The Protector – the masked elf who oversees my family’s property in North Conway, NH – has long been a partner and inspiration to my brother Chet, the head of our little enclave. Chet died three years ago and on my first visit to the property since then, I was touched by how profoundly that death had affected his elfin friend. You can see that change in these two portrait studies I made of the masked elf.

The smiling Protector in 2011

The sad-eyed Protector this year

Relationships Across Dimensions

The Protector has his headquarters in a tall pine tree at the entry to the main living area of the family compound, anchoring his consciousness there as an energetic protector. I had not realized just how close the relationship between human being and nature being can be until this summer, on my visit up north. My brother Chet and his wife Eve used to spend a good part of each summer at their cottage on the property (a place I would visit only occasionally, staying in my cottage now inhabited the rest of the year by my friend the Gnome – another story – my life having gone in another direction).

Chet died just before COVID lockdown began and so neither Eve nor I had visited since. On this, my first visit, I went about reconnecting and greeting my nature beings friends. When I visited the Protector, I was greeted by an energetic communication of profound sorrow. The Protector missed his human friend and the interdimensional partnership they had enjoyed in caring for the land. With that human partner now gone, and no other human currently listening to him for inspiration and companionship, the Protector has withdrawn – still present, but silent. His image now is of a sad-eyed being who has drawn his mask over his mouth (e.g. he is no longer speaking).

CLICK HERE to read a story I wrote about the Protector and his tree, in happier times.

Masked Elves

My family has an affinity with the Masked Elves, one of the many species who make up the broad elfin realms. They are very tall – about 8 feet – with solid builds, gentle in nature but willing to fight if needed. They are servers, ambassadors, protectors and bridge the divide between human beings and nature beings. They have the ability to cloak themselves from sight, so that humans see only tree bark – or they can open up their cloaking and appear in all their elfin beauty. Their artistic visual symbols are a hood, a facial mask or facial armor, and a cloak. They are depicted in various states of cloaking. They will often anchor themselves in a nodal tree, spreading their protective energy out in an energetic net that permits them to know what is happening anywhere in their domain of responsibility.

Before (leftmost, a photo from 2011), the Protector felt comfortable with the humans in residence and had retracted his lower face mask, openly smiling and interacting with humans. Today (right side image, 2023), the Protector is energetically sad over the loss of his friend and land partner and has pulled his lower face mask almost entirely over his mouth.

The Protector has currently withdrawn from open interaction with the human world. It remains to be seen what will evolve next.