Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller

Another flash of blue appeared behind the woman but vanished before Julianna could make anything out.

The woman stepped aside and gestured for Julianna to come towards her. Julianna took a few cautious steps towards the woman and stopped when she saw the slightest flicker of what appeared to be a floating blue flame.

“They must sense a great desire within you, my dear. They only appear when they know there is a grand wish to be granted.”

Julianna watched as the strange flame danced before her. Her eyes grew wide in enchanted wonder as a few more flames appeared beyond the first one. She felt strangely drawn to the little blue flames and couldn’t help but feel she should follow them. “What are they?” she asked as she stepped a little closer.

“They are will o’ the wisps. Legend has it that if a will o’ the wisp appears to you and you follow it will lead you to your deepest desire. And, if you catch one, it will make your deepest desire a reality.”

Will o’ the wisps are things of myth and folklore. They are also referred to as “ghost lights” or “faery lights”. What can likely be explained as a scientific phenomenon of gases being released by decaying plants, was often see as little lights that appeared in bogs or swamps. Some believe that the little wisps marked the spot of a hidden treasure, which is why people who saw them would leave their safe path and follow them. In the Disney movie, Brave, the main character sees this little wisps that look like floating blue flames, on multiple occasions and she is told that they will lead her to her fate or destiny. The wisps in folklore are often enticing to people because they see a glimmer of light in the midst of the darkness, so they go towards the light, thinking it will lead them home or lead them to some treasure or destiny. What the follower doesn’t know is that the mischievous spirits are often leading them to their death or to a place far removed from their path home and when the light goes out, the follower is left alone and lost in the swamp or woods, or on the edge of a deadly chasm.

When I started thinking about my second book, Beauty Redeemed, I was drawn to the idea of the wisps. If you’ve read or seen any of my other posts about my second book, you will have picked up by now that dark vs. light is a big theme in this book, especially the things that “look” appealing or enticing, but really aren’t what they appear to be in the end. There is a scene in Beauty Redeemed where Julianna becomes lost in the woods. A stranger appears to her, asking if she is lost. Julianna tells the woman that she is just trying to get home. As Julianna is speaking with the woman, a strange, blue flame appears behind the woman, drawing Julianna’s attention. The flame disappears before Julianna can really look at it and she wonders if she really saw something. She sees it again, and the woman asks if she saw it. The woman steps aside and Julianna sees the flame again. Julianna asks the woman what they are and the woman tells her they are will o’ the wisps and that they will lead her where her heart truly desires to go. When Julianna asks if they will lead her home, the woman doesn’t necessarily answer one way or the other, putting it back on Julianna to decide which way she goes. There is something very enticing and entrancing about the floating blue flames that connects to something inside Julianna and makes her want to follow them, despite the warnings inside telling her not to. In the end, Julianna decides to follow them and see where her desires lead her.

Julianna had been following the will o’ the wisps all day and most of the night. She didn’t understand where on earth they could be leading her, but she was determined not to lose them. The initial flame would light up and draw her in while two or three others flashed behind, producing just enough light to see the next few steps in front of her. She was completely exhausted but she was afraid that if she stopped to rest, they would go on without her or leave her because she had given up on them. 

As dawn approached, the leading wisp stopped suddenly and flickered silently in the air. Julianna stopped. She was so close to the wisp, she could almost reach out and grab it. Julianna stared at the eerie yet entrancing blue flame. Without alerting the still flame, Julianna slowly raised her hands towards it, then quickly reached for the flame, hoping to capture it without it realizing it. The elusive flame vanished and reappeared a few feet ahead of her. Frustrated, Julianna reached for it again and again and again. As Julianna reached for it one last time, she stopped as a large, dark manor house appeared before her.

The flame vanished again but didn’t reappear this time.

As you can see, the flames did not lead Julianna home. In fact, they led her deep into the forest and left her in front of a large manor house. The house is dark and foreboding, and part of Julianna knows she shouldn’t approach the house or enter it, but something in the house calls out to her. She has never allowed herself to fully give in to the desires she has spent so much of her life fighting against, but after so many years of fighting, another part of her wonders what it would be like to explore those secret desires and see if that truly is where she belongs. Perhaps here in this place of darkness, she would finally find home and acceptance.

This is a story many can relate to. The path to sin can seem innocent enough and often times, we start little enough with things that we don’t see the big picture of where those innocent flames are leading us. We think, “It will be fine. I’ll only follow for a little bit, just to see where they go. I can turn back any time.” But we don’t. We see the flicker of something that piques our interest or speaks to a hidden desire within us, and even though we know we shouldn’t follow it or give in, something keeps drawing us to it like an enticing blue flame. We are told they will lead us to our deepest desires or we’ll find treasure beneath the blue flame. Some may even believe that if only they could catch that illusive blue flame, then they could ask it for anything they want. The flame keeps vanishing a reappearing far enough away that we have to move to catch it again. Each step draws us further and further away from our real homes and the safety and love of family and friends, but we are so bent on catching that flame, that we don’t even realize how far we’ve been drawn away from the kingdom of light. The floating flames finally stop, and you reach out to catch it, only to have it disappear again. When it doesn’t reappear, you finally look around a discover that you have no idea where you are at. You are deep in the woods or in a swamp somewhere and maybe you’ve been left overlooking a large chasm that will likely kill you if you step out over the edge. Or, like Julianna in Beauty Redeemed, you end up at a manor house that promises all sorts of pleasures and excitement that will fulfill your innermost desires. A small part of you may look back in the direction you believe to be your home, but you were so focused on the flame that you honestly don’t even know what path you were on, but, a bigger part of you might feel like you want to find out what that house will offer, so you knock and enter the large house, possibly never to be seen again.

The path to sin can be a dangerous one. It can appear innocent or not that bad, but in reality, it is leading you to a place that is far from home, far from loved ones, far from God and His light and love. Beauty Redeemed is all about giving a picture of what our inner darkness and inner struggles with desire can look like. In writing it, I really wanted to show that this struggle is not something that you are alone in. I’ve dealt with my own struggles in my life and my own war with the inner darkness and sinful desires that tempt me to turn away from God and seek fulfillment in the depths of those desires. I also wanted to show that no matter what choices you have made in your life, whether you’ve struggled on your own without sharing with anyone for years, or followed the flickering wisps of unattainable desire, or entered the manor house of your own free will, or even stepped into the realm of darkness, cutting yourself off completely from the light and love of God, He still loves you and always have and always will. He will not leave you alone in the darkness to suffer on your own. In fact, He never did. That’s why He sent His Son to the earth to pay the debt of death that we could not pay, so we could find redemption in Him. He will come after you time and time again and will never stop trying to rescue you and bring you home. You have only to decide if His love and redemption is what you want in your life. You can leave the manor house. Your passage has been bought and paid for to find freedom from the realm of darkness. You need only step over the line, and become a part of the kingdom of light.

If you haven’t read Beauty Redeemed, Julianna is rescued from the manor and from the dark realm, and when she is returned home, she is humbled by the show of love from her family and even her realm. Don’t underestimate how much someone loves you, even when you’ve plunged into the depths of darkness. It can be easy to believe that we can never be loved like that, or loved like that again, but if that love is true, it won’t leave you, even in the darkness, and it will be waiting with eager arms to welcome you home.

Whatever you are struggling with in your life, whether it is brushes with darkness in your past, or whether you are struggling with a battle between light and dark in your life right now, I hope and pray you find encouragement in the books I write and know that they were written out the depths of my own darkness, so you are not alone in this fight. And, maybe you’ve never experience true darkness in your life, but we live in a fallen and twisted world, so you will experience this at some point in your life, and when you do, I hope you can look back and remember that you are not alone in the darkness and you always have a mighty Savior who is after your heart and longs for you to return to Him so He can shower you with His redeeming love and bring you home.