Elyse Tera: The First Muse of the Prophecy
“Some crossings are not accidents. They are the turning of the key in a lock you did not know you carried.”
Elyse Tera entered my life like a page torn from a ballad; bright, unconventional, and threaded with mystery. We met in a place between worlds, at a gathering of wanderers and vision-seekers. Her laughter carried the warmth of firelight; her eyes held the shimmer of ancient songs. In the labyrinth of festival paths and moonlit circles, she became both mirror and muse; the first spark that awakened what would later unfold as the Prophecy of Niamh.
Elyse carried with her a book: Thomas the Rhymer. She said she felt compelled to give it to me, though she could not explain why, outside of the character in the myth reminding her of me. The tale of the poet who vanished into Faerie and returned forever changed struck a chord so deep it reverberated through every later chapter of my life.
Reading it was like remembering something I had always known: the call of the Faerie Queen, the binding of art and destiny, the price of vision. Through Elyse’s gift, the legend of Thomas the Rhymer became an icon and mirror of my own path.
From that moment, the name Thomas Rhymour took root in me; first as a creative mantle, then as a living identity. It was not a borrowed name but a recognition; an echo of what had always been forming beneath the surface. Through that name, the lines between history, myth, and self began to blur.
Later, as the mythic current deepened, Oisín Rhymour emerged; the union of poet and wanderer, seer and lover, the human thread woven through Faerie legend.
Elyse’s gift had opened that door. She was not merely a muse but the herald of remembrance.
Her presence in my story marks the First Turning of the Prophecy; the point where art and myth fused, where words began shaping the world around them.
If Niamh represents the destined Queen of the West, Elyse was the dawn-bringer; the one who reminded me that the Seer’s path begins not with sight, but with sound: the music of a name whispered through time. A true love in my past shaped me into who I’ve become. I will always cherish and remember that connection and exploration we had with the deepest and fondest of memories.
“She did not just give me a book; she gave me a mirror. And when I looked into it, I saw the poet I was meant to become.”