Re-Storying the World. Beltane: the Rites of Spring

 

Beltane: The Rites of Spring

  Goddess May Pole

 

The Celts considered Beltane, or May Eve, the beginning of summer and we still celebrate it by building bonfires—on hillsides or our back yards. Beltane is the fourth gateway of the Wheel of the Year, a time when "sweet desire weds wild delight." It is the season when the first glorious burst of springtime causes our hearts to rejoice in life and perhaps love. Our passions are re-ignited at Beltane. We engage in the wild flow of life, regardless of age. Our blood pumps through our veins with renewed strength, our hearts open to delight and we become one with the blossoming Earth.

It is in the 'lusty month of May' that our imaginations take flight with hope. Perhaps this year. . . ! And so we dance around the Maypole, weaving the energies of life and love, hope and expectation for the coming year. We weave the feminine and masculine energies of Life and dance in renewal. Amidst the flowering shrubs and birdsong, we also engage in the dance of light and life, calling in for ourselves ever greater light and deeper and fuller life. Winter is behind us and a new round of life awaits us. What do we desire to be and do this year?

 

 

The bonfires of Beltane bless us with the fire of desire, and when we jump through and over them, the fires cleanse us of any lingering winter darkness, and bring us luck and fertility.

There are many traditions that say that during Beltane, the veils between the worlds become thin and the Faerie Folk come into our world to dance and give the Earth their blessings. 

 In Celtic mythology, the Otherworld is the realm of the deities as well as of the dead. The Otherworld is usually described as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. (A happier vision of the afterlife than our western religions offer us.)

Perhaps this belief in a bridging of worlds contains a memory of a time when priestesses and shamans celebrated the opening of the veils between the worlds and the powers of the Earth took on form and walked amongst humans.

Because once upon a time, they did! 

 

  

When April turns to May, the Mother and her newly returned Daughter roam the woods, looking for the portal where the veils thin and the Otherworld draws near every May Day and Samhain.

They came to watch the Great Beings bless the re-blossoming of Life here on Earth.

The two women walk through a wispy fog as darkness slowly dissolves the light. In this twilight hour, the glowing green of new grass and tender new buds turn silvery-grey. Birds dart overhead through the stark tree branches, flashes of bright color to the growing dark. The sounds of animals settling in for the night whisper through the forest.

The women slip into a hidden forest glade. Before them rises the Faerie Mound.  

 Under a trio of birch trees, the women sit across from the Mound, breathing in the scent of Spring. As darkness fills the wooded valley, and silence spreads her silken wings, the women keep watch, enfolded in the sweet-smelling darkness, waiting for Moonrise.

In the waiting darkness, the Mother is remembering. Sinking into the silence of the night, she sinks down into the silence of her heart. The painful memories take shape like a dense, gray fog in her mind, only to shred and blow away with the coming of Joy. For lo! Her daughter, who had been lost, is found again! The memory flows through her like a bubbling brook, whose song is the sound of joy.

The Daughter sits in the growing dark, sharpening her eyes on the shadowy shapes gathering around her. As her eyes adjust to the darkness, her ears attune themselves to the night. The quiet rustlings of the night forest gives way to the quicksilver melody of a brook leaping and tumbling on the forest floor, while nightingales sing praises on the other side of the rounded hill.

Looking at her mother, the daughter knows a moment of wonder. Some comfort she thought lost forever is found again. At peace, she shifts her gaze to the starry heavens. The pressure of the light is building on her skin, and she looks to the East for the rising of the Moon.

The sudden appearance of that glowing light, flowing down from the heavens, cuts through the trees to fall on the Faerie Mound. 

 

 

Now, the sound of moonlight falling on a Faerie Mound is indescribable; it’s as if the most delicate bells are set ringing by the most delectable breezes of Spring. Both Mother and Daughter let the sound wash over them like a waterfall before they turn to look at each other with identical grins.

So it begins!

The music of the light and of the night weave soft melodies, tossed by playful winds high above the forest only to sink down through the unfurling leaves to dance on the new green grass of the hill before them.

The women stand to greet the Moon Mother as her light flows through the forest, reaching toward them like a blessing. When the Moon herself finally rises above the trees, they open their arms in welcome.

Then they turn toward the Faerie Mound. And wait.

As they wait, they add their voices to the wind's melody. There in the glowing dark, Nature’s song calls out through the veils to the Invisible Powers, to the Shining Ones. The song deepens and swells, and with arms outstretched to send forth the call, the two women watch as the veils between the worlds fray and shred like mist dissolving in morning light.

The Faerie Mound is slowly splitting open, and light pours out of the rift, brighter than the moonbeams that dance through the dark forest. A hidden Sun shines from the other side of the veil and takes shape as a Tree, a great shining Tree of crystal light, with its roots sunk in the Earth and its branches reaching to the heavens.

 

 

The Tree glimmers with all the colors of the rainbow as the winds of the Otherworld blow through its branches. As the music of the Faerie Mound winds through the clearing, another sound faintly echoes, the deep note of a drumbeat woven beneath the enchantment of the bells.

With each drumbeat, the Tree puts forth leaves of silver and of gold, until a great canopy of brilliant light hangs overhead. Then, as if the Tree can no longer contain the fullness of the light within itself, a flash of light erupts from it into the forest, and a fire flares up among the dead limbs the women have gathered.

 

The drumbeat becomes the sound of thunder in the night sky, and the fire burns with the brightness of the Tree.  Suddenly, the women feel a Presence approaching. Through the rift, flying on strong breezes, come flocks of different birds; small wrens and robins, brilliantly colored parrots, white swans and stately egrets, fierce hawks and majestic eagles. All the birds of the air come as the vanguard of the Mighty One who follows, Lord of the Air, Guardian of the Dawn, He who gives the breath of life to all living beings. 

 

 

With Him walks One who wears the light of Heaven upon Her face. Stars pulse on her cloak, and her eyes are shining galaxies, full of the Wisdom of the Universe. As these two Beings pass through the veils, the women see Justice tempered with Mercy on the Lord of Life’s face and feel safe. When the Queen of Heaven looks down upon them, they know the face of Compassion and Love and are content. Then these two Mighty Ones pass on into the woods.

 

 

Next comes a Power who takes the form of a mounting green wave, foam-crested and shimmering in watery blue-greens. He wears it like a cloak, and with Him flows the music of all the waters which sing upon the Earth. Within the waters, the women see the wildness of ocean waves, the rolling flow of rivers, the silence of a hidden forest pool, the roaring of sleek waterfalls, and the bubbling up of springs. As this Mighty Presence passes by, the women are engulfed by the wave, and emerging, are washed clean by its joyful life.

With a laugh, shaking out their hair over the fire, they watch the flames lick at the wood. Then the ground starts to shake.

A gnarled, little gnome is pulling his leg out of the dark soil of the Faerie Mound at the point where the rift emerged from the Earth. The women can’t contain their joy and delight when they see what caused the rukus. The Dwarf is clothed in browns and greens, and brings to mind the damp coolness and musty smells of fertile earth and forest tracks. He turns to them with a deep-throated laugh, and reaching down into the hole, begins pulling up a wealth of gemstones and metal objects, each one a creation of rare and astonishing beauty. 

 

  

The Master Craftsman looks at the beauty he’s created, and then lifting his arms, he gives a jaunty whistle. Soon the women hear the noise of many feet, and see a procession of men, women and children come through the trees. One by one they accept one of the Master's creations. When He has distributed all his store, the procession continues on into the forest, the gifts of the Master Craftsman held with reverence and honor at heart and breast.

The women turn back to the rift, staring in wonder and delight at the glorious Being stepping through the veils. She brings with Her the green livingness of the Earth. Dressed in a glorious robe of glowing green, She carries within herself the forms of all the countless lives that grow upon the Earth. The Mother sees trees the size of towers in forests long forgotten, and the flowering blossoms of trees that will soon bear sweet fruits. The Daughter sees soft dark moss growing over stones, and the secret life which moves the growth of corn and reeds, of root and stalk. As this Queen of the Greening passes by, She hands each woman a seed, and blows her breath upon their brows in blessing.

 

 

Meanwhile, the fire burns on and the thunder rumbles overhead, and the breezes, carrying moisture from the brook, swirl around the eddies of the flames, and teardrops fall onto the burning wood. The women watch the fire sizzle and crackle in silence.

And then they feel it: a great and gentle Spirit stands over them, wrapping them in love mixed with sorrow and pity With the Sorrowful Mother comes endurance and hope, and the wisdom that understands that life grows through suffering and sacrifice. A sudden breath of wind stirs the fire, and it blazes up to the sound of thunder until it seems to consume the whole world.

Now a new rarified sight takes hold of them and they see they are surrounded by countless Beings of exotic grace and beauty, swaying to the music that floats on the night breezes that sweep across the boundary of the worlds. And before they have time to wonder where all these Shining Folk have come from, they’re swept away in a wild dance.

All through the night they dance around the magical Tree, weaving strands of energy and light into patterns which echo their dancing steps. The light comes from the Shining Ones themselves, each individual creating part of the pattern, all connected in an intricate weave of light and life.

Far into the night, the Mother looks into the eyes of her dancing partner, and sees her fate written there. 

 

 

But it is to the Daughter that the Shining Ones now turn their gazes toward. In a sudden silence, the Queen of Earth takes the Daughter by the hand and leads her into the center of their enchanted circle. Spreading her arms over the girl, She bestows the blessings of the growing green upon her in a shower of emerald crystals. Next, the Queen of Heaven lays her starry robe around the girl's shoulders, and kisses her on the lips. And finally, the Dark Queen comes to bind the Daughter's hands, for sorrow is ever a companion on the Way.

Drawing closer, the Shining Ones behold their chosen Queen of May. And with solemn, stately steps, they dance to weave the strands of life and love, fertility and death, light and darkness around her. They bestow upon her the blessings of the OtherWorld.

 

 

Then as when a dream begins to slowly shred, once again the Tree began to glow, still growing in both this world and in all the others. The drumbeat calls to the thunder, and soon small clouds gather in the grayness before dawn. Under the light of the Tree, the grass grows greener and the air grows sweeter as the breezes of dawn sweep through the glade.

The ghostly dancers silently fade into the morning mists, until only the Mother and Daughter wait, feeling the heat of the rising Sun reflected in the fire at their feet. The Moon, having traveled the heavens throughout the night, sends her last rays soaring high upon the leaves of the Tree in the Otherworld, so that the lights of both blend, the silver and the gold. And the music of that blending sends a shiver of delight and a sweetness flaming through the living Earth, so that all are renewed and reborn.

As the sweet delight of that music sweeps through the women, the Sun rises. A golden shaft of light spears the heart of the fire, re-awakening the glowing embers to life. The Daughter feeds the fire and smiles to herself, for she understands the fire and its need. And reaching down, she places the Earth Mother's seed in the midst of the flames.

When she looks up, her mother is smiling down at her. A moment more and she finds herself in her mother's arms. She is kissed with great love and tenderness, and then her mother turns away, swiftly stepping toward the rift that is slowly closing in the light of the new day. The last of the Shining Ones have slipped through the glowing rift already. But someone stands there at the rift, his drum hanging from his shoulder and his hand held out to her mother, who has chosen to follow him.

Yet for a moment more, her mother holds the veils open, as a shadowy form slipped around her body and steps to the foot of the Faerie Mound. When her mother sends her wink and a smile, the Daughter casts one last loving look at her mother as her body dissolves in the crystal light of the Tree.

And then the Tree and the light are gone. With a crack of thunder, the hillside reforms itself and the veils are once again closed.

 

 

Now the Daughter looks at the Being standing silent and still on the hillside. A man, strong and broad-shouldered, looks back at her. The Sun's beams move up well-shaped legs and torso, until his dark eyes and strong face are lit with a golden glow. In his eyes, she reads a love of the Earth and of growing things, a desire to defend the lands that he loves, and the will to hunt down all that is hurtful to that life. And as she looks deeper, she sees herself as he sees her, and knows that she is loved and desired.

As graceful and proud as a king stag, he comes to her, and taking her hand in his, kisses her.

Then with a shout of joy, he embraces this beautiful woman standing before him. As the Sun lights up the forest glade, the Woman and Man walk hand and hand into the forest. Where she walks, the Woman leaves behind a trail of flowers - blue forget-me-nots, red anemones and purple pansies. With the Man, the animals of that place—stag, fox, wolf and bear – follow.

Soon their laughter floats out through the moist morning air, smelling of sweet desire and wild delight!

While thunder rolls to the beat of the drum, clouds sweep in to cover the morning Sun. Soft rain falls like music on delicate leaves and drowns in rich, dark soil. And the shimmering drops quench the fires of Beltane, so they might water the seeds both Mother and Daughter had set in the heart of the fire.

And the Faerie glade grew green with life. 

 

 

Copyright 2021 Cathy Pagano.  All rights reserved.

Emerging Archetypal Themes: Taurus, Dame Ragnall & “What Women Want”.

Taurus

Late April through mid - May is the season of Taurus, the time when the Feminine Spirit of Life comes into full blossom.  The promise of harvest colors the blossoms. The primal spark of Aries’ heavenly Fire is incarnated in the beauty and blossoming and sensuality of Taurus’ Earth, just as the Earth takes the returning Sun’s energy and turns it into Life!  What is ready for life now comes to life.  Taurus is the most earthy astrological sign, and it wants to build, to manifest according to Cosmic Law, for the Earth is our foundation.  Taurus is concerned with values as well, so Taurus inspires us to manifest what we really value. When we don’t know our values, we can’t really know what our heart’s true desire is.  

Taurus, being a fixed earth sign, can become very materialistic when our values are those of the patriarchy, and not of the Spirit.  Without a deep connection to our inner life, money, power and possessions consume our attention while our souls languish.  Then it is often through love that we come to reclaim ourselves.  Venus/Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Sex, Beauty and Wisdom, is the archetypal energy that underlies Taurus.  That means that Taurus thrives on love, beauty, sacred sexuality and wholeness.

In Venus’ Taurean home, we find out what we really value: love, beauty, creativity, kindness, family, cooperation and truth.  'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. (John Keats).   We will soon take a look at a story about a man who is given the opportunity to discover what women—and feminine spirit—want and who takes this Taurus lesson to heart.

The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell

In Celtic myth and legend, the King, who represents the masculine ideals and values of the country, must marry the feminine embodiment of his Land, Lady Sovereignty.  This union brings life and fertility to the land and to the people.   Often Lady Sovereignty tests the man who would be King, by appearing as a hideous old Hag whom the man must accept and love despite her ugliness.  For a society this means accepting the laws and cycles of Mother Earth, the land itself, for we are part of the Earth’s ecosystem whether we admit it or not.   For an individual, this means accepting feminine consciousness as equal to and helpful for collective rational masculine consciousness.  This means accepting the information those unacceptable feelings and intuitions and instincts give us and acting on them, even if they go against the rules of our society.   If we are brave enough, this can mean giving Sovereignty to the Earth and her laws; it can mean giving sovereignty to the promptings of the soul, which holds the spark of divinity and creativity within each of us; and it can mean giving sovereignty to our feminine, imaginal consciousness, which ‘reads’ the world.  And last but not least, it can mean finally giving back sovereignty to women.

There is a medieval Arthurian tale about the need to bring back the power of feminine sovereignty to collective consciousness. When a culture or an individual has repressed feminine Spirit for too long, life itself insists on a rebalancing of energies.   This tale shows us what must be done.  It is called The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell.

 

Once King Arthur was out hunting and soon outpaced his friends.  He brought down a stag and as he was dressing his kill, a giant knight accosted him and gave him a riddle to solve.  The riddle was this:  what do women want?  Arthur had a year to find out the answer or his life was forfeit to this giant knight.

Arthur’s nephew Gawain offered to help him search for the answer.  And so they both headed off into the world, seeking answers to this riddle.  Although they filled two books with answers, Arthur knew instinctively that they didn’t have the right one yet.  So he rode into the forest to meditate.

There he saw the most loathsome Hag riding toward him, who greeted him with this advice: ‘If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, I can tell you the answer to your riddle.  But the price is my marriage to Gawain.’  And even though she was such an ugly hag, Gawain agreed to marry her to save Arthur’s life.

Well, after giving the giant all the other answers he had gathered, Arthur was forced to give him the answer that the Hag, Dame Ragnell, gave him.  What women desire most of men is to have the Sovereignty!  And so Arthur escaped death. 

But then Gawain had to marry the Hag! That night in bed, Dame Ragnell entreated him to at least kiss her, despite her ugliness.  Gawain gathered his courage and said he’d do more than kiss her, he would love her.  And when he turned to her, Dame Ragnell was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

But Ragnell’s beauty would not hold.  She could be beautiful for only half the day.  So did Gawain want her beautiful by day and ugly in bed, or ugly by day and beautiful for him alone?  And Gawain, because he did love her, told her that it was her decision to make.  Which of course was the only right answer!  And so the curse was broken, and Ragnell could be beautiful both day and night because Gawain had given her the Sovereignty.

What Women Want

Our Aries movie theme was the Male Hero and we will continue discussing emerging masculine archetypal themes in our Taurus movie, What Women Want.  In Oz, the Great and Powerful, our hero Oscar the Wizard had to face the three aspects of his ‘anima’ – his inner feminine soul – and make a conscious choice for the Good.  In facing down his witchy, greedy, self-absorbed shadow anima (Evanora), and his enraged, betrayed ‘trying to get along with everyone’ anima (Theodora), he learned to accept and love his inner goodness, his inner magic, his soul, his wise anima Glinda. 

In Nancy Meyer’s funny and poignant movie,What Women Want, our hero Nick is immediately described by his ex-wife as a ‘man’s man’, a ‘charmer’ and a ‘momma’s boy’, along with other choice comments.  Where Oscar was a father’s son, whose uncaring ambition came from a negative relationship with his father, Nick’s character was shaped by his Las Vegas showgirl mother.  He was the pet of the showgirls, and the unconscious apprentice of ‘gangster’ male role models (like many men raised on the Soprano’s and other glamorized mafia role models.)  In short, he was the modern American male, whose mother adored the Rat Pack like we did the Beatles.  Nick still lived his life to a Frank Sinatra soundtrack.  The first thing we find out about him is that he is a charming playboy, who seduces women just for the fun of it.  He knows he can.  And so he does.  He’s been trained to take power.

Nick is climbing the corporate ladder as a hot-shot advertising executive, cunning at crafting ads to entice the male ego.  But times have changed—and now most of the advertising money is being spent on women, and unfortunately, Nick doesn’t have a clue about what women want—beyond wanting him.  To win a share of the women’s market, Nick’s boss, Dan, passes him over for a promotion and hires Darcy McGuire, the top woman in her field, to be Creative Director.

The whole atmosphere of this ad agency shouts MALE.  The women are there to be of service or try to just fit in.  So when Darcy starts off her first meeting with a collegial style, asking everyone to come up with ideas for a selection of women’s products, she is offering them an alternative feminine model, where people share information and cooperate (‘5 heads are better than 1.’).  She is bringing a very feminine style of working together to a very masculine agency.   And like Dame Ragnell, she is perceived as ugly.  For you see, rumor has it Darcy is a real man-eater, and Nick’s heard ‘Darcy McGuire is a birch on wheels.’

But Darcy has great legs and Nick decides to take her on.  Like Gawain, Nick is a Son of the Mother, a great lover of women, who thinks he is being charming when he is acting like a spoiled child.  The blessing is that he’s soon going to learn what he’s really like and he’s going to change.

Nick might not know how to care about anyone except himself, but he is creative and playful, probably learned at his mother’s knee.  Nick goes home determined to figure out how to sell these products. He puts on Sinatra and dances but he gets stuck in a male view of women, because that’s what Sinatra was all about.  Nick’s feminine feeling side is shaped by Hollywood and Vegas and those tastes cater to men.  He even realizes he has to change the music.  So he roots through his daughter’s suitcase (she’s visiting while her mom is on her honeymoon) and puts on Alanis Morisette’s “I’m a Bitch”. 

The interesting thing about Nick is that he knows how to use his feminine imagination in service to his masculine needs.  But he doesn’t know how to listen to his real feminine feeling side.  His feminine consciousness is also a Father’s Daughter—at the service of patriarchy.  Like Arthur and Gawain and all true Sons of the Mother, Nick is blessed with an opportunity at redemption.   He has to deal with three women at once: his neglected daughter Alex, who refuses to call him dad, his new boss Darcy and Lola, a waitress he’s been trying to seduce for months.   Nick is going to have an awakening that forces him to come up against his own ugly side as he implements his manipulative plan to bring Darcy down, to seduce Lola and to continue to ignore his daughter’s need for a real father.

  So, here’s Nick, drinking and singing with Alanis, painting his nails, using face cream, waxing his legs (“Women are crazy.  Why would they do this more than once!?”), blow drying his hair.  Fate comes in and takes over – he slips on bath beads, falls into a full tub of water, his hair dryer goes flying and he is electrocuted. (A great symbol of a Uranus awakening!)

When Nick wakes up, he can hear women’s thoughts. At first he thinks he’s crazy, then it drives him crazy. He hears what women think of him (sexy!) and his usual routine (he’s such a pig!).  He tries to reverse whatever gave him this power, but he can’t.  He even goes to a therapist, and when he proves to her that he’s not crazy but that he can hear her thoughts, she tells him that he has a great gift.  She says that ‘the world can be yours, because if you know what women want, you can rule the world’.  ‘You’re the luckiest man in the world!’  So much for the integrity of psychiatry! 

So of course, at first Nick uses this new power to trip up and control things with Darcy and Lola.  He uses this gift for his own purposes, which is what patriarchy does with all our feelings and insights.  It uses them for its own purposes, not for the real purpose of understanding and compassion.  This is why Arthur is confronted by the giant knight.  His society has neglected the feminine aspects of life and so the powers of life fight back.  Only if Arthur recognizes and honors the power of Feminine Spirit will he escape death and destruction.  And just like Arthur and Gawain, who accepted the challenge for Arthur, Nick has to face the selfishness of his life by confronting his Dame Ragnell and allow her the sovereignty, before he can see her beauty.

Like Oscar and his China Doll, Nick immediately has sympathy for a broken and sad young woman in the office whose thoughts circle around suicide.  As with many men, their protective side comes online when a woman is hurt.  At first he just notices her thoughts, but it helps him to notice the other women in the office.  And as he begins to hear the women’s thoughts, their fears, their worries and their hopes, Nick becomes their cheerleader and supporter, adding his male understanding to their relationship problems.  He becomes a positive masculine support.  Nick finds out that he actually enjoys hanging with the women, a good behavior he learned from his time with his mom and her showgirl friends.

As Nick begins to pay attention to what the women in his life really think about him, he tries to change his ways, because he really likes them.  When he hears Alex’s friends’ thoughts badmouthing him as a father, he charmingly offers them what they want.  When he tells Alex he’ll take her shopping for a prom dress, he hears how she wants to take advantage of him, and he offers to buy her the extras without her asking.   When he finally seduces Lola, her less than enthusiastic thoughts about his love-making challenge his sense of manhood, and he outdoes himself in the love-making department.  When he ‘listens in’ on Darcy’s thoughts about an ad campaign, he steals her ideas and improves on them.  He uses his knowledge and improves on it, which is what masculine consciousness is good at.  But Nick is still lying to everyone about his ability, and he goes back and forth between selfishness and understanding with all the women in his life.

As Nick begins to understand how women feel, he does discover what women want.  Women want men who will love them for who they are, not for who men want them to be.  Women don’t want to be seen as ugly because we’re smart, and accomplished and beautiful and whole.  He hears Darcy’s insecurities and begins to understand how hard it is for women to just be ourselves, because women often pay the price, like Darcy whose husband was jealous of her, “for just being me.”   

Although he steals the idea from Darcy, he comes up with a great ad campaign for Nike with her.  He tells her, ‘women worry all the time about everything.’  He imagines the road as a place where a woman can be herself, where nobody judges her, where there are no games to play.  At that moment of true intimacy with Darcy, neither of them can tell who thought of the right answer for the ad.  It was a shared answer.  Nick is learning to love.

Nick falls in love with Darcy, with his daughter Alex and ultimately with himself.  As soon as Nick takes self-ownership of his feelings, he loses his ability to hear women’s thoughts.  And because he has grown up and become a whole man, he still goes to rescue the young office girl Erin, thinking she’s going to commit suicide.  When he finds her, he offers her the job she always wanted.  When he finds his daughter at the prom crying in the bathroom, he offers his love and takes her home.  And when he confesses his nefarious plans to Darcy he accepts her firing him, because he has learned to give the women in his life sovereignty.  And he finds out that when women have the sovereignty, love reigns.  In the end, he is rescued by his Beloved and wins back his daughter’s love.  

He has found the most beautiful within himself and in Darcy and Alex.  And like Sir Gawain, once the spell is broken, he discovers the great Joy that comes from love.  

From the Bard's Grove,

Cathy