As a kid I remember my parents telling me about the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The catch was that you had to run real fast as the Leprechauns would only wait long enough to down one Guinness. I didn’t fancy my chances today. Looks like the rainbow is at least three farm fields away. That includes the field with the giant, bad tempered bull and a large stream with the missing bridge (didn’t survive the last flood). Maybe next time.

Yes I know the Apple Tree needs a good trim. In my defence the last time I tried the tree fought back. I lost and ended up in the Accident Unit with an eye ball cut. Since then our only set of ladders has fallen apart. Replacement ones have to get in line with the other essential purchases. It’s going to be a long wait. With the pesky virus likely to significantly curtail my zero based hours contract, things are going to get tighter for a few months. A pot of gold in the garden would be nice. Knowing our luck it will end up on top of the Apple Tree and we won’t be able to reach it. Who needs money anyway. No guarantee that it buys you happiness. Look at the poor Leprechauns. An eternity just protecting a pot of gold. As good as a pint of Guinness is – surely there is more to life than that.

It was such a disappointment when I found out the science of rainbows. That’s another childhood belief which turns out to be a fairy tale. A large list of shattered dreams.

  • Rainbow Pot of Gold,
  • Easter Bunny,
  • Father Christmas,
  • Fairy rings,
  • Dragons,
  • Lightning was an angry dragon,
  • Tooth fairy,
  • Magic,
  • Man in the moon.

As I grew older more and more childhood beliefs went bust. The magic and awe in life slowly ebbing away. But to quote the XFILES – I Want to Believe. So I grimly hold onto the few which are still left. Ignoring the clear science because I Want to Believe. So in my eyes the Loch Ness Monster is still a possibility. Maybe a dino living in a deep loch cavern. My head wants to myth bust yet the heart still dreams of a Scottish Dragon.

The loss of magic and awe is a bummer. It’s a bummer for our son as well. I remember that dreaded Santa chat with the floods of tears. My tears as well. I remember the sadness of life unpicking childhood beliefs. I can see the same pain in our son. With his Aspergers traits he latches strongly onto these myths. They bring much needed warmth and magic to this cold, unforgiving alien world. I’ve told him that it’s always his choice what he believes or doesn’t believe in. Christmas now is not seen in terms of the magic of Santa but in the magic of Christmas. Some will say it’s bad parenting not to immediately disprove these fables. My take is life can be unremittingly grim, a little bit of hope, a sprinkle of magic can lift the heart. It’s good to dream. It’s lifts the heart and feeds the imagination. And just maybe brings a pot of gold.

95 thoughts on “Pot of gold”

  1. Keep in mind… sometimes I have rose colored glasses …

    While yes these are all untrue myths or stories … sometimes it’s nice to have a little magic in your life… just depends on how you see it…

    Beautiful colors in the sky all lit up and arched … I still get excited to see rainbows 🌈- how beautiful Mother Nature made it! I think everyone immediately thinks of that pot of gold… cause what a dream that would be right? But the story is fun. And maybe a metaphor for whatever gold is for each individual… what do we chase after or hope for?

    The Easter Bunny and Santa are big ones over here – “commercialized” which bothers me… but whatever that’s another topic lol… but I think we tell our kids these thing because we were taught that, and then also – this world can be brutal – sometimes a little magic makes a world of difference and magic is kind of a view sort of? A way of perception ? Not necessarily true, but a feeling of magic?

    I don’t know anything about Fairy Rings? But oh I am curious!!! What is this??? Are there rings to be found? Lol

    Dragons – well that kind of represents imagination?

    When I was little… I used to think thunder and lightening was god bowling lol 😄😄 Oh my god! I forgot all about that until this post lol … and then simple rain storms – I just imagined angels crying over people who have died … again I was little lol very little!! But it’s just a nice thought.

    And hey… if someone wants to give out money for lost teeth … I’m good with that lol

    The man in the Moon – I never believed that one … cause my grandfather would also say the moon was made of cheese … yeah ok whatever lol… that one did not fly or sit well with me lol – not for one minute… but Dreamworks uses the boy fishing from the moon sometimes at the beginning of movies – I kinda like that? Is just the magic of dreams

    And magic itself – your own perception … this world does have magic in it if you believe and can understand/see what I mean when I say that?

    On a side note… for Christmas my mother would always say “if you don’t believe you don’t get” lol I hated that!!! Fine I believe then lol 😄✌️

    But ya know – it’s how you wanna see. Of course none is truly real, just stories… just sometimes stories are magical?

    But I still would like to know what Fairy Rings are!! I am curious! We don’t have that here that I am aware of???

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    1. Can’t remember the gardening reason but every so often you get a patch of grass (often sort of like a circle) where the grass grows higher and slightly darker. We called them fairy rings, a place where the fairies danced. I like that about lighting. Can see how that would work. xx

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      1. What a delightful view!! Dancing fairy’s … now I’m going to think that every time I see a circle patch of grass lol – I like that!! I have never heard that one before! Thank you for sharing that one!!

        Haha… yeah the thunder would be the bowling ball going down the lane… and the lightening was when he got a strike lol 😄😄✌️ ahhh that’s funny to remember ❤️

        See … these little things magically bring a smile to your face, or a memory to your heart… do they not? They do for me ❤️ so technically – magic does exist lol ✌️

        Totally am in love with that Fairy rings one … that is an awesome one!! I’m gonna be looking lol

        Thanks for the magic memories ✌️

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      5. I live on a ranch way out in country so kinda looked around my little house today, but no fairies were dancing around my house lol … got my eyes open though 🧚‍♀️ 👀 … gonna be so excited when I find one!!

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  2. Magic is always in the air. It is around and surrounds us all the time, but the magic needs to be pulled up from inside of us.

    The fairy tales, the myths share a deeper meaning to help us tap the magic inside. Thus is the beauty of using meditation as a tool of the mind.

    That pot of gold visualized and held in the mind, with the ‘belief and ‘feeling that what you desire, illuminates the magic to make it real over time. What your dream, or meditate on will be manifested when we hold that vision, that dream, that fairy tail with unshakeable faith.

    That is what makes magic real. Magic creates. Creation begins in the mind.
    Santa, Father Christmas, Christ, the fairies, leprechauns & magic dragons all are but a ‘character of magic’ used in the mind who brings the gifts we desire.

    Have faith and reclaim the magic of creation and life.

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  3. Reality sucks and I only participate when forced. My life’s goal now is to move to the forest and befriend little woodland creatures who will clean my house and do my hair.

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  4. Magic is real! Like your other commenter said, it’s all around us and inside us! I love Polar Express because of the “Believe” statement. I DO believe in the magic of Christmas or Winter Solstice. I DO believe in rainbows, fairies, dragons and all things magical. I also believe in science. Quantum Physics is actually pretty magical, what I understand if it🤔🙄😂

    I have no idea what Ben believes or even thinks about magic or any of it. We only know he’s excited and likes something if he says “That’s so cool”.🤷🏼‍♀️ He likes to look at the colors of the sunset and rainbows and the stars. That’s magic too!🌈🦄🐲🦕🌠✨💌

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  5. I once drove right through the end of a rainbow. It was on the freeway north of L.A. I always thought a rainbow retreated from you as you approached it, but I actually saw the rainbow’s end in the road ahead of me a quarter mile or so away, drove through it and saw it behind me. Amazing!!!!

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  6. My myth of Santa gave way to my getting to ‘be’ Santa. It was my job to fill the stockings on Christmas Eve after that. It helped to ease my pain, and I suppose it helped to ease my parent’s pain — because I thoroughly enjoyed getting to be Santa, and I still do!

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  7. Also, with regard to the Pot ‘O Gold at the end of the rainbow. One day we were leaving our home, setting out on a thirty-something mile drive to get some freshly picked strawberries and to take care of other business. As we left, I noticed the rainbow — that, as you said above, looked like the end would be two or three streets over. I watched that rainbow the whole thirty-something miles. As we turned back toward home on the divided highway, about five miles on our journey — twenty-something still remaining — we drove right through the end of the rainbow. It ended in the middle of the highway. We decided we should leave that pot of gold, because if we began digging up the highway, we may not like the consequences. LOL

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  9. I think that the magic of Santa Claus and his ilk is in the person’s heart, not a physical being. We want children to embrace those values and that’s almost impossible to do with a small child without a physical representation. As for the rest of them, imagination is a necessary part of surviving in the world. I think we should embrace it.

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  10. ‘Tis a shame that we, as adults, lose our childhood magic. It’s mostly government run schools that poison the well. Some religions help that process as well.

    I think you’ve seen enough of my posts to know that, the Welsh psychic I blog about would tell you that Faeries, Dragons & Unicorns do, indeed, exist. My money is on him. I keep a stuffed dragon that roars in my truck (I may have told you that, already). He rides shotgun. I intend to meet a dragon one day. ❤

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  12. A factor that really needs to be considered is what kids over a certain age will say and do to a kid who still believes in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. It isn’t fair, but kids can be very cruel to each other.

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  13. But what is magic? It is merely another way to say we don’t know why something happens or how it works. I don’t understand why so many things happen the way they do in nature, and they are as much a source of wonder to me as though they were done with ‘real’ magic.

    And often it means ‘wonderful’, as in a magical sunrise. Again, a source of wonder and marvel to me.

    And delight.

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  14. At least by the autumn you should have apples. They might have all be panic bought in the shops by then! I keep thinking about turning my back garden into an allotment but I never get round to it!

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  15. First of all … I love your photo of the rainbow. And I like to think of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. When it comes to The Loch Ness Monster, we have a similar monster in Sweden, in lake Storsjön. It´s named “Storsjö-odjuret” where “odjuret” is similar to the English word monster.
    Right now it is raining. But when it stops … I will go and look for the Fairies at the Bottom of my Garden. I have never seen them but I want to believe that they live there …

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  17. I love this post and the photo.. Magic is real for those of us who believe and we need the escape from the drudge of mundane life at times.. It is important not to shatter every dream… and magical things do happen when we believe… even if only in our imagination..

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  20. My boys are 15 and 12 and to this day we have never had the ‘Father Christmas is not real’ chat. We all skirt around the issue and I think they figure the risk of not believing is too high. What if there are no presents!!!

    I dispelled tooth fairy by accident. Not one of my finest moments.

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  21. I am dreading Declan ever finding out about Santa and having to have the same tear filled talk you and your son had. The magic is real in Declan, with a lot of things still. Seeing them go will be very sad.

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  23. I cannot imagine a life without a hidden world, where life falls into softer, more gentle lines. Your son has every right to it. As do you. And all of us too. We seek this hidden, kinder world in our own ways, let no one deter us. Mine was to re-read the old classics – all of the Anne of Green Gables books, set on the magical island of Prince Edward Island. That took me through many a rough time.

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  25. I still believe in magic. Maybe not Santa coming down the chimney but the ordinary kind: birds singing, storms, rainbows, and awe. And who says dragons aren’t real? They won’t stop flying around my imagination.

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  27. Magic is not something that’s given, it is something we make happen. A rainbow is magical, like a sunset. Nature is magical. A starlit night sky is magical. A bee following its purpose is so magical. There is magic everywhere… it is in the way we look at everything. I hope from my heart that you turn on your magical lenses again and you will find more than only one pot of gold 💖

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  28. I really believe that Star Wars are just adults who are holding on to make believe. I mean how else could baby Yoda and Wookie, not be real! THey are adult magic. You are wrong about fairy rings. I have seen mushrooms grow in a ring. I have seen dandelions grow in a ring, weeds not planted. So I believe! I always wanted to find the faraway tree. I keep looking

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  29. I don’t know where I’d be without dreams; without believing in magic, even as my more pragmatic and practical side scoffs at such things. I agree, life can be so very grim, we need hope, we need dreams, and we could all do with a touch of magic in our lives, especially right now. I love your writing and your indomitable spirit.

    I just got a text message from my boss telling me not to come in for my next shift. Apparently I will be paid for it, but it’s a huge worry. I suspect the library will be closed due to the virus. It is housed in a huge sports complex where literally hundreds of people go so it would not come as a surprise. Somehow, whatever comes, we will weather it. I pray we all do. I guess crap is about to get really, really real. Ugh!

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      3. I have seen a “news” story claiming that an individual in Tokyo has contracted the virus for a second time. Wouldn’t you think that if you’ve had it once your immune system would create antibodies against it? I seriously dislike fear mongering.

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  31. The day of my cousin’s funeral there was a huge rainbow that led to her burial. I will never forget it. Poor thing. She died of AIDS and contracted it back in 1982. We miss her.

    I also saw a rainbow on the way home from a job interview. I knew that was the job for me after seeing the magical colors in the air. It truly was my favorite job. It ended when the dentist retired.

    I also have a son with Asperger’s/Autism. He is the sweetest. I’m very lucky, yet it hasn’t been easy raising him. He’s 27 now. Lives independently, yet hasn’t found his way in the adult working world yet.

    Hope to see more rainbows after the rains come. And I hope the rains come soon! These fires in California are making people’s lives miserable.

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