A kind of special magic lives in the woods. Especially in the fog that hovers over mosses, lichen, & verdant growth. Perhaps my fascination with forests shrouded in mists under thick canopies above started with fairy tales like Hansel & Gretel or Rapunzel? Stories set in the darkest of ancient woods, a kind of primeval, even almost primordial, setting–ageless, timeless, mystical–create in the minds of imaginative children recognizable yet uncanny haunts.

My mind loved to linger in those ageless, mysterious, ancient woods.

It’s as if I were only to look closer, harder, more intently, I’d see through the veil & witness the ancient magic of those fairytale stories. My introvert mind as a child lingered on imagined places like this, tapping into that Jungian collective unconscious imprinted on my brain & soul, trying to locate that place & time because I so badly wanted magic to be real. I’d read & re-read those fairytales in hopes of reaching some real truth.

The fantastical seemed so much more desirable than the mundane.

And it felt like if I’d just take a second look or try to catch that magic in the twilight or gloaming, then I’d prove to myself that I wasn’t a silly girl for wanting to believe in such things. Maybe that’s why people remarked on the intensity of my eyes as a child? In adulthood, I now know that my INFJ personality, combined with top strengths (Clifton’s StrengthsFinder) like Learner, Intellection, & Focus, likely made me an unusually serious child. So, my mind could easily turn inward during my walks home from school through the woods that surrounded our house.

One would think that my natural skepticism combined with decades spent in education over time would have stamped out such fancies, such whimsy. But it hasn’t.

As covered in another blog post, I continue to find myself enthralled by moss & mist, especially in the dimness of thick forests. It’s difficult to put into words the impervious child’s heart & eye that remains within, hoping & wishing to see fairies darting by or a unicorn finally show itself, as in the 80s film Legend. Perhaps my growing up in the 80s further enhanced this fascination? Films saturated with imagery from Brian Froude (The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth) & iconic scenes from The Neverending Story, Willow, & even Star Wars affected me deeply.

The Empire Strikes Back with Dagobah & The Return of the Jedi with Endor certainly left their indelible imprint on my imagination in terms of mist & woods.

And so I keep these magical woods & forests safe in my heart, as a special haven for my inner child’s imagination. Timeless, protected, hidden. Maybe that’s why hiking or walking in the woods gives me such joy & inner peace? It’s like returning to a richly organic home, replete with vegetative splendor & stretching upwards to the heavens through thick groves of ancient trees–old Ents protecting the last of the fairytale lands.

As the elves make their way West & the Age of Man continues to exploit nature, maybe these last vestiges, these last strongholds of imagined fairytale or fantastical life, can endure in my mind. Maybe. Just maybe.