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My
nickname Selkie was given to me years ago by a Princeton professor of Economics.
He also told me that I was articulate as well as spiritual, so I taught him
about metaphysics while he taught me about being pragmatic. Well, he
tried.
There
are many selkie legends. There are also many ways to spell selkie. They're
centered around the shores of Britain, Ireland
and
Scotland, many come from islands of Orkney,
Hebrides
and Shetland. The word
selkie, is an Orcadian word that means seal.
Seals are common among the islands. Whether they're in the water or somewhere
nearby they keep an eye on the humans. When you see them watch with almost human
eyes and seemingly human intelligence it's easy to accept the selkie stories of
the sea. There's something else to these animals that people can't quiet put
their finger on. Selkies are known to be shape shifters. They have the ability
to change from seal to human form by shedding their seal skin. A selkie human is
considered beautiful, graceful, with a magical seductive quality about them.
They have translucent eyes.
"As soon as the
seal was clear of the water, it reared up and its skin slipped down to the
sand.
What
had been a seal was a white-skinned boy"
George
Mackay Brown - 'Pictures in the Cave'
"Spiraling"
by Artist Sheila Wolk
One difference in the legends is the timing when a selkie comes on land to
transform. Sometimes it's once a year, or during a full/new moon, every ninth
night or every seventh stream. When they do transform they dance in the
moonlight or during the day they lay in the sunlight basking on the rocks as a
seal would on an isolated stretch of land. If a selkie loses their skin or if it
is stolen by a human, they are to remain in human form until their skin is
recovered. It's the seal skin that has the magical power to transform them
allowing them to go back to the sea. If alerted to the danger of humans near by,
they grab their seal skin and rush off to safety and the sea.
There
are male and female selkies, both of them are dutiful and loyal mates to the
humans who hide their skins. They may have children and love them dearly. There
is a sorrow to this. A selkie yearns for the sea and if ever their skin is
found, they will leave their family on land and return to the sea. You have to
remember that they had a life in the sea, they might even have had a family
there when their skin was stolen. They also never forget nor lose the love for
their children on land. There are stories of selkies coming back to visit their
children on land or protecting them in the ocean in seal form. Some stories tell
of the selkies taking their human children with them when they leave.
A
Ballad, The Great Selkie o' Suleskerry
I
heard a mother lull her bairn,
and aye she rocked, and aye she sang.
She took so hard upon the verse
that the heart within her body rang.
"O,
cradle row, and cradle go,
and aye sleep well, my bairn within;
I ken not who thy father is,
nor yet the land that he dwells in."
And
up then spake a grey selchie
as aye he woke her from her sleep,
"I'll tell where thy bairn's father is:
he's sittin' close by thy bed feet.
"I
am a man upon the land;
I am a selchie on the sea,
and when I'm far frae ev'ry strand,
my dwelling is in Sule Skerry.
"And
foster well my wee young son,
aye for a twal'month and a day,
and when that twal'month's fairly done,
I'll come and pay the nourice fee."
And
when that weary twal'month gaed,
he's come tae pay the nourice fee;
he had ae coffer fu' o' gowd,
and anither fu' o'the white money.
"Upon
the skerry is thy son;
upon the skerry lieth he.
Sin thou would see thine ain young son,
now is the time tae speak wi' he."
"But
how shall I my young son know
when thou ha' ta'en him far frae me?"
"The one who wears the chain o' gowd,
`mang a' the selchies shall be he.
"And
thou will get a hunter good,
and a richt fine hunter I'm sure he'll be;
and the first ae shot that e'er he shoots
will
kill baith my young son and me."
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