I’m always on the lookout for new insights and understanding of affairs. In chasing down metaphors for affairs, I found some intriguing insights from old folk tales from Orkney.
There are many folk tales from Orkney involving mermaids. These creatures were known for their beauty.
They were also vain in their admiration of it as well. The only way a mermaid retains her beauty is marrying a human, followed by its consummation. If she married one of her own kind, her beauty would fade.
This put the mermaid in a constant state of being on ‘the prowl’ for men to seduce. Supposedly, if they were already married, it was a turn off, yet, for many mermaids, this did not matter.
They wanted to keep their beauty and marry a human. This meant that the men of the community, along with their womenfolk needed constant guard against the advances of seductive mermaids.
The mermaids also had an attitude that clothing is ‘optional’ at best. One of the old rhymes they sang was
“I am the queen of the sea, and Mermaid’s my name’
To show my fair body I do not think a shame
No clothes defile my skin, no dress will I wear,
But the lovely bunches of my bonnie, bonnie hair”
When you live on an island, the possibility of encountering a mermaid is always there. Anytime men walked the shorelines, or went fishing, there was the possibility of an encounter.
Realizing that not only was there the possibility of an encounter, but that she would not be wearing anything besides her hair made all men potential targets of such seductresses.
Recognizing that one of the purposes of folk tales was communicating truths about life, values and challenges, I found the mermaid stories relevant to affairs. The mermaids were a constant threat along with their being motivated by vain ambitions.
Many an unsuspecting man was seduced by ‘mermaids’ on the prowl. Although they often made good wives in terms of maintaining a well run farm and having beautiful children, the mermaids detested any association with Christianity and ministers.
Even in today’s culture, there are some seducers who do not care if people are married. They are looking for ‘a man of their own’.
If that means stealing one from someone else, their attitude is ‘so be it’. Although the vanity of the golden combs often carried by mermaids is not with us, a new form of vanity can be found in the taking of ‘selfies’. The trend of scantily clad women taking selfies in various states of undress are the new forms of the old mermaid story.
The man being seduced often never sees the true nature of the seducer until it is too late. Even then, the cheater is often so enamored by their looks, the reality that he is dealing with a mermaid is often seen as ‘no big deal’.
We still have mermaids among us. This does not get cheaters off the hook, but it does remind us that cheating is nothing new. It is a nasty old habit that has remained with humans throughout our history.
When was the last time you saw a mermaid?
If your marriage has been touched by a mermaid’s seduction, there’s help. The downloadable “Affair Recovery Workshop” provides you with the tools you need in undoing the wiles of seducers.
Best Regards,
Jeff
