Truth About Faeries

I believe this question is best answered through the continual reports made by humans who, over the centuries, have had encounters with Them, and of course, we have several volumes of books reporting such encounters, the best being Lady Gregorys, Visions & Beliefs In the West of Ireland (1920), and W.B. Yeats, Irish Fairy & Folk Tales, (1892) and The Celtic Twilight, (1893), as well as the old myths providing example after example of human and faery encounters, but what of today?

Like any time period, the current sitings reported in our day are discounted as imagination and dismissed even by the community in which one would think such reports would be accepted. Yet, is our modern inability to accept such reports really different from the past? Perhaps such sitings will always be more readily accepted when a hundred years have passed and the current generation seeks to understand these creatures, hoping to have a brush with Them. Then the tales of yesterday seem more real, more romantic.

However, let us compare three reports; the first comes to us from the late 19th-century, the second comes from the early 20th-century, and the last is a current report.

"A man told me that one day, when he was a boy, he and another boy went to catch a horse in a certain field, full of boulders and bushes of hazel and creeping juniper and rock-roses, that is where the lake side is for a little clear of the woods. He said to the boy that was with him, "I bet a button that if I fling a pebble on to that bush it will stay on it, meaning that the bush was so matted the pebble would not be able to go through it. So he took up "a pebble of cow-dung, and as soon as it hit the bush there came out of it the most beautiful music that ever was heard." They ran away, and when they had gone about two hundred yards they looked back and saw a woman dressed in white, walking round and round the bush. 'First it had the form of a woman, and then of a man, and it was going round the bush. ~1893

"I saw Them myself one night I was going to Ennis with a load of straw. It was when we came to Bunnahow and the moon was shining, and I was on the top of the load of straw, and I saw Them in a field. Just like jockeys They were, and riding horses, red clothes and caps They had like a jockey would have, but They were small. They had a screen of bushes put up in the field and some of the horses would jump over it, and more of Them would baulk when They would be put to it. The men that were with me didnt see Them, they were walking in the road, but they heard the sound of the horses." ~1907

"There was a group of five of us, trekking across a sheep pasture. We were heading for the west cairn at Loughcrew. Two other women in our party had gone up ahead of us and were waiting on top the hill. As we neared the half-way spot the two women came into view; they were standing on the otherside of the barbed-wire fence. Both ladies waved to us and we returned their wave. The five of us fell back into our conversation over the activities of the previous day and then we paused to catch our breath. In unison we all looked back to the hill-top, now only a hundred yards or so further. A third person now stood with our two friends. We all marveled who the man might be, some hoping he wouldnt interfere with our planned activities. Thoughts that he was the farmer were voiced, but to which we all laughed away because no Irish farmer would be wearing a bright-red shirt and white pants. After catching our breath we continued our climb. When we arrived at the top, ten minutes later, we greeted the other two, the man was no where in sight. When we asked the two women where he had gone, they looked at each other with quizzical expressions before turning back to us with the explanation that no one else had been up-top since they had arrived." ~1997

These three accounts of faery sitings are pretty harmless encounters with the faery, yet, tales do exist wherein the faery have not been so benevolent, showing us another side of Them. Let us now examine three such reports; again, one from the 19th-century and two from the 20th-century, the last being a current siting.

"A friend was once at a village near Sleive League. One day he was straying about a rath called Cashel Nore. A man with a haggard face and unkempt hair, and clothes falling in pieces, came into the rath and began digging. My friend turned to a peasant who was working near and asked who the man was. "That is the third O-Byrne", was the answer. A few days after he learned this story: A great quantity of treasure had been buried in the rath in pagan times, and a number of evil faeries set to guard it; but some day it was to be found and belong to the family of the O-Byrnes. Before that day three O-Byrnes must find it and die. Two had already done so. The first had dug and dug until at last he got a glimpse of the stone coffin that contained it, but immediately a thing like a huge hairy dog came down the mountain and tore him to pieces. The next morning the treasure had again vanished deep into the earth. The second O-Byrne came and dug and dug until he found the coffer, and lifted the lid and saw the gold shining within. He saw some horrible sight the next moment, and went raving mad and soon died. The treasure again sank out of sight. The third O-Byrne is now digging. He believes that he will die in some terrible way the moment he finds the treasure, but that the spell will be broken, and the O-Byrne family made rich for ever, as they were of old. A peasant of the neighbourhood once saw the treasure. He found the shin-bone of a hare lying on the grass. He took it up; there was a hole in it; he looked through the hole, and saw the gold heaped up under the ground. He hurried home to bring a spade, but when he got to the rath again he could not find the spot where he had seen it." ~ 1893

"My mother saw many a thing, but They did her no harm. No, I remember none of the stories; since my children died and a weight came on my heart all those things went from me. Yes, its true Father Boyle banished the dog; and there was a cousin of my own used to live in the house at Garryland, and she could get no sleep for what she used to feel at night. But Father Boyle came and whatever he did, "You will feel Them no more," says he, and she never did, though he was buried before her. "That was a bad, bad place we lived in near the sea. The children never felt anything, but often in the night I could hear music playing and no one else in the house could hear it. But the children died one by one, passing away without pain or ache. All they saw was twice; the two last little girls I had were beside the door at night talking and laughing and they saw a big dark man pass by, but he never spoke. Some old thing out of the walls he must have been. And soon after that they died. "One time when I was there a strange woman came in, and she knew everything and told me everything. "Id give you money if I had it," said I. "I know well you have not much of it," says she; "but take my word and go away out of this house to some other place, for youÕre in the way." She told me to tell no one she came, and that shows there was something not right about her; and I never saw her any more. "But if Id listened to her then, and if I knew then what she meant by the house being in the way I would not have stopped in it, and my seven fine children would be with me now. Took away they were by Them and without ache or pain. I never had a sign or a vision from Them since, but often and often They come across me in my sleep." ~ 1916

"There are some experiences that may be better left untold; it has been several years since the encounter and the thought of even mentally reliving it has kept me from writing it down.

"While in Ireland we encountered an area that might be considered bad land; an ancient center known for its blood-shed or annual blood sacrifices, not of humans mind you, of cattle. But through psychism, a clear message came through to some of the group that the faery of the region had gotten used to feeding on the blood, and that there was blood-letting still going on.

"The bottom line was we were not to do any energy work at a particular site, and decided to leave the area visiting the site on our way-out the next morning, but somehow -- nobody seems to know how -- we ended up at the site that evening at sun-down.

"Agreeing to just visit it and leave, we went down into the Lois circle. What happened next was bazaar. The daylight was leaving and we were entering the twilight time, a good time to contact Faeryland. As people started touching the stones they seemed to go into a trance. Myself and two others stayed in the center of the circle, watching what was happening, but it was happening too fast.

"As I turned in a circle to see where everyone was I was amazed as I saw hideous Beings stepping out of the stones -- they were very elfin looking, with beady red-glaring eyes and sharp-long teeth. Their hands were more claw-like then what weÕd think of as hands. Soon one of these creatures stood in front of every stone -- I felt and sensed, rather than heard, "feed us!"

"The skeptic of our group was just then touching the head stone, and he turned and faced me. I felt a zap of energy move through me and laying my hand on my magical partners shoulder, I pointed at the man and heard myself say, "He will do as the sacrifice."

"With that I snapped to attention, a blast of heat coming over me. Turning to my magical partner, I watched as his eyes glazed over and he clutched his hazel staff in both hands as if it were a weapon. I went crazy with fear and threw myself at him, grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him as hard as I could, saying over and over, "No, this is crazy. We have to get out of here NOW!"

"He shook his head, his eyes refocusing and looked at me. "We have to get out of here," I whispered. Instantly, he went into action. "Right," he responded. As I pushed passed him, I could hear his words, "Okay people, we dont want to be in here when the darkness comes over us. Lets go now."

"Now!" I barked. Our words snapped everyone out of their trance, and with dazed expressions on their faces they all made their way back to the bus.

"We were all dazed for a good three days after that, and it took us several days after that before we could talk about what had happened, but we were all in agreement, Faery With Teeth had surfaced from the OtherWorld, for many of us had seen Them, and the feeling had been one of extreme fright.

"In hindsight I realize that while They werent success in getting blood from us, we did feed Them. We gave Them our energy, part of our life-force and this only makes Them stronger.

"I have not yet gone back to that place. One day I know I must, but I really want to be prepared. These Faery are nothing to mess around with. Ive had a lot (by other peoples standards) of encounters with Them, but after this one, I have pulled back a bit and now approach all of Them with extreme caution." ~ 1998

The Three Forces Of Faery

Rather than categorize the faerie into good and evil, it is more important that we recognize that They do not fit into this stereotype. They dont have human emotion. They are not of our world. As mentioned earlier, They respond to vibration and so we might better understand Them as a force. This force can be a Bright force, a Dark force, or a Dim force, which is where most of Them align. They have been molded by our minds and fed energy by us, this makes Them inherently dangerous, or shall we say unpredictable.

The Dim Force or Power is the Faery that is most often encountered, and the least likely to do us harm, although reasons for insanity have been argued after a human undergoes a Faery encounter even with such of this class. Leprechauns and Banshees, Sprites and Elves, the Brownie and Pixies are all found here. These are the Faery that have business with humankind, and will often exist on the fringe of nature.

The Bright Force or Power contains Divinity and is perhaps likened to the Sacred Veil behind which the Gods dwell. The Bright Force uses humankind to accomplish missions that surpass human understanding and which often challenges human frailty. The realm of spirit is often hard to maintain any type of relationship with in any spiritual tradition and is found to be no different within our own.

The Dark Force or Power is those aspects of Faery that deal with the fringes of maleficence and seeks only to over-power that which it comes into contact with, whether that be to live-off the energy force or life force of the unknowning or to taint with the darkness, luring the amadan into submissive mission on the side of evil. If the truth be told, no class of the Faery should be messed with or even sought, as each exists outside of human time and space and will, in the end, do more harm to a human than good. Our lives are better lived without knowing Them.

The Birth Of The Faery-Faith Tradition

The ancient tradition of the Faery-Faith is today cloaked in Irish superstition; for that is the way many old religions have survived. The actual starting point of when the ancient practices of the Faery-Faith began is unknowable, but it once was a very strong religion, one referred to in the old tongue as Bhardic, more commonly today as Druidic.

For the most part, however, it is most safe to say that Yeats and his contemporaries brought forth the Faith during the time we call the Celtic Revival of the 19th-century, and much thanks his owed to him and his colleagues of the Golden Dawn for dabbling with the ancient lore and re-opening many gateways that had either been closed by shere lack of awareness or were in the process of closing due to the over-growth of the wild.

Where Are They Now?

The Faery are now what They have been from the beginning: a divinic class of Beings that surpass human understanding.

Are They Gods of a forgotten or myst shrouded time or simply the raw essence of nature?

After twenty-plus years of searching for Them, encountering Them, studying Them, and longing to be with Them, this author is no closer to an answer than when when I first set out on such a plight. There is one thing I know for certain, my life would have been greatly different had I never hearkened Their calling. And I can not help but wonder if its quality would have been different?

In the end there are no concrete answers. The Faery simply ARE [period] and we humans need to walk cautiously around Them, perhaps, leaving Them to Their own Realm and business.

PART FOUR

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAERY AND ELEMENTALS AND NATURE SPIRITS AND THE SIDHE?

This is a question I continually get asked, even though I've tried my best to explain the differences. I must be honest in saying right off the bat that there are days when I think, there is none. No sooner do I slip into such a lazy mindset then I am once again reminded and shown that, yes, indeed, there is a big difference between Faery and elementals and nature spirits and the Sidhe.

So, here I go again. I'm going to attempt to be very basic and as clear as possible in my explination and I'm hoping this all makes sense.

Faery -- derived from the people called The Tuatha De Danann. Were they human? Were they gods? What were they? We can only guess, however, there position in ancient Ireland was so magnificient that, even if they were humans, they became divine and thus were looked upon as gods. There is no proof of their existence as a people, which leads this author to believe that they were, indeed, gods. After their disappearance from Ireland, they became known as the Faery. As we now know, there is quite a lineage attached to this one word, which is quite a loaded word today and has come to mean about twenty different classes of beings.

Elementals -- energies aligned to the four raw elements. These energies have been cartoonized into four creatures: earth -- gnomes; air -- slyphs; fire -- salamanders; water -- undines. The elemental creatures were developed as a way to explain the nature of the element and how the shape one could use to visualize when conjuring the elements for manipulative purposes. Are these four classes of creatures now known as the elementals real? You betcha. After several hundreds of years worth of human investment and development... their real. We might say that, in truth, elementals are man-made. In truth, an elemental is the life-force of an element and not a cute little image, as those borrowed from the kingdom of the nature spirits.

Nature Spirits -- the beings of the otherworld that existent within a realm that we now call "betwixt and between." Deva's and the creatures most commonly mistaken as or labeled as "fairies, faeries, feys, fays" are the helpers and keepers of nature. This author also places totem animals into this realm, as totem animals are nature spirits, too. Most of the "fairies" described in the writings published by the Theosopical Society are nature spirits, i.e. garden fairies, water babies, storm dragons, etc.. The shapes of the creatures called elementals were borrowed from nature spirits. This is why there is a great confusion when it comes to elementals and nature spirits. It is quite possible, that angels and demons could be placed under this category, but on that one, as of yet, I'm not quite sure or convinced this would be correct. As for ghosts, definitely not nature spirits, but their own class.

Sidhe -- ah, now we come to a name that confuses even some who follow the Faery-Faith Traditions. What is the difference between the Faery (TDD) and the Sidhe? The Sidhe, the Shining Ones, who came from the stars. Well, mention of them is older than the TDD and yet mingled with the TDD, thus, the Sidhe is the one word we can use to encompass the entire Irish pantehon of Gods and Goddesses. The Sidhe are divine, godhead, divinity that rolls off the tip of the tongue, conjurs the most brilliant of light and far exceeds human understanding. The Sidhe are of the stars and are limitless and much larger in meaning then is possible to convey through description.

A revolution within my own heart and mind is the redistribution of the term Faery. Rather than discontinuing the use of Faery, a word that is more than a mere word, a word that at one time was a huge as "Sidhe," I've now relegated the word "Faery" as a term used to describe a space in being, a realm, the otherworld. Thus, "in Faery" or "away to Faery" or "it's Faery" now represents the realm in which the Sidhe dwell. Now, I perfer to use the term "Sidhe" when refering to the Divine Gods & Goddesses of the Irish Faery-Faith Tradition.

More may be added...as experience continues!