Ireland is a region rich in mythology and folklore. The Irish are known for their delight and skill in storytelling and singing. Their stories are mixed with melancholy and yet emotionally compelling. The Irish know that life is a mixture of laughter and sadness, pleasure and tragedy. Their stories are fictional, creative, and evoke laughter and tears. He also learned the truth of life and the lessons he learned. The story of the Selkies is about the “seal people” and has all the qualities of a good Irish story.
During the day Selkies are seals, swimming in the cold depths of the sea. At night they shed their skins on sandy and carefully hid them. They are beautiful people themselves with dark hair and eyes and white skin. Because they are so constantly seducing people, they immediately fall in love with them and try to win their love. However, the only way a person can keep a Selkie by their side is to find skin and carefully hide it. A selkie caught on land always longs for the sea. They wander the rocks and sandy shores towards their former home, singing mournfully.
If a Selkie finds its skin it will return to the sea and not to its mate. If a female Selkie has children with her husband, she will swim near her home to protect them and sometimes play with them in the water.
A Selkie woman is said to be a good wife, but she is solitary and quiet. Legend has it that children born from Selkies have not only dark hair and large dark eyes but also small webs between fingers and toes and an unusual affinity with the sea.
Encounters and encounters between Selkies and humans usually occur. However, if a mortal desires a certain Selkie there is a ritual they can do. At high tide they must run into the water and shed seven tears into the sea. Then the Selkie will come to look for that human. In fairy tales it is almost always a man who steals a female Selkie’s skin. Selkie men are typically seducers of mortal women but are not the “husband” types. Lovers love human women, but then they go to sea. Sometimes women never realize that their lover was a Selkie. Unfortunately for mortals, if they lose or lose their Selkie lover, they will be lost to them forever.
Human husband or wife live in fear that their Selkie will find their skin and leave them. Legend describes true love as a mixed blessing. There is always the possibility of loss when you keep the person you love from their true self. As with all stories, lessons can be learned about life and relationships that still apply today, centuries later. Times change, but not human nature.
http://members.tripod.com/~pg4anna/Mer_silkie.htm
http://echoes.devin.com/selkie/selkie.html
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/mermaids/2.html
