By Amanda Sissons

Faereality  &  Enchanted Erlina

"When asked to describe myself in a sentence, I would have to say that I am a paradox of unifiable contradictions.

Living simultaneously with my head in the clouds and my feet on the ground, on the bridge between worlds, both the physical and the Ethereal.

I have been fascinated by Faery for as long as I can remember.

As a young child growing up in London I was always searching for ways to be close to nature. Spending my early years in the bit of our communal garden that was left to grow wild, chasing butterflies and climbing the cherry trees.

I remember getting to that age when I was told 'you’re a big girl now, it’s time to stop believing in Fairies' but it never sat comfortably with me.

I’d like to think I was a reasonably intelligent child, but I just wasn’t ready to accept that the world held no magic anymore just because I was getting older. I would try to be good and do as I was told, but as I listened to the words that the grownups I had to respect taught me, I couldn’t help but hear the whispers in the background from my Faerie friends telling me they were really there.

I didn’t want to grow up if that meant closing my eyes (and ears!) to all the wonders there are to explore and discover, the way a child does every time it goes out to play.

I’m now in my mid-thirties and I haven’t changed my mind!"

Amanda has been a member of Enchanted Folk since October 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/faereality