Powerful stories are not just made of the known, but also of the
unknown.
In the West, elves, fairies (or faëries), gnomes, goblins, trolls, leprechauns,
and other such creatures are relatively common icons of folklore. Some people
adore anything about them, others fear them, while many others are indifferent
to the idea.
The Little People, as they may be called, are an example of
controversial legend that gets told so many times that anything about them
becomes so ridiculous no one wants to hear anything about them told in a
serious manner. The people who believe that they exist, and maybe even fear
them, are viewed by most people as superstitious, if not also loony.
By the Celts, however, the Little People have been feared for
countless years. The power of this idea in the Celtic mind is undermined
nowadays, both by skepticism and by watering down the original understanding of
the Little People. When someone brings up a fairy, what is your first thought:
a little girl with wings and a magic wand, or a strange, little, mischievous
creature that intends to do you harm if you mess with it?
If you talk to someone who really believes in the Little People
with the original understanding of what they are, you will hear strange or
fearful tales instead of stories about tooth fairy-like things hiding under
rose bushes. In the Celtic mind, fairies are associated with fear; they are
other-worldly, magical, and powerful enough to kill someone not cautious enough
to care. In other words, they are not to be duplicated as children’s toys.
I am not intending to imply that fairies are reality. Instead, I am
trying to draw attention to the fear of the Little People that is very real in
some people’s minds. Years ago, before alien abductions were popular sci-fi
topics, the great fear among the Celts was changelings – human children were
abducted by some kind of Little Creature, and a similar-looking Little Creature
was placed in the human child’s stead. While that may sound ludicrous, it
really lies on the same level as alien abductions.
We can let our imaginations go wild, can’t we? Human beings fear
the unknown, while at the same time, many people in the world place their trust
in the supernatural – one of the greatest unknowns, our understanding of which
being based on faith more than experience. People can have such trust in the
involvement of the supernatural realm with the natural that when misunderstood
natural phenomena occur, some people may, in their minds, associate the
experience with the supernatural, whether such association is legitimate or
not. Even those who are not so supernaturally-minded, human beings fear what is
unknown, what is unexplainable, what is contrary to immediately observable
occurrences. The things we cannot know and understand, we cannot control. We
may be subject to the very things we cannot control, and that is certainly a
frightening thought. (http://www.springhole.net/writing/mythbasis.htm)
Yet, it is the fear of the unknown that drives so much of a story.
People constantly want to know more and the exploration of the feared often
gives people a thrill. This thrill can be unhealthy if not kept in check, but
think about how much of one’s life is devoted to discovering what has not yet
been discovered.
In not knowing the future, a person constantly asks, “What if?” A
story may begin with a “what if” and offer possible consequences, but then the
story may give consequences beyond any expectation the audience could have
imagined. Whether talking about invisible Little People, or a journey into the
human soul, or traversing a dark cavern, or wandering in a thick forest, or
getting lost in an abandoned house, a story can offer many “what if’s” and
provide the audience with fear – fear for the person who is lost and/or in
danger – and resolve the story with dread, horror, joy, peace, tears, and
wounds from the long journey.
A story is a dangerous thing. The characters who are placed in
peril will receive wounds, if the story is good enough, but the wounds can push
them to a greater end, even if that “greater end” means death. Too much harm to
a character can make us hate the character just as much as a spoiled, unharmed
character who knows nothing about life and expects life to work for him or her
all the time, but the danger of the unknown in a story can provide the story
with such power that emotion will become inevitable –if the character acts like
any average human being.
Stories can be even more dangerous, because stories can bring about
reality by speaking to the minds of men – humans, who are creatures that can
create realities based on their thoughts. What you feed a person through a
story can change a person’s life. A story, whether true or fictitious, is
powerful enough to spark a person’s imagination and breed brainstorming
possibilities for reality.
What will a person do with your story? Can you know
what your readers will do with the imaginary ideas you’ve given them?
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