The Rebel Fairy of Contrexéville
I stared out the window of the bus, curious about this part of France which I did not know. My bus was on the way to Vittel, and before the final destination the bus stopped briefly in a town called Contrexéville. On the surface, it looked like a normal quiet French town. Yet as I peered through the trees with shadows of light and dark dancing over a corner of older buildings, I was overcome with a sense of enchantment. Fairies, my intuition announced. There are fairies here. But there was no time to get off the vehicle and discover what mysteries awaited beyond my bus window pane. As the engine grumbled and we started to drive towards Vittel, I opened my energy field to try to sense what magic this place held.
At the roundabout on the exit point of Contrexéville, I gasped. My eyes beheld a sculpture with incredible fairy imagery: two long and elegant beings with flowing robes and hair, rising out of a flower, holding onto some sort of water jug. They were standing on pedestal made of mottled blue mosaic tiles. Here was a creation, as is the case with many human works of art and music, made through the whispers of the fairies. At this moment I became aware of someone with me- a presence from Contrexéville.
Some fairy beings are very fleeting in their contact, touching you briefly like a gentle breeze and then fading away. But this one stayed. Over time, as I became more attuned to her vibration, I realised she is on a mission. My nickname for her is the Moana of Contrexéville. Throughout the course of our communication, she has moved me to tears several times as I sensed her persona which seems to have a mixture of determination and desperation in equal measures. She is a fairy being who is indigenous to the magical water landscape of the region. She has witnessed the destruction of her homeland and displacement of her fairy people, including the violent transformations of the land through the greed of humans who have exploited the sacred springs in the creation of water industries.
Sculpture at the Roundabout of Contrexéville
Created in 2006 by Guillaume Roche, this stainless steel artwork is an interpretation of an older monument inside the town with two women pouring a water jug , known as ‘Les Verseuses’
In my ongoing research and exploration of the invisible worlds, I have become acquainted with certain fairy groups such as the tremendous queendom of the Avalon Sidhe. What is surprising to me, and touches me deeply, is that my fairy friend from Contrexéville is a renegade maiden. I cannot sense the group she belongs to- she is a loner, a breakaway.
While others of her kind have resolutely turned away from humans and sealed themselves off in the inner dimensions of Earth, she remains with her courage and wide open heart, insisting not to turn her back on humanity but to find a way to meaningfully engage with us.
Through some deft fairy manoeuvres, she managed to find me during that very brief bus stop in Contrexéville en route from Nancy to Vittel. Like a ninja she threw herself into the bus and made a rapid connection to my vibrational field, such was the beginning of our unexpected friendship.
During the week at Forge Neuve organised by ECOlonie, as myself and our gathering group geomantically worked with the landscape under the guidance of Marko Pogačnik, my Contrexéville fairy friend was one of the invisible beings who supported our group’s efforts. I regularly sensed her presence nearby, sharing her vibration which is intimately connected to the water essence of the area. When we were making contact with the dragons of the upper lake, she showed me how she is a rider of water dragons.
Geomancy cannot happen through humans alone- it is always done in collaboration with the diverse beings of the place. My fairy friend had perceived the significance of the gathering and the purity of our group’s intentions, which did not seek to impose our ideas but rather to listen and co-creatively respond to the multidimensional layers of the terrain. We aroused the curiosity of many beings, and I was aware of the numerous gnomes, giants, elemental and spiritual beings who collaborated with us to help unblock the landscape and create conditions which are in alignment with the Earth Soul.
The lower lake at Forge Neuve, a sacred water landscape and place of encounter with fairy beings
When you get to know a friend, including the invisible ones, you may get glimmers of their story, which is not always a happy one. With the Moana of Contrexéville, I sensed how much she and her kin have suffered, how they have been marginalised and forgotten. I don’t know why she stayed in what must be like a wasteland, maintaining a passage to interact with humans, when others of her tribe have run away and beseeched her to do the same. I can only be grateful to her for her relentless spirit of radical hope, and that there are other beings like her who still extend their hands out to us.
When I ask myself why I am so profoundly touched by her presence, and why we have struck up this unconventional friendship, I realise that, in a sense, I am like her too. I sometimes feel deeply alone, making friends with invisible beings and venturing into unseen worlds. This is not something which is generally accepted as a normal way to socialise and spend your time. In some difficult moments I think it would be easier to do what the masses of modern culture are doing, to stay human-centric and seek out mostly materialistic experiences. But I can’t, that is not the calling of my heart and that is not what I came here to do.
Moana of Contrexéville and I, in our respective circumstances, we share the knowing that sometimes you have to be brave enough to be a rebel, in some cases (and perhaps in more cases than you realise) the sacred web of life depends upon it.
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