Ignis fatuus folklore tradition

“I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist”

Uncle Jerry identifies 'fairy lights' as ignis fatuus (Latin for 'foolish fire'), a folklore phenomenon also known as Friar's Lantern, bog lights in Irish folklore, and will-o'-the-wisp in Appalachian folklore. Angela & Uncle Jerry discuss how these lights are generally taken as a warning, conjured by witches in Appalachian tradition, associated with dead bodies in bogs in Irish folklore. Uncle Jerry notes that people walk toward them because they are 'clouded' or 'tricked by some leprechaun or by some witch,' which parallels the speaker's clouded state entering the relationship. The mist could be literal (foggy London) or figurative (a clouded mind).