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by the Silver Elves

The Faerie Rade is an ancient tradition among our peoples...

dear kin,

... it is an ad hoc and impromptu gathering of our people and the means whereby we exchange energy with the magical being we often call Earth. It is a means whereby we increase our luck and magic and most often consists of a perambulation along anfractous roads beneath the radiant moon. Some call this "drawing down the moon", others of us call it "spinning starlight" or "whispering with the wind". But in each and every case, it is a symbiotic caress of mutual caring that takes place between us and the forces of nature. It is rather, in its way, like petting a cat, it is a satisfactory experience for all concerned. Those who have had the priviledge of viewing it from the outside often think of it as the Parade of the Faerie. For so it must seem to them on seeing our motley and colorful bands dancing and riding upon this midnite escapade. But a parade is given for the benefit of its audience and the Faerie Rade in truth concerns none but we Elfae and the our benefactors, the spirits of earth and stars. That some "outsider" might glimpse our progress through the winding backroads upon the ley lines of the earth, is to share in the luck and magic that spills over upon our passing.

The word Rade is variously intrepreted to mean ride... for it is surely that, we ride horses or cars or whatever as we follow the spirit in its peregrination. And also called Rad... and we elfin are surely some of the most "rad" of peoples. We are in fact a catalytic agent that touches and effects everything and one we encounter. And it is translated as Raid as well, for it is in a sense a raid upon the wells of luck and blessing which we discover by following the rivers of moonlight to their source. There are even those in recent time who have been given to calling it the Faerie Rave. In this tradition they follow the winding roads to the place of gathering and then dance until the dawn sharing in ecstatic communion. The name is new but this form of the Rade is older than the highest mountains.

By ones and twos and threes and more, we follow the magic to the further shore. Any one of us could go upon the Faerie Rade. But for two to do so is by far more powerful and when you have three the magic begins to resonate within the trembling body of the earth and we are thus connected to all our kind. The time for the Rade, by tradition, that is the conditions for it, can vary but there are some favored influences. Under a growing moon, on a clear and starfilled night, upon the witching hour, favoring the backroads and letting the oracles or our intuition or our sacred psychics choose the way at every crossroads. But, there are those who are inclined toward the stormy season with the wind howling its power and filling us with certainty. And even those who go upon the Rade in the midst of the pouring rain. We call this Rade, "Singing in the Rain" and it is particularly favored for washing away tears and troubles. But in each and every Rade we are gathering luck to us, which for we elfin is the same as saying magic. A luck that is the lifeblood of our peoples and the essence of Faerie.

Every since the Red Dragon touched us and blessed us, every since we saw the three white birds of peace hovering in the air along our path, we knew the world would be changing. The war of hate and anihilation that has been declared between the Grymlen and the Greedi has come as no surprise to us. The Red Dragon brings tremendous power and the those peoples should respond to it in that fashion is only in keeping with the current state of their evolutionary development. They are, at this point, incapable of doing otherwise. The three white birds of peace are the promise that has been given to our people. We are small as yet and weak to be sure. Our tiny voices urging people to love and reason are for the most part ignored but our time will come. In the "mean" time, we must gather our strength and prepare for what is to come. Soon we will go upon a Rade... we can feel it coming and if by chance we cross your path upon the moon and starlight paths of magic then we shall be thrice blessed the all of us.

eli feln le,
the silver elves

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