The Samhain Faery ring

During University, I worked at a polo club for one of the upper-class members and lived in a barn apartment there on the farm during the winter (insert dirty house joke here). I particularly liked living here, because at night I could take my dog and wander out through the polo fields down to the small forest that bordered the river.

I did it lots.

I've always loved Samhain - something about the moon on that night always made me want to be out in it. This Samhain I'm thinking of was no different, but I did go alone - no dog.

The night was already black by the time I went out, and the moon hung full and heavy, orange: a hunters moon. It was windy, tho - the trees bordering the club whipped around on their trunks, and for a long while it was really howling.

When I was walking across the fields, I kept hearing music in bits and snatches, as it was swept away by the wind. There are lots of houses bordering one side of the club, so I just assumed that hey, that's what it was, and kept on walking, 'til:

I saw a fairy ring. Wide (about 2 feet by 2 feet) with perfectly exact little toadstools all about 2-2.5 inches high, in a small yet perfect ring. I was really shocked - it was directly in the middle of the polo field, and glowed ever-so-slightly (just the light of the moon bouncing off the white of the toadstools, I nervously said to myself) and certainly wasn't there earlier in the night. It wasn't muggy, hadn't rained - there was *no reason* for this ring to be here!

Freaked out? You betcha.

So what did this idiot do? Took a deep breath and stepped into it, and gently sat down.

The wind was quieter, and I could hear the singing and music. It wasn't normal music tho, there seemed to be harps or guitars or something - acoustic, if you will. It was a big party tho - whatever they were doing, they were doing it with a vengeance. I just sat there, looking around.

Then I saw five tall, white (or grey, very insubstantial) robed shapes silently watching me from outside the circle, about seven feet away. Their robes weren't moving with the wind, you couldn't see their faces or their hands, but they were there, watching. The cowls of their robes were pointed my way.

I think I probably jumped about 3 feet in the air. I fell back to earth with a crash (I mean, I was really kind of just giddy-chilly if you know what I mean, just relaxing and checking out the view from inside the circle) and got up, standing, inside the circle. I looked down, and my cloak wasn't blowing, it was still.

I wanted to be with them so badly, suddenly. This weird urge just came up over me, so strong. Had to go, get to them, had to catch them and go where they were going. As soon as I realized that, they started to move away, very fleet and light - their robes rippled very slowly with the passing of the wind. I leapt out of the circle and followed them.

Now, looking back, I don't think I was in quite the right mind. My irish grandmother had filled me full of stories about the "little people" and what they did to people they caught, and I'd been blatantly sitting in their ring on Samhain night - not the most intelligent thing to do. But hey, there it was, and I was moon blinded or something. And they weren't little people, they were tall.

So I chased them madly through the woods, never getting closer than five feet (they did seem to be staying in sight deliberately). Finally, I had to stop; I was so tired. The last bit of music I could hear drifted after them, and vanished into the night.

I made my way back to my mundane existence slowly and with great reluctance. I had almost met and talked with something that was so beyond me, but I didn't have the stamina. I was so depressed.

When I got home, I took a shower and examined all the horrible scrapes and bruises I'd accumulated, then passed out and went to sleep. I didn't wake up 200 years later, or find out my entire family had died, but it was still very odd to wake up and think about what I'd seen.

I still don't know what those tall shapes were, or why they were watching me. I don't know why I went into the faery ring, but I did. I still have no answers for it, I just wrack it up to something I had to see by someone. Any thoughts?

If they would have asked me if I wanted to come, I probably would have gone. Scary.