Fairy's

Fairy,Faery,Fee,little ppl,Nature spirits- whatever you want to call them,what are ones thoughts of the Fairy folk,

It is said that Angels are protectors of the universe,and that Fairy is the protector of the Earth.

Do you believe,have you any personal experiences,stories to share ?

Faeries tended to be the collective name given by the Celtic people (allegedly the word Fairy is derived from French, so a bit later than the Gallic/Celtic time, but the gist is there) for all supernatural beings. Just like Daemon/Demon is that term now. It's an interesting prospect, and while I'm unsure as to their existence (a bit skeptical to be honest) I'd would love for faeries to be real. A Glaistig to walk the dogs, an Urisk to cut the grass and a few brownies to do the ironing... all for a bowl of milk each? Fair trade!

I personally subscribe (maybe it's my Celtic blood) to the traditional view of the Fairires as the Good Neighbours, the Gentry or whatever you wish to call them.
For me the Gentry are not mischevious but basically harmless Tinkerbell types but the "Grand Folk" of old Gaelic legends.
Explaining them is probably impossible, though I subscribe to Jacques Vallee's theory that they are probably related in some way to other "unexplainable" mysteries like UFOs.
Of course I have never seen one of the Gentry and what was the last time someone saw one of them?
But I can relate some disquieting multiple episodies of unexplainable disturbance. As you may well know the Good Neighbours have been accused more than once of causing building equipment malfuctions to keep noisy humans away from their havens. The best known case comes from Iceland but there have been similar cases in Ireland and, I believe, Cornwall.
I personally know of a locality where similar accidents seem to happen with an almost unbelievable frequency. Tractors and other agricultural equipment breaking down constantly (strange thing is they are always minor malfunctions, nothing really serious like engine troubles, though it's enough to stop work for a few hours), water hoses bursting a little too often, minor accidents happening constantly to workers etc.
Of course this is probably just a series of coincidences but who know if something (or somebody9 else is at work...

ialso see there is a link between faeries and paganism,Apparantly the pagan faith have 8 major festivals (which i sort of knew),of which these are celebrated by the faeries too,when they are known to feast,dance and cross the veil into our world with ease.Fareie sightings and communications are also favourable at these festival times.

Faerie festivals
samhain....31st october and the celtic new year (halloween)

Midwinter solstice/yule imbolc...21st december/2nd february

Spring Equinox..21st march

Beltaine/may eve...30th april

midsummer solstice...21st june

lughnasadh...31st july

autumn equinox..21st sept

Other significant times for pagans and also faeries are the phases of the moon.

is there a difference between a fairy and a faerie (cant spell, sorry)? or is it just a case of personal preference?

I didn't know about the link between fairies and paganism you learn something new on here each day

I would like fairies to exist. If they don't how come they are depicted as being small,pretty and having wings?

Are they all female (most of the ones I have seen in books etc have been depicted as pretty, slim females.

Do other cultures depict them in other ways?

mogg-y wrote:

I would like fairies to exist. If they don't how come they are depicted as being small,pretty and having wings?

Are they all female (most of the ones I have seen in books etc have been depicted as pretty, slim females.

Do other cultures depict them in other ways?

I think Urisk is on the right track as Faeries is the collective word for a whole range supernatural beings in Celtic/gaelic culture and belief. Depictions of faeries as small winged beings is a more modern interpretation, they were believed to be of all shapes and sizes and included hundreds of different beings literally 'the good the bad and the ugly' if you click on the Quick guides on the following link on the main site http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/folklore.html there are descriptions of some of the beings once believed to haunt wild places. One of the best sources for the Fairy Faith was Katherine Briggs who collected hundreds of stories concerning fairies and wrote a Dictionary of Fairies which is fantastic look at some of these characters of old belief.

I am not sure how the images of fairies became winged and mostly female but the many fairies of old were grim and believed to be dangerous. There is still a belief in fairies were there is still a gaelic survival, but even this is probably dying away. When the Isle of Lewis Chess set was discovered in 1831 the man who discovered them at first thought he had stumbled on a fairy howe, and there are tales of fairy sightings and interactions until fairly recently in the far North of Scotland and Ireland. If you want to check out a modern belief/experience of working with the Fairy Kindgdoms check out any work by R.J. Stewart.

I think there is a film coming out soon about a water horse (Each Uisge) in a Scottish Loch, I saw a trailer the other day so the traditions are not totally dead.

All cultures have had belief in otherworlds and otherworld beings until quite recently.

Apologies for rambling

mogg-y wrote:

is there a difference between a fairy and a faerie (cant spell, sorry)? or is it just a case of personal preference?

I didn't know about the link between fairies and paganism you learn something new on here each day

I would like fairies to exist. If they don't how come they are depicted as being small,pretty and having wings?

Are they all female (most of the ones I have seen in books etc have been depicted as pretty, slim females.

Do other cultures depict them in other ways?

Ppl call the fairy many things and spell their name differently too.

apparantly you can have male and female fairies,and they reproduce....They also dont eat,but take in the energy from food,they apparantly are partial to milk,cream,cake,lol

Faeries are known as many names throughout the world,here are some of the most common.

FAIRY
FAERIE/FAERY/FAIRYE/FAYERYE/FERI/FRAIRIE
PIXIE
FAY/FEY/FAE
FEE
ELF
ELFIN/ELVEN
GODS PEOPLE
LITTLE PEOPLE
THE HIDDEN ONES
THE STRANGERS
THE WEE ONES
THE GOOD NEIGHBOURS
MEN OF PEACE
THE LOVERS
LITTLE DARLINGS
THE FAIR FOLK
THE GOOD PPL
THE SECRET PPL

(NAMES OF THE FAERIE LAND)

FAERIE LAND/LAND OF THE FAERIE/FAIRYLAND
ELPHAME
ANNWN
TIR NA OG/THE LAND OF YOUTH
OTHERWORLD
UNDERGROUND COUNTRY
GIMLE

mogg-y wrote:

is there a difference between a fairy and a faerie (cant spell, sorry)? or is it just a case of personal preference?

I didn't know about the link between fairies and paganism you learn something new on here each day

I would like fairies to exist. If they don't how come they are depicted as being small,pretty and having wings?

Are they all female (most of the ones I have seen in books etc have been depicted as pretty, slim females.

Do other cultures depict them in other ways?

There is a difference between a fairy and a faerie. But the difference is only in preference of the spelling, and that alone. The word Fairy probably came from a French word- Fey. Allegedly it replaced the more traditional Elf as the buzz-word to describe these supernatural beings, round about the Tudor period. To be honest, Faerie is a rather collective term- it's like how the word Fish is used to describe the collection of aquatic, gilled vertebrates, rather than a specific taxonomic group, like Mammal!

The "little fairy girl with wings" etc really came about in the Victorian era, and I refer to it as a Disney Fairy (note I don't spell it faerie, like I usually do). Really the term is used to describe the "fair folk" who you did your best NOT to rub the wrong way!

Check this website for the myriad types of faeries. Then go out and buy a copy of Faeries by Brian Froud (yes, the Labyrinth/Dark Crystel dude) and Alan Lee (yes, the Lord of the Rings dude) as it is the perfect place to begin studies into Faeries. Basically, think of a kelpie or each uisge. Doesn't sound like your typical faerie, but technically they are.

Other nations have different names for the same sort of entities, such as Japanese goblins like the Tengu, or I suppose even the magical animals like Tanuki.


Dan, yes there is a movie coming out, Legend of hte Water Horse. It is a kid's movie, but I'm quite interested. Might be one to take the nephew to see There has been a viral marketing scheme online for a good while now- no doubt some of you guys will have come across it; a video of a finned animal leaping out of the water, all made to look like an amatuer video. It's a pretty cool video too!


Found hte video- here.

Not sure this article below is describing the faerie as we know them.

http://innerself.ca/html/miscellaneous/general/do-fairies-exist.html

Jeremy Harte's also written a good book on fairies.

I think there's a lot to be said for sightings of fairies being linked to other paranormal experiences like UFO's and ghosts.

Furthermore, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence (especially in place like Ireland and parts of Scandanavia where fairy belief is relatively commonplace) about fairies interacting with humans, especially in cases where a massive new road is built across a fairy path, or a certain tree has been chopped down. Paul Devereux's looked into this in relation to spirit roads, ley lines etc.

And of course let us not forget the famous Faerie bridge on the Isle of Mann! Having been there a couple of times, it's an oddity that on public transport, you either get everyone turning to the windows and shouting out a big hello to the faeries, or you get nothing at all.