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But wait! That's not it at all. From the time of Shakespeare right up until the present, people have thought of the faerie folk in these charming, if somewhat frivolous terms. There was a time, however, when the notion of faerie - both the realm and its inhabitants - was quite different. Let's backtrack a little bit.

In the Middle Ages, the faeries were regarded as powerful and sometimes dangerous beings. They were a force to be reckoned with. Many popular folk songs from the British Isles preserve this concept of the faerie folk. For example, in the ballad called Tam Lin, the heroine, named Janet, has a lover named Tam Lin who is from the faerie realm. Tam Lin is the size and shape of an ordinary man, but he is clearly a creature of the Otherworld: he rises from out of the earth itself to meet Janet, and in the song he is called an "elven gray," for faeries and elves were in fact the same beings. When Tam Lin rides with the faerie folk, they race through the world like a furious host. Simple people stay inside and lock their doors to avoid crossing the path of faeries. (The faeries are, in fact, the riders of the Wild Hunt.) When Janet pulls Tam Lin from his horse to reclaim him for the human world, she faces the wrath of an angry faerie queen, who is certainly no gossamer pygmy sitting on a daisy. In fact, the queen threatens to turn Janet into a tree.

Let us take the example of Thomas the Rhymer, a medieval Scottish bard who is commemorated in folk song. Even though the word "bard" means "poet," let us remember that a Celtic bard was more like a magician or Druid than a modern poet, for words and songs were the stuff of magic and of power. Thomas was sleeping under a tree when the faerie queen and her wild host rode into his dream. Maybe she liked his poetry, for she took him up behind her on her horse and rode off with him to the Realm of Faerie, from which he never returned.

If we wish to solve the mystery of the faerie folk and their identity, then we may wish to ask the question: Just exactly where did the faerie queen take Thomas the Rhymer when she carried him away?

The word "fairy" or "faerie" refers not only to a people or race of beings, but to the realm in which they live. Throughout Celtic myth and legend, heros and mystical adventurers of all kinds are always traveling to "the Land of Faerie," from whence they may return soon, or after hundreds of years, or sometimes not at all.

Rather than rely solely on legend, let us take the example of an individual who, during her trial for witchcraft, was accused of traveling to the faerie realm in actuality. Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish witch, testified that she left her body and flew through the air over the landscape. She entered into a barrow mound or old stone age tomb, many of which dot the countryside of the British Isles. Once she was inside it was daytime, whereas her flight through the air was accomplished at night. The barrow mound was inhabited by the faerie folk, who were ruled by a king and queen and who spent their time eating, drinking, and generally having a grand old time.

When we enter the Realm of Faerie, we enter into the Otherworld. As all good legends and "fairy" tales tell us, the Otherworld is a land of feasting, merriment, dancing, and joy. The faerie folk welcome us there, and even offer us food and drink. Of course, if we partake of "faerie food," we will never be able to return to our own world. Then again, some people would consider it a fair trade.

Let us remember that Isobel Gowdie, much like a character in a story, entered the Realm of Faerie by entering an ancient Stone Age tomb. Now, who lives in tombs? The dead, of course. And who lives in the Otherworld? The spirits of our departed ancestors, of course.

So are the Faeries, in fact, the mystic realm beyond earthly consciousness that stands so close to us, yet so far away? In all probability, that is what they are. Even anthropologists and folklore scholars, who can be notoriously resistant to the obvious, have accepted that this is the case. So is it any wonder that the faeries and elves were called "the good folk" or the "good people?" Even though they can sometimes be mischievous, destructive, or down-right scary, we must never "speak ill of the dead."

In Ireland, the faerie folk who live in the barrow mounds are said to be the remnants of the Tuatha de Danaan, the old pre-Christian goddesses and gods who inhabited the Celtic realms in ancient times, and who have been progressively "fading" or becoming more ethereal ever since the advent of Christianity. We are not accustomed to thinking of Gods and ancestors in the same terms, but in Pagan times, the distinctions between the two were often blurred. When we die, an immortal component of our own being is united with the Goddess or God whom we took as our own guiding spirit during life, and whose deeds or attributes served as the role model for our own. In other words, we become united with the Gods themselves.

Yet it may also be said - in fact, it usually is said - that faeries are nature spirits of a sort. A faerie may inhabit a tree or a rock or a flower or a lake. So what is a faerie? A departed spirit or deity, or the living energy within a part of nature?

The answer is both.

Like many traditional cultures, our pre-Christian ancestors believed that we have more than one "soul." we have a "traveling soul" which, after death, will journey into the Otherworld, joining our other foremothers and forefathers, dwelling with them, feasting with them, and presumably riding with them as well. We also have a soul that remains part of this world, fading gradually into the earth around us, becoming one with the trees, the butterflies, and the rainbows, becoming one with nature. When we speak of our ancestors as the faerie folk, we may speak equally of the ancestral soul in the Otherworld or of the ancestral soul in nature. All is one. Pagan philosophy travels in a circle, not in a straight line.

It is important that we should continue to honor the faerie folk in our daily lives, not through "primitive" notions about "ancestor worship" (and in fact these notions exist only in he minds of anthropologists and not in the minds of traditional cultures), but because we honor the eternal circle of life and existence, and because we honor the richness of life that was experienced by all those who came before us.

Over the centuries, as respect for the faerie folk declined among the people, they ceased to appear awesome and shining in the popular imagination. As belief declined, so did the faeries themselves, until at last they were regarded as little winged creatures rather than powerful and shining beings. Shakespeare speaks of the fairy Queen Mab as if she were a tiny butterfly, fragile enough to be blown away by a summer's breeze. Mab is merely an echo of the great Celtic goddess Queen Maeve, who was a warrior woman. She was a prodigious lover, a generous friend, and a powerful enemy.

How, then, should we best honor the faeries or "good people?" An ancient custom, and one that survived into medieval times, was that of "feeding the dead." On nights when the faerie folk were believed to ride abroad in the world, villagers left food and drink in the main room of the house so that the faeries might pause for refreshment. Many of the customs surrounding the Days of the Dead are based upon this same idea.

If you choose, you may offer food and drink to the faerie folk in nature as well as at home. If you are aware of a rock, tree, or spring that has a certain magic to it, and which seems to be inhabited by a bright, shining, "elvish" energy, you may have found a spot where the faerie folk congregate. Simply bringing a chalice of pure water and some bread to leave in the vicinity will delight the "good people."

Kenneth Johnson

Llewellyn's Witches' Calendar 2000

Types of Faeries

Asrai - They are small, delicate water faeries. Sometimes a fisherman might find one with his catch and tales are told of fishermen who chose to take the small faery with them, despite it's cries to be set free. One bound an asrai in the bottom of his boat but when it touched him the cold of it's hands marked him for life. By the time he reached the shore, the Asrai had vanished, leaving only a puddle of water behind.

Banshee - Also bean si. Irish banshees are attached to old families. If several join thier voices then someone very great can be expected to die. A banshee has long hair and a gray cloak. Her eyes are red from weeping. In Scotland the bean-nighe washes the grave clothes of those about to die, and is said to be the ghost of a woman who died prematurley.

Boggarts - Mischievous brownies, often those who have been wronged by humans. They enjoy playing tricks on humans and often cause a great deal of trouble. A farmer and his family once prepared to leave thier home because they had been so tormented by a boggart. Upon learning that the boggoart intended to leave with them, they decided to stay, feeling that it was better to suffer it's tricks in thier own home than in a new one. Eventually it grew tired of it's mischief about that farm and moved on.

Brownies - Known also as the Welsh Bwca, and the Highland Bodach, one of the most well known of the fearie folk. A Brownie is generally a small man no more than a yard high, dressed in brown clothes, who often come out at night to attend to work that is left unfinished. They can become quite devoted to thier household, performing a variety of chores about the farm and providing good counsel if needed. Thier devotion to thier master might also make them unpopular with the servants, whom they might punish for wrongdoing. In return for thier help they expect only a bowl of cream and a cake for them. And offer of reward or clothing will drive the brownie away.

Changelings - One of the most enduring habits of the faeries has been thier desire for human children. Sometimes after stealing a child they would leave a stock of wood, given the likeness of the child with faery glamour. The illusion would soon go away and the "child" would be buried with no-one left the wiser. Most frequently it was a faery child, or an ancient faery willing to be fed and cared for by a human "foster mother" whom replaced the child. Sometimes parents could recover thier children by tricking the changeling into revealing it's age by setting up empty eggshells and pretending to brew in them. This would surprise the old faery so that he would reveal his true nature.

Coblynau - Welsh mine goblins. Small, grotesque creatures about eighteen inches tall, otherwise dressed much as miners. Unlike some faeries they are good natured, and it is very fortunate to see or hear one as thier knocking in the mines will show where a rich load of ore might be found. Although the coblynau seem to be quite busy with thier work, they are only going through the motions, accomplishing nothing.:(

Daoine Sidhe - The heroic faery race of Ireland, sometimes known as the Gentry or the Good People. They are the faery of medieval romance, of human size and shining beauty who spent thier time pursuing the pastimes of the medieval nobility. Thier homes were made under the hills and lakes, in the land of Tir Nan Og. Among the Faery Kings was Finvarra, who is sometimes thought to be the Kind of the Dead.

Ellyllon - Tiny Welsh faeries, who are fond of toadstools and faery butter. Often they will perform helpful tasks around the house much like the brownies.

Elves - Generally refers to the Scandinavian faery folk, divided into light Elves and dark elves. In Scotland, faeries of human size were often known as elves, and thier land is Elfame. In England, the people referred to small faeries as elves, although the name was not felt to be flattering by the faeries themselves.

Pixies - Pixies (Pigsies or Pikies) are faeries from Northren England. They are said to be small, winged faeries with large heads, pointed ears, and noses, and arched eyebrows. They wear hats made from the tops of toadstools or foxglove plants, and are attracted to gardens in bloom. They also love coming together for gatherings where they play and dance. They do not seek out humans normally but when they take a liking to someone, they help them with their home and/or farm. They do, hoever, enjoy playing pranks on people and are especially fond of misleading ravlers. When you become "Pixie-led" the spell can be broken by turning your coat inside out.

Leprechauns - Come to be the term used for all Irish faeries, it origianlly seems to have been reserved for solitary faeries, who are often seen working on one shoe. They are tricksters who like to play pranks on humans. They are fond of dancing, whiskey, and Irish folk music. Some of the folklore associated with them is well known such as the pot o' gold which one can obtain by tricking him. Various methods, such as an unblinking stare, are supposed to give one power over them.

Dwarfs - Generally refers to the Scandinavian faery folk, divided into light Elves and dark elves. In Scotland, faeries of human size were often known as elves, and thier land is Elfame. In England, the people referred to small faeries as elves, although the name was not felt to be flattering by the faeries themselves.

Gremlins - Gremlins are technological faeries and they are associated, though not exclusively, with airplanes. Traditional faeries, who are usually though of as nature spirits, are said to dislike technology, but Gremlins seem to have adapted do the modern age. Some say they are air spirits, others say that they live underground around airfields. While the descriptions vary, they are ususally pictured being a foot tall, green in color, and having large, fuzzy ears and webbed feet (to cling to airplane wings). They sometimes go about naked, while at other times, they are clothed like aviators, with suction cups on the bottoms of thier boots.

*Information taken from Witchcraft, An Encyclopedia