Forbidden Knowledge
Forbidden Knowledge is a Podcast that reveals the most occulted (hidden) information on the planet about how we as a species create our reality both individually and collectively. Come join us on a journey of self-discovery and freedom and learn how to change the world by changing your own story and become a Master of Destiny.
Forbidden Knowledge
The Mysteries of Second Sight and the Fairy Realm
http://forbiddenknowledge.org
Ever wondered how Scottish fairy tales intertwine with the legendary tales of King Arthur? Unearth the mystique of these tales as we uncover the enchanting connections between the fay and figures like Morgan le Fay. With a captivating story from Donald Alexander McKenzie's "Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend," we explore the astonishing journey of a woman who gains the ability to see spirits. This episode promises a magical exploration of the fairy tradition's recurring influence on legends both ancient and modern.
Journey with us into the otherworld, where fate, folklore, and mythology weave a rich tapestry of mystery and transformation. We'll meet a mysterious woman in green, a symbol of nature and abundance, who brings forth a tale of hospitality and destiny. Through the symbolism of new clothes, delicious cakes, and alchemical metaphors, we'll discover how these elements reflect ancient customs, beliefs, and the fascinating link between the earthly and celestial realms.
The concept of second sight takes center stage as we explore its presence across various mythological traditions. Tales of magical transformation, such as Taliesin's enlightenment and the vision granted by a fairy's touch, highlight the dual nature of mystical experiences. We'll delve into initiation rites and their symbolic gifts, reflecting on how these narratives connect to broader themes like ancestor worship. Join us as we unravel the complexities of fairy folklore, inviting you to appreciate these timeless stories that continue to captivate and inspire.
Hello and welcome back to the Forbidden Knowledge Podcast. My name is Nathaniel Hoyt-Macher and I will be the show's host. Last time we were talking about the elucidation and the Arthurian myth and tradition and the fairy accord or the fairy agreement or something along those lines with it, depending upon how you want to look at it. And I've been studying more about this tradition since then, meaning specifically the fey or the fairies or the fair folk or the good people as they're called in various different traditions and whatnot, and last time I kind of uh made it so that way they were seen as something similar to elves in my mind at that particular point, and I still hold that that is a loosely true idea at this stage of my research and to things with it.
Speaker 1:Today, I thought I would go and showcase what I've been doing. I'm going to pull from a very particular story. It's a Scottish fairy tale and I'm just going to read it. It's not very long, I think it's like two and a half three pages long, something like that and then I'm going to be going over what some of the stuff means inside of the fairy tale in order to help us understand this tradition better. In order to help us understand this tradition better, because obviously they're going to keep popping up again and again, meaning the fairies, that is, or the fair folk or the fae, or whatever, inside the Arthurian myth and tradition, because we even have, where we have Arthur's sister, morgan le Fae Morgan the Fairy, as I mentioned before, le Fay, morgan the Fairy, as I mentioned before. So this is something that is going to continuously be a huge returning point inside of the stories and myths, legends and traditions and lore. So we need to make sure that we understand how this aspect works, what they represent a bit better and whatnot, and I'm going to continue to look more into it than just what I'm presenting here. But I figured this would be a good introduction to the research and what has been going on with it and how it dovetails with other things I've already researched before and have been looking into, and so, without further ado, I'm going to pull from the story now. So we're going to be pulling from a book by Donald Alexander McKenzie which was compiled or published in 1917, which means that everything that I'm reading if I'm reading it word for word is now in the public domain. The book is entitled Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend and we're going to be pulling from chapter nine. Chapter nine is called A Vision of the Dead and we'll see why it's entitled that as we go further into the story here, for what's going on. And so, without further ado, I'm just going to begin reading into the story here, for what's going on, and so, without further ado, I'm just going to begin reading there.
Speaker 1:Once dwelt in Nisdale a woman who was enabled by fairy aid to see the spirits of the dead in the other world. This was how it came about. One day she sat up spinning wool in her house. Her baby lay in a cradle beside her, listening to the soft humming sound of the spinning wheel and her mother's sweet song. Suddenly a rustling like the rustling of dead leaves in the wind was heard at the door. The woman looked up and saw a beautiful lady clad in green and carrying a baby. She entered and, smiling sweetly, spoke and said will you nurse my Bonnie baby until I return? The woman answered yes, I shall do that. She took the baby in her arms and the lady went away, promising to return.
Speaker 1:But the day went past and night came on and still she did not come back for the child. The woman wondered greatly. But she wondered even more the next morning when she awoke to find beside her bed beautiful new clothes for her children and in the new clothes, and to defined that they fitted well. Excuse me, I misread. There Morning she woke to find beside her bed beautiful new clothes for her children and some delicious cakes. Being very poor, she was glad to dress her children in the new clothes and defined that they fitted well. The cakes were of wheaten bread and a honey flavor. It was a great delight to the children to eat them. The lady did not return that day, nor the next. Weeks went past and the woman nursed the strange child. Months went past and still the lady stayed away. Months went past and still the lady stayed away. On many a morning wheaten cakes with honey flavor were found in the house. When the children's clothes were nearly worn out, new clothing was provided for them. As mysteriously as before.
Speaker 1:Summer came on and one evening the lady clad in green again entered the house. A child who was playing on the floor stretched forth her hands to grasp the shining silver spangles that adorned her gown. But to her surprise her hands passed through them as if they were sunbeams. The woman perceived this and knew that her visitor was a fairy, said the fairy lady, you have been kind to my Bonnie baby. I will now take her away. The woman was sorry to part with the child and said you have a right to her, but I love her dearly. Said the fairy, come with me and I shall show you my home.
Speaker 1:The woman went outside with the fairy. They walked through a wood together and then began to climb a green hill on the sunny side. When they were halfway to the top, the fairy said something that the woman did not understand. No sooner had she spoken than the turf on a bank in front of them lifted up and revealed a door. This door opened and two entered through the doorway. When they did so, the turf came down and the door was shut.
Speaker 1:The woman found herself in a bare chamber which was dimly lighted. Now you shall see my home, said the fairy woman, who took from her waistband a goblet containing a green liquid. She dropped three drops of this liquid in the woman's left eye and said look. Now. The woman looked and was filled with wonder. A beautiful country stretched out in front of her there, the green hills fringed by trees, crystal streams flashing in sunlight and a lake that shone like burnished silver. Between the hills there lay a field of ripe barley. The fairy then dropped three drops of the liquid green in the woman's right eye and said look now. The woman looked and she saw men and women that she had known in times past cutting the barley and gathering fruit from the trees. She cried out I see many who once lived on earth and have long been dead. What are they doing here, said the fairy. These people are suffering punishment for their evil deeds. When she had spoken thus, the fairy woman passed her hand over the woman's eye and the vision of the green hills and harvest fields and reapers vanished at once. She found herself standing once more in the bare, dimly lighted chamber. Then the fairy gave her gifts of cloth and healing ointments and, leading her to the door, bade her farewell. The door opened, the turf was lifted up and the woman left the fairy's dwelling and returned to her own home. For a time she kept the power of the fairies, of seeing the fairies, excuse me, as they went to and fro near her house. But one day she spoke to one of them and the fairy asked With which eye do you see me? I said the woman I see with both my eyes. The fairy breathed on her eyes then was lost to sight. Never again did the woman behold the fairies, for the power that had been given to her was taken away from her eyes by this fairy to whom she had spoken.
Speaker 1:All right, so there's lots to unpack here, lots of very interesting material if you know what you're looking for and how to understand it. So, first thing it talks about, you know the place where it is Nithsdale, which is in Scotland. So clearly there's you know, gaelic, ancient Celtic, whatever tradition here in which this originated from, ancient Celtic, whatever tradition here in which this originated from. And we're talking about a quest for the other world and even mentions that the spirits of the dead in the other world and this is how the entry of the story begins here then explains how it came about. There's the woman, the earthly woman. She sit there with the spinning of the wool in her house.
Speaker 1:This is already telling a lot, because we call it the strands of fate, the threads of fate. Spinning and weaving of fate and whatnot has always been that particular way for what it is. We see this with her spinning wheel that she's doing and whatnot. We have the wheel of fortune, the wheel of fate, the wheel in the sky that keeps on turning, all these similar concepts for what's going on, the millstone wheel that grinds everything, these are all shout outs to that particular concept that's happening there on that particular concept. That's happening there on that particular front, and you know, we see all of that. So that's something to keep in mind. It's already laying the foundations having to do with fate and consciousness and what happens on that particular front. That was there.
Speaker 1:Suddenly we see the rustling of dead leaves in the wind and she heard at the door. So now we have the air element that's being drawn about here, all right. So we have that as we see this here, when that part comes in, and then she sees a beautiful lady, all right, clad in green and carrying a baby. So there's a beautiful woman and she's clad in green, the color of nature, the color of abundance, the color of anything that has to do with with, you know, green, and I mean being evergreen and, um, living forever or whatever, and that kind of stuff. We see this with the green man as another example for what's going on in other myths and traditions, which plays out in another tradition with sir gawain and the beheading game shout out to that particular one will be there too. So you know. This woman then enters in, smiling sweetly, and she so you know. This woman then enters in, smiling sweetly, and she speaks will you nurse my Bonnie baby until I return? And of course, the woman's answer yes, that should do that.
Speaker 1:This may seem like a very strange request to someone of today, but back then villages were too tiny, things were very different from how they are. Hospitality was an absolutely huge part of things with that. We saw that being talked about even last time with the, you know, people coming to the wells and getting the cups from them and being fed their favorite food and whatnot, until the fairy accords were broken. So hospitality was absolutely a huge part of the these cultures that were going on, especially for strangers, and it was just expected to have certain things done with it and a certain level of trust for things, for what's happening, and so that part there is talking about that particular aspect of things in order for us to understand why this would just be there for what it is. It's not something that's unusual at all for this time period, for when these stories originated.
Speaker 1:So she takes the child. The lady went promising to return, all right, so we see all that. So the woman wondered greatly what was happening when she didn't come back for it. And of course, you see, the next morning when she woke to find herself, you know, new clothes for her children and delicious cakes. This is letting us know about a couple things, or what's going on here.
Speaker 1:We see that there's food that's left out. This is typically what has been done in traditions by the folk people, uh, and and folklore traditions, in order to make it so that way. They do this to appease the spirits and to appease people with it. They leave food out for them. In this case, it's some sort of sweet, delicious cake that's being left for the children. Instead, it's just a reflex of this notion in the story. It's the same concept, it's just being reversed for how it's being played out. The story it's the same concept, it's just being reversed for how it's being played out.
Speaker 1:As for the new clothes, this is something that plays out with other things, with the threads of fate, the strands of fate, the creating of new clothing. This was something that was very traditional for women to do for long, long periods of time making their own clothes and making their own stuff, for what's going on for the children and that kind of stuff. So it's a play on that as well and kind of shaping the destiny of the children by what they're wearing and the different phases of their life, which is why new ones pop up as the old ones get worn out and the children get older and that kind of thing. For what's going on. It even mentions that months went past and still the lady stayed away. Of course it keeps going on about that.
Speaker 1:Then, you know, summer comes and one evening the lady clad in green again entered the house, entered the house, and it also talks about how this child is a strange child and that there is something that's very special about this which actually gets into the notion of the wondrous child, which is something that a scholarly term that has to do with the Celtic child and being that is unique of some sort, usually male, not always. In this case it's a female child that we learn about for what's going on there, and it is talking about how this is some being that has some otherworldly powers and otherworldly understanding of things, and there's something unique about this particular individual that is not true for the vast majority of other people and other places and time periods for what's going on there. So they have that. That's talking about stuff too.
Speaker 1:You talk, we see, about silver bangles, spangles, excuse me, that's important. So you have silver, so you have silver, and then you have, you know, being going through, passing through as if they were sunbeams. So not only does this do two things, because it's the silver and gold concept, precious metals, possibly an alchemical metaphor, moving things from a lower state of being to a higher state of being, moving things from a lower state of being to a higher state of being, the notion of alchemical wedding between the sun and the moon, the silver representing the moon and the gold representing the sun, which is also why it's called sun beams. But there's also another shout out here, another reference to the shining ones, as they're known in many traditions for what's going on and that there are luminous beings that are being here and that's what is being spoken of. So then the fairy lady comes, takes the child away back to her realm, where the child belongs Usually.
Speaker 1:By the way also, these wondrous childs are part. They part otherworldly, being to begin with a mixture of human and something of the other world and whatnot. So we're talking about fairies in this particular instance. Obviously it's of the faith for what's going on here and whatnot. So we're talking about fairies in this particular instance. Obviously it's of the fae for what's going on here. So then we see that the woman is going to be given something in return for helping with the child and doing things with that for a long time.
Speaker 1:They walk through a wood and then they climb a hill. They're on the sunny side of the hill. So the illuminated part, rather than the non-illuminated part, which is the play between light and darkness, here is another notion for what's going on. It's also the mentioning of Ocean's Return by nightfall and then passing of the day, back and forth. It's also a play on that. Then they went halfway to the top.
Speaker 1:The fairy woman says something that she did not understand so clearly she hasn't been initiated into higher levels of understanding that the fairy woman is about to show her no sooner had she spoken to the turf on the bank in front of them lifted up and revealed a door, so a portal, a pathway to the other world, the world where the dead reside, the world where the fairy folk reside. So they open through it and then they shut the door. Now they're in complete darkness. This is important to part for what's going on. If you shut the turf door, clearly there's nothing inside for what's going on. You're now completely encased in the earth, which gives us mother earth a concept and being there from womb to tomb for everything that it provides for us.
Speaker 1:We'll play and go into that concept a lot more later on, but just know that that's what's being talked about here as well in terms of certain aspects, that this is a initiation into the initiation into the occult mysteries that are happening here, and this is the remnants of it passed down in folklore. She even mentioned that it was dimly lighted. Then the fairy woman says now you shall see my home, and she took from her waistband a goblet containing a green liquid. So we see goblet again. It's the same thing with the chalice from the tradition that we're talking about, with the Arthurian myth and legend, which is partly why it shows this, because clearly there's something here and more to it, and the green liquid has its own meaning which I'm not entirely certain of yet. I've heard from other traditions more of the red gold idea, which I'm more familiar with, idea which I'm more familiar with um. So I'll have to look into what that deeper meaning is, why the color green there could just represent the same notion as before of the evergreen tree, uh and whatnot, and making it so that way that it holds like eternal life on that particular uh front with it, just like the pine trees, and evergreen trees never lose their leaves during wintertime. Could be something like that Could be. I don't know for certain, though.
Speaker 1:So, of course, the woman in the story. She's now filled with wonder and she sees a beautiful country stretched out in front of her. So she's I'm sorry I skipped something that's important the fairy. She goes and drops three drops into her eye, specifically her left eye, and makes it so that way she can see. By doing so, she can now see another world in front of her. So she has now gained the second sight, as it is called in many traditions, allowing you to see other planes of existence that didn't exist before, that you were unaware of, in another book and another tradition.
Speaker 1:For what's going on? You have what happens with Taliesin, and you have where he is helping out this goddess and he's in front of a cauldron and he's supposed to be help stirring it, and then, eventually that particular cauldron has, where it's boiling up out of things with it, and it makes it so that way from there's when he gains illumination and he gains all this insight into the world and things that he was never supposed to know, and originally it wasn't for him, at least according to the tradition, it was supposed to be for somebody else. And then there's a whole another part that goes on to the story, for what's going on now. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because this is a direct, a direct shout out to that particular tradition. There's also another one that has to do a slightly different way that it's been formulated, but it's still pretty much the same concept. So this is an Indo-European concept for sure, at a minimum, and obviously there are other traditions that have this goblet slash, chalice like thing. It's in sumerian tradition and it's also in the ancient egyptian tradition, neither of which are indo-european. So it's something that's more than just the indo-european, but obviously it's a huge indo-european influence.
Speaker 1:And what we see is is that there are three wells and inside of these wells that are done in the nordic tradition, you need to drink from each one of them and each one gives you a certain level of illumination and whatnot, and that makes it so that way. Odin eventually gets to see things with it, and one of the wells he has to cast his eye into it in order to get it from mimir's Brunner. That's what it's called the well of Mimir, the well of memory, which gets us to the next part, for what's happening of this particular story as well, and another understanding of it, which is that there's memory. You have to be able to remember these particular events that you're seeing on the other side for what's happening here, and, of course, we learn later on in the story that this is taken away. So in the traditions and this is true of the greek traditions as well as, like the orphic mystery traditions also bring up this concept of having multiple wells or multiple cauldrons, or multiple ways of drinking things with it, and so it shows a duplicitous nature that goes down the side with it, with one leading to life, the other one leading to death, and that makes it so that way, or to a loss of memory and not remembering anything and just going back to the regular world without it. So you have one fairy, one side of it that shows the goodness of their hearts and whatnot, because of what was done. You made it so that way they could go and see again. She got to see the realm, she got to see the realm of the dead, she got to see where the fairy live and all this other stuff, for what's going on? She's even told that some of them are there because of the misdeeds that they did the bad deeds in their life. Um, you have eventually, though, where the fairy encounters another fairy that's a negative fairy, one that doesn't want her to see these things, and it's taken away and she loses the sight. So it's showing that in these initiation rites, in these aspects that are going on there, that there's always the chance that you can lose it and never fully recover from it and not remember everything that was that way in the stories.
Speaker 1:Recover from and not remember everything that was that way in the stories. You see this with otter, and nordic traditions as well. To make it so that way he can drink from kind of a hag-like person that's on the other side with it, and then there's also freya, the goddess freya, who's bringing that to her. So you have a giantess that's called Hindla and you have that on the other side with the goddess Freya, and so he can choose to remember everything that was taught to him on that side of things and make it so he can bring back that knowledge to this physical plane of existence, this physical plane of existence, or he can lose it all and either not remember anything at all or, in some cases, even lead to death and desolation and destruction. Um, I think what this is also playing at is that you can literally make it some way by doing some of these initiation rights. People can be killed if they go through them and they're not properly prepared. They can die. Doing with you also have to where you can go insane doing some of these things. Or, for those who go through it properly, they literally have knowledge of another world, of another plane of existence, and so that's what's being talked about here with this particular story that is going on here in the deeper meanings behind it.
Speaker 1:Just want to make sure there's nothing else that I'm missing that's of any importance whatsoever. There's gifts that are given to her and healing ointments. Yeah, so the gifts have to do again with what they would. It's a reflex, it's a gift of giving it to the people that were in the burial mounds that they would go and do stuff with. This also probably has to do with ancestor worship of some sort, going in there and bringing them with it.
Speaker 1:We know that in the Nordic tradition, as an example, the elvish people there are some of them that are in a realm that's not touched by death and that kind of thing, and so you know that's going to be playing into that as well. Hence why I'm relating this the elves, to the fairies. I'm not saying they're exactly the same. They very well could be. I need to study this more but this is where things are on that particular front, and so I'm trying to show you that, on this side of things, there's also why the fair folk, as they're called in certain other traditions and whatnot, are, you know, not necessarily always seen as good. Some of that is Christian influence, in the sense that anything that's pagan is not good and therefore you shouldn't follow it. Some of it also has to do with the fact that whenever you're dealing with forces on other levels of existence, other of existence, you know you never know what you're going to get. You can get one that's going to be beneficial, you can get one that's going to be, you know, maleficent and whatnot. So you have to make sure that you're prepared to deal with either case, for it and that's what it showing here is the dichotomy between the two sides, that there is both good and evil, chaos and destruction, with creation and light.
Speaker 1:And this is clearly a shout-out, a story, a folk memory that has to do with a much more ancient tradition. That has to do with a much more ancient tradition, and this is the remnants of it that have survived to the time period of 1917, when this was first written down, and of course, this is still. Once it was written down. It became stagnant and not part of folklore in the sense of being passed down through oral tradition, and so it hasn't changed much in 100 years and there's still lots of this that's there that can be seen. So I hope this was fascinating and that it brought a new light onto the fairy side of things and the accords that can go on with it.
Speaker 1:We'll touch more on this other stuff. We're just trying to understand how some of this works with the fairy people a bit more. I feel that this particular story really illustrates a good amount of what this is all about. So thank you very much for listening. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please like and subscribe and, more importantly, make it so that way you share this and pass it on to somebody else who you think would be really find this fascinating or enjoy. Thank you very much, take care.