The Tree of Life.

Looking into the world from Beyond the Veil and the folklore that surrounds it.

Part 3. 

To my dearest friends and followers,

For the last two weeks I have been analyzing my book The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1), and I will continue to do so in the upcoming weeks. You can check out my previous posts here: Part 1 and Part 2.

In chapter 9, Hollyhocks asks her father about the time he left the Forest, before he had married her mother. He proceeds to tell of his adventures, and then tells her something much more valuable to both her and the reader - the history of their world (a time known as the Ancient World). We are told of a time before the veil existed - a time when the humans and fairies lived in harmony together (something which is forbidden in the present day). We learn of the events that changed that, and that "Dain's eldest son died". Dain was one of three sprites who made up the Council of the Ancient World. Though it seems like Hollyhocks's father is telling a string of insignificant, though interesting tales, this section is filled with details of great importance for the book and for the rest of the series (books 2, 3, and 4 yet to come!). For that reason, chapter 9 is, in my opinion, one of the most important chapters in the book.

The 10th chapter of the book describes more history of the actual veil as told by Shaylee (Hollyhocks's friend), rather than the history of the Forest as a whole, like Hollyhocks's father explained. We learn that the source of the veil comes from "the heart of the Forest". We have already learned in previous chapters that in the heart of the Forest is a tree, more grand than all the other trees in the Forest - an oak tree.

Let's take a look at some Celtic lore for the sake of understanding the story. The Celtic word duir means oak. Several resources have informed me that it can also mean oak knowledge. I have heard duir translated into the English language as door. The Celts believed that the oak tree was sacred and was actually the living soul of a man who had "died". Therefore, the tree symbolized wisdom and strength. It became known as the "tree of life" or "door to another world", as it was thought that the tree was a gateway to the spirit world. The Tree of Life image we know today shows the connection between heaven and earth, and representing balance and harmony in all living things.

I took some of the celtic ideas for my own story. The oak tree is the heart of the Forest and is the source of the veil - the thing which keeps the worlds of fairies and men separated. In my mind, the door to another world is literally the door to the fairy realm, rather than the spirit world. More about the actual creation of the veil will be told in book 2.

Later, Hollyhocks learns that she can actually move herself from one side of the veil to the other. This act allows her to be seen by humans - something she so wishes to be able to do. Her long time dream comes true and she and her friends spend some time in the company of a woman and her newborn baby.

The 12th chapter of the book is when things really begin to pick up. Hollyhocks is able to hear a human calling out to see a fairy - a human that is so far away, they could not possibly be heard. Hollyhocks does hear though, against all odds, because she had a desire to hear humans more than any of the other fairies. As she thinks about leaving home to answer the call, she is bid farewell by the Forest itself, the dryads and the unicorn, along with the very windows she passes, and a creaking sign, as if "the world knew they were leaving". Thus begins her adventure, taking her away from her home, and into the darkness of the world.

Thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,

Me

Additional:

My ebook is available now for pre-orders!!

The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1).

The Cunning Woman & Agnes Waterhouse.

Looking into the world from Beyond the Veil and the folklore that surrounds it.

Part 2. 

To my dearest friends and followers,

If you missed last week's post, I highly recommend you check it out here. For the next 8 weeks, I will be analyzing certain aspects of my book, The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1), and talking about some of the folklore that surrounds it.

I'd like to begin where I left off last week. I mentioned having talked with people who were a great help to me when writing the 4th chapter of the book, in which I write about the first interactions between Hollyhocks and Edith, fairy and human. I would like to point out that I was told a human had to be "good" in order for a fairy to visit them. In the 5th chapter, I interpreted that three different ways, showing kindness towards others, caring for the earth, and having a "pure heart", which is shown by how easily she is trusted by animals.

The 7th chapter is where the reader is first introduced to Anlon, the mysterious Unicorn who resides in the Forest. Little is known about him or his Wild Herd, but he appears throughout the story as a protecter/guardian. He is extremely old, and noted for having eyes that did not seem to be the eyes of a mere animal, but "more like that of a man or some ancient creature, for his eyes were filled with age and wisdom and understanding".

Also, there is a cold wind that follows Hollyhocks around. It is ominous and the source is unknown, as the wind does not seem to have an affect on the leaves as it blows through them. This again is something that was very intentional on my part. It might go unnoticed by most readers, but it does serve the purpose of symbolizing the darkness that always loomed in the world, and even more recent, in the Forest. More of the history of the Forest is talked about later on in the book.

In chapter 8, we see a woman named Agnes who is a witch of sorts (though she prefers to be called a "cunning woman"). I named this character after Agnes Waterhouse (1503-1566). Historically, she was the first woman in England accused of and executed for witchcraft. Most of the women who were in such positions were not actually witches, so it is unknown if the real Agnes was one of these women or not. Either way, my book is set in 1483, so the character I wrote about would have likely been deceased by the time the real Agnes was sentenced to death.

The reader gets to see the dwelling place of the character Agnes, and it is noted that there is a single black crow on the roof of her house. Often, crows were thought to be magical "spirit animals". However, a single crow was often seen as a bad omen. It meant death was sure to come. The symbolism behind the crow in the story is meant to foreshadow events later on.

Later in the chapter, we see an Angel Coin, depicting the Archangel, Michael, and the Serpent, or "dragon", as the devil is often depicted as a serpent in the Bible. The coin which I wrote about is a real coin. They were made by Edward IV and were, for some reason unbeknownst to me, believed to have magical properties. As Agnes states in the story, it represents the good and evil in the world, and also foreshadows the journey Hollyhocks is about to take.

Thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,

Me

Additional:

Check out my book The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1).

Pre-order the ebook!!

From Beyond the Veil.

Looking into the world from Beyond the Veil and the folklore that surrounds it.

To my dearest friends and followers,

Over the course of the next 10 weeks, I will be taking a deeper look into my novel The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1) and analyzing certain aspects of the world I created and the folklore that inspired it, along with how sections in the first half of the book relate to the second half. I will try my hardest to not give away major spoilers for those of you who have not read it, but focus on smaller sections rather than the broad picture.

To start things off, I want to talk about the opening chapter of the book. It really is for the purpose of letting the reader know what kind of setting the story will take place in, while also introducing a wide cast of different fairy creatures, and introducing the main character of the book.

Within the first 3 paragraphs, the reader is given a hint of the year. Since the story later revolves around the young Edward V, it can be assumed that the child being born who is "destined to one day reign over Great Britain" is none other than Edward (who was born in 1470). Most readers wouldn't catch this, but I thought it was a fun hint for myself and those who also enjoy historical England.

Later on in the chapter, the reader is shown the night sky, with the moon and stars being personified. One star is too excited and accidentally shoots himself from the sky, falling to the earth, and his light going out. We are told, that "some didn't care, some simply didn't notice, and some will miss him." Though I was unaware of this at the time that I wrote it, it was pointed out to me that this foreshadows an event that will happen later in the story.

In the next several paragraphs, the narrator speaks of the Forest as a living thing, and then proceeds to tell the reader about the different fairy creatures who live there, including dryads, hobgoblins, pixies, and sprites. Each fairy creature in my book was carefully written about in a way that I hope reflects the old folktales and lore about them, instead of the poorly misinterpreted fairies so commonly seen in pop culture today. 

To read more about the fairies, I have written several articles about them and provided the links at the bottom of this post.

In the 4th chapter, Hollyhocks and her friends visit a human who "summoned" them. This section was so much fun for me to write. I actually spoke with several people who truly believe in the existence of fairies, as part of my research. I wanted to know how they knew if they had seen one, what it felt like, and how they "summoned" one in the first place. The series title of my book, Tales from Beyond the Veil actually came from part of this research. The phrase "Beyond the Veil" comes from a chant, saying something along the lines of, "Beyond the veil, please let me see." It was allowing a human to see into the fairy world, but my book is more so allowing a fairy to see into the human world.

The character in the book who wished to see the fairies is noted as having lavender flowers outside her home, and baking a lemon tart. I was told that lavender and sweets (such as cream or lemon treats) were common in pagan beliefs for summoning fairies.

Thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,

Me

Additional:

The Sprite: An Autumn Fairy.

A Cyclopedic of Fairies: Pillywiggins, Pixies, and Sprites.

A Cyclopedic of Fairies: Dryads, Hobgoblins, and Banshees.

Check out my novel The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1).

Pre-order my novel as an ebook on Amazon!!