Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s blog post, a Mermaid Monday special, is about Selkies and how they relate to our personal authenticity.   I think this fits in really well with my recent writings on different species of Water Fae! 

I have written about Selkies before, but today, I want to focus on how we can use the stories of Selkies to embrace authenticity and claim personal sovereignty.   Of course, I do want to begin with a description of what a Selkie is and the most famous version of a story of a Selkie.   Selkies are Water Fae related to Mermaids and Swan Maidens very closely.   The stories of Selkies originate from Scottish folklore, and they are Seal Maidens.   A Selkie has a magickal Seal Skin that she uses to transform into her Seal form when swimming in the ocean.    The fact that she needs her Seal Skin to transform is what makes her so similar to Swan Maidens, as the Selkie’s Seal Skin is very similar to the Swan Feather Cloak, as both allow the Faery Woman to transform into her animal form!    The fact that Selkies swim in the ocean and other bodies of water in their Seal forms is what relates to more traditional Mermaids.   Even the ability to shapeshift is very common in much Mermaid lore, leading to even further similarities.

Now, I am going to relay the most common story of Selkies.   There are many variants of stories involving Selkies, but there are also many common themes.   The basic story begins with a man finding a group of Selkies transforming from their Seal form into their human form by taking off their Seal Skins on the beach.   While the group of young female Selkies are enjoying dancing on the beach, the man stole one of the Seal Skins.   This meant that when all of the Selkies were putting on their skins to return to the ocean, one was left behind, as she could not find her Seal Skin!   The man went on to confront her with the Seal Skin, stating that he wanted her to marry him, as he now was in control of her skin and could keep her on land.

Without having any choice in the matter, the poor young Selkie is forced to marry the man who stole her Seal Skin.   The Selkie actually acted as a good wife to her husband, even though she had no choice in their marriage.   She kept his home clean and tidy and bore him children.   But she still could never forget her true aquatic home or stop missing her family.   The Call of the Sea is beyond strong for the Selkie, who is now trapped on land. 

One day, one of her children tells her of finding a Seal Skin hidden away in their father’s things.   The Selkie cannot resist asking to see the Seal Skin.   Of course, once she has her Seal Skin back, the Selkie can finally find her freedom and return to her true home.   In some variations, she takes her children with her, while in others, she leaves them with her husband, as they are a memory of the pain this man caused her.   I personally prefer when she takes her children to her Selkie home in the Sea, as she is taking them to find a true home, and their father never deserved his wife or children, given he forced her into marriage!   Either way, the Selkie has gained her freedom and can return to her aquatic home, so it is a happy ending.   I want to briefly note that there are some Selkie tales that are about a male Selkie who falls in love with and marries a human, which is a dichotomy to this classic tale of a female Selkie being forced to marry a human.

Finally, to finish this post, I want to explain how we can use this story to embrace our own authenticity.   It is so important to be true to ourselves, even if so many of us fear showing our true selves to others.   When we examine the story of the Selkie, we can see that betraying our true natures will only cause us to want to escape and find freedom.   Bottling up who we are on the inside to appease society’s norms causes our souls to become crushed and makes us feel like imposters.   Like the Selkie in her story, we will eventually come to a point where we will find an option to escape this false version of ourselves and our lives that we have created, allowing us to finally live out our truths.   If we follow our hearts to claim our own authenticity, we will gain personal sovereignty and begin to feel at home in our own skins, just as the Selkie was able to regain her Seal Skin!

I hope you have enjoyed this analysis of Selkies and how their stories can inspire us to claim our own authenticity.   Do you find Selkie stories inspirational?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!    

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a picture of a famous Selkie statue.   I found the picture on https://historyofmermaids.com/what-is-a-selkie/.

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: https://patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Further Reading

• The Fairy Bible by Teresa Moorey
• A New Dictionary of Fairies by Morgan Daimler