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The F Word and Me - Fairies
The words Faerie and Fairy and to a lesser extent, other variations, are so woven into my seeking, that trying to tease them out has been a cause for frustration, doubt, loss of faith, and depression. No other words in the English language seem to accurate describe what I'm looking for. To give an example of how tied to this word I am, my girlfriend often calls me "Pixie" or "Fae" or "Faerie" as a nickname. This is of course largely fictitious, I don't believe in otherkinism, I have beliefs that some of what we are in the spirit world affects us in life, but I'll get to that in another post. Its my nickname because I believe so strongly in that single word, its imagery and what it represents to me. When I had a profound religious experience, my friend immediately replied "you found the fairies?"

I've been looking into the word Fairy and what it means to me, and what it means to other people. I've often seen many dictionary sites point to the etymology of Fairy as coming from the word Fatum, meaning fate. Part of my Question was, Does fairy in and of itself imply a closed tradition. Aside from that, working on the assumption that it might, I needed to figure out what the word meant to me, and what it was I was really looking for.
Wikipedia
I started with Wikipidia, I know Wikipedia isn't known for its accuracy, but I was using it as a starting point to find other areas of research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy#Origin_of_fairies

Spirits of the Dead, seemed unusual to me. What separated Fairies from ghosts? It seems to cite celtic mythology specifically Irish and perhaps English mythology as equating Fairies to the dead. In a modern context, which tends to be fictional, this use seems extremely rare. I've seen a few video games use this, but that's it.
I've never seen Faerie communities of Believers use this interpretation.

Wikipedia associates them with Elemental spirits, Gnomes Sylphs Undines and Salamanders, and I have seen them often in fiction portrayed as being starkly connected to an element, or group of elements. I do myself believe denizens of the spirit world who have a nature similar to this. I confess, I have not yet studied alchemy or the origins of the specific myths mentioned here, sometimes used as correspondences in books on eclectic witchcraft.

Another belief seems to be demoted angels, that were not evil enough to be in hell. Again returning to the myth of the dead, I've seen mention in some books (I'll try to add citation later) that pixies were spirits of unbaptized children, or that they were spirits of those, similarly, who were too good to be sent to hell, and too evil to belong in heaven. Ahh it would be so easy if I only believed that. Pixies probably belong to a closed culture anyways.

Demons entirely, have been the association of some modern fiction, including video games. Disgaea has a curiously elfin, and fae quality to the art, in spite of being a game series about demons from the netherworld. Wikipedia cites Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights dream for this as well.

Finally one of the spookiest myths on fairies is that they were literal tangible beings, that walked the earth.



Gerald Gardener Wrote:

There is evidence for these pygmy races in Europe. Many rock dwellings are too small for a modern
man but are very comfortable for children. People of the invading races who had driven them out of
the best lands were inclined to dislike them as they raided their crops and killed their cattle. In time
they found that if the Little People were well treated they would become friendly and help them, as
when the Little Folk came to the aid of the Southerners in their battle at Fairy Bridge.


He goes on however to refer to this group, perhaps of an actual living ethnic group, as Fairies, and his description seems eerily mythological as he ascribes them to having extreme talent with magic and psychic phenomenon.

If this is the true definition of Fairies then of course, there is no point in seeking A "fairy" religion, why would i need a religion about groups of people who at one point lived in the world. It would seem disrespectful to their cultures and the cultures that surrounded them.

Fairies as Animism



W.Y. Evans-Wentz Wrote:

THE promise made in the Introduction to examine the Why of the belief in fairies must now be fulfilled by calling in the aid of modern science. To adduce parallels when studying a religion or a mythology is worth doing, in order to show the fundamental bond which unites all systems of belief in things called spiritual; but it is more important to try to understand why there should be such parallels and such a unifying principle behind them. Perhaps there has been too much of a tendency among students of folk-lore, and of anthropology as a whole, to be content to do no more than to discover that the Eskimos in Greenland hold a belief in spirits parallel to a belief in spirits held in Central Africa, or that the Greek Pantheon (and possibly the Celtic one as well) consists of goddesses which are apparently pre-Aryan and of gods which are apparently Aryan. We, too, have drawn many parallels between the Celtic Fairy-Faith and the various fairy-faiths throughout the world; but now we should attempt to find out why there are animistic beliefs at all.


http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ffcc/ffcc411.htm
In this paragraph Wentz ascribes Fairies as associated with animistic beliefs in general. Brian Froud, also seems to tie in his art with animism. If this is the case then I'm already an animist. I should be done with my seeking. But if this is the case what exactly does Fairy mean, if My fairies, and someone else's spirits are the same thing. It means that it means absolutely nothing. It means that their only fairies through the cloudy lens of my subjective experience, and that through another's ability to perceive the spirit world, not Fairies at all.

Fairies in association with witches



Charles G. Leland Wrote:

"Gladly would I be like you, O fairies!" said the youth, "free from care, needing no food. But what are ye?"
"We are moon-rays, the children of Diana," replied one:--

"We are children of the Moon;
We are born of shining light;
When the Moon shoots forth a ray,
Then it takes a fairy's form.
And thou art one of us because thou wert born when the Moon, our mother Diana, was full; yes, our brother, kin to us, belonging to our band."


Ahh... I was full of romantic wistfulness when I read that. Ah yes witches are secretly fairies! of course it all makes sense I've been a Fairy all along.
Nothing's that easy. I try to nudge myself away from self gratifying beliefs, no matter how giddy they make me. This isn't the only time I've seen fairies associated with witchcraft however. I've heard this from a number of ravenwolf-ites that they believe in fairies, and it seems common in eclecticism in its more embryonic stages, but less so in developed eclectic beliefs. I guess I'm supposed to grow out of it. That said I've seen it in more serious places, as gardner again, in Witchcraft today, mentions fairies or "little people" as interbreeding with witches. T. Thorn Coyle refers to the spirits and thought-forms used by some witches, perhaps an integral part of Anderson Feri tradition, as Faeries, and Starhawk in the Spiral Dance, refers to being stuck in a trance state as being "lost in Faerie"

Otherworld
One belief I find at least, personally integral to the term Faerie, is the belief in other worlds. Many modern fictions of Faerie, often show hidden worlds either from within a persons mind, or from some place beyond, as being tangible and accessible. This most certainly is an integral part of my seeking. I believe that there are more tangible otherworlds. This again, is relative. Valhalla and Asgard, Heaven, Hell, and Hel, are all otherworlds. Are they Faerie? I don't know, but it doesn't quite have the same ring.

Fairies, as wicked, vile, cruel or wretched things to be hated and avoided
But Ms. Sara, your fairies are not quite scary!
I hear this kind of thing from a lot of the pagan community. I know that a lot of Fairy creatures in their original mythological context, were feared and appeased, and the perspective is that I'm incorrect in my assessment of Fairies because of this. I'm not any more trying to re-create the modern horror trope of Faerie than I am trying to create the Tinkerbell romanticism (though Tinkerbell can be quite vindictive). I'm not a re-constructionist. I'm not part of any of these traditions which reviles its fairy creatures. People speak of appeasement and worship as these two opposite extremes and neither describes my relationship to things I believe are Fairies. Their not good, unless for some reason it is in their nature to be good, Their not wicked either, unless that specifically is a part of their nature. I've read the brothers Grimm. I've read the stories of fairies stealing children and leaving fairy children in their place, or sacks of wheat, or letting the body die. I've read stories of fairies poking the eyes out of anyone with second sight. Fairies, as I believe, can most certainly be terrifying, vindictive, selfish, cruel, horrible creatures, and as a rule, are probably more dangerous than not, but I cannot bring myself into this re-constructionist revulsion I seem to be expected to emulate. I guess in all honesty, I can't bring myself to believe their all entirely hostile either. Anything like that out of me would be a false attempt at trying to fit in with another culture.

So what exactly does Faerie or Fairy mean to me
I still obviously, haven't quite figured that out. It seems almost impossible to deconstruct the word into having any other meaning. I do feel that However that the term is too broad to in and of itself imply entitlement to a closed tradition. That said the word Faerie is a little riskier, since it is a french word, I'm not sure if it's the same word used specifically by the Breton, but in all honesty, I doubt it. That said I have no more desire to create Breton culture rape than I do to create Irish or Cornish culture rape, no matter how fond I might feel from an outside perspective, of these cultures. In fact the fondness creates all the more reason to preserve the integrity of these cultures.

I've seen Fairies associated with the norse Vanir, and even with Freya and Frey specifically. I've seen them associated with the Alafar and with Vanaheim and Alfheim. I've seen Fairies associated with Nymphs of greek culture. With Satyrs and Fauns and with Dryads. I've seen them associated with Mermaids, Sirens and Nereids, and even with the God and Goddess I worship, or at least, similar dieties. All of these while calling them Fairies, themselves, or incorporating them into my own mythology, might be stealing or de-contextualizing, are open traditions in their original context.

I feel many people would criticize me because so much of my belief system is inspired by fiction. I do not literally believe in one fictitious portrayal of "faerie" however. (Unless I was doing so in ritual, from the standpoint of chaos magic) I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I know other people are out there who feel as I do too. There are tons of "Faerie" communities, most of them notoriously associated with "fluffy" paganism and with Misappropriation. Just because they do not care about appropriation, doesn't mean I can't have similar beliefs and care enough to be responsible and ethical in my eclectic approach.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/derbyshire-fairy-hoax.shtml
This while a hoax, was created by a believer who was an artist. The Cottingley fairies were another hoax phenomenon, and sir Arthur Conan-Doyle got himself all riled up, surely my beliefs are not quite that childish.

I do not have a single myth to call my own. I have no signposts to find the next step. I don't really understand culture, so I'd rather err on the side of respect. Claiming I have the rights to share "fairy" or even "faerie" with other people might not even be correct. I must give the pixies back to Cornwall, and the goblins to Mann and wales. Elves belong in Alfheim, and who are fauns nymphs or dryads if taken out of their context? I cannot work with a single one of these myths, I must create every myth every story that is to be mine as though I were writing a fiction. Sometimes, I feel that the fairies are indeed what I am seeking, and nothing else can take their place, and that they really are out there, but that their knowledge is closed to me, I am not to be a part of their world, to to know them or find the answers I seek. Forgive me if I sound a bit bitter, its not as though I don't appreciate the value of appropriation, its simply that, in writing this, as a seeker, I feel a bit alone.

Summary of the sources I used. Mostly open source material, is that a sign of bad research?
Aradia, The Gospel of the Witches. Charles G Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/index.htm
Wikipedia Article, Fairies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries. W.Y. Evans-Wentz
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ffcc/index.htm
Gerald Gardener "Witchcraft Today" I have this as a pdf, I'd provide the link later.

Well, Lucifer is a Roman god... one of the sons of Venus. In the bible, the name refers to a Babylonian king, and it's also an epithet associated with Yeshua. I'm not sure I understand Ha-Satan outside the context of YHWH.

YHWH is named as a jealous god in the texts that could be considered his lore. I personally think of him as a tribal Jewish deity. The Gnostics consider him a demi-urge, and not the father of Yeshua but a different deity entirely who may have created the world, but is not really god. (Erm. Sort of.)

I guess I'm wondering why, when your other deities appear to be ones you have formed understandings of on your own, these two you are associating with Abrahamic entities. I'm also wondering whether you've looked far into Gnostic Christianity.

What about Ceremonial magic appeals to you, as opposed to low or folk magics?

The thing about faeries is, they are cruel, but I don't think out of any real malice. Think cats. Faeries are like cats.

In Norse religion, Hel is not Faerie wink at all. Um, they... taste different. I haven't been either place and don't intend to go on the basis that I may not be able to get out again. Alfheim might count, as might the land of dark elves. (I have trouble spelling that one.) Svarftlheim or whatever. Apparently Alfheim is where the Scottish term "Elphame" comes from. Valhol is a part of Asgard... It's just the Hall of the Slain, essentially, one of the halls where Odinn has residence. A lot of places refer to it as a sort of "Nordic heaven" in the sense that it's its own special world, but it ain't.

I feel like your attachment to the term "fairy" (or whatever) may be limiting what you're looking at. What you're searching for might not be actually associated with that term. You may have to set it aside in order to find what you're really looking for, at least temporarily.

Interesting. If you look into Christianity a bit more, it may give you more of a framework to articilate your thoughts... or rather, cause to reexamine the beliefs you held, and hold. If you understand the proper context first, then you can work out how they relate to one another and whether they can be lifted out of that context.

Roman Catholicism is not the only form of Christianity, though (as I'm sure you're well aware). Different Christian sects have different moral values. If you're very much connected to it - if you still believe - you should explore it entirely before leaving it behind. I feel in a sense obligated to recommend looking into Gnosticism because if nothing else it may provide some realisations for you either regarding your current path, or that will help you leave your former faith behind. There are parts of it that in a way match up with parts of what you are saying and I think you'll find it interesting, if not useful.

Robbie has provided a basic Gnosticism guide here, if you felt like giving it a read-through.

Ah, I see. I've never really felt the need to do that. They do things their way, and I do things mine wink

Ah - see, there's a disconnect in our thoughts. Faeries are cats. We are mice. wink At least in the analogy I have in my head.

I do not consider faeries to be universal. As far as I'm concerned they're very much a Celtic and British thing. They don't live here, so I don't have to deal with them. If I lived in Ireland I'd probably carry iron just in case, although I don't like to offend beasties if I can avoid it because they have lives to live too and I prefer being polite, but nevertheless.

Because they are far away, and those more familiar with them than I tend to avoid speaking of them, I don't concern myself with learning more about them. As far as I'm concerned I leave them alone and hope, whenever I'm within cooee of Britain and Ireland, that they'll do the same for me.

The Elf lot I think of as more Germanic. It's possible they're all the same thing, but I prefer to keep them separate so as to avoid confusion.

When in doubt, go back to the lore. Is someone's interpretation directly contradicted? If yes, it should be discarded, or at least admitted to be contradictory to lore. If not, it's UPG, and should be filed under "UPG". UPG is fine, but it's not lore or even SPG, and should be taken by others with a grain of salt.

Even secondary lore in the form of poetry or witches' confessions, for example faeries as familiar spirits or, as you said, A Midsummer Night's Dream, are of value because they are indications of unwritten folklore and how that changes over the centuries. Like the bloody Victorians and their little sparkly things.

Do you know, I was ******** around on $RW's site once, and someone was going on about faeries and I mentioned changelings and she got really really pissy at me and said I was lying and bigoted against faeries. It was both hilarious and really aggravating.

I reckon it all depends on the definitions you're using and where you're drawing the line between "fairy" and "not-precisely-fairy".

You don't have to discard the word entirely. Just put it to the side a little, so you can focus. You can pick it back up again any time you like. Alternatively, focus on the word itself - work on figuring out what it is about the term that you're so attached to. I'm sure this is advice you've already gone through and done but on the chance you haven't I feel like I should comment wink

I'm glad, and you're welcome. I felt a bit weird making comments because I didn't want to come across as challenging what you believe... But on the other hand it felt a bit like you were open to that in case it helped you get a better hold on what you're seeking.

But YHWH isn't the god of Gnosticism. The focus is different entirely. In fact for the Marcionites, much of the disconnect comes from the fact that Marcion did not see how Yeshua, someone bringing the teachings of love, could be the incarnation of the god of the OT who tended to do things like kill everyone on earth except for a handful.

What you need to work out is whether this is due to translation issues or whether they are genuinely what one would consider "fairy".

I think "fairy" is much overused, personally. Some people are keen to have it apply to any land spirit. I find this very bizarre myself... as far as I'm concerned Fae are a race of wotsits living off somewhere else, and the spirit of the cave by the sea has nothing whatever to do with them.

Ah - see, Slenderman isn't anything like a fairy to me, at all. In fact I'm very taken aback at the concept. If he existed, he would be a very very different flavour of entity.

Trans-dimensional child abductions are all very well but the purpose to the abduction is what separates them. I don't know why fae do what they do, or did anyway, but it appears to be more for the fun of it than anything else. Slenderman would be more like your inter-dimensional ****** or something. He's in a different ballpark entirely, with Candle Jack and Freddy Krueger and the Who When You Call 'Who's There'. (And not just because they're all fictional.) They'd live in different places. You reach them in different ways. Fae do what they do because they want to, while Slenderman would do what he did because he had to. It's cats vs Things That Go Bump In The Night.

I mean, I'm sure if you're the child in question the disctinction is pretty moot, but when I was a kid s**t like this was my bread and butter.

I think my issue here is that there are a lot of entities that are totally different that you're referring to as one super-category. Culture is very important because the culture is how humans relate to them, and how they relate to humans. It can't be ignored. Using this word makes whatever you're looking at Anglo-centric, because the word is English. There are different words for different things because they are viewed through the lens of their culture. The problem isn't that you're stealing something culture-specific... it's more that in the amalgamation of things we lose the culture entirely, and the sense of those things as individuals is lost. Like when people refer to Native American religion as if it were one single religion. Sorry, I don't mean to say that this is what you're doing. It's more what I worry that you risk doing if you're not canny about how you handle this.

I had a dream last night where you replied to me in this massive rant xd I'm glad it was just a dream.

I really like your spirit maggot beasties. It would make me happy if there was some sort of esoteric equivalent to The Conqueror Worm.


As far as traveling to other worlds goes.... there's a rather big and definite distinction, at least in my practice, between going inside your head, fantasizing, things seen in meditation and leaving one's body to explore other worlds. I daydream a great deal, for example, but that's very much stories-in-my-head, however well visualised. I've also experienced interesting little trips in meditation, where entities may (or may not) have visited me in a little created visualisation in my mind. Going elsewhere is quite different.