- If one were to walk around a faerie rath three times under the full moon, one might find an entrance to the Sifra or faerie palace of gold and crystal. But it is easier said than done for today the fuchsia and the gorse hedges guard well the raths and hinder the over-curious. Dark hills hide palaces within them, but often a mortal prying about a faerie rath has tumbled through a tunnel and landed within their crystal walls.
Like
mortal homes faerie palaces are diverse in construction and arranged according
to individual taste. But faeries, being a gaudy lot, prefer crystal outer
walls, gilded floors and silver columns. Sea places, due to their favourable
location, are ornamented with pearls. The numerous great rooms are spacious,
never to be traversed completely by mortals save with a faerie guide. Wherever
crystal is lacking, kelly green paint prevails, trimmed brightly with gold
and red bands and bric-á-brac. Diamonds light up the banquet hall.
The finest carpets belong to the Sídhe, as well as rich wall hangings,
carved tables and chairs. And despite their residence within the bowels
of the earth, faeries have a curious fondness for window curtains.
No
mortal voyager to faerieland has ever adequately described the palaces
of the Sídhe. A 'ten times more beautiful and grand than any house
in the world' is the best they can do, so overwhelmed are their senses.
And considering the faerie power to wrest anything from mortal hands and
earthly recesses with their spells, it is to be expected that the immortal
race enjoys a modicum of comfort. In fact with such power they construct
palaces in a field in ten minutes. Some say that these palaces consist
of such light substance that, having been struck by tha spade of an alert,
vengeful mortal, they crumble like dust, then gradually fade away. But
those who believe in evanescent palaces perhaps understimate the faerie
power to enchant objects and bewilder their foes. What a faerie lives in
and what he constructs for a moment's amusement might not be made of similar
material. Those who further denigrate the faeries declare their palaces
to be nothing but rough, moss-rotten caves, oozing water over a stone and
clay floor; only faerie glamour or enchantment, they say, makes mortals
mistake dank slime for crystal. But faeries retain their crystal palaces
despite some mortals' calumnious nature.
~Faerie
Palaces~
Source: Carolyn White "A History of Irish Fairies"
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Background courtesy by Rowan
The golden faerie palace is courtesy of ~Angel~
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