Can someone tell me about faeries?

[sincerebliss]

Hello..i have heard of them often..but what are they truely about? How about what are they? I know they cause mischief..but can you really physically see them? If you can, what do they look like? Can someone help me and basically just tell me what you know, please?

Thanks bunches!!!!!! :)

[LadyTrinity]

There are faries for everything! Every tree, every rock, every flower! Be nice to them and they will be nice to you :)

[Isildae]

Hmmm I'm kind of half and half with faeries. I can't really be sure what they are, and so there is a part of me that doesn't really trust them. I respect them though.

In some mythologies Lilith, my patron, is a type of faerie. She's not a goddess though I like to equate her with divinity. Some think of her as a demon.

Its really quite hard to define what a faery is. I know the Irish have a whole mythology as to what they are, but I find that faeries are different things to different people. In Haiti they are known to be quite frightful.

I've seen what might be thought of as faeries. . .Most of them are quite tall, and I have only ever seen one that was small. They are a lot like ghosts I suppose, only not all of them are dead.

As I said they are hard to define.

A few good books to read about faeries would be:

At the bottom of the Garden by Diane Purkiss. Which talks about their darker history.

And Fairies-Real encounters with little people by Janet Bord.

[Isildae]

A little more about Faeries from Diane Purkiss's At the bottom of the garden

1)Faries come from outside. Outside of the community, and outside of civilization(even when they seem to share its values)

2)Faeries were either once people or are like people who have become trapped at a certain indeterminate phase of life.(ie changelings, nymphs etc.)

3)Faeries have links with the dead, and some are the dead. Young men, women in childbirth, and babies and children are particularly vulnerable to faeries.

4)Faeries are compelled to repeat their own circumstances in the lives of others: if they die prematurely, they cause the premature death of others. If they are trapped in eternal, storyless youth(Nymphs), they try to trap others in it too.

5)Faeries have bodies which reflect their anomalousness, subtly or directly.

6)Faeries are also particularized to the local situation(as the changing role of nymphs indicates)

7)Faeries are common to pheasant cultures, cultures where the center of life is the Village and the space around it.

* * *

This is all just food for thought. Just remember not all Faeries are created equal, so the rules above may not apply to them all.

I recommend this book to all who enjoy Faeries, or to anyone who enjoys a good history lesson. :graduate:

[Druchii]

Look up anything on the Cottingly Faeries.
It was a hoax, but the final photo of faeries was supposedly real.

[Romani Vixen]

I can't see them. but I feel sentient energy that I call faeries.

[sincerebliss]

Thanks everyone...! Isidale..sounds to me from what you said that faeries are trouble..lol
Thanks for everyone's input because i really appreciate it! If anyone has anymore input i am always willing to learn more!!!!!!

[DarkSidhe]

Depends on what type of Fae you are talking about. Alvens, Ankou, Ashrays, Attorcroppes, Ballybogs, BeanFionn, Beansidhe, Beantighe, Bocan, Boggarts, Buachailleen, Buggars, Bunyip, Bwaganods, Bwciods, Callicantzaroi, Clurichauns, Corrigans, Cu Sith, Devas, Dinnshenchas, Domoviyr, Dryads, Duendes, Duergarrs, Dybbuk, and the list goes on, and on, and on...

Some are good, some are bad, some are benevolent, some are malevolent, most just want to be left alone. Some are tiny, some are gigantic, some male, some female, some both. Some are solitary, some are trooping. Most are immaterial, but not all. Some have wings, others do not, some have insectoid features, some animalistic, some are just shapeshifters and have no known real form, and some have no form at all other than a ball of light.

Almost every culture has had or has faeries. And many named faeries from one culture are the same in another, but with a different cultural name. We can't even agree on the spelling of "fairy", or is it "faery", are they fae, or fey?

Interesting side note: The song "Faeries Wear Boots" by Black Sabbath was actually referring to a group of skinheads the band once encountered...

[sincerebliss]

Gheeze i didn't know there were that many! I guess i have a lot to learn...