Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For this week’s Siren Saturday, I have decided to share another entry in my Incarnated Mermaid Diaries series.   Today’s topic is Literary Love and the Incarnated Mermaid!

Literature is an art form very close to my heart.   I think that this is, at least in part, due to my very emotional and romantic nature, especially true as an Incarnated Mermaid.   Much like music, literature has a way of allowing us to express emotions on a very visceral level.    Both music and literature aid in laying the Soul bare, exposing us to emotional depths.   So, just as music is always associated with Mermaids, I think we can also state that a love of literature makes sense for Mermaid Souls.

I have a deep love for several types of literature.   However, my favorite genres are Fantasy, Horror, and Romance.   The fact that I adore Gothic Romance literature, especially Victorian Gothic literature, should not be a surprise.   After all, Gothic Romance works tend to focus on all three of these favorite genres in one way or another.   Wuthering Heights, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Phantom of the Opera rank amongst my favorites of Gothic literature.   

Of course, I also have a huge adoration for medieval literature, in the form of legends and fairytales.   My love for them is also likely unsurprising to those who know my work, given that I build my classes based on these types of stories, teaching about the Fae Folk and Faery Queens found within.   These types of stories are also the backbone of my personal spiritual practices in many ways.   The fairytales, especially, are stories that never get old and beg to be told and retold, which form the basis for much of modern literature.   New fairytales continued to gain prominence as they were written well into the Victorian period.   Some of my favorite legends and fairytales include the Arthurian legends, Melusine’s legends, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel.   

As for more modern literature, I favor fantasy series.   I love The Vampire Diaries (the book series the show was based on, in particular the first seven novels), the Practical Magic series, The All Souls Series (which was turned into the TV show A Discovery of Witches), The Women of the Otherworld series (which inspired the TV show Bitten), and The Folk of the Air trilogy (which began with The Cruel Prince).   That is to name just a few of my favorites.   Other great series that I love and would recommend include The Sookie Stackhouse Novels (aka The Southern Vampire Mysteries, which the TV show True Blood is based upon), The Thirst Series (aka The Last Vampire Series by Christopher Pike), The Lord of the Rings (even though it is an obvious choice to include here, I had to mention it), and A Song of Ice and Fire (upon which A Game of Thrones is based, even if the series is not complete).   I will leave off my recommendations of series there, as I could go on all day, and I have to finish this post.   At the end of the day, there truly is something wonderful about getting absorbed into a fantasy world for a time while reading a full series of books.

Now, to finish off this post, I think that part of the reason I adore literature so much is because of the importance I place on storytelling.   The ability to tell stories is truly a magickal one, and it forms the backbone of much of my work as a Priestess!   Beyond the storytelling aspect, I think that it is extremely comforting to be able to escape into the world of a story.   In fact, through this escapism, I believe that we learn so much about ourselves in the process!   Learning about the self certainly makes escapism much more profound, as opposed to simply being a way to not have to deal with day-to-day life.   I am always grateful to learn about myself by experiencing a wide range of emotions as I read my favorite works of literature.

I hope you have enjoyed this short reflection on why I love literature so much.    What does literature mean to you?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an Incarnated Mermaid Diaries Title Artwork that I created using the Waterhouse painting Hylas and the Nymphs.   I found the painting on https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Waterhouse_Hylas_and_the_Nymphs_Manchester_Art_Gallery_1896.15_n2.jpg.                          

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries