Sleeping Beauty

I attended Sleeping Beauty at Playhouse Square earlier this afternoon.  The ballet reminded me how awesome and beautiful fairies are, and how relevant they are to babies.  Many fairy-tales involve fairies, and their various blessings, curses, abductions, and guardianship of babies and young girls until they come of age.  Most of the "bad" fairies curse babies when they weren't invited to celebrate the coming, birth, or other important event in a girls life.  So, I will be making sure I invite all fairies to all important events in my future child(ren)'s life.

A good fairy also helped Princess Aurora's true love find her so they could be together, since a bad fairy had kidnapped her with the intention of keeping the lovers from each other, which does make me wonder about the involvement of fairies in my relationship with my husband.  Sometimes it certainly does take outside help in order for us to understand each other, and outside influence for us to completely misunderstand each other as well.  We certainly need to be paying attention to the good fairies, and the good outside influences that help us.  It's just so hard to tell which ones are good and which ones are not a lot of the time.

Baby Fairies

My Little Snow Fairy by Katmary
Licensed under Creative Commons

I really want a baby.  I don't hide this desire well at all.  Many people at my church know me as that lady who's always holding other people's babies.  I've been asked many times, even by people I don't know that well, whether my husband and I are trying.

When it seemed like trying was far in the future I had no issues answering this question.  Now that trying is closer (but not as close as I'd like),  I find myself being much more shy, and often quite rude, with my responses to the question.  I've recently been told by my doctor that I shouldn't try for six weeks because of some issues my body is having.  I'm pretty depressed about it.  A while ago my husband and I thought we'd be trying around this time.  We're both excited, me more than him, though.  I'm grateful that it probably won't be more than six weeks.  Still, six weeks seems like forever to me right now.

I feel like I'm meant to be a mom.  I like to think that fairies are out in the universe waiting to become the soul of my baby.  It makes it a bit easier to wait for the physical form of my baby to think that the spiritual parts are already there.  Also, I like to think that I can already communicate with them.  We already love each other, even though the physical baby is just an idea right now.

Crying

I was basically prescribed by my therapist to "have a few good cries."  It came up in conversation about some of my more depressing thoughts and why they may exist.  Crying is such a natural way to deal with stress and pain, either physical or emotional.  Since I have a tendency to prevent myself from crying (purposely in public, and often non-purposely in private) it was thought that if I cried than it would help relieve some of my depression.

Crying Fairy by Andreth
Licensed under Creative Commons

This totally makes sense.  I'm going to have to put some real effort into it though.  After thinking about it I can see crying as a spiritual practice.  It's often done in public during spiritual events like weddings and funerals.  Unfortunately, in American culture it is often discouraged.  I remember growing up and being told not to cry.  It's easy to think that if someone stops crying then they are no longer in pain, but that is not always the case.  Especially if they've been told to stop crying, then it's likely that now instead of crying they are bottling up their pain and/or stress which can have much worse future consequences than simply crying it out.

I remember a church sermon from Sharon Hogan were she promoted screaming a spiritual practice.  As a "meditation" she encouraged the congregation to scream.  I think it's a good comparison to crying as a spiritual practice since screaming is also a natural response to pain and stress.  It's much easier to scream on demand rather than cry though, which just makes it harder to incorporate crying into spirituality.  However, thinking of crying as a spiritual practice may help me to actually "have a few good cries" occasionally, maybe.

Eulogies

The Fairy's Funeral by John Anster Christian Fitzgerald

I've recently read a few books on death, and spirituality.  The end result being that now I'm thinking of eulogies for people I care about in case they were to die tomorrow. Some people are a lot harder than others.  I'm thinking of what I'd say whether the person be old or young.

It's both alarming and amusing to me that I'm doing this.  However, at the same time perhaps it's a good thing.  Really what I ought to do is tell the people how I feel about them in person.  Perhaps thinking of their eulogy will help me do that.  Not in the immediate future though.  For now I'll just continue keeping my feelings to myself.  One day, if you're lucky, I'll tell you your eulogy in person.  I suggest staying alive for a pretty long time though.  It'll be a while before I have the courage to tell you.

Prayer

Praying by Melissa Bube
Licensed under Creative Commons

I haven't really considered myself the praying type.  Sure, there are prayers said during many of the different religious services and events I've attended, but I considered these more of meditations for myself, even in Catholic and Protestant churches.  I never really thought about what prayers were or what the word even meant.  After reading this blog post from Deanna Vandiver, I've come to the conclusion that prayer is meaningful and I probably should become a praying type.  It would be a healthy thing to do.  Vandiver wrote about what a professor of hers taught her about prayer, which was:

There were really only three essential elements to any prayer, and they could be prayed through almost any life situation or stages of faith. The three elements are: 

Yes.
Thank you.
I love you.

She continued that this was a prayer she could pray, and I see it as a prayer I can pray as well. Yes, I'm experiencing life which makes me feel happy, sad, pain, and pleasure.  Thanks for such experiences, that I'm loved, and well provided for.  I love you family, friends, and interdependent web of all existence.  It's generic today, but it can be made more specific to situations as they arise.  I like that this approach to praying is so simple, to the point, and not offensive.

Autumn Fairies

Autumn Fairies by Arthur Rackham

I'm really appreciating autumn these days.  I like the colors of leaves changing, the simple beauty of watching leaves fall from trees and blanket the earth, the crispness of the air, and the sweet smell of the fallen leaves and acorns.  I enjoy hearing the pitter-patter of rain falling on gray days, and seeing the brilliance of the sun shining through the colorful remaining leaves on the trees on the sunny days (or hours as it may be in Cleveland).  Driving home through Pennsylvania yesterday I noticed how the colors of the trees seemed even brighter because of the gray sky; it was really pretty.  I like all my seasons.  During the beginning of every season I think, "this is my favorite season."  So right now, autumn is my favorite season.

I remember a scene in Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue where the little girl, Lizzy, says something the effect of "I thought the change of seasons had something to do with the axis of the earth as it rotates around the sun."  To which Tinker Bell responds, "That's just what we [fairies] wanted you [humans] to think."  Of course I know that the change in seasons really does have to do with the axis of the earth as it rotates around the sun.  However, I'm appreciative of Tink's point of view too.  There is a certain spirit to the change of seasons, and to each season specifically, which I believe fairies to create.  In the Tinker Bell movies, creating the spirit of the different seasons is the major responsibility of fairies, which they do by painting the colors of leaves, and insect wings, making the wind blow to make the leaves fall, creating dew drops, and snowflakes, etc.  Leaves change colors in Autumn because the chlorophyll is disappearing since photosynthesis won't work in the winter, but fairies paint the beauty and spirit into the changing colors of the leaves.

The Lavender Fairy

Lavender by Thowra_uk
Licensed under Creative Commons

Late last night I was pissed at the universe, and depressed.  My thoughts went back and forth between my fairies, doing something stupid, Cicely M. Barker's fairies, how angry and depressed I felt and the various reasons for it.  Going back to bed felt like the last thing I wanted to do.  Eventually I did it, because by thinking of fairies (especially Barker's) I was able to calm myself down enough.

I thought about her lovely little lavender fairy.  When I was a kid I wanted to be that fairy.  Okay, I still do.  She could play with the stalks of lavender, and fly with the butterflies.  It must smell wonderful where she lives.  She's so happy, carefree, and purple. Really, who wouldn't want to be that fairy?  I suppose if you're allergic to lavender, then you might not, but if you were a lavender fairy you wouldn't be allergic to lavender.  Lavender would be your family.

The Relationship of Spirituality

Bamboo Fairy by Alice Popkorn
Licensed under Creative Commons

I believe spirituality to be a personal relationship between one and the divine (whatever the divine may happen to be for the individual).  This blog post from Rev. Evan Keely reminded me of that, and some distinctions about spirituality since it's a relationship.  Keely mentioned how when he chose to be in a relationship with his wife it was not based on scientific reasoning; it was based on feelings.  This really spoke to me.  Before I started this fairy stuff, science was the closest thing I had to spiritual beliefs.  It simply did not work for me.  The reason for that was because I feel scientific reasoning cannot always explain feelings.  Now that I do base the relationship of spirituality on feelings, it works much better.

I don't believe in fairies because I observe them scientifically.  I did not use the scientific method and come to the conclusion that there are fairies.  I felt fairies, or at least what I would like to call fairies.

Keely pointed out that many of the decisions people make are based on feelings rather than facts.  Whether it's with whom we're in relationship, politics, religion, etc.  However, it seems to me that not only is my spirituality based on feelings, my feelings are based on spirituality. Most areas where I choose to make decisions based off of feelings rather than facts are in some way spiritual.  My religion, political beliefs, and the relationships I'm in are all related to my spirituality.  As I've explained in previous posts, I believe that fairies make up my soul.  I also believe that it is this soul from which many my feelings come from.  Feelings and fairies are inextricably connected.

A Conversation with Myself

It's All About Me by Randy Willis Photos
Licensed under Creative Commons

The following script is an attempt to display the silliness in my head around the time that I was thinking about basing my theology on fairies.  This process really took a couple of weeks (if not months) of this and similar dialogue occasionally going on in my head.  Actually, it's still kinda going on in my head (among many other silly thoughts).  Here's how it went:

Myself: I think I want to believe in fairies, 'cuz they're awesome.

I: That's just silly.  Fairies don't exist.  Fairy tales are in the fiction section at the library, dear.

Myself: Not those types of fairies, I came up with my own type of fairies to believe in.  They're more like spirits rather than Thumbelina with butterfly wings.

I: It's still silly.

Me: I think it's cute.  If this belief in fairies will work for you than you should totally go for it.

Myself: I know, right?  I think it will work for me, because thinking about fairies makes me happy and such.

Me: That's great! So what are these fairies like?

Myself: I don't know.  They're just kinda there.  They're like billions of presences that create the spirit of the universe.

I: It still sounds silly, and an awfully like the G-word.

Me: The G-word?

I: Yeah, you know . . . God.

Myself: I know, it's a very similar concept.  I guess I wouldn't really be able to call myself an atheist or agnostic anymore if I decided to believe in fairies.

Me: Well, it doesn't sound like you'd really be a theist either.

I: You'd be a fairyist, and that's just silly.

Myself: It might be silly, but I think believing in fairies will be good.  It'll really help how I view my life, and the lives and losses of those I'm close to.  My spirituality is all about myself anyway, so I might as well do what I think is best.

Me:  Actually, your spirituality is all about me, but I think it's great and that you should go for it too.

I:  It's actually all about I, and I still think it's silly.  However, sometimes it's good to be silly, so I will support the belief in fairies as well.

Fantasy and Spirituality

Fairy in Fantasy World by Redwine Photography
Licensed under Creative Commons

This blog post is made somewhat as a response to Serena Castells' comment to my previous post.  I thought her distinction between fantasy and what one really believes about the world interesting.  In some ways I don't think my beliefs in fairies are related to my beliefs in the real world.  I am effectively coming up with my own fantasy universe to base my spirituality off of.  There aren't enough explanations in the real world, which I can see and understand.  That is why I've created my spiritual world.

In a way, I think I distinguish the real world from my fantasy/spiritual world.  The limits I see of the real world are based on my observations, or at least research into the observations of qualified people.  Similarly, the limits I've created in my fantasy universe which I base my spirituality off of are also based off my interpretations of the spiritual universe, as well as the interpretations of other qualified people.

I don't recognize very much of a difference between fantasy and spirituality.  All stories are spiritual whether they are fiction or non-fiction.  I find that many spiritual texts have elements of fantasy in them, and many fantasy texts have elements of spirituality in them.  I guess the difference would simply be the purpose for which they were intended for, which doesn't matter to me.  I'll use whatever I read to suit my own purposes, regardless of what the original purpose may have been.

Laws and Limits

With Silent Wings He Was Gone by Ruby Blossom
Licensed under Creative Commons

I've recently read the book Violet Wings by Victoria Hanley.  In the universe Hanley created, fairies are limited by many laws, as well as the limitations of their individual varying magical levels and powers.  It made me wonder what kind of limits the fairies I believe in might have.  Here's what I thought of:

1.  Fairies cannot turn into physical matter.  They have a relationship to it, but they cannot become it.  Fairies are pure spiritual entities (I don't know if I like the term "spiritual entities," but it seems to be a good enough way to explain it for now).

2.  They cannot directly interfere with physical matter either.  They may be able to influence thoughts and feelings, but they cannot move physical matter, direct it, or force it to do anything.

3.  Fairies would not exist without physical matter.  If it disappears somehow, so would they.

4.  Fairies are limited by us.  The amount they can influence our thoughts and feeling is related to how much we allow them to.  They may have miniscule amount of influence regardless, but allowing and encouraging their influence would greatly increase how much they can give.

Thats all I can think of for now.  Can you think of any?  If I think of any more I may (or may not) write another blog post about it.

Widening Our Circle

The Fairy Ring; the Enchanted Piper
by William Holmes Sullivan

Today's Zenpencils was based on a quote from Albert Einstien.  The quote read:

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'the universe'.  A part limited by time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated by the rest.  A kind of optical illusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is kind of a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion, to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

It made me think of a recent post of mine where I mentioned Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion.  This quote from Einstein made me feel less offended by the title of the book (though I wasn't really terribly offended by the title in the first place).  Regardless, Einstein's quote implies that we're all deluding ourselves.  Therefore, it doesn't matter whether Dawkins thinks God is a delusion or not, because atheism is also a delusion.  Theism, atheism, and any other way that individuals interpret the universe would all be considered "a kind of optical illusion of [one's] consciousness" or delusions.

The quote also reminded me of the seventh principle of Unitarian Universalism: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.  Often this principle is used to promote the "green" movement within and outside of the church.  I appreciated the reminder that respect of the interdependent web of all existence is not just to improve the environment but also ourselves, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

In trying to find a pretty picture for this blog post I learned that the folklore behind mushroom rings is that they were formed after fairies performed ritual dances within the circle.  The painting above was inspired by such stories.  I'm a little afraid of fungi since I don't like mold.  The idea of fairies forming circles of mold is kind of disturbing to me.  However, I'm reminded that even though mold is icky, it's still part of the web of life.  Many helpful medicines and other things could not exist without it.  I may not find it beautiful, but I do have appreciation for it, as long as it's not on my strawberries.

Dandelion Seeds

Dandelion Seeds Blowing in the Wind by David Clarillet
Licensed under Creative Commons

I recently re-watched the Tinker Bell film from Disney.  I'd forgotten their use of dandelion seeds in the birth of Tinker Bell.  When the baby laughs which gives birth to the fairy, a burst of wind made the dandelion seeds in a window garden take flight.  One of the seeds flew all the way to Never Land, where a fairy poured pixie dust on it.  After the pixie dust touched the seed, it turned into Tinker Bell.

I liked that the film used dandelion seeds in their creation of fairies.  It reminds me of the connection between dandelions and fairies that I was taught as a child by my cousin.  I suppose that the connection between dandelion seeds and fairies is a more popular idea than I'd originally thought.

I also liked the idea of fairies requiring spiritual, physical, and mysterious magical entities to be born.  That is the symbolism I see in the use of the first time a baby laughs, the dandelion seed, and the pixie dust, respectively.  I cannot see the physical forms of the fairies I believe in.  Perhaps they do not have any.  However, I don't think fairies would exist if physical matter did not exist; there is an important symbiotic connection between the two.

The Fairy Delusion

Garden Waterfall Pond by Andrew Rollinger
Licensed under Creative Commons

There is a quote by children's author Rose Fyleman which goes, "There are fairies at the bottom of our garden."  It's actually the title of a poem she wrote in Fairies and Chimneys.  Richard Dawkins referred to this quote in his book The God Delusion when he wrote, "There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?"  Obviously, I feel that I should not be agnostic with respect to fairies.  I much prefer to believe there are fairies at the bottom of the garden and everywhere else in the universe.

The God Delusion is Dawkins' well-presented argument for atheism and agnosticism.  I agree with him that such views are healthy and should not be stigmatized.  However, I feel like Dawkins is missing something about theism, or in my instance the belief in fairies.  Yes, we certainly can be agnostic with respect to fairies.  The garden is beautiful whether you believe fairies to be at the bottom of it or not.  The gardener(s) who worked on the garden deserve credit for the effort and talent they put into it.  The recognition of fairies in the garden does not dismiss that; it simply acknowledges that the garden is capable of reminding us that there is more to this world's beauty than can be explained.  There is a special mystery.  I'm grateful to the gardener(s) and the fairies for the experience of the garden.

Reflections

Getting Ready for the Fairy Ball by Ida Rentoul Othwaite

I recently read an old sermon by Serena Castells.  It was inspirational.  She was able to capture human communication at it's core.  She wrote:

When we have an idea that we want to share, what we want and hope for in return isn’t a compliment on how original or wise it was.  What we want is to be understood.  We want reflections of our ideas offered back to us in response.  We want people to feel the same way, and share their own ideas that relate to ours.

I am writing this blog to find and define my own spiritual beliefs.  It helps me to figure it out for myself by simply writing it down. However, my biggest hope is that by sharing my blog, I'm able to show my readers that my ideas relate to theirs, and also that theirs relate somehow to mine.  This desire to be reflected is probably the reason why most art, music, and literature is created.  As Castells put it:

There are countless artists, writers, and musicians whose work is mostly autobiographical. Though they speak of their own thoughts, fears, and loves, their audience relates to their work on a deeply personal level.

Through such arts humanity is able to be reflective of itself through time.  Long dead poets remain relevant and reflective to people today.

It's beautiful that humanity wants to share their experiences and be understood by one another.  I wish I did a better job of understanding others, and them me, or perhaps just that I was better at communicating to others that I understand them, and that they were better at communicating that they understand me as well.  Although I read many blogs, I rarely ever comment or otherwise (as Castells may say) echo their ideas.  Even when talking to people directly I find it difficult to show how I relate to them.

There is a quote, which the source in unknown, that says, "Every time a story is told, a fairy is born."  Its a beautiful quote.  The way I believe in fairies, though, fairies aren't born; they just exist.  I do believe that through sharing our stories, whether they be joyful or sorrowful, humanity is able to find their own fairies, by simply reflecting off of eachother.  Let us encourage each other to find humanity's fairies through the sharing our stories.

The Afterlife

Afterlife by James Breeden, San Francisco
Used with permission

What happens when we die is another one of those questions which humanity has come up with several different answers to.  It's related to the metaphor of God in that we are dealing in spiritual mystery.  Like God, one has the choice to believe in afterlife, or not.  I think in most cases they are a pair.  If one believes in God, or another name for God, than they believe in some sort of afterlife as well.  I recently read a post on the Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein's blog PeaceBang which reminded me of how I view afterlife.  She wrote:

What I believe is that after we die (or maybe I just stick to 'I' statements - I have no idea what happens to everyone - maybe the afterlife is an individualized experience or culturally specific in some way) - after I die, all the spirit energy that is Victoria Weinstein will be released from my body and become part of the universe.

This is a very similar concept to how afterlife was presented in the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.  In the series, spirits must journey through an underworld to arrive on a world where (as Weinstein would put it) their spirit energy is released.  It is reunited with previously released spirit energy across the universe.  As Pullman wrote in The Amber Spyglass, ". . . it won't be nothing. We'll be alive again in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was."  When I first read all of the books in the trilogy I remember being so appreciative of how afterlife was presented.  It seemed beautiful and much more meaningful than simply only living on in the memories of those still living, so I borrowed the ideas for my own spiritual beliefs.

When I adapted my spirituality to include fairies it only slightly changed how I explained afterlife to myself, in that the terminology changed to include them.  When I die the fairies that make up my spirit will be released into the universe, just as the fairies of those whom have died before me were. They will be able to become part of the spirit of other things in the world and the universe.  In a way, the fairies of those whom have died before me are still with me.  They are still able to help me when I have need of them.  My fairies will be able to help those who survive me as well.

Princess Merida's Wisps

Fairy Light, Wind Fairy by Katanerial
Licensed under Creative Commons

I got to see the movie Brave twice over the summer.  It was a great film.  In it, Princess Merida encounters wisps, which are light fairies.  The wisps led Merida on a difficult path.  Eventually, it did get her to where she needed to be.  My interpretation is that the wisps knew that they were leading the princess onto a difficult journey.  They did so anyway, in hopes that she would eventually arrive at the right place.

The portrayal of the wisps in Brave was spiritually relevant to me.  Here's what they reminded me of:

1. Fairies do tend to lead us humans down difficult paths.  Just as how they led Merida down a path that she believed would help her, but actually made things much more difficult for her for a time.
2. Sometimes its difficult to find fairies, especially when we feel we need them the most.  In the film, the princess must find the wisps again in order to get the help she required, due to the circumstances of following the wisps in the first place.
3. It often does require the help of someone else to help us find fairies.  It was Merida's mother who was able to help her find the wisps again and to get the help Merida needed.
4. Fairies mean well, though it may be difficult to see that at times.  The journey was rough, but Merida really needed to travel that way to get to where she needed to go.

I'm quite grateful that I was able to see this film when I did.  It was actually quite influential in helping me find my fairies.  One of the reasons I did choose fairies was because I really like the ways they are often portrayed in such fairy tales.

I Choose Fairies

Sad Fairy by KatMary
Licensed under Creative Commons

In the documentary Raw Faith, the Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell said, "No one can prove or disprove the presence of God.  One chooses to believe or not, to take Kierkegarrd's ‘leap of faith’ or not.  I choose to believe."  I had a similar sentiment toward God growing up, only I chose not to believe.  Instead I ignored spirituality altogether, because it was too complicated.  Growing up Unitarian Universalist has many benefits.  One of them is being taught a lot about other religions, beliefs, spiritual practices, and science.  The big questions in life have billions of answers to them.  I felt unable to come to conclusions for myself.  I was a spiritual person, I think, I just didn't have a spirituality.  That probably makes no sense, but I don't know how to better explain it.

When the pains in life got to be too much I was unable to really go to anything spiritual to somewhat relieve the pain.  That is one of the main reasons for spirituality, to help relieve life's pains.  Eventually, I realized that what did help was thinking of the fairies of my childhood.  Hence, why I have now based my spirituality on fairies.  In a way, I re-embraced the fairy theology I had at the age of seven and modified it to fit my needs as an adult.

In the film, Sewell also said, "God is the most common name for that which we cannot name.  Many other names are used including Beloved Holy One, the Sacred, the Great Mystery.  We should understand that all naming is merely metaphor because we are dealing in mystery."  UUs have collected a number of many other names for that metaphor.  I decided to name that mystery "fairies" for myself, and chosen to believe.  I choose fairies because thinking of fairies relieves the pains in my life better than any other name for the mystery.  It is simply what seems to work at this time in my life.

The Universe is in Us

When I shared with my husband that I believed fairies to be the spirits of stardust he showed me this awesome quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson presented by Zen Pencils, which has been made into the video I've shown above.  The video artistically shares Tyson's response when he was asked by a TIME magazine reader, "What is the most astounding fact in the universe?"  According to Tyson:

The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth, the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core, under extreme temperatures and pressure. These stars, when unstable in their later years, collapsed and exploded, scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy.  Guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself.  These ingredients become part of gas clouds that condense and then collapse, forming the next generation of solar systems, stars with orbiting planets.  And these planets now have the ingredients for life.  So when I look up at the night sky, I know that yes we are part of this universe.  We are in this universe.  But perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us.

The universe being in us is such a beautiful sentiment.  It's very relatable to how I view fairies.  Fairies are in us too, as the spirits of stardust (or enriched guts of stars, as Tyson so eloquently puts it).  Just as the stardust works together to form our cells, and the cells work together to form our body, so do the fairies work together to form our spirit.

Stardust

Cosmic dust of the Horsehead Nebula
from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

I recently listened to the podcast of Rev. Katie Norris' service When All is Lost.  In this service Norris says, "I find more comfort in the story of the universe, and the fact that we all go back to being stardust one day, than the idea of going to heaven when we die."  This quote, as well as the rest of the service, inspired a somewhat more defined belief in fairies to me.  It was the first time I heard the term stardust.  What Norris was really referring to is cosmic dust; stardust is technically a small percentage of cosmic dust.  Regardless, stardust sounds prettier than cosmic dust, so I'm going to continue the inaccurate use of the word.

Anyway, I now like to think of fairies as the spirits of stardust.  This doesn't mean that every particle of dust has a fairy in it, but fairies and stardust do have some sort of affiliation with each other.  They are similar in that they have existed (effectively) forever and will remain forever.  Also, they are similar in the way that both are required for life, especially human life, to exist.  In the sermon, Norris discussed how she had to adapt her theology after she learned that her mom has Alzheimer's.  Her old one stressed the importance of memories, logic, and science and she adapted it to include the importance of community since just the previous three no longer seemed to be enough.  I see my own theology as being quite similar and I believe fairies to be influential in both the memories and community parts of my theology.  Fairies create the collective consciousness of the universe.  To do this they associate with individual consciousnesses as well.  They empathize with all of our feelings including love, joy, and sorrow.  There is also a likeness of them to the Force in Star Wars.  We cannot use them to move physical objects like the Jedi can.  However, we can use fairies to improve ourselves and our community, or to hurt ourselves and our community.  Fairies prefer to be used for good though.  In order to use fairies for good, we must find and share fairies by living our lives in a way we cherish and sharing our cherished life with others.