FAIRY RINGS

'In the beginning, the Natives of America lived ... 14

A New Fairy 16
Crystal Ball 18
Purification Dance 19
The Braids 21
The Baby and the Curse 23
A Visit to Fairyland 24
Forbidden Room 26
In the beginning,the Nativesof America Jived in common with the
Little People andWitches (Ro-nut•gonh) .
Everybody lived in harmony, as these two societies worked together for
the good 01 their people.
The fairies,or Little People, were blessed with supernatural powers,
andtheyvestedtheseonly in people who were in trouble yet faithful in
their own tribal beliefs.
The Witcheswereblessedwith a divine knowledge of roots and herbs
for curingpeople'sailments,They always followed a special ritual before
gathering the medicine.
Anotherpersoncouldsometimeshelp cure a patient. This person is
called or Fortune-teller.Even today, when there
is sicknessin the home, along with unusual
noises,a Fortune-teller happeningsand unexplained
is consulted.No money required to pay for the
servicesof these talented people. Their powers depend on tribal belief
and arc held sacred.
 FAIRY
A NEW

alone when it happened. All the

young Indian girl wasin search of a new location for a
The
of her tribe had gone her cheeks as she realized that her
people streameddown
settlement.Tears with no one to help her.
babywouldbe born agony to the moon and to the stars, and great
Shescreamedout in on her brow. Once more she looked up to
beadsof moistureformed not the stars she saw, but multitudes
However, it was
theheavens. down the golden stairs which led
of people,little people skipping
room with a radiance she had
to her owndoor,illuminatingthe
never seen before.
At that instant she forgot her pain, as a strange feeling came over
her and she felt the touch of cool hands on her brow. Someone was
saying,'We have been watchingyou for many nights. We have
sufferedthe agoniesof your pain and we have come to help you.
Youdo not know who we are or how we come to be here.
'We are the Little People, called Ya-go-de-noh-yoh-yahs (fairies),
whichmeanswe live in the crevicesof rocks. Not many people have
seenus. We also have one brother called Deh-ha-ronh-ya-ga-nel-reh,
meaninghe walksupon the earth and reaches the skies. He is
thanthe highestOneh-da-Gowah(pine tree). He taller
has a great mission;
blessedis he who sees him.
'We are supernaturaland our
forthe poorand humble. mission is to perform good deeds
We
honh-weh(Indian)to warn appear in the dreams of the Onh-gwe-
wayto help people them of approaching danger. We
in trouble. We play and have a
our clothesare spun dance in the moonlight,
theycannotsee from the mists of heaven, and even
us, we guard the though
'We are here Natives from all harm and
and we need becauseyou are soon to give birth to yourdanger.
anotherstar to add baby,
decisionto let her to our flock. It shall
Shecan seeyou go and become one of us be your
everyday, and you Ya-go-de-noh-yoh.yahs.
will know where she
is, for she
 make your decision, and the new day
sleep and
'Now,you will and happiness.'
you peace
will bring fairy was born.
And so a new

CRYSTAL BALL

are manycrystalballs in the world, but there is only one

There the crevices of rocks.
who live in
whichis givenby the Little People purposes and can be held
ball is used only for good
This crystal
onlyby a person with a pure heart. It will reveal the perplexities
of illness, it will
of a life and tell how to combat them. In time
reveal the cause, source and cure.
for
The Witches' Crystal Ball is obtained from some evil source
the price of one's soul. This crystal ball is very powerful and
dangerous.
One day many years ago, a young man went walking in the woods.
He wasvery troubled. He was engaged to be married to a nice girl,
whomhe loved very much. Now she had disappeared, leaving a note
saying,'Sorry,you are not the one; do not look for me.'
He wasvery unhappy. As he walked he came upon an old man
with a white beard sitting on a fallen tree. The old gentleman took
the man's hand and asked him to sit down beside him, saying that
he knewall about the man's worries. Then the old gentleman told
the man that he had been waiting for him because he was a good
man and should never be hurt.
The youngman said he wanted to know about his lost love, so
the old man gavehim a crystalball and told him that before he
lookedinto it he must put all his thinking capacityto what he
wanted to know.
The young man looked into the crystal ball and saw his
sweetheartgoing from him to another man. He saw a broken
marriage,with the womanand her little children looking in vain
for happiness.
 He bowed his head for a second, then standing
back to the old man and erect,
the crystal ball thanked him for he gave
this timely
revelation.
The old man smiled and said, 'Son, you have
heirs to give the crystal ball to, so provenworthy.
I have no I will giveit to
with all my blessings. Take it and use it wisely.' you
The old man vanished from sight, but the crystal ball
is still on
the Indian settlement, and it has helped many people.

PURIFICATION DANCE

The fairies, or Little People, had a party one night. It wasthe

occasionfor each fairy to report her good deeds,and beforethe
meeting was called to order, all the fairies joined handsand danced
on the moonbeams. High up on the Milky Way, Flint and the bad
fairy sat plotting and planning their next move.
It was no longer safe to go walking in the forest,Little children
came home crying because they had been chasedby a roaringlion,
which called to them in a human voice. It was the workof either
Flint or the bad fairy.
The bad fairy had a magic wand which could do all mannerof
things, such as transform people into objectsor animals.However,
she had no power over Flint. He liked evil people and childrenwho
disobeyed their parents.
tribe begin
It was in the spring, when the Natives of the Mohawk
of
planting their corn, The head of each familybroughta portion
thanks,
the sacred tobacco and placed it in a large bucket for thepreceded
giving ceremony to the Great Spirit. This ritual always
the planting season,
fire, and the
The men, women and children gathered around the
spokesmanthrew
ceremonybegan with the thanksgiving prayer. The
embers; a black cloud roseand
the sacred tobacco upon the dying

19
 group which had gathered around the
descended,coveringthe
then
fire. up and spoke to his people: 'Something has
stood
An old chief is here who is not
pure of heart.' It was Flint
Someone
gonewrong. had caused the black
cloud, but their mischief
who
and the bad fairy
short-lived.
wasto be more. Beckoning his people, he led them
once
The chief rose embers in a slow rhythm, following
round the dying
round and of his ancestors. This was the purifica-
the traditions
mostsolemnly
tion dance of the Mohawks. and pointed to the fire,
Suddenlya little girl clappedher hands have cleansed the fire
they
crying:'The Little People, the fairies;
with the stroke of their wand.'
The peoplekept on dancing around the fire until the smoke
aroseto the heavensabove.The old chief told his people to make
preparationfor the evening. They must respect and thank their
friends,the Little People, for looking after them.
That night the peoplecame in large numbers, bringing dainty
delicacies—a pot of the traditional corn soup, cookies moulded to
representlittle dolls,braceletsmade out of corn kernels coloured
in the juice of elderberry, and tiny little moccasins, the emblem of
good luck. A spokesmanperformed the ceremony, and the people
danced the dance of the Little People, keeping rhythm to the
water drums. Just before daybreak, a warm breeze began to blow,
bringingpeace and goodwill to all.
The old chief spokeonce more. He told them that they had just
witnessedthe powerof evil. They must never forget the teachings of
their fathers.They must also remember that they are parents of
innocentchildren, who are here on earth as visitors from heaven
and must hear only golden words of wisdom from
their parents.
Only then shall the parents be rewarded. He
then turned to the
children,saying:'You must obey your parents, as they
the Great Spirit to guide your steps are sent by
along the way. This life will
surelyend, and it is only love which
prevails against evil here on
earth.'
 THE

Flint and the wicked fairy delighted

and create a to get into
They accomplishedthe
of
manythings
Then Flint had a new idea. He knew
supeßtitious and on account of this were the Nativepeoplewere
night at midnight he went to the place easilydisturbed.so one
where
captured a black colt. He braided the mane horseswerekept and
and tail of the
let it go back with the rest of the horses. colt and
Early the next morning the black colt
was discoveredby
owner. The people were greatly disturbed. the
When the same thing
happened the next two mornings, the families
drew closetogether
and would not allow their children to go too far away.
The leaders of the settlement held a conference
and decided
evil spirits were at work. They knew about Flint and the that
wicked
fairy and that they could be anywhereand do anything.
The good fairies also held a conference to counteractthe activities
of Flint and the wicked fairy. They decidedon a plan.
Early the next morning one of the fairies,dressedin ordinary
clothes,offered to read the fortune of the ownerof the colt.Shetold
him that what was happening was the work of Flint and that he
should follow her advice.
She gave him a round stone, a little larger than an apple,and told
him it was magic and would obey its master. He must go aloneto a
secluded place and say the magic words to commandthe stone,and
then he must bury three kernels of corn in the ground.This he
must do each time he wanted the stone to do somethingfor him.
This stone would be his luck-charm and wouldremainin his family
for all time to come.
The fairy said that she had already told the stonewhatto do and
the
that the man must now take it and set it up on the postbeside
gate whichled to the pasture.
 That eening when Flint
on the gatepost. As back to the
he drew nearer pasturehe couldsee
with blight lights coming from he
its eye sockets. saw it wasa skull.
qui,ering. and it muttering, •Run, Its bony mouth
Flint, run while was
you can.
Flint was so frightened he just
stood and stared,
time when he himself would be thinkingof the
only a skull. He ran
place, and that is where the wicked to his
fairy found him many hiding
The owner of the horse was happy, dayslater.
for he now owneda
charm which would protect his family luck.
for all time to come.

THE BABY AND THE CURSE

There was great rejoicinc in the communitywhena beautiful

baby was born to two fine people who had been marriedfor twenty-
five years. The old ladies in the communitysaid they wouldhavea
celebration in honour of the event and invite all the Little People
(fairies). This was a traditional rite, and so a proclamationwas
issued.
MJhen Flint and the wicked fairy heard about the new baby,they
rushed over to
hurried to disguise themselves as good fairies and
most graciouslyand
see the new baby. The parents received them
let them hold the baby.
wicked fairy cast a spell on the baby: she would
Flint and the spell was broken.The
never talk nor make any sound until the
curse, and preparationfor the
parents did not know about the
gay sparklingattire,stood
fairies, in
On the night of the party the upon her all the graceand
bestow
in line to hold the baby and Friends and kind neighbours
give.
talent only the fairies could great rejoicing.
there was
brought many gifts, and
 went on the baby became lovelier, She never cried
As time
When it was titue (01'her co talk, she tried to speak
ubset,
utter no sound. The parents were greatly
It wasthe child's third birthday.
condition and decided to have a
cerned about their daughter's
interests would encourage her to
party for her, hoping that new keep the child hiddm
The good fairieswarnedthe parents to
frompeopleuntil the time of the party. The fairies would
takeover,and whateverwas wrong would be corrected. The fairie
werecertainthat Flint had been up to more of his tricks. They
knewthe little girl wasunder a curse but were not sure what the
curse was.
At the party the fairies brought all sorts of objects to attract the
littlegirl's attention,but to no avail. Then they brought in a caged
reptile.Everyonegaspedand lookedon in horror, but the little girl
held out both hands to caressit. The fairies assured the parents
that theyneednot worry;their baby would not be harmed.
A fairywavedher wand over the reptile; it coiled up and went
to sleep. Slowly she opened the cage. The baby crawled towards
the reptile,clappingher hands. Suddenlyshe laughed out loud.
Then she lay down besidethe animal and went to sleep.
The parentswere veryhappy that the baby could
now laugh and
talk.The curse of Flint was broken forever.

A VISIT TO FAIRYLAND

A little girl, whose

Shehad no playmatesname was Sandy, was
happy with her parents,
woods.However,her except the animals and birds
mother she met in the
roamedthrough the never worried about her when she
had promised to woods,as she had confidence in
watch over her. the fairies, who
 One morning after she had her milk and
woods to play. The birds and porridge, Sandy
into the all the animals went
play with us.' flocked
her, saying: 'Come around
On and on they went, skipping and jumping, until
they
a huge door. The butterfly knocked on the door; they cameto
patiently,and someone said, 'Who is there?'
all waited
They looked up to see where the voice had
come from, and
toweringhigh above their heads was a Giraffe.He
openedthe door
to let them in. The Giraffe, who was the doorkeeper,
gave them a
warm welcome. Sandy went in, followed by her
friends: frogs,
reptiles, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats and
cows. It was
beautifulbehind the door, like stepping into another
world.
The Giraffe rang a bell, which brought the cook, a
large, motherly
Elephant.The Giraffe said to the Elephant: 'We have guests.
You
knowthe golden rule: food before pleasure. We shall listen for
the
dinner gong.'
He told his guests they were at liberty to explore his kingdom.
The animals elected Sandy to be their leader. They went into one
roomand found a swing made of multicoloured climbing roseswith
a swing board of solid gold. Sandy rocked back and forth to the
musicof a lullaby once sung to her by her mother.
Sandyand the animals entered another room. Here the ceiling,
wallsand floor were made of mirrored glass, in which they could all
see themselves.Sandy stood in front of a mirror. She felt content
and liked the way she smiled. She thought of her loving parents and
fell to her knees in prayer, wishing all children could have such
lovingparents. She looked in the mirror again and saw upon her
head a crown of roses, which filled the room with their fragrance.
In a corner of the mirror room was the fountain of wisdom.At a
certain time each day, every living creature who visited the room
wasfulfilled, each according to his needs.
No other human being had ever seen this undergroundenchanted
palace.Sandy was the first. For a second time she sat on the swing,
deep in thought. Suddenly she was aroused by the ringing of bells
meaningthat lunch was being served.

25
 The dining area was long, large and with many different-sized
tables. The mice had a low table decorated with cheesein the form
of flowers.The big cats and the other animals of the samesizehad
a higher table, a glassof ice-coldmilk beside each setting. The birds
had an oval-shapedtable with a white porcelain trough aroundit
filled with delicious bird-seed.
Before the lunch began, Sandy stood, face uplifted, with her eye
closed and hands clasped, and asked blessing for the food. As she
sat down, the birds broke into a strain of heavenlymusic.
It was getting late and was time for Sandy to return home. How-
ever, there wasone more room she had to see. Sandy and her friends
opened the door to this room. It was dimly lit, and the musicthey
heard only angels could sing. The strains of this music slowlyleft
the room, leavingonly the echoesof peace.
They looked around and saw skeletonsperched on poles across
the room. They were skeletonsof birds and other creatures,once
filled with life given by the Creator. Children and grown-upshad
committedthe deed of destructionon them, and there wasnot one
that fell to the ground to be left unnoticed. Each one was tenderly
lifted and taken to the morgue of this underground palace.These
creatures who had been so cruelly destroyed sang every day for
the forgivenessof the cruelty of man.

FORBIDDEN ROOM

A man and his wife were heirs to a large, century-oldhouse

situatednear an Indian settlement.The present owner of the house
was very ill. He felt he would not live very much longer, so he
called in this couple. Certain obligations had to be fulfilled before
they could assumeownership; if these conditions were met, the Old
man would turn over the house to them. The man and his wife
agreed.
 man satßfied with the
tell them v;rne of the
had originally the fron
told his
in the house which must never F-ppcin
d«uments and handed over the keyto
sgd all the
he died.
g:ne night down to its present
Ttß house was handed
documentsand
the necessary the keysto tiz
The house was theirs.
it was only a few short yan
unfortunately, the æ's
alongwith their child, did during childbirth zn,
de, to
ova-whelmedwith grief, decided stay in the
and he grew curious the forbidden
Onedayhe got the key to this and went uFtairs- The
totheroomwasthe same as the other doors in the He
thekeyand opened the door. It was an attrætive The
turewasof Egyptian design, and the wallFF
Theman was fascinated. On the wallpaF were trees, a
picturesof beautiful girls with Win9-
life-like
Ashe stoodadmiring the the man heard water run-
ningand felt a breeze blowing. Surprisingly, it was the stream
thewallpaperthat was flowing, and the trees it were being blown
fromsideto side. Even the beautiful girls were stretching out their
armsto him. Puzzled,he left the room and spelt a sleeples night
thinkingabout what he had seen.
Thenext day he took all the furniture and pictures out of the
room.He examined each item carefully and could find nothing
As he had found no clues, he decidedto retum to the
unusual.
room.He was inside for only a few minutö when he heard the
samethings—water running, trees swaying in the breeze and the
lovelygirls pleading for help. He backed out of the and
lockedthe door.
In the morning, he decided what to do. He went into the city
andbroughthome new paper for the forbidden room. He began to
 the walls. The waters still; the
tear the old off
swaying,and the girls with wings remained still.
stop,Fd something attached
As he pulled the paFr, the man in foreign characters He
to the wall.It wasa dæument printed
removedit carefullyand took it to the læal authorities to see if it
could be translated.The only Errson able to translate it was a
doctorwholived in Egypt,so this man went off in search of hin
This is how the learned dætor translated the document:
'A long time ago, the Egyptian's magic came into conflict with
the fairies' magic wands. The wands would be sassed if they
remainedtogether,or in a group. However,one day one fairy was
foundalonein the woods,and the Egyptian who had owned the old
houseconqueredher power.Thus, all the fairies were imprisoned
underneath the wallpaper.'
For years there were no fairies in the land. The
declaredthat the SFII would be broken only by inscription
obeyedthe traditions of the old house and someone who dis-
And so removed the wallpaper.
the spell was broken, and the fairies
were liberated.