13 Scottish Myths and Legends

Thirteen Scottish Myths and Legends 1. Black Donald - the devil - who cannot disguise his cloven feet. 2. Boobrie - water-bird of the Scottish Highlands. 3. Brownie - good-natured, invisible brown elves or household goblins. The younger version of the "Girl Guides" in Britain at least, are called "Brownies" for that very reason! 4. Clootie - another Scottish name for the Devil. The name comes from cloot, meaning one division of a cleft hoof. 5. Fachan - one leg, one arm and one eye. 6. Fionn - Scottish/Pictish magician, warrior and poet. 7. Ghillie Dhu - a solitary Scottish elf. 8. Kelpie - a water devil. 9. Lothian - Lothian traditionally takes its name from King Lot and father of Mordred. 10. Monster of Loch Ness - mythical? Surely not.... First seen by St Columba in 565 a.d. 11. Red Cap - lives on the Scottish Border in ancient ruins of castles. 12. Scotia - a goddess but frequently portrayed as an old hag! 13. Selkie - a marine creature in the shape of a seal. 14. Shellycoat - a Scottish bogeyman who haunts the rivers and streams. He is covered with shells, which rattle when he moves. 15. Sidhe the Gaelic name for fairies in both Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Okay, so there's 15. Sue me. :) Rampant Scotalnd

Trade Show Magic

Long ago in a continent far, far away, my mother took me to the Frankfurt Book Fair. For a greedy reader like me, it was Hell. All those miles and aisles of books spread out before me like water, water everywhere and nary a tome for sale.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't understand it. And I drove my mother crazy whining, "But why can't we buy them?"

Her explanations of "floor samples" and "demonstration copies", which could be ordered (in bulk) but not owned because they hadn't been printed yet, didn't make sense. How could the books not be printed yet? They were there, on the shelves, printed and bound and everything.

She might've had an easier time trying to explain the principles behind quantum physics. Or magic, because her explanation turned the books into fairy gifts, phantom objects made of twigs and leaves, which only appeared to be real. Why else would apparently rational grown-ups pay the business-suited sharpers running the booths fantastic sums in Deutschmarks and dollars, then walk away empty-handed--and happy about it? The people paying the money must be under some kind of magic spell. They'd been deceived into buying something that didn't exist because, as everyone kept telling me over and over, none of the books on the shelves were for sale. Still, the salespeople seemed to be making a heck of a lot of money selling the books that didn't exist and weren't for sale.

I pondered this for a few minutes. Mom relaxed. She should've known better. Nothing is potentially more hazardous to a parent's position in the world than a thoughtful child.

After I'd been quiet so long my mom forgot why I'd been fussing in the first place, I opined loudly, in both English and German, this completely legal shell game was infinitely better than the ones my uncles took me to see in Atlantic City and I wanted a piece of it now. Fortunately for both of us, one of the booksellers came to Mom’s rescue by bribing me--er, presenting me a beautifully illustrated book on the Maori. I didn't know the Maori from beans, but the pictures were gorgeous enough to distract me from my pursuit of ultimate riches through the sale of books that didn’t exist and weren’t for sale.

Instead a new monster took up residence in my warped little brain. It whispered in my mind's ear the magic words that make all the women in my family sit up and take notice--and were probably the reason my mom finagled her way into a closed trade show in the first place.

Free Stuff, the monster cooed.

I've been a trade show junkie ever since.

This year, thanks to my brand spanking new RWA Published Author Network membership, I got the opportunity sign copies of With Nine You Get Vanyr at the American Library Association's (ALA's) annual conference. The conference, which ran from June 23-26, was held in the Washington DC Convention Center, home to last year's Book Expo America (BEA).

Although the center's conference rooms were all booked and the center's three-block-long exhibit space was filled to capacity, the ALA conference gave off a very different vibe than BEA's desperate marketing frenzy. Partially it was the lay-out. Aisles were wider. People cruising the displays had the option of strolling, stopping for a chat or snagging a soft pretzel from one of the carts making the rounds.

Google, Ingram, Demco and a few other tech service outfits mounted expansive displays, but they were the exceptions. Publisher stalls were smaller and simpler than they'd been at the 2006 BEA. Simon and Schuster, for example, occupied only a quarter of a single aisle. Harlequin's booth didn't take up too much more floor space than some of the stalls occupied by the independent presses. Inviting arrangements of reading chairs and whimsically upholstered children's furniture (care to recline in a padded notebook?) interrupted the booths at convenient intervals.

But the more relaxed atmosphere owed a lot to the crowd. As Wildside publisher Sean Wallace said, "ALA is all about readers."

The attending librarians came to look at books, not just for their libraries but also for themselves. The publishers sought to oblige them. There were some giveaways, but not enough to stress about. Most of the books and educational DVDs were for sale at half price or less to anyone attending the show (even stray Vanyr signers). Or free after a certain time on the last day.

Books and DVDs weren't the only things for sale either. I saw South American knits and marbled scarves, writer-themed umbrellas, hand cream, jewelry and the ever-popular book bags--which sold despite the fact that a lot of exhibitors were giving them away.

A purveyor of traditional music CDs and DVDs brought in a country fiddler to serenade the crowd. I caught up with the fiddler as he was launching into a reel. A little boy no older than four stood at the man's feet. The child stared, enraptured, as the fiddle dipped and swayed in the fiddler's hands. Music spilled from the strings in sparkling, almost visible, waves.

When the reel spun to rest and the small crowd's applause broke the spell, the little boy blinked and jerked his head like someone waking from a charmed sleep. Watching the child's reactions, I understood why people said the Devil was a fiddler. The little boy was enthralled as surely as anyone captured by a sorcerer's magic spell.

We tend to dismiss fantasy as an escape, the outgrowth of super-heated imaginations inalterably opposed to the boring world of monthly bills, interchangeable offices, annoying bosses and rush hour traffic. How can the extraordinary possibly co-exist with the cash register? Yet there in the middle of book sales and CD racks, right in front of who knows how many rational, responsible, tax-paying grown-ups, a fiddler bewitched a child--and the rest of us right along with him.

Not only that, they were selling those books that didn't exist too. I was standing in the booth when it happened, just like I did in Germany all those years ago.

Who says fairy gifts aren't real?

What's your fantasy?

Noooooooooooo!! DON'T start posting yet! I don't mean THAT kind of fantasy!
*whew*

First, open this link in a new tab or a new window so you can refer to it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_subgenres

Now! What's your fantasy?
*glowers at the smart aleck who is still typing 'two women, one bed, and silk scarves'*
Not. That. Fantasy!

There are some 19 different fantasy subgenres listed at Wikipedia. And I'm wondering, what's your favourite? What books do you have in the genre which you love? Why do you like that one?
Yes, I'm being nosey today :)

Summer Solstice Creature Feature

Blessings of Alban Hefin, Midsummer, Litha, Summer Solstice, to Everyone in the Northern Hemisphere!

Blessings of Alban Arthan, Midwinter, Yule, Winter Solstice, to Everyone in the Southern Hemisphere!

As we bask in the warm sunlight of the longest day of the year, amid the green and growing things of summer, it's almost a shock to realize that after today the light will begin dying. The Oak King has reached the height of his strength, but even now the Holly King is stirring, beginning to stalk the Oak King in his quest to rule over the long dark winter. The endless cycle of birth and death continues.

The Holly King and Oak King are the twin faces of the Horned God, each ruling over the dark and light halves of the year. They are in a perpetual duel for the favor of the Goddess, and each ritually dies at the end of his season. But neither one is truly dead, he merely withdraws for six months, some say to Caer Arianrhod, the Castle of the ever-turning Silver Wheel. This is the enchanted realm of the Goddess Arianrhod where the god must wait and learn before being born again.

Source: Earth Witchery

Summer Solstice Recipe

ORANGE HONEY BUTTER

2 Tablespoons Grated Orange Rind
3 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon honey

Combine the orange rind, powdered sugar, butter and honey in a small bowl and blend until well mixed. Chill slightly and serve with scones or biscuits. Recipe courtesy Red Deer & Elenya.

Ellora's Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction II (Viking's Pledge by Melany Logen)

I'm so excited!

Mista is terrified of her master, the warrior Raynor. Yet he has never touched her in any way, only offered her his protection. When he returns from a six-month voyage, however, his lust is uncontrollable—and Mista finds him irresistible. But a slave is not a suitable wife for a warrior, and her longing for her native Ireland is more than she can bear.

Raynor will give her anything, including her freedom. As the time approaches for her to return to her homeland, though, Mista realizes she might have given up the only home she knows—or wants.

Check it out!

Melissa

Thirteen Fantasy Cliches

13 Fantasy Clichés

By now, we’ve all read a fantasy novel (I hope) at some point in our lives. Perhaps you can relate to some of these clichés we’ve all come to know and love-- clichés that have now become staples to the genre.
1.) At some point during the story, the characters will either meet and/or discuss battle tactics in a tavern.
2.) This tavern will also have an inn attached so the characters can stay the night.
3.) Hero/heroine grows up in a tavern/inn.
4.) Mysterious, dark riders will show up to heighten tension.
5.) Hero/heroine’s family will be killed, thus forcing them on a life-threatening adventure.
6.) Hero/heroine is already an orphan, thus forcing them on a life-threatening adventure.
7.) The unlikeliest, poorest, or least experienced person will become the hero/heroine of the story, and the fate of the world is in their hands.
8.) The fantasy plot will be nothing less than total annihilation to king and country if the hero/heroine should fail their mission.
9.) There’s usually only one last dragon left in the world, one last wizard who knows the secret magics, or one last person who can wield the Mighty Uber Sword of Destiny.
10.) Elves will somehow be involved.
11.) Hero/heroine will go through some hellish ordeals throughout their plot, and will no longer be the fun-loving happy-go-lucky character of Chapter One.
12.) In fact, hero/heroine will become pensive and moody and wish things could go back to the way they were.
13.) At the end of the story, hero/heroine will either BE royalty, or so highly revered they might as well be royalty.

And there you have it. Thirteen clichés of the fantasy genre, whether it be straight fantasy, or fantasy romance. :)
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Becka's World Building Workshop ~ Post #2

This is the second post of an ongoing 7-part series. The first post can be found at:

http://fantasyandenchantment.blogspot.com/2007/06/beckas-world-building-workshop-post-1.html

~*~*~

WBW Post #2

TERRAIN AND MAPS

After you name your world and think of it's government (you don't need to go into details right now, just decide if it's a monarchy, a democracy, a dictatorship, etc...), then you need to think of the terrain.

One of the easiest things to do for this exercise is to literally draw yourself a map. Now, since no one else is going to see this map, you don't have to worry about it being artistically perfect. :) All you want to do is lay out mountain ranges, rivers, oceans, lakes, and maybe the locations of some cities.

Now you can name these as you go, our you can name them at a later date, but terrain can give you some wonderful ideas on your world's history, as well as trade routes and port cities.

In my world's terrain, I have two mountain ranges, one set is called The King's Mountains and the other set is called The Mountains of the Night. They are also known as The Dragon's Death Mountains. Now, my second mountain range has two names due to some local folklore, which you can think of later when we cover your world's history. But for right now, I want to give you some ideas of what I've done.

There's a road in Lyndaria called the Merchant Road, the main road that leads goods from the coast inland to other cities, branching out in all directions. The castle sits on the top of high cliffs that overlook the pounding waves of the Silver Sea.

Names of my cities include:

Marynville
Stollinshire
Winterborne
Breckenwood
Tabrinth
Korenth
Krey

You get the idea. Names of cities don't have to be all that spectacular. Some of the cities named above are actually small villages. So you can decide whether they are large cities or small hamlets. I also have a few lakes and rivers dotting the landscape. You're going to want to plot out your world so you can better understand distances between two points if your characters decide to travel and also to know where they are going.

Don't worry about naming your terrain at the moment unless you want to. I know some people are horrified at the thought of naming even their H and h! lol But just do a sketch of your world's terrain so you can better understand your world and invent a history and customs and peoples. Names can come later.

So bust out the blank paper and colored pencils and start coloring! Decide where you want your terrain to go and then we can move on to the next step!

~~Becka
http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

My example of Lyndaria comes from my fantasy/romance novels The Legends of Mynos, currently published at http://www.SamhainPublishing.com.

Urban Fantasy Anyone?

Maybe it's just me, but I have a really hard time categorizing my own writing. I've been thinking lately about what constitutes the subset of fantasy known loosely as Urban Fantasy. I looked up the term and found a somewhat weak Wiki entry as well as an amusing entry that lays it out like this:

"The Inaccurate yet Simple Definition: A fantasy story set on "modern" Earth."

I can buy that - to a point. For some reason, I've always associated a "dark" feeling with Urban Fantasy as well. I'm not sure if it's entirely accurate with the way other folks perceive the genre, and I'm not entirely sure if a story has to be dark to qualify as Urban Fantasy, but it's a feeling I have. Am I far off the mark?

Nevertheless, I'm working on a few stories that just might qualify as Urban Fantasy. That's what started this whole analysis. See, in order to pitch a book to an editor or agent, you really have to know how to describe it. I am THE WORST at figuring out what genres/styles my writing fits into because I'm just too close to it to be objective.

So here's a question - would you consider a story with werecreatures and magic, set in the contemporary world to be Urban Fantasy or paranormal, and how in the world does one distinguish the two? I'm really curious to hear other people's thoughts on this as I try to reason it out myself.

Thursday Thirteen: Magical Cats

1. Puss in Boots

2. Dick Whittington’s Cat

3. The Catbus in Hayao Miyazaki’s movie My Neighbor Totoro

4. Maneki Neko, the Japanese lucky cat with an upraised paw

5. The Norse goddess Freyja’s nine, horse-sized winged cats, which draw her chariot

6. Aslan the Lion in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia stories

7. Yoruichi Shihouin, ex-commander of the Shinigami special forces in the anime Bleach

8. Austin in Tanya Huff’s Keeper’s Chronicles trilogy

9. The Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

10. Cait Sidhe, the cat spirit of the Scottish Highlands

11. Solembum in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Trilogy

12. The Cat in the Hat in Dr. Seuss’s stories

13. And the most magical of all…your cat.

Who Says You Can't Teach An Old Myth New Tricks

Move over Indiana Jones, I’ve found a new hero. Only Adrienne Mayor isn’t the kind of hero who slays monsters. Instead, she brings them to life, overturning a lot of what we thought we knew about the ancient Greece and Rome along the way.

Most modern historians and students of mythology dismissed the fabulous creatures described by Homer and other ancient writers as the products of overheated imaginations, too much wine or bad grain. At best, they were considered metaphors for whirlpools or thunderstorms or other natural phenomena the ancients probably understood almost as well as the average non-scientific American.

Mayor, like Heinrich Schliemann (the discoverer of Troy) before her, took a different tack. She wondered if the legends might be telling it straight. The accounts of giant bones uncovered at the sites of legendary battles during the height of the Greek and Roman eras were too numerous, too full of detail and simply too boring to dismiss. The same applied to reports of the remains of gigantic heroes venerated at ancient temples.

Then there was the peculiar depiction of “The Monster of Troy” on a Corinthian vase painted around 550 B.C. Most of the vase is decorated in the beautiful, stylized black on red figures familiar to lovers of classical Greek art. In comparison, the “monster” is white and ungainly, and hangs at an odd angle from its supposed lair. Mayor wondered if, instead of a living creature emerging from a cave, it might be an early depiction of a fossilized skull embedded in a cliff face.

To test her theories, Mayor tracked down the scant remains of the temple caches. Working with paleontologists who specialize in mainland Greece and islands of the Aegean Sea, she developed a model of what kinds of fossils the ancients might have found. She also identified some of the places where they would’ve found them--places which remain rich sources of fossils even today.

Mayor realized the fossils of prehistoric mammals found on a number of Greek islands could be mistaken for the remains of misshapen, bipedal giants. After all, one mammalian thigh bone--or spine or rib or hip bone--looks pretty much like another, regardless of size. The skulls of mammoths and mastodons don’t have eyes in the front. They boast a single center-front opening where the trunk would be attached in a living animal. If you tilt the skull so the pits where the tusks are attached become the “jawline” and assemble the rest of the skeleton as if it walked on two feet, you’ve got a perfect model for Homer’s monstrous, one-eyed Cyclops.

In addition, Mayor’s research uncovered connections between ancient descriptions of griffins and the remains of Protoceratops dinosaurs discovered by ancient gold prospectors in central Asia. The Monster of Troy turned out to be a rendering of a large prehistoric mammal’s skull so exact modern paleontologists had no trouble identifying the species.

What makes Mayor’s odyssey through Greek mythology even more strange and wonderful is her background. She isn’t an archaeologist or anthropologist or even a paleontologist. She’s a late-blooming folklorist who worked most of her professional life as a printmaker and copy editor. She doesn’t have any advanced degrees and didn’t even consider writing a book until she was over fifty. Yet she’s now a visiting scholar at Stanford University with publication credits most tenured professors would envy. She’s even got her very own episode of the History Channel’s History’s Mysteries, "Ancient Monster Hunters".

Talk about a role model for the ages. Mayors is living my favorite Robert Browning line: “The best is yet be.” Not to mention sending my plot bunnies into overdrive.

For more information, check out:

Adrienne Mayor's Stanford Page

Adrienne Mayor's Home Page

Adrienne Mayor's Wiki

New York Times Feature on Adrienne Mayor

I seriously have no words

This is my fabulous new cover, created for me by the fabulous Anne Cain.

Movie sleuth:

Romantictimes has a section called book sleuth. So, today I’m going to make use of your great minds. I’m on a mission to discover a title of a movie I once saw years ago on television with my dh. We both enjoyed it, but neither of us retained the title.

All I can really remember is the story plot contained a romance! There was magic and a curse, both elements of a fantasy. The setting was ancient, or possibly medieval. Oh, a big clue I hope will jog some memories…one of the couple suffered a curse of being an eagle or falcon.

Can you help me with the title? And please share with us one of your favorite fantasy movies?

Until later~
Mel

Quiz Fun: What Fantasy Character Are You?

I ended up being Gandalf! It figures that I'm the old, crinkly wizard instead of the young and beautiful Arwen, or the powerful and mysterious Galadriel. LOL

"A wandering spirit caring for a multitude of just concerns, you are an instrumental power in many of the causes around you."

And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord.

Click on the picture to take the quiz!

13 reasons it'd be fun to be an evil witch

Nope, I'm not. Really. I'm NOT! Stop laughing ;)

Ok. Here are 13 reasons it'd be fun to be the (stereotypical) bad gal instead of the sweet heroine in a fantasy book.

13. You don't have to be a virgin like the heroine does.
12. When people piss you off, you can turn them into frogs.
11. You get some truly kickass dialogue. (usually offset by some really cheesy dialogue, but we're looking at the positive side of things here.)
10. Usually there's some prophecy to warn you of danger coming, so you should be able to get out of its way.
9. You're beautiful. And really, who doesn't want to be one of the Pretty Girls, at least for a little while?
8. Children are afraid of you. (I'm guessing this would make your neighbourhood the quietest one in the world.)
7. You have henchmen. Sure, they're usually ugly kiss-asses, but seriously, who couldn't use a henchman when the toilet clogs or some 'sweet little virgin' comes to dethrone you.
6. UNLIMITED POWER! (This really should count for two reasons. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't want to fly or read minds or...something!)
5. When you're evil, your conscience doesn't keep you up at night. (take THAT Jiminy Cricket)
4. Hot evil men to 'join forces' with.
3. Everyone knows your name.
2. You can ride a broom. (*picks minds out of the gutter* you dirty thangs!)
1. Being an Evil Witch, you have the freedom to say whatever you want, to whoever you want. And really, that's a power I'd love to have. ;)

Becka's World Building Workshop ~ Post #1

WBW Post #1

For the next few weeks on my blog days here (every two weeks) on the Fantasy and Enchantment blog, I'm going to be running a feature called Becka's World Building Workshop. There are seven "classes" in all, and I'll be labeling each post with their number and linking back to them so you can find them with ease. Hope you enjoy the workshop!

~*~*~*~

For those of you who might be building a fantasy world or a sci-fi world, or even a world of your own creation for your books, this will be a tremendous help in building up your world and making it "real" for the reader. Even if you do not use all the information you think of in your book, it helps to flesh out your world to the Nth degree, so you know what you're talking about. Believe me, readers "know" when the author isn't "feelin' it". :)

If you would like to follow along and build your world with the workshop, feel free! You can post comments and give updates on how you're doing. :)

We'll be touching on a few of these topics, and we might spend more time on some than others, but we'll give at least a little time to each. We'll start out slow at first and then delve into other aspects as we go along. I'll also be giving you a little homework with each subject for those who'd like to jump in and make their world as we go. It's not going to be too hard, so don't sweat it,
really!

Don't worry, you don't have to do the world building exercises that I lay out if you don't want, but if you do, you can report what you've come up with and share it with us.


We're going to cover:

• Your country or world's name
• You world's history
• Leaders of your country, kings or politicians (hierarchy)
• Your money system (economy, trade, & currency)
• Mountains, valleys, & rivers (terrain & maps)
• Crops & Agriculture
• Races of creatures and customs (culture)

I hope you guys like this idea. :) I held a workshop on world-building once, and people found it informative then. I thought you guys would like some tips as well. I'll be posting some more articles on it as time goes by. :)

Let's get started!

The first thing you should do with your world is name it. This name can be completely made up or based off of something else such as mythology or folktales.

This is probably the easiest part of building a world. I know some of you might be lamenting the thought of naming your world right off the bat, but a good, solid name may give you ideas for your hierarcy and history.

To give my world as a reference, I'll be telling you bits and pieces about it over the course of this workshop. Using it as an example, you might better understand the creation of your own.

My world is known as "Lyndaria". I decided to base it loosly off of Medieval England. With that as a base, I created a line of kings and knights, along with a castle and titled lords, but there is also an element of magic. You may not choose this for yourself, especially if you are into sci-fi, but now is the time to decide what you want to create.

"High fantasy" is a term often used to describe magical worlds such as mine that resemble Medieval times. These worlds are usually heavy with magical influence and have many magical weapons and talismans that can be used by the characters. But you can create anything, from an ice planet to an alternate reality if say, the British had won the Revolutionary War.

You want to think about a feasible name for your world, something that will fit within the setting. If you are writing fantasy, you want your world's name to sound fantastic. Likewise, a Sci-fi world might have a name that fits with our current naming system of planets and moons.

For example, my fantasy world is called "Lyndaria" as I've stated above. Other names from popular fantasies are Xanth, Middle Earth, & Narnia. Sci-fi worlds could be Aphrodite, Pandora, or Hera, keeping with mythological names of gods & goddesses. Other names of Sci-fi worlds from fiction include Arrakis, Abados, & Chulak.

Once your world is named, then think of how you want it ruled. Is it ruled by a king? A president? A dictator? What is the chain of command on your world? Do you have titled lords? Politicians?

When you figure out those two things, then the history of your world should come soon after. But we'll talk about that more in depth in another article. For now, I want you to name your world and chose your hierarcy, whether you are going to base it off of an earth culture either past or present or make up your own system of government.

Once that foundation is laid, then we can move on to the other aspects of world building. Once you think of your name and government, post them here if you'd like. Don't worry about names of leaders and such, as that can be worried about later. Right now, we just want the basic building blocks.

If any of you have questions about naming your world or chosing a government, feel free to post them in this thread as well.

:)

~~Becka


My example of Lyndaria comes from my fantasy/romance novels The Legends of Mynos, currently published at http://www.SamhainPublishing.com.

Creature Feature: Nessie

The Loch Ness Monster... Nessie... A phantom, long-necked creature rising out of the mists of a dark Scottish lake. Creepy, right?

Many stories have been told over the centuries and many theories exist as to whether or not Nessie really lives deep in the cold waters of Loch Ness.

Some speculate Nessie could be an elasmosaurus, a kind of plesiosaur, or a decendant thereof. They were thought to have become extinct at the same time as most dinosaurs. They were aquatic reptiles with long necks and bodies up to 46 feet long, according to fossil evidence.

Could there be a last lingering few of these creatures living deep in the waters of Loch Ness? It's a tantalizing mystery to ponder. So tell me, do you believe in Nessie?

Bianca D'Arc
Come over to the D'Arc side... www.biancadarc.com

Quick and Easy Post :)

I decided today to start a new story in the next few weeks...and I'm using all of you for Market Research :)

So, if you could have a magic ability, or a combination of up to THREE...what would you pick?

Examples include:
ability to fly, telepathy, empathy, telekinesis...
The ability to light a fire with a single thought? To dematerialize and appear somewhere else?

Inquiring (mindblocked) minds want to know :)