“One of the deepest longings of the
human soul is to be seen.” ~~ John O'Donohue
Hi all,
It's been a week... Last Saturday, one of my dogs (Leo)
went on an unauthorized field trip. Thankfully, he was
only really missing for 2-3 hours and I didn't have to spend a
sleepless night worrying. Still... between the search and
bailing him out of doggy jail the next day, I didn't start the
week very well-rested. A series of dramas unrelated to Leo
followed and, while all's quite well now, I remain a bit tired
and mentally muddled. Which is really too bad because I
enjoy the St. Patrick's Day newsletters and would have liked to
have done a lot more for today. But, instead, it'll be
another trope-tastic newsletter.
Being half-Irish, I've always loved Celtic music and the lore of
Ireland. While these tropes may not all be exactly
Ireland-related, I think they tie in well with something of the
spirit of the Emerald Isle.
Enjoy and I hope you had a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day!
God bless,
Jenni
Irish and Such Tropes
Oireland- I'm guilty of some of this... The Dyeland
stories are complicated, though, in that the only long-standing
Irish character isn't really Irish at all (Monica), most are
actually Irish-Americans and may have never even been to Ireland,
and while the initial wave of immigration into Asteriana/Dyeland
were Irish folks, it would be difficult to trace anything they
do/say to pure Irish influence. "Origins"
is partly set in Ireland but I did take care to nearly evenly
divide the cast of characters between Protestants and Catholics,
domestic abuse is taken very seriously, no one brawls, and there's
not a leprechaun in sight. On the flip side, I did use "ya,"
"ye," "aye," and me-for-my quite freely.
The
Irish Diaspora- While not a trope, as the description above
shows, Dyeland is peppered with members of the Irish
Diaspora. The stories even take it a step further beyond the
actual Diaspora which has folks of Irish descent all over the
Earth. In Dyeland, a bunch of Irish folk settled
Asteriana/Dyeland and a few of their descendants remain
there. It's safe to assume some landed in El-Chanan,
too. And then there are the Irish-Americans who include
JenniAnn, Kemara, Sean, their kids, Fr. Mike, Liam, Ivy, possibly
Mick and more. Finally, there's Isolde and Marco who are
truly Irish but have had to move around quite a bit to keep
themselves safe.
Celtic
Mythology- Bits creep into Dyeland stories but moreso in the
alternative stories I considered. At one point, I thought of
explaining Vincent's condition by saying he was descended from the
Tuatha Dé Danann. (No wonder he thrived living underground,
huh?) While I decided to keep him Irish, I ended up nixing
the Irish deities element.
The
Fair Folk- This bit of Irish lore was considered as part of
JenniAnn's backstory. For a brief space of time, I really
liked the idea of Andrew getting his own shocking revelation...
that JenniAnn was actually an ancient fairy who had first glimpsed
him back in pre-history and followed and fawned over him ever
since. Beyond the obvious stalker issue, I'm glad I didn't
go with this because wow... What a whole lot of deceit!
One
True Love- Or in Dyeland-speake: anam caras. The
concept was brought to my attention by the book Anam Cara: A
Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue. Anam cara
literally means "soul friend." It may be a romantic and
sexual relationship (i.e. Catherine and Vincent), romantic but not
sexual (like Andrew/JenniAnn or Monica/Arthur), familial (Joshua
and everyone who consents), or one of several other
permutations. It doesn't even need to be one-on-one (as
evidenced by Clay-Kylie-Adam). Regardless of the make-up of
the relationship, the members are exceptionally close, would do
anything for each other, and know each other at a very deep level.
With This Ring- Claddaghs adorn the fingers of a number of
Dyeland characters. JenniAnn not only wears a claddagh on
her ring finger... she also has a tattoo of one... with Andrew's
name on it. Kemara and Sean used claddaghs for their
rings. Joshua gives Kemara a box carved with claddaghs among
other symbols. Kemara bought Violeta one as a thank you
gift. JenniAnn and Kemara have even been known to twirl
their claddagh rings nervously as described in the trope
description. Another Celtic symbol, the triskele, helped
Monica reunite with Andrew.
Our
Vampires are Different- At this point, everyone's vampires
are different as Hollywood, authors, etc. try to make money on old
themes while still having some original flare. The vampires
in the Dyeland stories are different in that they lead fairly
normal lives and desire to return to their humanity (which most of
them have by now). The reason I'm putting this in an
Irish-themed list is because when Isolde turned into a vampire,
Marco at first compared her to the Dearg-Due, the Irish
vampiress. While I'm sure there are variants of the legend,
the one I first heard featured a kind, pious young woman who was
married to a cruel, abusive man. He tortured her until she
died (or killed herself). All that pain had twisted her into
a ruthless, wandering spirit who hunts for victims, usually men,
and drains their blood. Personally, I like to think it was
all dreamed up by someone who wanted to scare abusive husbands
into shaping up. In any case, Marco soon realized it wasn't
an apt comparison and, far from vengeance-killing, Isolde busied
herself with prayers. So... her story is kind of like the
Dearg-Due in reverse: get turned by a cruel man, become even more
pious than before, marry a kind man, and then hunt abusive people
but within the bounds of the legal system.
Patron
Saint- I think it would be safe to assume that Kemara and
Sean have at least something of an affinity for St. Patrick since
they were married on his feast day. He likely has special
significance for JenniAnn, as well, since she first met Andrew on
March 17, 2000. But, beyond Patrick, other saints are
popular among the Dyelanders. Of course, there are the ones
they've met: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Joseph, St. John the
Baptist, St. Nicholas, and Mary, Mother of God. There are
also saints who are patrons of places important to the Friends:
St. Genesius, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Vincent. And then
there are those who, while not officially recognized, are made
saints by their people: St. Reuel and St. Isolde, as
examples. JenniAnn's middle name comes from St.
Dwynwen. Isolde and Marco have a slew of saints who they
feel a connection with including St. Josephine Bakhita, St.
Castulus of Rome, St. Irene, and St. Valentine. When Eilish
came to Dyeland, she brought the celebration of St. Martin's Day
with her. It would be reasonable to assume that their annual
productions of Jesus Christ Superstar have made the
Friends feel closer to the Apostles, St. Joseph of Arimathea, St.
Nicodemus, St. Veronica, and St. Simon the Cyrene. They may
or may not recognize Claudia Procula aka Mrs. Pilate as a
saint.
Four-Leaf
Clover- The Dyelanders and Friends aren't much on luck but
that doesn't mean they don't have an affinity for the
shamrock. Dyeland has clover which reminds Isolde of her
homeland. In "A
Stor Mo Chroi," Arthur gives Monica some potted clover when
their trip to the Irish festival is canceled. In "The
Truth," it's revealed that Joshua gave Monica a stone
shamrock following her temptation.
The Prince's Dance
And now, because I need a nap, I'll leave you with a scan of a
story I wrote years ago under the guise of Dyeland's storyteller:
Lewellyn. It was inspired by Andrew, obviously, but also by
a real-life visit from a seanchaí when I was in high school.
The scan from Andrew's scrapbook isn't too clear but you can also
read it here.
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye who, by inspiring me
via Andrew, helped me to learn about so many different things in
the name of Dyeland stories... including Irish stuff!
(Photo Credits: The photographs used on this
page are from Touched by an Angel and
owned by CBS Productions, Caroline Productions,
and Moon Water Productions. They are not
being used to seek profit.)
