My dear enchanted friends,

It is with a heavy heart and many forlorn tears that I have to share the truly sad news of the passing of our dear friend Merrie Fae Tresses. This wonderful lady will be sorely missed, a true and sincere believer, one who honestly lived and breathed Faerie. Merrie just simply, and willingly, Knew.

Our Faerie GrandeDame.

I have been regularly corresponding with Merrie these past eighteen months and feel deeply privileged and honoured to have gained further insight into this amazing woman’s enormous depth of knowledge and extensive research into our mutually beloved subjects – through history, tradition, legend and folklore I found my dear friend to be a source of immense intelligence and reason. I know that many of you here on EF will also know of her talents and clever mind from personal experience, as well as the joy of first hand advice and comment from our fairest of friends.

My tears continue to fall, especially as when I heard of this news (through a mutual friend who didn’t know any more) I realised that the consequent challenges of friendship through the Internet meant that of course I did not know Merrie’s family. Carol spoke of her son who was living with her, and I have written to him in the hope that he is maybe picking up her emails. I have also sent him a letter requesting permission to keep Merrie’s lovely pages here on Enchanted Folk as a form of tribute, like we have done for dear Prince Orchar. I will keep you updated, and in the meantime will continue to do this in good faith.

When Merrie began to feel very poorly last year, she made our expectant mum Louise an administrator of her wonderful EF Faerie Fledglings Group. I am grateful to lovely Louise for taking on such a precious task, as this Group is a special source of the most magical information for mums-to-be, new mothers, grandmas and so on. As we happily know, Louise now has her very own Freya Fae, and hopefully this Group will continue to enlighten and encourage those who may be curious for ideas on bringing up baby the faery way. Blessings on both of these wonderful women for their valuable and much appreciated contributions, caring for the health, wellbeing and imaginations of our precious younglings.

Merrie Fae very kindly and enthusiastically supported our EF Faezine from the beginning, even though she bravely informed me that she probably wouldn’t even see the first year of our magazine through. Her two columns: Faery Fields and Forests, & Bringing up Baby Fae were testament to her appreciation of the natural beauty and gifts Mother Nature continues to bestow upon us. Each article was written with intellect, perception and comprehension, which she was naturally able to share on a level readily accessible to all. Merrie was clear from the start as to what she would include and entertained us with her wholehearted commitment to education and development by having fun, however old we are! She continued to urge us to try new things, get out there in nature and relish all the wonders so freely available. To celebrate.

Having received a gorgeous card through the post recounting her recent particularly enjoyable day out, Merrie also emailed me in November (with an equally upbeat positive message) to say that her two latest columns were written and ready for the winter issue, together with photos of her Faery Trekking! This was my last mail from her and unfortunately these treasures never reached me. Gosh, I just can’t stop crying and am so, so sorry to be the unwilling bearer of this news.

I thought you might like to know that last summer, Merrie Fae Tresses generously sent me one of her favourite childhood books in order to use some of the illustrations for her Faezine columns (as they were out of copyright). She also assured me that she would then know that the volume was in good hands. The Turned-Into’s by Elizabeth Gordon, published in 1920, is a true wonder of old. Not only was I stunned and completely overwhelmed to receive such a precious out of print book, but it served as a fascinating window into the wondrous girlhood influences of my treasured friend. (I am considering maybe actually using some of these utterly charming written tales by including them in Merrie’s Faezine column?) Through those warm months I read and reread The Turned-Into’s with pure delight, continually joyously sharing with Merrie the interesting differences in our creatures here in the UK. Often a tiny hoverfly would be near me, or a ladybird, or butterfly as I revelled in my unexpected gift, and you can imagine my excitement when one day I even found a perfect empty cocoon on our path, left by a real Turned-Into! All through those balmy, peaceful days, sitting under our White Mulberry tree surrounded by birds, I discovered and learnt new things and am honoured to say that I felt even closer to dear Merrie as a result ~ who was amused to hear that I called these my Merrie Moments. This was a real turning point for me as this unique gift also reminded me to finally take more time to pause, reflect and read some, while the weather was warm enough to do so outside. Like many of you I’m sure, the cold wet winter often catches up with me before I have invested the time to make the most of sitting outside for a spell. I have very many things to thank Merrie for.

Through her last months, Merrie also added a lot of enchanted information to her own personal group on the website Multiply: The TrilliumTradTradition, a new faerie tradition for the solitary believer of Woodland and Field Fae. At her personal request I also joined this site to ensure that the treasures within would be kept safe, and was wondering whether I should also maybe reprint some of this special material through her Faezine column to reach a wider audience, or does this seem inappropriate? Or I could repost the dozens of different links in her EF Group? I am not sure of the right thing to do, and would welcome your feedback on these ideas ~ please do leave a comment here (or contact me on my email address be@faezine.com as my numerous messages on EF can often get in a bit of a muddle). Thank you in advance dear friends for your thoughts ~ the main thing is that the wonderful TTT work Merrie was eager to share remains available to all who wish to access it. If you visit Multiply, you will need to join ~ Carol is known on there as Lady Bridget.

Goodness me my lovelies, what an emotional and distressing blog. My heartfelt love to all of you dear folk who are similarly upset by these very sad tidings. I feel greatly proud and privileged to have ‘known’ Merrie Fae Tresses and to have had her enchanting and brilliant company here in our community. Her legacy is beautiful and much valued by each of us who feel similarly blessed by this special lady. Her delightful tales of the daisy bower (and its visitors both seen and unseen) that she nurtured so sweetly in her magical garden will remain with me each time I see my favourite flower (Merrie often referred to me as Daisy Be) and of course our precious bees. Her wisdom and words will reside in my heart every time I find or hear a Turned-Into. Merrie’s Belief and respect for traditions will echo as part of my spirit while I attempt to tread a similar path ~ knowing my friend is still here within the very essence of our gentle community...

I have pleasure in including here the very pretty photo that Merrie kindly arranged on my behalf, especially to use in her Faezine column, This lovely image holds great magic for me; so many gifts from Mother Nature will remind me of Merrie’s shining light, and our mutual love of fantastic forces even when unseen, known to be essential to our existence on this amazing planet. Merrie was an example to us all.

These tears will not abate, so I will sign off now and light a candle in the memory of a beautiful spirit who honoured and truly blessed us with her very being. Thank you for reading my little tribute, and for making our dear lady Merrie feel so welcome as she courageously reached out to us with her intuitive awareness, understanding and wisdom of everything enchanted. Our Faerie GrandeDame will be much missed.

My love to you all,

Be

When Merrie kindly agreed to become a Faezine columnist I asked her for a magical quote, and it seems fitting to also share this here…

“Truth is like the diamond on the ring we have every day of our lives at hand.  It isn't until the Light touches the diamond --JUST SO!-- that its many facets of splendor are revealed.”