My whole life I wanted to be a nymph.

Not a mermaid. Here’s the difference.

Nymphs are shapeshifting, fluid creatures, part female faerie figure and part elemental being. Appearing like a human woman when seen but able to disappear smoothly into thin air, foamy waves or mossy tree bark.

Mermaids however have a more fixed form: half upper female body, half fishtail. Many tales tell of mermaids who come to the shore fully in human form and return to sea in animal shape, particularly that of a seal in Scottish stories. Their home is the ocean and they have to return to it eventually.

We know of plenty ocean nymphs too, think of the Greek naiads. More specifically Calypso is a nymph, though she resides on an island and not directly in the sea. Giving her a more human characteristic of living on and from the land.

Nymphs are also associated with fresh water, particularly springs and river streams, and woodlands as we also know of tree nymphs. Which gives them their otherworldly and fairieeske connotation, being of this world and of the Otherworld, the “very deep” or “not-world” which is interconnected with ours. Nymphs are often portrayed as having a playful character or embodying the elements, as well as seen dancing with birch trees under the moonlight or enchanting humans and horned gods like Pan, the Green Man, Herne the Hunter alike.

Some even run away from gods as they prefer to remain sovereign, again thinking of a Greek myth, that of the nymph Daphne who was greatly loved by Apollo but she was devoted to her service to goddess Diana and not interested in his avances. To escape his longing arms she was turned into a tree. To me this speaks of the original goddess who had to retreat into nature when the male gods came and patriarchy and religion started dominating the faith - folktales kept changing, characters evolving and nymphs and fairies alike became minor characters, most likely reminiscent divine beings or previously highly honoured spirits of place, as genius loci. The goddess was still to be found in nature, hiding between hawthorn and hazel (otherworldly threshold places, more about those in a future substack).

Mermaids shared a similar fate yet speak to different parts of our subconscious. I am speaking specifically about them in this awe inspiring, though provoking and soul reclaiming ceremony and poetry workshop with

Eva-Maria Smith

: https://lauradurban.substack.com/p/reminder-waterwomen-ceremony

For the nymph lovers I want to remind you that my own fairytale “A Nymph’s Tale” of a goddess on her journey to embodiment, is available as an ebook and now also as paperback in the collection of

Rebel Ma Rising

: Women’s Stories for Liberation. Everyone who purchase the book can send me a message and gets my audio version and BTS for free.

And to dive into the background of my mythic story I shared a special audio recording for you with my retelling of the Elucidation, it is here for you to dive straight in: https://open.substack.com/pub/lauradurban/p/the-elucidation-of-the-faery-accord?r=1v148l&utm_medium=ios

My mermen (and spot the little mermaid in the back) and me in my happy place, river walking the day after the beach

Back to my personal connection to nymphs and faeries.

I tried to make sense of it for years now, wondering if it is simply my character, or something bigger like my soul incarnate, a past life. Maybe it is a longing to escape mundane reality or a result of  other factors such as childhood trauma.

Nymphs opposed to mermaids are fluid characters, able to move between the worlds, able to adapt to various surroundings and seamlessly blend into diverse environments, not only shapeshifters but bridges, communicators between realms, mutable, mercurial.

I’ve been recently called “mercurial” by three very different, very unrelated people. But all in a time in which I started to own my gifts instead of staying humbly silent. A time in which I gained confidence to share my writing and to voice my passion for nymphs (unbeknownst to these people though as one is a new cacao customer in town, the other a friend of a friend which I only met on a zoom call once and the next a more recent friend and fellow writer - well ok he knew about the writing aspect of me).

Not at all surprising when I tell you that my astrology (both tropical and sidereal) reflect the mercurial influence, I have several major placements in Gemini and Virgo, both signs that are ruled by mercury. My mercury even is in Gemini.

But I’m not convinced that astrology is the whole truth nor would I claim past lives or soul incarnations as explanation (or defense) of personality. When I go a bit Jungian on myself and look way back into early childhood, we have a strong separation theme that keeps reappearing from birth into adulthood. A separation that wants to be bridged, and requires mutability in different environments, eg schools, homes, and with people.

Now, does this shape my nymph longing? Or has my nymph soul shaped my human experience?

Is it all laid out for us in the stars (or human design, gene keys, etc)?

Or does it simply serve as an important reminder that no matter where our unique and collective longings bubble up from, they are here to guide us. Sometimes to the past to help resolve painful experiences or to own and integrate unconscious shadow aspects of our psyche. And sometimes they guide us towards the future, the hopes and dreams we have and want to make manifest.

And for this we tap into the power of our present, take the necessary steps of actions to follow our willpower, passion and joyful expression.

With a smile, Laura