The Silkie finds her Skin

 2 The Silkie Finds Her Skin

The Celtic legend of the Silkie tells of the incredibly beautiful seal women who would sometimes come ashore, shed their skins and take human form. Men, coming across them would fall in love and steal and hide their skins. A seal woman would then be under the power of a man that stole her skin and stranded on the land, would marry him and become his wife and the mother of his children.

  This relationship could last many years.

If the woman ever found her skin she would be drawn irresistibly back to the sea and abandon her husband and children and return to the ocean.

Where do the roots of this legend lie? As an explanation for women doing the unpardonable and breaking the bond with their children, a bond of such strength breaking it is inconceivable to many women. Or perhaps the roots are more sinister and the legend was used to cover the unexplained disappearance of a wife and mother.