The Elasticity of Time My guide says, In these worlds, time works differently from physical time. Because there is no physical form, there are no absolute boundaries. Consciousness contains forms of elasticity that are not found in matter. An event here can be stretched to cover a gap in time in the physical world, or compressed so a decade of physical time is a day in our time. Thus we have the exaggerated stories of people who visit the worlds of the Fair Folk and return to earth and find that a night of dancing has spanned fifty years. While normal Fair Folk have some limited skills in the manipulation of time, there are mages who specialize in it. Changing time was originally developed as a defensive strategy, to avoid the violence of wars. Rather than killing opponents, mages developed the ability to expand and contract time, so that they might precede their enemies on the battlefield, have them charge, and then disappear until the following week. Of course mages also had to develop the ability to see in between the layers of time, to determine the best time to reappear. While from below, it looks like disappearance and reappearance, from our perspective, it is quite different. We do not go anywhere. It is rather that the hours, days, months, and years are layered like different viscosities of liquid, and may be thickened or thinned by the force of will. When one begins to develop the ability to perceive the liquid and change its character, time becomes another medium in which the artist may work. And there are many things we can do to sculpture time. It may act as a set of windows, or it may act as a doorway. As windows, it stretches and compresses artistic perception. Thus a dancer may dance and a musician may play. However, if they work with a mage, there may be all sorts of variations possible, and the dance and music may be influenced by the layering of time. The dance may be overall slower or faster, or the tempo may be changed in an irregular fashion. Movements may appear, disappear, or repeat. and events may be layered one upon another so as to echo through space. With heavier time viscosities, there is a sence of atmospheric perspective - a distancing affect which leaves room for the observer's involvement. With the abolition of time constraints and the thinning of time, there is an enhanced sense of immediacy and spontaneity which has a direct impact and leaves little room for personal response, participation, or redirection. Time impacts us most through artistic expression and through interaction with others. We try to make all of our lives an expression of artistry. Thus, time has many forms and many uses. Introduction | History | Manannan Mac Lir | Merlin | Taliesin | Building the Realms of the Fair Folk | Lir and Danu | Lugh and the Morrigan | Anya, Daughter of Manannan | Manannan's Ocean Kingdom | Aengus, The Poet God of Love and Romance | The Ancient Roads to the Fair Folk | Manannan's Horses | The Society of the Fair Folk | The Place of Transformation | Traveling Between the Worlds | Research Methodology | Conclusion Home Copyright © 2005,   J. Denosky,   All Rights Reserved