Fae Myths and Legends - SCP Foundation

Foreword: As the SCP Foundation habitually focuses on humans, and human perspectives, the Department of Mythology and Folkloristics has fallen into the same pattern of mostly examining texts by humans for humans. This is due in part to the Foundation's focus on a human-centric definition of "Normalcy" as well as the greater availability of human mythos to the department.

Even in the cases where these myths have as their subject matter sentient beings, we typically have only the perspectives of baseline humans to analyze, rather than the perspectives of the anomalous beings the myths actually concern.

However, with Site-120's relationship with Esterberg we have been given an amazing opportunity to hear first hand accounts of myths from Fae and learn about their culture.

Below, you'll find a selection of myths and religious practices of the Fae species relating to their origin as a species, as recounted to us by the Sidhe Lounge, who have generously allowed us access to portions of their archives.

— Dr. Clara l'Héritier

Children of the Stars

The "Children of the Stars" are a small religious community that shares common beliefs with Fifthism, Ortothans, as well as many components of 1960s American counterculture.

The primary tenant of the religion is an ancient Fae tradition, said to predate the Fae Empire, which claims that the Fae species originated from the stars, were brought to Earth by a messianic figure or deity, and that they will some day return to their home among the stars. However, the literal interpretation of this scripture is a matter of some debate.

Some believe that the their ancestors originated on another planet, and were lead to Earth by a messianic figure in ancient spacecraft who will some day return to lead them home.

Others believe that stars were literally plucked from out of the night sky by a nameless god and crafted into their own image, that of the Fae, and that this explains the typical Fae's propensity for magic.

However, the prevalent school of thought among the Children, is that their ancestors, the original Fae, were born in the universe preceding our own1 which they believe persists to this day to a lesser degree in the form of the Dreaming.2 As a result, adherents have a strong connection to dreams, often keeping dream journals, meditating or taking hallucinogenics.3 Though the Children of the Stars have no official priesthood, they consider lucid dreamers and Oneiromancers, as well as the Oneiroi themselves closer to divinity, especially prizing those who are able to "dreamwalk", a rare and ancient practice wherein a Fae can physically enter and exit the Oneirosphere via human dreams.

While the Foundation has long been aware of dreamwalking and the Erlkingdom due to documents from Her Majesty's Foundation for the Secure Containment of the Paranormal's custodianship of "A Dream of Faerieland,"4 little is known about Oneiric Fae civilization due to a policy of isolationism on their part from baseline reality.5

Though the Children of the Stars are an ancient religion, many of its original beliefs and practices have been lost over the years by historians such as the Sidhe Lounge as well as practitioners themselves, though it is believed the belief system may have been a much more straightforward form of astral worship. This is largely due to the Third Great Diaspora causing the loss of a great amount of generational knowledge and the ensuing decline in religiosity among survivors, as well as the closure of the Erlkingdom and loss of "dreamwalking" as a practice.

The revival of the practice is in large part thanks to Children of the Star spiritual leader Pyotr Xilgwyn often stylized "Peter Star". Peter was a young Esterbergian Fae in 1968 when he left home to attend Deer College in the city of Three Portlands. It was in his Para-Religions course that he first learned about ancient Fae religion and beliefs. However, it was out of the classroom that his own political and social beliefs would take shape. While attending Deer, Peter became fascinated with the 1960s counterculture movement in the United States of America, which had also spread to Deer. He joined various spiritual groups in an effort to "find himself" including the Church of the Second Hytoth, "Dreamers for the Legalization of Love," and amateur rock band "Fifth Eyeball".

When he returned home in 1973, his message of acceptance, free love, and a return to Fae tradition appealed to many youths who, like Peter, were born after the Third Diaspora and felt very little connection to Fae culture. He soon opened a community center wherein he and his followers committed to helping the disenfranchised Fae among them, even the nameless. He also ran regular meditation circles and wrote a best-selling holy book "Dream On", eventually building a small commune on the outskirts of Esterberg where he lives to this day.

Common symbolism among the Children involves the stylization of Fae as moths, or moth-like beings, being led toward a star or nebula representing the Oneirosphere by a deific figure often resembling American musician David Bowie.6

Today, the religion receives few new adherents, with many Fae considering it to be cult-like, and somewhat dated, like many New Age religions. However, die hard David Bowie fans, drug dealers and free love enthusiasts know that there's a place for them in West Esterberg.

One Thousand Faces

It is an observable fact that Fae have a much larger percentage of thaumaturges per capita than humans. The reasons for this are not currently known,7 but the effect on Fae culture is prominent, as youths often cast spells among their classmates merely to play games.8 Due to the ease with which Fae can perform magics such as “glamour”9 or nomenclative magic they are often warned “Don’t glamour thyself thrice-long, lest ye lose your own form in taking that of others!”. This is an expression similar to human warnings to their young about not grimacing or their faces might stick that way permanently10 and typically as truthful, as many Fae parents merely do not want to deal with their precocious young’s transformed tomfoolery. There is also, as with many myths of this variety, a tale associated with it, that of “Lilligan the Liar”.

“Lilligan the Liar” is a tale of a young court jester11 named Lilligan, in the employ of a great and powerful ancient emperor. Lilligan would sing, dance and tell jokes. They would also perform magic, and often incorporated that into their act, sometimes putting on one-Fae shows where they played every part, or performing caricatures of the emperor and his subjects.

One day, however, one like any other, Lilligan decided to pull a prank on a friend of theirs who worked in the palace’s kitchen. So Lilligan transformed into a dog, and stole a pastry from the kitchen. However, unfortunately for Lilligan, it is not their friend who would chse after them, but the mean head chef! Having gotten over their head, Lilligan chose to transform into their friend the pastry chef, after turning a corner, rather than face the consequences of their actions. Upon seeing his pastry chef, the head chef asked of her (secretly a disguised Lilligan) a very important duty: to take a sweetroll to the princess immediately! However, en route, who would Lilligan see but the friend in question standing in their way, muttering angrily about some money Lilligan owed her. Thinking quickly, Lilligan becomes the princess’s consort, a samurai of great renown, passing their friend with no issue and delivering the pastry. But then, as Lilligan was departing, the king himself required the presence of all his samurai before him. A powerful demon, it seemed, had taken residence near the kingdom, and it was up to the samurai to kill it. As Lilligan was disguised as the most veneered samurai, it was they that was sent first. Lilligan had no desire to fight a demon, not at all, not a chance in all of the universe. Yet, to come clean would mean certain punishment by the emperor, so they persevered. Upon reaching the mountain cave, Lilligan entered, and took the measure of their foe. A demon as large as two Lilligans, perhaps three, asleep on a pile of gold. Well, Lilligan may have just had the one trick, but it was a good one. They transformed into a demon, but not just any demon, the largest, nastiest, most terrifying demon Lilligan could have imagined, and roared at the beast, who woke up, and quickly scampered off. That affair being done with, Lilligan readied themselves to dispel their transformation, but to no avail! They had exhausted their magic supply and were thus stuck in the demon form until they recovered, though surely they could just wait a little while, right? No! For it was then that a samurai entered the room, the very samurai Lilligan had been impersonating before. Lilligan tried to yell out, scream out, plead “No, no, mercy, please mercy, I am not demon, I am fair and joyous Lilligan, do not slay me!” but all that came out was a demonic roar. The samurai struck true, and the jester, thought a demon, lay slain.

While the date and location of origin of this tale is unknown, the mention of an emperor and samurai, rather than a king and knights is noteworthy given that, historically Fae have been known to live almost exclusively in Europe. The existence of a similar Nälka myth, however, known as "Nleta the Snake" hints at a shared origin, suspected to pre-date the First Occult War.12

The Long Price

An important component of Fae culture and folklore is the trickster archetype. Similarly to how Fae are portrayed in human literature, many Fae culture heroes will be best known for outwitting their rivals and winning their heart's desire, if only for a moment, through clever trickery, with ambition and cleverness being prized above most other virtues.

There are many tales of outwitting humans, Yeren, other Fae, even gods. However, there is one species that Fae are warned never to match wits with: demons.

Fae and demons, both mythologically and culturally, can be said to have a fair few commonalities. Both species prize, and are known for, ambition, cleverness, trickery and deal making. Both species are also said to have other-dimensional enclaves, Hell13 and Otherworld14 respectively. This, as well as shared or similar mythographies have lead some para-historians to speculate that the two species were closely intertwined at some point in the distant past.15

Indeed, during the Middle Ages, Christian humans would sometimes note Fae as beings of a similar power level to angels and demons with some myths claiming Fae were angels who had "fallen" but were not as wicked as demonkind. This in some ways matches Fae oral tradition surrounding their near omnipotence at the height of the Fae Empire and subsequent fall.16 The popularity of these beliefs in many ways contributed to the general anti-anomalous sentiment among Europeans which led many disenfranchised Fae to join Genghis Khan's Second Fae Empire which led to the Fourth Occult War and ensuing Iron Crusade.17 Unfortunately, while many Fae were able to find refuge in England thanks to the Arthurian Charter, some had to find less savory haven.

Ironically, it is this same prejudice against the Fae that may have led them to seek the fabled Blackacre Accords said to be made between Flynn the Foul-Mouthed and Hell. While these supposed accords have never been confirmed, there exists a large amount of both human18 and Fae19 legends which tell of an other-dimensional plane occupied by Fae wherein Hell acted as a landlord of sorts, requiring regular payment. While the details of this arrangement differ from tale to tale, the stories typically agree, and center on, one detail of it, that the tithe required a number Fae to become slaves to demons.20 Fables surrounding this tithe often focus on Fae attempting to trick demons into taking non-Fae as sacrifices (typically Christian humans, though not always) or otherwise fooling their demonic landlords. While some of these tales end in success on the part of the Fae (typically in the case of offering human or Yeren sacrifices in place of Fae) the majority end with the Fae suffering cruel and ironic punishment.

Another consistent factor throughout these myths is the date of the tax collection, said to be October 31st. As a result many Fae households observe "Tithe Day" on this date, a practice that can be traced back to the 18th Century at the latest. Tithe Day is a day of remembrance typically spent among family members sharing fond memories, especially of ancestors lost or deceased. However, as of the 20th Century many Fae no longer observe Tithe Day in the strictest sense and instead celebrate the Day of the Dead21 or even Halloween. There are also persistent rumors regarding the existence of Satanic Fae cults that engaged in child sacrifice on this date, either as devil worship or in an attempt to prevent Hell collection agencies from seeking repayment in some other fashion.

The Infernal Revenue Service could not be reached for comment at this time.

Footnotes

1. Sometimes referred to as the "First Hytoth".

2. Also known as the Dreamtime, Dreas, Yesod, or the Oneirosphere.

3. Such as "stardust" magic mushrooms or human estradiol.

4. Document pending declassification by the Archival Division.

5. For more information about Oneiric myths and legends contact Site-18.

6. Not to be confused with GoI-4025 ("Saturn's Emissaries") which has similar moth symbolism, but focuses on environmentalism, rather than spirituality (though some Fae have been known to be members of both organizations).

7. With theories ranging from the lining of Fae souls to extraterrestrial intervention.

8. Such as “Hide and Seek” or “Who Am I?”

9. Magic that allows a user to disguise themselves.

10. Largely proven as myth in experimental testing, with some exceptions.

11. The character of "The Fool" appears often in Fae literature, most notably in "Jimothy the Resplendent", "The Scarlet Fool" and "The Fool Who Was You"

12. Recent archaelogical evidence has shown that freed Daeva slaves, both Fae and Nälka, cohabited in or near China during Xia rule, with some Fae even aiding Nälka forces in the First Occult War.

13. As well as Hel, Tarturus and Gehenna.

14. As well as Tír na nÓg, Avalon and Fairyland.

15. For more information about demonic history and folklore, contact Site-666.

16. While the average Fae has not been found to give off high amounts of Akiva Resonant Radiation or Demonic Resonance Energy, a third type of Akiva particle has been theorized to explain the status of beings such as the Fae Courts, the Inventor and Mab.

17. A secret crusade declared by Pope Honorius III (aka Archmage Honorius aka Honorius the Heretic) against mythological beings throughout Europe with an emphasis on Fae and fae-associated beings. While Honorius justified the crusade as a preventative measure against future large scale occult conflict, it was in fact a massive ritual array Honorius intended to use to ascend as an Empyrean entity. While the ritual was prevented the effects of the genocide on the landscape of magical Europe was long lasting.

18. Thomas the Rhymer, Tam Lin, the trial of Alison Pearson.

19. Killian the Knightsbane, The Burning Countesses, Marion The Tithe Collector.

20. While the veracity of this has not been verified, a Site-666 study has found that a disproportionately large amount of servants of visiting demons are Fae, or of Fae heritage.

21. Which some Fae claim partially originated from Tithe Day.