In Lucy's dream there is a fire. She is sitting by the fire, warming her hands. She feels safe and content. Her belly is full and she has just had a cup of hot tea. There is a person on the other side of the fire, dancing. Lucy can barely make out the form of the dancer because she has to look through the flames. The dancer is humming and moving in a magical, liquid rhythm. Lucy feels happy and proud to be with this dancer and this fire.

The flames are quite high and the heat from the fire is considerable, so after a while, Lucy feels warm enough and moves back a little bit from the flame. When she finds herself getting hot, she moves back farther still, until she is quite a ways back from the fire. She can still feel its warmth, but she can see more clearly to its other side. Meanwhile the dance has been moving closer to the fire. The figure of the dancer appears to grow as it nears the fire. Lucy watches in amazement as it approaches. It becomes huge, taller than the flames, taller than the old trees around them, taller than the world!

Lucy gazes up at the beautiful dancer and realizes it is a woman. A huge, magnificent, glorious woman. She is dancing naked and her skin glistens and catches the orange light of the flames. Lucy thinks she has never seen a more beautiful person in her life. Finally the giant woman slows her rhythm until she is swaying gently in front of Lucy, just behind the leaping flames. Her whole body is lit with dancing orange light. Her immense hips and belly are bright and round. Her curved breasts strong shoulders are tinged with the moving yellow light. She is looking up at the sky and reaching her arms upward. Only the bottom of her chin is lit by the fire. Then she brings her arms down and looks directly at Lucy. Lucy gasps to see her face. The dancer's enormous mouth is cracked wide in a smile, and her mammoth eyes are sparkling with humour. Her broad nose is stretched wide in laughter and her cheeks are taut and are brilliant with light. Even though it is large, and happier than Lucy has been in a long time, she can still recognize her own face.

Just then the large woman laughs out loud in a deep, velvety voice that makes Lucy's belly tremble insider her body. "Yes I am Lucinda," the beautiful voice comes out. "Butno, I am not you, my child! I am your great-great-great-grandmother. I look like you because I, too, am black!" As she says this last word, the fire disappears. It goes out in a flash, and the Amazon woman towers over Lucy in nothing but the stark moonlight. As Lucy's eyes adjust she sees that the woman is right. Herskin is white and shiny on the side of her body where the moon is beaming, but it is dark and featureless on the side where there is no moon light. Her skin looks just like Lucy's did in the moonlight. How deceptive light is, Lucy thinks.

When Lucy looks up again, her great ancestor Lucinda is sitting beside her. She exudes love, happiness and power. She seems to be completely at home in her body, completely relaxed and at ease with her nakedness. And oh, her wings! They are stupendous! Lucy reaches out and touches one of them. The dark, beautiful feathers are delicate and incredibly soft. They glint blue-black in the moonlight with occasional sparks of purple. "Your wings are beautiful," Lucy utter, in awe. Lucinda smiles again and flexes her wings softly, spreading the outer tips in a little stretch. "So are yours," Lucinda tells her. And Lucy thinks of her own cramped, unmoving wings. She suddenly feels bad for hating her own skin. "Your difference is your power, my little granddaughter. You are unique in this world. There is nobody quite like you. You think your black skin is your enemy, but it is your strength. You feel weighed down by your names, your grandmothers' names, my name. But they contain your power. You must learn to love your difference. You must exult in it. You must claim it. You must harness it. And then you will be free." The big Lucinda pulled Lucy's small face against her upper arm and held it there. Lucy could feel the smooth texture of Lucinda's skin against her cheek and it felt marvelous. She was drawn to the joyfulness in Lucinda's body. She felt the powerful energy of the large woman coursing through her thick veins. She imagined her enormous heart beating inside her huge chest, pumping all that rich blood throughout her huge body. She imagined Lucinda's deep, resonant laugh rocking her body.

When Lucy woke up she felt like a baby, being rocked in her mother's arms. That feeling was accompanied by an overwhelming surge of love for her mother, her grandmothers and their mothers. And she also realized with glee that she had an ancestor whose skin was the same colour as hers. "great-great-great-great grandmother Lucinda," she whispered. "You are a chocolate woman too!" She remembered the power and the beauty of the dance Lucinda danced. She recalled how comfortable and confident Lucinda was in her big black body. Lucy laughed out loud. She felt goose bumps and a straining insider her chest, as if her heart were trying to sing. She jumped to her feet. "I am Lucinda the chocolate woman!" She yelled in her deepest, lowest, most velvety voice. She laughed loudly and stretched her arms to the moon. She raised her face to the night sky and closed her eyes. "I am Lucinda, the woman with the night sky skin! I am Lucinda, the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the great Lucinda, the enormous black woman who dances by the firelight!" Lucy called out, hearing her own voice deeper and richer than she'd ever heard it before.

She moved in slow circles and saw the moon through her closed eyelids. She imagined her raised arms touched the black sky and she grabbed at the colour. She closed her hands around the darkness of the sky and pulled it to her body. "I am the woman who has been blessed with the black velvet sky cloak! I am Lucinda, granddaughter of Hester and Penelope, great-granddaughter of Astrid and Miracula, great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Lucinda the black Amazon naked dancer!" Lucy sang these words out and the ground beneath her feet reverberates with the sound of her voice. The tree trunks vibrated and the rocks buzzed gently on the earth. Then she laughed and spun around in a circle, drinking in the moonlight, drinking in the black sky.

The next morning when Lucy awoke in her own bed, in her own house in the village, her limbs were aching from all the dancing she had done on top of the hillside the night before. Her throat was sore from all the proclaiming and singing and chanting she had done. Her head was dizzy from all the spinning and her feet were tender from all the walking. But she awoke with a smile, and felt proud of her beautiful dark skin. She said a silent prayer to her female ancestors, thanked them for their strength and blessed their names. When she sat up to arise from bed, she had a queer sensation. It was like an itching in the middle of her back. Right in between her shoulder blades. Right where her beautiful blue-black wings joined her exquisite blue-black body.

Gloria The Fairy Guardian Gloria illuminates the shadows of your dreams. As your loyal companion of the night, Gloria vanquishes worry, tension and fear and leads you to a peaceful sleep. Flying above and looking down at you, Gloria holds the petals of her jeweled gold skirt in her hands. Her dress bodice is white with shimmers of gold and is encrusted with fairy dust at its edges. Golden gossamer wings and a sunburst tiara frame her ever watchful and protective eyes. Introductory Price: $79.00

 

Music and Laughter fill the air. The Fairies are dancing everywhere. The tradition of great feasts and galas is well known in fairy lore and the queen of all these celebrations is… Our Mardi Gras is lavishly dressed in purple, green and gold hand dyed silk accented with exquisite purple green and yellow feather fronds. The train of her dress is the eye of an iridescent peacock feather. Mardi Gras' beauty is enhanced with dainty swirls of golden face paint which highlight her gorgeous violet eyes. Every detail from her feather and jewel headdress and beaded necklaces to her shimmering wings enhances her beauty. She is seated on a delicately crafted fairy stool of green bamboo and fern. Mardi Gras' finishing touch is a magical sceptre used to spread the joy and laughter of the season. Come and join the party… Celebrate Spring, Celebrate Love, Celebrate Life Introductory Price: $119.00

 

Update of the Fairys on the World Wide Web
We are constantly working to improve our website www.fairys.com The next time you visit look for our new splash page. We are proud to announce that fairys.com has been nominated for its fourth Golden Web Award for design, content and originality.

Fairies can take us to a land where wisdom is inseparable from whimsy and mortals dance with gods.

Drumrolls please for our Coming Attractions

Watch for our two new Limited Editions of 2004.
Luna, The Fairy of the Silver Moon Issue Date: July 30
Pearl, The fifth in our series of Gem Fairies Issue Date: October 17
As always, Our Limited Editions are restricted to 61 pieces and tend to sell out fast so pre-booking is available.

The Winter Faerie As Icicles melt in the morning sun, The Winter Faerie's work is done. She bids farewell to the blanket of snow, She had gently placed on the forest below. She knows not sorrow for it is clear, The Faerie of Spring will soon appear. She'll bring her gifts of life and rebirth, As flowers spring from the frozen earth. By Donna Gadde, Ottawa, Ontario

2004 Spring & Summer Show Schedule

	March 31-April 4 One of a Kind Spring Show & Sale National Trade Centre Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario Booth A21
	April 15-18 Originals Spring Craft Sale Civic Centre, Lansdowne Park Ottawa, Ontario
	May 1-2 Michigan Egg Art Show & Sale Holiday Inn Fairlane Dearborne, Michigan
	June 5-6 Eggsibit International Hyatt Regency DFW DFW Airport Dallas, Texas
	July 29 P.E.D.W.I. Art & Craft Sale Crystal Palace Picton, Ontario
	August 20-September 6 Canadian National Exhibition Queen Elizabeth Building Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario Booth 132A

Our appreciation goes to all our Newsletter contributors - Dr. Win Mellor-Hay, Paolina Calabro and Donna Gadde. Thanks also to our fabulous Fairy Booth Helpers, Kimberlee and Zoe. Your ideas, articles and poems for this Newsletter are greatly appreciated so keep them coming!

The Fairy Dance She dances in the moonlight glow upon rays of light. She dances in the moonlight glow and brightens up the night. An imageof beauty as she glides through the air, Only the stars and the moon see her there. Her step is so quick and her movement so slight, She can barely be seen as she flies through the night By Paolina Calabro, Nepean, Ontario