Fairies

## About

A host of supernatural beings and spirits who exist between earth and heaven. Both good and evil, fairies have been associated with witches. During the witch hunts in Europe and the British Isles, accused witches often sought to save their lives by claiming they were taught their witch arts by fairies, which seemed less malevolent than if they had been taught by the Devil. For the most part, fairies have remained in a category of their own, though when convenient, the clergy allied them with the Devil.

Belief in fairies is universal and ancient and is especially strong in Europe and the British Isles. Fairies come in all shapes and sizes and are known by scores of names, among them in Western lore brownie, elf, dwarf, troll, gnome, pooka, kobold, leprechaun and banshee. In the colonization of America, fairy beliefs were transported across the Atlantic, where they survived in the Appalachians, the Ozarks and other remote mountainous areas.

The word fairy comes from the Latin term, fata, or “fate.” The Fates were supernatural women who liked to visit newborn children. The archaic English term for fairy is fay, which means enchanted or bewitched; the state of enchantment is fayerie, which gradually became faerie and fairy.

There are four principal proposed origins of fairies:

1. Fairies are the souls of the pagan dead. Being unbaptized, the shades, or souls, are caught in a netherworld and are not bad enough to descend into hell nor good enough to rise into heaven.

2. Fairies are fallen angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to Lucifer plunged down toward hell with him. But God raised his hand and stopped them in midflight, condemning them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, some in the earth and some in the seas and rivers. This belief is widespread in the lore of Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.

3. Fairies are nature spirits. Fairies are among the many spirits that populate all things and places on the planet.

4. Fairies are diminutive human beings. Evidence exists that small-statured races populated parts of Europe and the British Isles in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, before the spread of the Celts. In Ireland a mythical race called the Tuatha de Danaan lived in barrows and in shelters burrowed under hills and mounds. They were shy and hard-working, and, as stronger races invaded and conquered with their iron weapons, they retreated into the woodlands to live secretive lives. They were pagan and continued to worship pagan deities. They were close to nature and had keen psychic senses. Some were skilled in metals and mining, and some were herdsmen, keeping stocks of diminutive cattle and horses. Some maintained a guerilla warfare against invaders. The legends of Robin Hood and Rob Roy may be related to fairy lore.

The elusive fairy races were regarded with suspicion and superstition by the larger races and gradually became endowed in popular belief with magical attributes and characteristics. These races, such as the Lapps, Picts and Romano-British-Iberian peoples, were not so small as to be unable to mingle with the Celts, Normans and Saxons. Many were made into servants and serfs, while some married and mixed bloodlines. Prior to the 13th century, having fairy blood was admired.

Of the four main ideas, the latter two may be most likely: the small races became identified as fairies and were ascribed the supernatural abilities and characteristics of nature spirits in lore.

Fairy lore. Physical characteristics of fairies vary. Some are tiny, winged, gossamer creatures a few inches tall who can alight on a drop of water and barely make it tremble. Some are dwarfs and “little people” barely smaller than mortals. Others are giants. Fairies are both ugly and beautiful. They are usually mischievous and unpredictable and must be placated by gifts of food and spotlessly clean houses. The superstitious refer to them as “the good people” or “the good neighbours” in order to stay in the fairies’ good graces.

When won over by a mortal, fairies may be very generous with gifts, either material or psychic such as clairvoyance or the ability to heal. Some are evil and malevolent. Many are lascivious and enjoy seducing mortals; some even marry mortals. In general, it is considered bad luck to talk about fairies and their activities. To do so invites a beating from them and the instantaneous disappearance of all the gifts bestowed by the fairies, such as wealth and possessions, and even the fairy lovers or spouses themselves.

Fairies are nocturnal creatures and like to drink, dance and sing. Their music is exquisite. Their color is green, which is also identified with witches. Green clothing perhaps helps them to blend into their forests; some are said to have green skin. They keep many animals, including dogs, cattle and sheep, which usually are red and white in colour, but they do not keep cats or fowl. In Irish folklore, cats are regarded as fairies, generally as evil ones. The crowing of cocks drives away fairies, as well as witches and demons.

Like the Fates, fairies love to visit the newborn babies of mortals and will not hesitate to steal those that are unbaptized, or “little pagans,” substituting in their place changelings—wizened fairy children. Fairies particularly desire fair-haired children, to improve their own hairy stock. To protect infants against kidnapping by fairies, an open pair of iron scissors traditionally was hung over them in the cradle—for iron is believed to repel fairies— or an iron pin was stuck in their clothes. Other measures included laying the trousers of the child’s father across the cradle; drawing a circle of fire around the cradle; making a sign of the cross over the child; sprinkling it and the cradle with holy water; and giving it a nickname. The latter relates to beliefs in the magic power of names (see names of power). If fairies do not know the true name of a child, they will not be able to cast a magical spell over it. In lore, witches were said to collude with fairies to steal babies or children for money, infants who were ugly, retarded or unruly were written off as changelings. It was believed that the changelings could be induced to confess if they were set afire, and many babies may have died that way.

In the early Middle Ages, fairies were said to be visible to all. As time went on, they acquired more and more supernatural powers and became invisible to all but those with second sight. Fairies who were captured by mortals were said to pine away and die quickly if they could not escape. Mortals who visited Fairyland, an enchanted land beneath the ground, discovered that time passes very slowly for fairies: what seemed like a few days translated into years when the mortals returned to the physical world.

Some fairies were said to suck human blood like vampires. On the Isle of Man, it was believed that if water was not left out for them, they would suck the blood of the sleepers in the house or bleed them and make a cake with the blood. The fairies would then leave some of the blood cake hidden in the house; it had to be found and given to the sleepers to eat, or they would die of a sleeping sickness.

Fairies and witches. According to British anthropologist Margaret A. Murray and others, real “little people” gradually became identified with witches. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when fairy beliefs were at their height, fairies and witches were often blended together. Both could cast and break spells, heal people and divine lost objects and the future. Both danced and sang beneath a full moon— often together—and trafficked with the Devil. Both could change shape, fly, levitate and cause others to levitate. Both stole unbaptized children and poisoned people. Both stole horses at night and rode them hard to their sabbats, returning them exhausted by dawn. Both avoided Salt and both were repelled by iron. James I of England, in Daemonologie, his book about witches, called Diana, the goddess of witches, the “Queen of Faerie.” Oberon, the name of the King of Fairies, was also the name of a demon summoned by magicians. Fairies were said to be the familiars of witches. It is no surprise, then, that fairies figured in numerous witch trials. Those richest in detail took place in the British Isles.

In 1566 John Walsh of Dorset was accused of witchcraft. He admitted being able to tell if a person was bewitched, a gift bestowed upon him partly by fairies, he said. The fairies, he claimed, lived in great heaps of earth in Dorsetshire and could be consulted for one hour, at either noon or midnight. Walsh also defined three kinds of fairies: green, white and black, and said the black were the worst. Bessy Dunlop, a wise woman healer of Ayrshire, was accused of witchcraft and sorcery on November 8, 1576, She suddenly became a successful herbalist and healer and gained second sight, which helped her predict the recovery or death of patients and the location of lost objects. In her trial, Dunlop testified that she had been taught these abilities by a phantom fairy named Thorne or Thome Reid. Reid told her that he had been ordered to be her attendant by the Queen of Elfhane. Many years before, when Dunlop was in childbirth, the Queen appeared before her as a stout woman, asked for a drink and was given one. Reid explained to Dunlop that afterwards, he had been killed in the battle of Pinkie on September 10, 1547, and had gone to Fairyland. He now served the Queen of Elfhane.

The ghostly Reid appeared many times before Dunlop, beseeching her to go away with him to Fairyland or to deny the Christian faith, in exchange for which he would grant her every wish. She denied him repeatedly, she testified. One day, Reid appeared with a company of eight women and four men. Reid explained that they were “good wights” (fairies) who lived in Elfland. They asked Dunlop to accompany them. When Dunlop remained silent, they left “with a hideous ugly howling sound, like that of a hurricane.”

Reid continued to visit Dunlop, offering his assistance in healing sick animals and people. Eventually, he gave her herbal ointments and taught her how to use them and predict their effectiveness.

Dunlop would see Reid in town from time to time, though he remained invisible to others. He always appeared if she summoned him thrice. On every occasion, he begged her to come with him to Fairyland, sometimes tugging at her apron, but she always refused, which sometimes put him in an ill humor.

These supernatural visits went on for four years before Dunlop was brought down on charges of witchcraft. The fact that Dunlop had always used her new skills for good did not help her case; neither did her testimony that her benefactor was a fairy and not the Devil. Dunlop was convicted and burned at the stake.

A few years later, in 1588, Alison Pearson of Byrehill was charged with invoking the spirits of the Devil. She also was said to have a fairy familiar: her cousin, William Sympson, a physician who had been kidnapped by a Gypsy and had died. One day while Pearson was travelling, she felt ill and lay down. A green man (Sympson) appeared and said he would do her good if she would be faithful to him. The green man vanished and reappeared with a band of fairies, who cajoled Pearson into accompanying them and taking part in their drinking and merrymaking.

Pearson gradually became comfortable with her fairy friends. If she talked about their activities, however, she was tormented with blows that left insensitive spots on her skin. Sympson advised her of when the fairies were coming to her and of the fact that they usually arrived in a whirlwind. Sympson also taught her how to use herbal remedies and told her that every year, the Devil took one-tenth of the fairies away to hell as a tithe.

Like Dunlop, Pearson’s confession only worsened her case. She also was convicted and burned.

Isobel Gowdie, Scotland’s renowned witch who voluntarily confessed in 1662, said she had frequent doings with fairies. Gowdie went often to Fairyland, entering through various caverns and mounds. The entrance of Fairyland was populated with elf-bulls, whose “roaring and skoilling” always frightened her. She often met with the King and Queen of Fairy, who were finely dressed and offered her more meat than she could eat. Gowdie, her fellow witches and the fairies would amuse themselves by A queen meets the Lion Fairy (From the fairy tale “The Frog and the Lion Fairy” in Andrew Lang’s The Orange Fairy Book)

Gowdie said the fairies manufactured their poisonous elf-arrow heads in their caverns, and she had seen the Devil working alongside them, putting the finishing touches on the flints. Fairies taught her how to fly, by mounting cornstraws and beanstalks and crying, “Horse and Hattock, in the Devil’s name!”

As late as 1894 beliefs in fairies and witches in Ireland caused the murder of Bridget Cleary of Clonmel, who was accused by her own husband and family of being a changeling wife. The trials of Michael Cleary and Bridget’s relatives were Ireland’s last involving witchcraft.

Many contemporary Witches believe in fairies and some see them clairvoyantly. Some Witches say their Craft was passed down from fairies through the generations of their families.

## Fairy Ring

A natural mushroom fungus that grows in dark rings on grass and turf. In folklore it is said to be the site where fairies and witches meet at night to dance and sing. The mushroom is inedible—and animals tend to shun it—and has a reddish, buff or tawny cap. It is common in Europe, the British Isles and North America and often appears after heavy rains. In Britain, fairy rings also are known as hag tracks, in the belief that they are created by the dancing feet of witches.

Because fairies are associated with magic, fairy rings have magical superstitions attached to them. It is said that if one stands in the centre of a fairy ring under a full Moon and makes a wish, the wish will come true. If one wishes to see and hear the fairies, who often are beyond the awareness of the five senses, one can run around a fairy ring nine times under a full moon. However, superstition holds, it is dangerous to do so on Samhain (All Hallow’s Eve) or Beltane (May Eve), two major festivals of fairies (and witches), as the fairies may take offence and carry the mortal off to Fairyland.
Fairy rings are still associated with natural magic and are used by contemporary Witches as sites for meetings and seasonal festivals. Fairies also are said to dance around stone circles

## Fairy Magick

Because fairies are connected to nature, their spells are usually performed outdoors. A small brook, a secret lily pond, the base of your favourite tree, or a field of wildflowers all make excellent settings for fairy magick. Even large, lush window boxes, overflowing with fragrant herbs and delicate blossoms, can serve as a haven for the wee folk.

### Fairy Enchantments

If there is one thing that a fairy takes great pride in, it is the ability to charm and enchant an unsuspecting human.

Using herbs, flowers, and mystical incantations, the skilful fairy makes magickal dust that can be used to inspire love, protect loved ones, and bring forth great riches when sprinkled on the ground or over an unsuspecting

## Fairy Dust

#### Items needed:

A blender or coffee grinder, silver glitter, dark blue jar, three silver coins, silver paint or a silver marker, and the following dried herbs ground into a fine powder:

1 tbsp. woodruff

1 tbsp. clover

1 tbsp. rose petals

1 tbsp. jasmine

1 Tbsp. meadowsweet

Place the powder into the dark blue jar. On the outside of the jar, inscribe the following symbol with the silver paint or marker:

On May eve as the sun begins to set, place your jar of Fairy dust in the centre of a Fairy circle. Kneel next to the circle, uncap the jar, and chant the following nine times:

Nature spirits and fairy friends

Bless this dust to serve my ends.

I place my trust and faith in thee

To bring me love, wealth, and prosperity.

Rise and leave the area for one hour, giving the fairies time to bless your powder. When you return, thank the fairies for their help, retrieve the jar, and leave the three silver coins in its place.

Sprinkle the powder over a sleeping loved one to increase passion, sprinkle on the threshold of a business to attract new customers, or sprinkle around the perimeter of your home to invite happiness and goodwill.

## Creatures

#### Auki

The mountain spirit of Peru who inhabits the high Andes, called upon by the brujos (shamans) to heal the sick. The brujos will call the Auki by whistling. The Auki will descend, and channel its power through the brujos.

#### Bogie

A frightening goblin of English folklore. The bogie is described as little, black, and hairy. It is considered dangerous, mischievous, sly, and is renowned for its intelligence. Parents would use the threat of
the bogie to frighten young children into good behaviour.

#### Brownie

A household spirit popular in northern English and Scottish folklore, the brownie is a very small, brown, shaggy human and usually dresses in ragged brown clothes. Brownies are considered to be most industrious when it comes to such household chores as grinding grain, churning butter, and ploughing. They love to help humans with their work, especially with tedious tasks. Brownies are thanked with a bowl of fresh cream and freshly baked bread. If criticized, they will undo what they have already done and destroy a good deal more.

#### Deva

In New Age philosophy, devas are the guardians of nature and are responsible for building up forms on the inner planes as well as on the physical plane. The devas hold the keys of fate for all forms around us. They appear in every shape and size, from the earthly gnome to the highest archangel.

#### Elf

Found in British, Scandinavian, and Teutonic folklore, elves are tiny, human-shaped supernatural beings who resemble little old men. However, elf maidens are considered to be young and very beautiful. They live in communities or kingdoms, hidden in the hollows of trees, long burrows, or in mounds. They are ruled over by an elf king and queen. Elves exert their powers over humans whenever they can, usually with mischievous intent. When offended by humans they will take revenge by stealing babies, cattle, milk, and jewels, and they have been know to enchant the offender and hold them for years. Elves emerge after sunset to dance in the moonlight, swim in shallow pools, and frolic in the woods.

#### Gnome

Considered to be a nature spirit or elemental, gnomes resemble dwarfs with small stocky bodies and usually appear as little old men dressed in monks’ habits. Gnomes live in the earth, the element they represent and are the guardians of mother nature’s treasures.

#### Goblin

A grotesque, diminutive, malicious earth spirit. Popular in European folklore, goblins are said to be knee high, with heavy grey hair and beards. They inhabit the homes of humans, where they indulge in poltergeist activities. They are not fond of adults but do seem to like children, as they have been known to protect them and bring them gifts.

In French folklore, wandering sprites who attach themselves to households and both help and plague the residents. Goblins live in grottoes but are attracted to homes that have beautiful children and lots of wine. When they move in, they help by doing household chores at night and by disciplining children—giving them presents when they are good and punishing them when they are naughty. Goblins have an unpredictable, mischievous nature, and instead of doing chores at night will sometimes keep everyone awake by banging pots and pans, moving furniture, knocking on walls and doors and snatching bedclothes off sleeping persons. Goblins who become tiresome can be persuaded to leave by scattering flaxseed on the floor. The sprites get tired of cleaning it up every night.

Goblins are the equivalent of brownies in England and Scotland, kobolds in Germany, domoviks in Russia and other sprites in other countries. They have become associated with Halloween and are said to roam the night when the veil is thinnest between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

#### Imp/Impa

A mischievous minor fiend often described as being a childlike offspring of the Devil. Imps manifest in many different forms. The most popular form is that of an evil-looking infant with tiny horns protruding from its head and tiny wings from its shoulders. Imps were the star attractions at Witch trials, as they were considered to be the familiars of the accused.

A small demon, often kept inside a bottle or ring and used for magical purposes. Imps are evoked and commanded to carry out tasks and spells. Witches were said to keep imps that assumed different forms, such as toads, rodents and especially flies, spiders and other insects. When accused witches were imprisoned, they were watched closely for any appearances of their imps. Prisons were full of insects and rodents, so it was rare that a cell would not have such visitors. Guards would pounce on them, and if they were killed, it meant they were harmless animals or bugs. But if a fly or spider escaped, it was taken as a sure sign of the witch’s imp. Witches were accused of using imps to carry out evil deeds upon innocent people, such as bewitchment, ill fortune, accidents and even death. In return, the witches suckled the imps with their own blood, using their fingers or protuberances on the body. Witch hunters searched bodies for witch’s marks, usually warts, discolored skin, and unnatural lumps believed to serve as teats or paps. In some witch trials, the term “imp” was used interchangeably with familiar.

#### Leprechaun

The folklore of Ireland is filled with famous tales of this fairy shoemaker. The Leprechaun is depicted as having a wizened face, gray beard, and twinkling eyes. He wears a red jacket with silver buttons, brown breeches, black, silver-buckled shoes, and a high crowned green hat. In pictures, he usually appears in an apron, holding a hammer and mending shoes. This wee creature is tricky, and likes to make mischief with humans. He also has a reputation for having a huge stash of gold hidden in a secret place.

#### Nymph

Nymphs are female water spirits that appear in classical Greek and Roman mythology. They are portrayed as beautiful your maidens dressed in gossamer gowns, with long flowing hair. The nymphs would attend to gods and entertain them with dancing and music. Like most spirit creatures, nymphs were
both benevolent and malevolent toward humans.

#### Pixie

These small creatures are said to have red hair, small, turned-up noses, pointed ears, and pale, youthful faces. They especially attracted to gardens in bloom, and take up residence under toadstools. Pixies have mixed emotions when it comes to humans. However, if they take a liking to someone they will help him or her out with household chores and gardening. They also like to work with gold, silver, and bronze. Some believe that the residue from their metalwork is the main ingredient in Pixie dust, a magickal powder use to make wishes come true.

## Information Source

The Witch's Master Grimoire by Lady Sabrina