Do Celtic Fairies Still Live Today?
by Mika Iwasaki
(Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan)
The Welsh woods
Wales is as famous as Ireland and Scotland for Celtic culture. Many Celtic fairy stories remain there. I have a friend whose name is Yoshio. He has been familiar with Celtic culture and fairy stories.
He often says to us, “I can really see fairies for myself in Nature.” Yoshio is a fantastic and intelligent guy. He is a Nature guide and writer.
Finally he went over to the Celtic region this spring. Recently he wrote on his website that he felt very comfortable there just like his hometown.
Yoshio is staying in Ireland now and he will go around Scotland and Wales before long.
When I meet him, I would like to ask him whether fairies really live there or not. To tell the truth, I expect his fantastic answer.
Well, I heard that the origin of Celtic fairies is ancient gods of the Druid religion. Ancient Celtic priests, so-called Druids, performed ceremonies under the oak trees in the woods to pray to Celtic gods.
They believed that oak trees had a miracle power and sent their prayers to gods. On the island of Anglesey in Wales, there were oak woods where Druids prayed a long time ago.
By the way, today is the Star Festival (the seventh night of July) in Japan. When I saw the bamboo trees for the Star Festival with strips of papers for writing one’s wish on, a fancy idea occurred to me.
Perhaps the Star Festival might be like a kind of Celtic Druid ceremony, and bamboo trees could send people’s wishes to Japanese fairy gods.
Tonight, strange to say, I feel Celtic fairy tales close by myself.
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