Fairies

We Irish believe that there is a thin veil between this world in which we live and know, and the world beyond our dying, or the "next" world.  The Fairies are able to go between the worlds very easily.  When the Irish tell their stories that seem a bit out of this world, it is because they are inspired by the fairies who play in our imaginations.  An Irish who is prone to drink is said to have the "curse," or the "troubles."  This is because the fairies cannot seem to get through to such a person with music, song or story.  But the fairies never give up on us.  They are ever loyal.  Even when a drunk dies a miserable death, seemingly abandoned, the fairies come to take a part of the drunk to the other side, the part that can pass through the veil.  For the rest of us, death is not the end, but a passage and the fairies accompany us along the way.  Death is when we finally see them with our new eyes.  If you know of anyone who is facing their immanent death, and feel alone or scared, tell them about the fairies, and the journey yet to begin.