Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Fairy I - Purity

Remember when you were a little girl and mommy used to cuddle you up singing a lullaby or saying a fairy tale before you dosed off in dreamland, huh? Our little minds were overflowing with princess, fairy godmother, beauty and magic. Interesting that regardless of which corner of the world we are at, we somehow listened to the same tales like Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Fairy tale has indeed become such a precious part of our growing up, hasn’t it?


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As time passes, practicality and hardships in life has engaged our minds. We no longer have time for dreams and fantasies as we are too busy fulfilling our material needs and social obligations. A lot of our sisters feel we have re-discovered our lost innocence and dreams when we found Bae Yong Joon. I’d like to attempt exploring his phenomenon from a fantasy perspective ......


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Originated in mythology, fairy (or faerie) denotes a state of enchantment or glamour, the power of illusion, the power of ‘beings’ who bring blessings. In the lands of Brittany, Iceland and Scandinavia where natural beauty is still largely unspoiled, beliefs in fairy legends remain passionate. The existence of fairy is said to permeate a fourth dimension, freeing it from the confinement of time and space bound by material laws. In union with Animism - a belief that flowers, trees, lakes, mountains and crystals are endowed with spirit, words have ‘whispered’ out that fairy sightings transpire amidst these vicinities where concentration of natural energy is eminent.


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Fairy is celebrated for its captivating beauty, joy and inspiration, humour and mischief. It embraces reality with an illusory sheer, recreating a fantasy realm for both human and itself to cohabit in. If we care to pause and employ our senses, be it admiring a morning dew dripping from a flower petal, breathing in a gentle fragrant breeze across a lavender field or catching a whisper of light in the garden during sunset. We will be enchanted by the delicacy and mystique of fairies - like a ripple of water, a wisp of wind or simply an unbroken silence. Fairy educes our innate wisdom and innocence to resonate our spirits with nature.


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It is my desire to coalesce the purity of Yong Joon with the innocence and beauty in the world of fairies. Our prince charming emanates quality of innocence that exudes his youthfulness, purity that breeds his nobility and sincerity that radiates his beauty. Let him be the window for us to peer into the magical realm of dreams and fantasies once again.


References :
1. A Complete Guide to Faeries & Magical Beings, Cassandra Eason, Judy Piatkus (Publishers) Ltd., 2001
2. Faeries, Brian Froud and Alan Lee, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1978
3. The Book of Faeries, Francis Melville, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 2002
4. The Little People - Stories of Fairies, Pixies, and other Small Folk, Neil Philip, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002
5. The World of Fairies, Gossamer Penwyche, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc, New York, 2001

Acknowledgement :
1. Thanks to my dear sweet jillie for uploading the music.
2. Some pictures are used from the artworks created by Korachan and Amadienne. Please allow me to thank you here.

Next ...... Fairy II - Art

17 comments:

gosijo said...

Hi Jaime,

Congratulation on this post. I think it marks your return to 'BYJ comparative analysis' since becoming a blogger.

You are so right about the quality of innocence. Thanks for celebrating it here and reminding us of its presence in our lives.

jaime said...

Hi dear gosijo,

Thank you for your comment. I can't seem to shake off what YJ said in LL's recent MV.

He repeatedly mentioned about this ideal woman of his - a wise woman with purity and sincerity. It sounds very simple but YJ is actually looking for a pearl in a sea of sand. Purity and innocence that HRH still 'miraculously' possesses are so easily washed away from a person while growing up. I sincerely hope he can have a woman with purity and sincerity, he truly deserves it.

Hehe, you're such a good friend. Eventhough I am not articluate and artistic as our other sisters, but I truly enjoy every moment of working on these series for Yong Joon.

love ... jaime

HeippieH said...

Oh my dearest jaime, you are back again, now with the fairy series. I still remember the joy of reading and translating your Manet Series. Can I have the joy of translating this series? It is so beautiful! I can see it is out of a pure and sincere heart.

love as always ...

jaime said...

my dearest h,

Thank you for always being there to encourage and support me. I always say "You are my strongest pillar", I feel very safe knowing you are around.

I am not very skillful and stumble at times when putting together my ideas, but I will work hard and continue to learn. Yong Joon and your serious, sensible and hardworking attitude towards life is a continual aspiration for me. Thank you for thinking about translating it, if you feel the Chinese sisters like to read it. As I know your translation will make it more beautiful than my version.

love always .... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi jaime, I love this!! The pics all fit together so well, and the music is light and fairy-like too, haha!

Ah yes, the innocence and sweetness and purity... I think he brings those qualities out in all of us, he certainly does in me!

In a way, he is looking for himself, isn't he? He's looking for someone to match him in the very values he cherishes so much that he himself continues to embody them, despite all his fame and money. His quiet humility is one of the many things I love and respect so much about him.

I think you could write many dissertations about our sweet YJ --what about an authorized biography??? Maybe you could ask him...???

And gosijo and I could edit it for you, hahaha!!

Thanks for another great series, dear jaime!

love to all,
coco

Anonymous said...

Wow !! brilliant idea coco.
Authorized biography (Jaime's style) of our King .....
As for his precious one, me and my daughters often talked about it everytime we saw his beautiful pictures.
We often picture him and Ayaki Nao, a Japanese lady, who is a retired Takarazukan. Even she played a perfect male role, she is so beautiful, elegant, classy, talented lady. We were dreaming of their children ,, how perfect they will be, hee .. very nice topic for us.
While you are in Japan, if you like musicals, why don't you try the Takarazuka musicals. I loved them eversince I was a teenager, and I passed it on to my daughters and they are crazy about it. My older daughter spent almost all her allowances in Japan, only for Takarazuka and everything anime.
Our 21st. birthday gift for the younger daughter is a trip to Japan to see Takarazuka musical. It was last year February.

love,
Y.

jaime said...

my dear chief,

sorry for responding late. Yeah, I agree with you that he does draws out the innocence in us. I also feel that he cannot do it all by himself. It is the love and sincerity that we sisters treat each other in his family that amplifies this quality and raise it to another level. Thank you for always taking care of me and the other sisters.

Love & hugs ... jaime

jaime said...

my dear yee,

Thank you for reminding me about this theatre art. I remember that it was very popular when I was a young girl cause the name and the concept was very interesting to me. I must admit though I have never seen any of its musicals. It would be wonderful to watch as I love going to plays and musicals in theaters. I will sure check it out.

How lucky your daughters are to have a mother so loving and supportive of their interests. I am sure you have a great relationship with them sharing this very beautiful art.

Please take care!

love ... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaime and Yee,

I just googled Ayaki Nao and the musical theatre troupe -- she is gorgeous and I love musicals! I never knew she/this group existed before, so thank you for expanding my knowledge -- that happens so often for me in Baeland, haha!

But -- he is also saying that he would like a woman who is interested in staying at home and making a wonderful home for him and their children, right?

I hope he is not trying to find "perfect" woman because she simply doesn't exist -- but I do believe he can find the perfect one for him!

(Waaaah, too bad it isn't me!! hahahaha!!)

love,
coco

Anonymous said...

Hi coco,
You did google?? Oh the more you search for the more you will find how wonderful Takarazuka is. It is all female group. It's like prestigious colleges here in the US, very hard to get in.
If you like to watch them, I can send some to you. My daughter brought back many DVDs. Ayaki N is retired from Takarazuka now, we have very good plays when she was a top star. My older one had an opportunity to watch her on stage in 2005 and she retired after that.
That was their goal to become a top star. Especially top stars in male role are very famous and very special and very hard to get it.
Please let me know if any of you are interested to watch it, I can burn the DVDs and send them to you.
Jamie, please try to go and watch it while you are in Japan, you won't regret it. Especially you like musicals and dances.

love,
Y.

jaime said...

dear yee and coco,

Thanks yee for expanding our knowledge on Japanese theater. Me too chief, I am so grateful at the things I learn from our Bae sisters (hehe, I googled about Ayaki Nao too:) Yes yee, I will find out more about Takarazuka.

love ... jaime

flowerbossa said...

Hi Jaime and wuri sisters,

I was excited to read about Yee's reference to Takarazuka here.
'Takarazuka' is actually a city near Osaka, and I lived there when I was a little girl!

I still remember the time my grandmother first took me to the theater... WOW, what an experience!
It was like that song in "A Chorus Line", "Everything was beautiful at the ballet..." and OF COURSE, I ended up falling in love with the hero of the drama (played by a woman^^)

There is a branch theater in Tokyo called the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. When "April Snow" was playing practically next door, it was funny seeing the area crowded with Takarazuka fans and BYJ family!!
(That's the area where you can find BYJ's handprint.)

Takarazuka actresses are trained in an unique school - their motto is "purity, truth and beauty".
They can stay in the troupe as long as they are single, but once they retire, it is said they make great mothers and housewives.

(Like Yee suggested, perhaps BYJ should have a look?)

love,
flowerbossa

p.s. Jaime, I hope your sister has a wonderful time here! I'm sure the sakura will not disappoint!

jaime said...

Hi flowerbossa,

Thank you for telling us more about Takarakuza. So it is a special school of theater arts, unique in Japan, I suppose?
I am really interested now.

Yes, my sister has arrived and it's off to a great start. I hope I can give her a good memory of this Japan trip.

Please take care!

love ... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi Everyone,

Thanks flowerbossa, for your info -- and yesssss, Yee, I would absolutely love it if you wanted to send me some DVD's of their performances.

Could you email me at:
coco4byj@yahoo.com

Then we can talk about how to do that... THANKS!!!

jaime, please have fun with your (birth) sister!! Send photos!!

Thanks and love to all,
coco

Anonymous said...

Hi sisters,

If you girls are curious, here are the links of Ayaki Noa.
coco, the play I'm going to send is Elizabeth. Ayaki Noa was a top star in male roll, you can see her and get a little taste of Takarazuka in these links:

Elisabeth trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqQvPRfWxCc

Rehearsal footage (you can see her out of makeup! She's the one in a sleeveless black shirt that the camera follows):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=535ZaiwV7hs

The plays are all in Japanese, coco - are you a Japanese? If not my daughter translated to English like Suehan and Gaulsan did for TWSSG, you can read and watch it.Let me know and Please check your email.

Dear sis Jamie, forgive me for using your blog for this. And my daughters said, it's very hard to get good seats for Takarazuka plays, please ask your husband's coleagues from very high places.

love,
Y.

jaime said...

My dear Yee and Coco,

Please feel free to use this blog space to talk about your topic of interest. I have to thank you for expanding my knowledge about Japan. Actually yesterday, we saw a very old Kabuki theater in Ginza, that the whole cast is male! So many people were lining up to watch the show.

love ... jaime

Toujours_BYJ said...

My dear Jaime

Oh you do it again, they're beautifully well done. You're a true artist Jaime, to be able to fit them together so well like that.
And I love love the first one.