed Gallopatrot. They flew to Ireland and followed along the winding curves of the waving serpentine roads. Golinda was on a quest to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

It was a beautiful spring. Waves of rose-coloured rhododendron, purple and pink lupins, bluebells, and white calla lilies covered the hills where baby bull calves, horse foals and sheep’s lambs were playing, leaping, frolicking and butting heads.

The land looked like a patchwork blanket made up of 50 thousand, thousand, thousand, shades of green.

They arrived in county Clare. It was May 1, Beltane, midway between the equinox and summer solstice. Sacred fires were burning on pyres, to purify the powers of Nature.

The spirit of Danu, the mythical loving caring mother and fierce warrior of the Tuatha de Dana was released. Danu passed on the cauldron of abundance, to her daughter Dagda, who scribed the magic taught by the master of wisdom as music, so others could find their way between what is and what is not. Golinda was a descendent of the sovereign Irish patroness Erie, Mother Nature herself, the daughter of a mortal and a sunbeam who also rode on a horned beast.

They were all carriers of the Double ax, that is used to protect wisdom of ‘The Dead”. Their powers include a mighty sense of humour, that is dark, cynical and dry. They delve into the ridiculous to teach the new generations about centuries of repression. Many a battle has been fought for freedom. The Famine and wars wreaked havoc and fierce terror upon fellow citizens and the tragedies had cost many lives and mass emigration. This resulted in the Irish culture spreading beyond the Irish Sea.

Golinda then travelled to Kilrush. She came upon a carving of a wild boar, a symbol of the Viking ancient royal bloodline, and a huge Faracat dragon, with the mark of a moon in it's white hair.

As the Atlantic roller waves crashed, the stones explained how in the past, they were destructive terrors but now they held the potential to be constructive, anchored in values that do not harm others. They were ready to use their power for good and fight for children's rights, justice and education.

Golinda followed the rivers along the coasts of the Kilkelly seaside to Lahinch.

Legend says the enchantment of the ocean swept into the golden sand beach and made it a tourist town. One day, a little boy without feet or hands will find the key to release the natural enchantment of the town. Golinda was ready to discover how that can happen. She heard the music of nature’s jigs and reels. Gallopatrot carried Golinda over little limestone stone circles on a plateau of Creganenagh Hill. This was the land of the leprechauns.

The small fairy creatures hold a pot of gold. Shakespeare spoke of these cobblers of the fairy world, who were the mender of souls. Golinda was in search of the green man, of the clan of Lutin, and Weiza, the semi- immortals who have a timeless, supernatural immortal life. They are tricksters by nature and lure the unsuspecting into foolishness.

Golinda was told that the wee folk come to those who learn to play music with their brudders and seesters who speak of their mudders and fadders, in songs with humor and wit, to be sure to be sure.

They continued on to Liscannor. At the plateau at the peak of the steep cliffs of Moher, they laid out a picnic of cheese and scones, bread and sweet juicy fruits and tea. Many birds were nesting. They watched the antics of the puffins, called the red legged jackdaw, auks, gulls, terns, fulmars , shags, kittiwakes, and razorbills as they swopped and soared. Their cries moved with the winds that whistled along the long and twisting roads that cut through switch backs.

Golinda hiked along the cliffs of the puffin rock.

Then, Golinda and Gallopatrot went to Doolin and with the luck of the Irish, had good weather, and sailed to Inishmaan, in the Aran Islands. They bicycled up and down winding roads.

They went past many markets

and enchanted fairy homes

They stopped to chat with a gorgeous Gypsy cob, a people-sized horse, bred to pull caravans.

The Gypsy explained, “ I am called Pegasus. I am a therapy horse, quite unflappable even though I have feathery hair flowing from behind my knees and hocks.”

He tossed his long, free flowing mane and swished his tail, pleased with his own joke. “ I am a Travellers horse and part of their family”.

His friendly and engaging temperament made Golinda feel the close mysterious relationship of an ancient way of life, tradition and culture, that had passed away when the technological age began.

Pegasus' friends came to visit.

Golinda and Gallopatrot then went to Connemara.The mists rose off the ocean and formed a ghost rainbow, a fogbow.

Bog week was being celebrated. Golinda and Gallopatrot walked under the sunshine, past waterfalls that held the charm of twinkling fairies dancing in the diamond filled waters . The spirit of Nature filled the air and awakened the senses.

They walked through the forests where the green men of myth were found in the verdure. Swans with their signets and ducks with their ducklings were nesting on islands. Herons, English robins, merles, and other birds were nesting in shrubs and trees and in holes in walls.

Signs were posted to beware of Stoats and Badgers. Then they met a badger who explained that they were always comfortable in their loose skin that let them turn themselves around.

They went to Bunratty, where a castle and the village recreated another time. Music that has been passed through the ages played at a medieval festival, and continued as they went north to Galway.

Music filled each street corner.

They continued their journey along the Ring of Kerry, that myth says was made by a race of giants. The mossy hillsides were soon hidden by the mists that settled in, blocking all views of the coast. The roads were winding and dangerous and they turned at Slea Head. Like bees they were drawn to the Fahan Beehive huts. The cobbled huts were built without mortar.

They next arrived at the Blarney castle in County Cork. A stone giant invited Golinda to climb the steep spiralling steps. She was to kiss the stone, that is said to hold electrum, an alloy of four parts silver to one part gold. It was the pillow used by Jacob when he dreamed of the ladder extending to heaven with angels ascending and descending.

Golinda listened, instead of asking questions. She bravely bent backwards over a crevice that dropped a long way down, then kissed the contours of the stone. In copying an action from the past, she had to find her own way. She improvised with confidence. At that moment, she experienced a message that causes a clear ring that sounds to the limits and bounces back.

Golinda was infused with the spirit of the leprechaun and accepted the gifts of Blarney.

She looked at the treasures. Golinda realized that she held the little boy without hands and feet within her. She had been given the key to unlock a unique magical kingdom, not through superstitious magical arts, but by using knowledge and skill to see what might come to pass. She carried a magnetic iron stone in her blood, that held a force that some call faith or destiny. With intention to put knowledge into action, she could craft and forge a shining sword of light, an invincible spear of victory, infused with sacred wisdom. She used the powers of the universe and the language of nature with intelligence. She was a great cauldron, a bottomless magic vessel, the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Golinda and Gallopatrot went to eat. There was delicious soda bread with fresh Irish butter, the catch of the day from the wild Atlantic waters, and Irish stew and potatoes.

Then it was time to go. Golinda looked over the Emerald Isle onto the sapphire Atlantic Ocean.

Golinda opened Gollopatrot's wings to leave Ireland. She would use her senses, skills and tools to be rational in an irrational world. She would communicate love and respect, in the border territories between the realms of fantasy and reality, tradition and exploration.

Yaya ended her story. Oliver smiled and kissed her, then closed his eyes.