For the Fairy, magic is light and joyful in essence, even when others find themselves serious about magic, the more you need to watch the tendency to get bogged down in furious concentration, knitted brows and hard work. The sparkle of a bit of Fairy Magic can be a breath of fresh air, lift your magic right up and brighten you and your day. Once in awhile we all need to be reminded that magic can be light, it sings, and dances, and yet it is still the most powerful force in the universe.
A fairy (also fay, fey, faery, faerie; collectively, "fae", wee
folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, and other euphemisms) is a
type of mythological being or legendary creature, a form of spirit,
often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural around the world. Fairies are often represented as tiny, winged sprites, sometimes good, sometimes evil, who possess a mysterious power over human destinies. They also often appear in full-sized human shape. Some folklore says if there is a marriage with a human they can gain immortality. If they leave their own country to marry and live with humans they are usually bound by some condition, which, if ignored, brings disaster. According to another superstition, fairies have to pay a yearly tribute to the powers of hell, and for this purpose they are always trying to steal children, leaving changelings in their place. Adults, too, have sometimes been lured into fairyland, and are rarely able to return. A human is doomed if he or she eats fairy food.
Fairies have traditionally been divided into good and bad. For example, in the European fairy tale ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, there are six fairies, five of whom give good gifts, but the sixth curses the child.
The word fairy derives from the term fae of medieval Western European folklore and romance, one famous example being Morgan le Fay ('Morgan of the Fae'). "Fae-ery" was therefore everything that appertains to the "fae", and so the land of "fae", all the "fae". Finally the word replaced its original and one could speak of "a faery or fairy", though the word fey is still used as an adjective or to refer to the word fairy as a plural. The fairy is also seen as a demon or also known as a falling angel.
Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature.
Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers. Their origins are less clear in the folklore, being variously dead, or some form of demon, or a species completely independent of humans or angels. Folklorists have suggested that their actual origin lies in a conquered race living in hiding, or in religious beliefs that lost currency with the advent of Christianity. These explanations are not always mutually incompatible, and they may be traceable to multiple sources.
Much of the folklore about fairies revolves about protection from their malice, by such means as cold iron (iron is like poison to fairies, and they will not go near it) or charms of rowan and herbs, or avoiding offense by shunning locations known to be theirs. In particular, folklore describes how to prevent the fairies from stealing babies and substituting changelings, and abducting older people as well. Many folk tales are told of fairies, and they appear as characters in stories from medieval tales of chivalry, to Victorian fairy tales, and up to the present day in modern literature.
Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, humanoids of small stature, they originally were depicted much differently: tall, radiant, angelic beings or short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned. Diminutive fairies of one kind or another have been recorded for centuries, but occur alongside the human-sized beings; these have been depicted as ranging in size from very tiny up to the size of a human child. Even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant.
Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are very rare in the folklore; even very small fairies flew with magic, sometimes flying on ragwort stems or the backs of birds. Nowadays, fairies are often depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings.
One popular belief was that they were the dead, or some subclass of the dead. The Irish banshee (Irish Gaelic bean sí or Scottish Gaelic bean shìth, which both mean "fairy woman") is sometimes described as a ghost. The northern English Cauld Lad of Hylton, though described as a murdered boy, is also described as a household sprite like a brownie, much of the time a Barghest or Elf. One tale recounted a man caught by the fairies, who found that whenever he looked steadily at one, the fairy was a dead neighbor of his. This was among the most common views expressed by those who believed in fairies, although many of the informants would express the view with some doubts.
Another view held that the fairies were an intelligent species, distinct from humans and angels. In alchemy in particular they were regarded as elementals, such as gnomes and sylphs, as described by Paracelsus. This is uncommon in folklore, but accounts describing the fairies as "spirits of the air" have been found popularly.
A third belief held that they were a class of "demoted" angels. One popular story held that when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates shut; those still in heaven remained angels, those in hell became devils, and those caught in between became fairies. Others held that they had been thrown out of heaven, not being good enough, but they were not evil enough for hell. As fallen angels, though not quite devils, they could be seen as subject of the Devil. There is a similar concept in Persian mythology. Here they are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent. They are exquisite, winged, fairy-like creatures ranking between angels and evil spirits. They sometimes visit the realm of mortals.
A fourth belief was the fairies were devils entirely. This belief became much more popular with the growth of Puritanism. The hobgoblin, once a friendly household spirit, became a wicked goblin. Dealing with fairies was in some cases considered a form of witchcraft and punished as such in this era. Disassociating himself from such evils may be why Oberon, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, carefully observed that neither he nor his court feared the church bells.
Many of the Irish tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann refer to these beings as fairies, though in more ancient times they were regarded as Goddesses and Gods. The Tuatha Dé were spoken of as having come from Islands in the north of the world, or, in other sources, from the sky. After being defeated in a series of battles with other Otherworldly beings, and then by the ancestors of the current Irish people, they were said to have withdrawn to the sídhe (fairy mounds), where they lived on in popular imagination as "fairies."
Faery Wicca, or Fairy Wicca is an umbrella term that refers to any tradition of modern Wicca that places an emphasis on the Fae (gnomes, elves, faeries, sprites, etc.), their lore, and their relation to the natural world. We must remember how all things work in harmony in this world and others. That in nature there is and can be many wondrous things and we must remember we are part of this natural cycle when working in living in this world. It is not complicated to work with the Fairies. Just remember to always give thanks and when ever possible offerings.
In all we must not forget the Fairies. They bring fun, love pranks, they are very protected of their stuff, and also like your stuff too. The Fae are very helpful, in there own ways, and can also get very angry, so look out when you have a pissed off a Fairy. When devilish or angered I personally refer to them as Pixies. Though Pixies have their own mythology and are usually considered harmless, much crosses back and forth with Fairy mythology. Pixie for me tends to be more mischievous and when angered they seem to have little guilt for what they do when they do it. Swiping that shiny bobble or hiding your cars keys is just a simple way of them to remind you of their existence. But in all Fairies are great to help one balance in magic, and bring about the good lighthearted things in this world, and take away the gloom of other things. But do not forget that demon side that can be brought forth when you do not respect them or the magic you do with them.
Ginger McDonald
