by Peter Freeman

Created on: March 19, 2009

Math ap Mathonwy was the brother of Don and King in Gwynedd. When he needed a handmaiden Gwydion advised him to seek out his niece, Arianrhod. When she arrived at the great hall Math asked; "Are you maiden?" she replied that she was. Then Math took out his magic wand, bent it and said; "Step over this." As she did so she gave birth to two boys. In her shock and shame she fled the Castle of Math and has no more to do with this tale.

One of the boys was taken up immediately by Gwydion and he became the hero of another legend. The one that was left was beautiful like no other child. On the day of his naming he was taken down to the sea. Upon seeing the ocean for the first time he leapt out of his nurses arms and jumped into the sea. He became a God and Math named him "Dylan" He was the first and father of the shape-shifters of the sea, those whom the Scot call; Selkie.

The word Selch or Selkie literally means Seal but it has come to refer to those seals that come on land and discard their skins for a while in order to take human shape. There are many tales of the Selkie all around the British Isles All the tales have the same basic theme; the Selkie causes a human to fall in love. The human finds the Selkie skin and hides it thus trapping the Selkie on land. Eventually the Selkie finds the skin and returns to the sea.

The male Selkie is said to be very handsome and irresistible to most women. If your marriage is a happy one, then you are immune to the Selkie but if a woman is unhappy with her mate and feels insufficiently loved, then beware. She will fall in love with the Selkie and her heart will be lost forever. Any children of that union will have the sea in their blood and yearn for it all their lives.

The female Selkie is truly beautiful in her mortal form and no man could be blamed for desiring her. The danger here is that she may already be married and have children at sea. No matter what love is shown she will still yearn for her lost husband and children.

This last is probably the most often told story. Sometimes the tale is accompanied by shipwrecks, storms and the seas retribution, although that is not always the case.

In one of the more common tales a Selkie was seen on the shore having shed her skin. She now was in human form. A man saw her and fell deeply in love. Desiring her for a wife, he watched and waited until he saw where she hid her skin. Then, he stole it and hid it. Trapped in mortal form she married the man and had children by him. Though her life was good and she was with a loving and caring man, still she yearned for her true home.

Many evenings she would stand gazing sorrowfully out to sea and in the distance could be heard the seal song of her husband and children. One day she found the skin and, putting it on she went back to the sea. Only now she yearns for her family on the shore.

Do the Selkie exist? Is it real?

Many years ago I lived in my native Wales. I was married and have four wonderful children from that marriage. Life moves on and changes come about. Now I'm married to my second wife and I live in America. It's a good life, this land has treated me well. I have a good wife and two wonderful children here.

But sometimes I gaze across the ocean and think of my family and my true home in Wales.

I have become the Selkie.

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