Faeryfolk
Filed by Aine MacDermot
Faeryfolk
by Áine Mac Dermot
The Fairytales
Forever etched in memory are the scenes of all of our lives… stories told, mysteries unraveled, secrets shared… the Circle of Memory is Eternal. Our lives in the Multiverse come to us in the shape of Time, and it is a circle where beginnings are endings and endings are beginnings. The Circle of Time is not broken. Our memories and the way we look at things… these are the most powerful forces in shaping our lives and the world around us. In a very Real sense, perception *is* Reality. The Multiverse is never simply there outside of us, our intentionality constructs it. We construct our realities so naturally that, for the most part, we are unaware that we are doing this at every single moment.
The same rhythm of construction works inwardly, too. We construct the landscapes of our inner world… Our Spirit (the core of our Being) creates, shapes, and peoples our inner life. It serves us to remember that from ancient times our Spirits had depth, danger, and unpredictability precisely because Spirit is seen as the presence of our Ancestors within us. We illuminate our inner world through thought. It is a great point of growth in our lives when we allow what is luminous within to Awaken us. Oscar Wilde once said: ‘We think in Eternity but we move slowly through Time.’ The Eternal and Transient Worlds are woven in and through each other; there are no hard and clear-cut boundaries between worlds. As a medieval mystic once asked: ‘Where does the light go when the candle is blown out?’ I believe that there is a place where all of our days secretly gather… the name of that place is Memory.
The classic fairy tale was never written down, at least not until much later. It was memorized and passed orally from one generation to the next. Such tales were told by Grandmothers around the fireplaces of ancient round huts in the evening when the work was over, or by servants to the children of the nobility. Most of the tale spinners could not read, but like many people of Old, they had excellent memories, and their minds were uncluttered by the fiction found in movies, role-playing games, books, and television.
The lives of those who told the stories and those who listened were hard, filled with endless toil and trouble. Work began at sunrise and often didn’t end until well after sunset. There were still Wild forests in those days, and some of those who ventured out there were never seen again. Dangerous beasts prowled many areas of the land and sea. Electricity had not yet been put to use, and the nights were dark and fearsome. Few could afford much use of candles or oil lamps, so people huddled around the hearth after the short days of winter, or hastened to bed after work during the long days of summer. These hearthside tales served several important purposes, not the least of which was to impress upon the children’s minds many lessons to ensure their survival in the wild world outside. The tales were also one of the ways that the ancient Gaels remembered their own history. The tales were not forgotten and, even today in the countryside of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and other places, the old tales are still told around hearth fires.
The term “Faeries” has come to be thought of along the lines of Disney’s Tinkerbell, a creature the size of a rather large grasshopper bearing dragonfly-like wings and sprinkling pixie dust. All of us are familiar with the myriad fairytales and the picture books and calendars that have been produced especially over the last 100 years. The works of modern artists, such as Brian Froud and Alan Lee, have done little to dispel that image, though Froud’s more recent book, Good Faeries, Bad Faeries, seems to make some headway in that direction.
But Who are the Faeries and what do we know of Them? The Gaelic Faeries are known by a number of names, and testimony as to the existence of such Beings can be found in the history, mythology, and folklore of Ireland (sean-sgéal means ‘old story’), as well as within the modern faery-faith that is still extant in many parts of the Isles and elsewhere.
Lady Aurora wrote:
Do faeries really exist? I mean… I have this unexplainable passion for them, a certain urge to see one. Because my mind keeps on battling with my heart that they DON’T exist, and yet, i feel it in my heart that they are here among us… I also feel that they live within my heart….making me feel like i’m ONE OF THEM>>>>
Posted on 17-Sep-05 at 1:43 am | Permalink
Fiona wrote:
Oh yes, faeries exist in a very real way. I’ve seen them from time to time, as do many members of my family past and present. One of my best friends, who is from a very old Irish family, is waken in the night to banshee calls when someone dies in the family, as did her grandmother and great aunt in the past. In my family we see a lady with bandages all over when there is a death. I saw her last week and I found out one of my great aunts died the next day! I don’t want you to doubt it for a second that fae don’t exist. They most certainly do in a very real way. I feel that a lot of Irish families did see faeires, but it was frowned upon and became a “superstitious peasant belief” and not for “good Christians.” So a lot of stories got untold, and those ways were swept under the rug.
Posted on 25-Sep-05 at 8:11 pm | Permalink
Aine MacDermot wrote:
If you read W.Y. Evans-Wentz’s “The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries”, he makes a very good case for the Fae being reborn into human bodies, quite often over and over within a clann blood line. Personally, I have no doubt They are here among us.
Maybe I’m one.
Posted on 26-Sep-05 at 2:10 am | Permalink
Anto wrote:
I was visited by a flock of faeries one night as I laid down to go to bed. At first I thought the shadow of a head moved on my wall. Then I felt something large was standing in front of me. I called for my friend to come into the room, but he was fast asleep. I then saw stars coming at me. Like a tunnel of them. I rubbed my eyes and they were still there. The stars were wizzing by my head. Some twinkled like a sparkle. The stars turned into some kind of wavy, shimmering scattering of light throughout my room. Once again I rubbed my eyes to see if I was just bugging out. Nope. I sure wasn’t bugging out. So I relaxed and after a minute these things appeared in place of the shimmering light. At first it looked like butterflies. They were a light golden yellowish white color. Their wings seemed to propel them magically. As if gravity didn’t affect them. Their aura was one of a happy greeting. Almost playful. As I lay there I could feel the tears running down my face. I put my hand up and could see, but not feel one of them climb around it. there had to be about forty of them. About 3-4 inch bodies. With wings about the same size. Except there wings were a bit higher than there heads and the bottoms were about to the top of the calf. They stayed for a bit and then the swirling light came back, then the stars and they were gone. They came again the following night and I haven’t seen them since.
I never believed in this stuff before. I am a big sceptic. What I saw those nights was real. I actually saw a flock of beings from myth. Thus, I must conclude that they exist. I have been studying about them ever since.
Posted on 21-Oct-05 at 1:02 am | Permalink
Aine MacDermot wrote:
Anto: I had a similar experience only it was in my yard during broad daylight. I didn’t see them morph into creatures with wings, though. Just tiny sparkles of light, flying around me in all directions in the morning sunlight. It was not raining, there was no wind, and I’ve never seen rain that flies upward/outward/and in circles, so the idea that it was just water droplets in the air was ruled out.
And yes, it was accompanied by a wonderful feeling of happiness.
Posted on 21-Oct-05 at 1:09 am | Permalink
amber wrote:
dude i can’t copy anything!!whats up with that?
Posted on 24-Apr-06 at 10:58 am | Permalink
Aine MacDermot wrote:
dude i can’t copy anything!!whats up with that?
As you can see, I copied your comment. Your inability to copy and paste is likely due to some problem with your own computer. BTW, if you’re not already using it, I recommend Firefox as a browser.
PS: I’m not a dude.
Posted on 24-Apr-06 at 11:10 am | Permalink
Amryn Morgan wrote:
I believe in faeries. I saw three of them (actually, I saw “faerie lights”, not the faeries themselves) but they were three orbs of white light, no bigger than a quarter, with the edges of the bright white light encircled in an electric blue. The two large ones were about the size of a quarter, and the littler one, I’m assuming was the ‘baby’ of the group, was no bigger than a nickel. From that day on, I have believed in faeries and they will always hold a special place in my heart. I am studying Faerie Wicca at the Wiccan school I am enrolled in and I love it. I’ve read that Tori Amos (she’s a singer) believes in faeries as well.
Hugs and faerie dust,
Amryn Morgan
Posted on 28-Nov-06 at 10:10 am | Permalink
spellbell wrote:
do you think that people are actually reincarnated faeries…? I do. I have this recurring dream, since I was a child, that in my bed one night, a woman faerie, with skin, hair and wings the color of moonlight and eyes that were ice blue, beckoned me to follow her. When I did, she took me by the hand and laughed softly, then we rode on towards this island, somewhere in the middle of some ocean, and in the sky I had morphed into a creature with golden hair and skin and pure green eyes, like I have now. There, I ate and drank and knew the faeries by name, and they called to me and frolicked and suddenly… in the forest somethinh happened, and the island was shook and the faeries ran and flew in the black terror, and I was tumbled tumbled tumbled back to the Earth, watching the white woman call out to me silently, large tears in her blue eyes. I woke up with the taste of wine on my tongue, and my face was wet with tears. What’s really odd though, is that my best friend has had the same dream… and we both see faeries constantly.
what could this mean?
Posted on 03-Dec-06 at 2:19 pm | Permalink
Catherine Leslie-Fay wrote:
Sounds like you’ve kinfolk among the Sidhe. You might consider cultivating a magical garden even if it is only on a shelf in a window…
Myself I was taken Underhill when I was 13 and told of my family and the history. I was flabergasted at first but later I began to take my true kin to heart.
I still have folks telling me I’m just Human but I know better then that.
Still have to pay taxes and whatnot but I am walking a gentler path across Earth these days.
Namarie,
Cathrea
Posted on 20-Jan-07 at 4:30 am | Permalink
Pea wrote:
How wonderful to read such dialogue. I too watch the lights, some playful indeed, so very naughty, hidden in the woods, by the wells, and around me. My father was so very ill, and I called on the lights and they came and surrounded this man that I loved so. Beautiful it was as he gained strength as they came. My father healed by the sidhe.
Posted on 25-Mar-07 at 4:31 am | Permalink
Frank wrote:
I believe. Once I sat in a local woodland in the south of England where I live and practiced simple tunes on my Celtic harp. I tired, then fell asleep. In my dream I saw beautiful lights, bands of colour subtly weaving and blending, at the same time the most beautiful sounds beyond my imagining. I awoke and opened my eyes, the vision of colours was replaced by spring folage of the trees above against a pale blue sky but unexpectedly the sounds continued…coming from my harp, but not plucked notes by crude hand but a gentle arpegio of weaving resonance so delicate yet intricate. I turned to look directly and the sound instantly stopped! I believe that the fey were enjoying showing a human just how the harp can be played. I once met a Sidhe, but that is a longer story, they have increadable eyes and talk directly into your soul. I have no doubt that with such ability they can hide from us with ease, or move among us without our being aware. Only the nasty should fear them, the good at heart will simply adore them and our world would be berift of beauty should they ever abandon us.
Posted on 28-Sep-07 at 7:47 pm | Permalink
fairclaire wrote:
I am a decendant of the Dean family from a village in Mayo called Breaghwyanteean(wolf plain of the fairy hill).I’m convinced that our Dean name is a relic of the Tuatha de danaan, and was always told we were from “fairy stock”and to welcome the gifts and responsibilities that came with this heritage.I am only now
beginning to appreciate the richness of this history.This site is a delightful discovery.
Posted on 12-Nov-07 at 1:03 am | Permalink
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Posted on 04-Feb-08 at 4:34 pm | Permalink
Gilly wrote:
anyone who understands dreams??
my family has long been disconnected from its celtic heritage, but recently, i personally have been trying to trace us back and discover where exactly we come from. then i got a dream. i dreamt i was in some forest-like area, very rural, raw, untouched. i was tied in the bottom of a wooden boat, with a savage-looking woman standing over me with a club. she told me, ‘we’re going to wipe out you and all your kind.’ then i saw others around me, in boats and tied down, strong but beautiful creatures, their skin glowing slightly. i connected eyes with a beautiful face, a male with deep blue eyes. i heard his voice in my head, ‘when i tell you, break your bonds and fly. we will all go at once. once we are in the air, they cannot touch us.’ i waited, then suddenly i felt a rush of energy, which must have been his signal. i felt a burning at my wrists as i somehow burned off my bonds, and my body lept into the air with so many others, all beings of light and power. we were flying far above, and finally came to rest in the tall, lush trees of the island. i looked over, and the male was in the same tree as me. his voice was in my head again, and he said, ‘we are free. but they always want to wipe us out. but in the end, they cannot overcome us. they are baser metals, we are refined.’ then i felt the rush of power again, and i awoke with a strength in my body like i have never felt before. does this dream mean anything?? does it have to do with my geneological search? i have never believed in faeries, but since this dream, there is a doubt in my mind. could they be there? here? what have i seen or known?
someone please help me.
Posted on 18-Mar-08 at 12:11 pm | Permalink