Dungeons and Dragons and Baudino both insist elves don't sleep. I'm not clear on Tolkien's take, but I don't recall Legolas laying down for any shut eye and Elrond's reaction to Arwen hitting the deck was not unlike what you'd see from a breeder when his favorite horse decided to lay down for some r&r.
Do you sleep? Did you/Will you sleep? What is your take on the relationship between Elves and Sleep, it's presence or it's lack in your life? And what about dreams? If elves don't sleep, are dreams meaningless to them? If they do sleep, what is the difference between ones life in this world and the dream world?
===A bit inspired to get this one active..(well, partially because someone just requested to join up..)
===I have been feeling a bit seperate from the "otherkin" thing...not that I do not like the overall term, but because of my increasing feelings of distance from some of the folk that utilize the term. I seem rather "conservative" (in the more classical sense) than some of the ones out there..thinking in terms of actually having ethics, and thinking of how we interact with the world.
===I will admit, it disheartens me when it seems that "live and let live" is used as a shield for really dysfunctional actions and behaviors....and some of the moves in organisation get me rather concerned.
===So, I have been focused far more on such things as diving into some of my older influences and inspirations...such as Gael Baudino (I think her elves came rather close to the feel I am working towards), the Faery stuff I have worked with..(emphaisis on waking the old blood and all that), and some of the newer things that sing right to me (such as Ly de Angeles...her newest book is effectively Witchcraft for elves...)
Ri, I've noticed that my email address is still on the info page of this community. Since I have no access to administer it any more can you please take it off? Thanks. :)
Napped in the afternoon and entered into this odd but vivid dream:
I dreamed that I woke up from the nap and walked around the house. I went into the room where the computers are kept, where I am sitting right now. And it was larger, with a balcony with large rattan chairs and cushions. Sun-chairs. A place where you could lounge around and relax.
It felt like evening. Pleasant. The balcony faced the street and I gazed down at people going about their business. There was a kindergarten and a teacher was spanking a boy who was back to playful normality a while later.
Suddenly, I was looking at trees. Live Trees. Sentient. Moving. Leaves rustling, moving, merging. The tree-tops were colorful. But there was a main Tree, a flowering Tree. It scattered millions of yellow petals around like golden sunbursts. There might be Song too but I don’t know. I was captivated by this Tree. As if it knew I was watching, it turned to me. A wave of yellow petals washed towards me. There was a certain sweet fragrance. Like jasmine. Light. Sweet.
With the fragrance came a beautiful ethereal female shape. She called herself ‘Méryeluin’. It was a melodious name. She was lovely. She seemed to be the embodiment of the Tree or she was the deva of the Tree. Yet as I spoke to her, I noticed that the aura surrounding the Tree had long arms and grasping fingers. They reached towards me. I was firm. I said ‘No’ a couple of times. She seemed a little disappointed but she gave up.
Later in the dream, the mood grown a little darker, I was with a girl who was my best friend (not that I knew her in waking reality). I needed to tell her about the Tree and Méryeluin. So, we cast a circle and we used bells too. I kept looking around for leaks in the circle. I was worried.
Then, I woke up for good and was a little disoriented.
Some questions were raised on an otherkin mailing list which were very interesting. This is the basic gist of those questions and my response;
Are otherkin inherently more powerful than humans?
I've never really been able to settle on an opinion of this question for myself. Certainly it seems sometimes that kin often have a greater command of occultic skill/magick/whathaveyou. But then it seems that it doesn't always follow; there are some kin with less skill and some humans with more. And the other thing to remember is that demonstrated skill is not the same as potential skill; just because someone hasn't yet learned any such skills doesn't mean that they never will, and how do you quantify something that hasn't yet manifested? And then you've got the question of whether you've correctly labelled the people you're observing as "kin" or "human". So I think thts question is something that can only ever be an assumption. Even those who disagree are making the opposite assumption, I don't think a definitive answer to this is even possible.
Otherkin are "better" than humans.
I used to think the same, until I joined the otherkin lists and found that the many 'kin are really no different from everybody else. I can't help thinking that if we all were better than humans we wouldn't keep on behaving like humans.
Given that 'kin have power, and "power corrupts", are 'kin corrupt, or in danger of becoming corrupt?
Given my comment above about how many kin just behave like humans, then yes, that could be a scary thought. On the other hand not everyone abuses the power they have. Whether it's an occult skill, or something else (position of authoprity at work, wealth, being gifted in some other skill) there's always a choice to be made, whether to abuse that power or not. I don't believe that power is a corrupting influence, I believe that it's an issue dependent on the individual's own code of ethics. If that individual's life experience tells them that to survive they have to screw over everyone else, then that is what they will use their powers for. I don't believe that power corrupts; I believe that society corrupts and power just gives the means to be dangerous.
"Nothing made is good or evil until we use it".
So do 'kin need to be "stopped? Are they a dangerous, daemonic force?
Hehe. I like to think of 'kin as being an embodiment of chaos, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It isn't so much the power you have it is what you choose to do with it. So what I think 'kin really need isn't to be stopped from using their powers, it's to be educated in using their powers wisely. For that, they need examples of 'kin using their powers wisely, being *truly* better than humans instead of just bragging about being better.
What are we doing to reality without even thinking about it?
Probably nothing that will cause any lasting damage. The universe is adept at finding it's own balance even when the rest of us keep on interfering. :) Perhaps the very act of "stopping" 'kin is in itself a mistake, going against what the Universe needs. The best we can do therefore, is to keep on doing what we feel is "des'tai" - on our path. If we each as individuals are following our correct path then everything else will fall into place.
I have been pondering on my elven aspects/natures. The one which feels more true or closer to me is the dark elven one. Lately, when I think about her/me, I tend to get the impression of obsidian. She's hard (or steely?), she's cool. She's cold but that's surface impression. She's not all cold or cool - she's actually quite passionately. But when I try to access that set of memories and images, I get obsidian... or dark crystal.
I wonder if the rest of you associate your elven sides/natures to precious stones or minerals.
At some point one of you posted a link to a really cool online calender that counted down the days to the solztices, equinoxes and cross-quarter holidays. I'VE LOST IT!! Who were you, so I can find that link?
curious
sick
thoughtful