Not only are we currently under lockdown in West Cornwall, but we are also blessed with snow, an unusual occurrence in this semi-tropical area. The urge to go within is thus doubly emphasised. I may not be alone though, for even when I think I am (others being elsewhere in our social bubble), at night I hear movements in the kitchen. There are no mundane explanations, no evidence of pests of any sort, but there is a suggestion that it could be pixies dropping by, perhaps to come into the warmth, or just to have a bit of fun. Their favourite prank is to move the analogue clock hands, but not just to random times - which would imply it was just the batteries or something. They do random times on occasion, but more often than not the clock is exactly one hour behind; then the next day, it's been moved back to the correct time. This could be a wry comment on our obsession with linear time, something Jacques Vallee has pointed out in his research on 'the others'. (See his 'Dimensions' for example.) Other mischief going on in the kitchen includes olive oil tops shooting off into the air regularly. When I'm in another room and hear the familiar sound, I go and check, and sure enough, the top and the bottle have been separated by a considerable distance. All a bit of fun. I'm hoping they'll clean the dishes one night, but I won't count on it.
Like so many others during lockdown, I've found additional entertainment in streaming. A recent discovery is an American TV show 'Unforgettable' starring Poppy Montgomery. On the face of it, merely another procedural cop show, it's the central character who lifts it to another level. She has an eidetic memory, which means she can never forget anything she sees. She perceives details that others may miss. Yet what is most interesting is the way this is shown: when she revisits a scene she was at, it is as if she becomes her own double. This is uncannily similar to how people may experience leaving their bodies, creating an eerie, transcendent atmosphere to the show.
There is a connection here to the opening theme of this blog, for there is much of the faerie world that reflects ours, even to the point of people witnessing exact doubles of people when interacting with 'the others'. This from 'British Goblins' by Wirt Sikes:
'A sudden fear came over me and my legs began to tremble. A shadow crept upon me from behind, and when I turned round--it was myself!--my person, my dress, and even my hymn-book.' There is also an account of a man fleeing fairies on horseback, turning around to see that mounted behind him...is himself. Robert Kirk in 'Secret Commonwealth' has this to say: 'They call this Reflex-man a Co-walker, every way like the Man, as a Twin-brother and Companion, haunting him as his ƒhadow, as is oft ƒeen and known among Men (reƒembling the Originall,) both before and after the Originall is dead, and wes alƒo often ƒeen of old to enter a Hous, by which the People knew that the Perƒon of that Liknes wes to Viƒite them within a few days.' If you can get past the old spelling (I don't want to make it too easy!) you will possibly observe the parallels between the astral body and the world of faerie. So, yes, life is never boring, not even during lockdown.
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