While researching the myths surrounding Arthur, I constantly came upon a strong connection to medieval Ireland. St. Brigit is the patron saint of this beautiful land and represents the 'Christianizing' of the British Isles. If Arthur is a Christ-like figure, then Brigit is comparative to the Madonna. She is very earthy and carvings of her depict her milking a cow. She represents healing, poets, wells and springs - a very grounded but magical lady. To me, she is imbued in Megan, my Black Harvest character of 19th century Ireland. The only thing is, Megan is not as grounded as she might appear on the outside.
Megan is the daughter of Cathleen, an elemental elfie. Young Meg is a conflicted individual and constantly duels the aspect of who she is with who she thinks she should be. Her father, Josh, is human, a farmer who loves the land and dearly loves his wife and daughter. Megan's mother is not human but possesses the same qualities as her husband. Megan learns of her strange heritage after the brutal slaying of her father and instead of embracing the knowledge, she turns away from it and rejects her emotionality. Stubbornly she rejects Seamus, the man she loves and instead chooses Jamie, a child-like man with mythical good looks - raven's wing hair, cobalt eyes and Adonis body. Anotherwards - not real. Since Megan decides she is not real, then it stands to reason that she join her life with someone of the same ilk.
Megan experiences a great deal of anger towards her mother. But her loyalty does not permit her to express it, so she bottles it up inside and continuously punishes herself. She punishes herself for barely tolerating her husband, for rejecting Seamus and then hiding her love under a bushel. The glaring fact of her life is that she is half-elfie and how could Seamus accept her when she cannot accept herself for who or what she is?
It is only when Megan leaves everyone behind and takes off in her buggy to search out her mother that she truly feels herself. It is just her, the horses and the open road ahead. She has always felt to be the responsible one to everyone in her life, including her un-human mother. Resting at the side of the road she comes to understand why she actually chose Jamie as a mate. "It didn't matter nor would it ever matter to Jamie if she was part elfie or whole elfie or a two-headed leprechaun. All Jamie ever cared about was Jamie and that was and would ever be to the end of his pretty days." As long as he focused on himself, the spotlight would never fall upon Megan and her dirty, little secret.
There is a lot of psychology here in terms of writing Megan. Who ever wrote in a story about the struggles of a half-human? Megan is a married woman in love with a married man and that is plenty to deal with. But then throw in the fact that she is the daughter of someone who does not age, who is part of the realm of magic and shares a connection with the mythical Arthur and Merlin/Merwyn, then you have a lot of baggage to sort out.
As a child, this sounds wonderful and don't we all wish to be a part of the magic? But how does an adult deal with it? In Megan's case, not very well at all. For her, it's like being the daughter of an alcoholic parent. Keep pretending and her unreal reality might disappear.
Megan is the daughter of Cathleen, an elemental elfie. Young Meg is a conflicted individual and constantly duels the aspect of who she is with who she thinks she should be. Her father, Josh, is human, a farmer who loves the land and dearly loves his wife and daughter. Megan's mother is not human but possesses the same qualities as her husband. Megan learns of her strange heritage after the brutal slaying of her father and instead of embracing the knowledge, she turns away from it and rejects her emotionality. Stubbornly she rejects Seamus, the man she loves and instead chooses Jamie, a child-like man with mythical good looks - raven's wing hair, cobalt eyes and Adonis body. Anotherwards - not real. Since Megan decides she is not real, then it stands to reason that she join her life with someone of the same ilk.
Megan experiences a great deal of anger towards her mother. But her loyalty does not permit her to express it, so she bottles it up inside and continuously punishes herself. She punishes herself for barely tolerating her husband, for rejecting Seamus and then hiding her love under a bushel. The glaring fact of her life is that she is half-elfie and how could Seamus accept her when she cannot accept herself for who or what she is?
It is only when Megan leaves everyone behind and takes off in her buggy to search out her mother that she truly feels herself. It is just her, the horses and the open road ahead. She has always felt to be the responsible one to everyone in her life, including her un-human mother. Resting at the side of the road she comes to understand why she actually chose Jamie as a mate. "It didn't matter nor would it ever matter to Jamie if she was part elfie or whole elfie or a two-headed leprechaun. All Jamie ever cared about was Jamie and that was and would ever be to the end of his pretty days." As long as he focused on himself, the spotlight would never fall upon Megan and her dirty, little secret.
There is a lot of psychology here in terms of writing Megan. Who ever wrote in a story about the struggles of a half-human? Megan is a married woman in love with a married man and that is plenty to deal with. But then throw in the fact that she is the daughter of someone who does not age, who is part of the realm of magic and shares a connection with the mythical Arthur and Merlin/Merwyn, then you have a lot of baggage to sort out.
As a child, this sounds wonderful and don't we all wish to be a part of the magic? But how does an adult deal with it? In Megan's case, not very well at all. For her, it's like being the daughter of an alcoholic parent. Keep pretending and her unreal reality might disappear.
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