Many theories by leading mythologists and religious leaders on the subject of whoand what faeries are have been put forth, dismissed, and often put forth again by the scientific community. These range from insidious and bigoted theories about pygmies migrating from Africe to Europe, to church-generated hysteria about unleashed demonic energies. Faeries have been called gangels and devils, fact and fancy, spirits and ghosts, vampires and werewolves, and a host of other appellations which have nothing to do with the faeries known to pagans.(for those theories and others read Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz in his classic work The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries)

 

Modern pagans, on the other hand, have a very different view of faeries from the under-the-microscope one of the sciences. Most pagans tend to take the view that faeries were created by the deaties, just as they created humans and other animals. They are in a like form which resides in a parallel but unseen world commonly referred to as the astral or inner plane, though they have proven the abilityto transcend the plane of their own existanceand to travel briefly into other dimensions. They have elemental associations, but thare not raw  energy. They are thinking and feeling creatures, and they can and do work with witches for numerous magickal and ritual goals.

 

An irish legend tells us that the Sea God Manann, sensing a hopeless disharmony between faeries and humans, refused to allow the marriage of a faery queen named Fand and her human lover Cuchulain, the Irish warrior chieftan. Manann raised his cloak between them, decreeing that the world of faeries and the world oh humans hust forever be seperated. With that gesture, he erased the memories of eachother from the other. This legend has echoes in similarly sad tales all around the globe.

 

To see faeries today one must be open to astral or innerplane experiences, a realm not visible in everyday waking consciousness. J.M. Barrie, author of the well-known faery story Peter Pan, was not far off when he said that to see faeries you "have to believe."

 

Very young children still can and do see faeries with remarkable ease. Theyhave not yet been tought to close down the active psychic centers we are all born with, and they have not been taught the difference between real and unreal as defined by western culture. Children often speak of faery encounters only to be either ridiculed or patronized by adults. Eventually they are taught that to believe in faery folk is silly at best, and a sign of mental derangement at worst.

 

Witches were always thought to be on good terms with faeries and were frequent visitors to their burghs, the grassy hillocks under which faeries are said to live. Accusing someone of such an alleged visit was considered proof of guilt during the Burning Times, the years of European and North American witch persecutions and murders. Throughout this period faeries were considered by mainstream society to be dangerous creatures, the spawn of the Devil himself, and only a true witch would be brave enough to consort with them, knowing he or she was protected from harm by Satan.

 

But in truth witches must be as cautious in their dealings with the Little People as anyone else- maybe more so. After all, witches are trained to see into astral realms, witches can reel and sense these other beings around them, and witches have developed powers which many faeries have and may jealously guard. And witches know how to banish faeries, and how to destroy them and their world. And faeries know witches when they see them, too, and they in turn knkow how to help or harm a witch.

 

What are the truth's about the dangers of working with faeries? Even pagans who have believed in faeries as something more than elemental representations have often shied away from trying to build a working relationship with them. They reguard faeries as too capricious or too dangerous to trust in a working relation ship. Amd there is a bit of truth to that viewpoint. But faeries are each different, just as people are different, and there are some faeries you want to avoid, just as there are some people you want to avoid. But just as you don't turn your back on the whole human race because of a few bad apples, you needn't turn your back on the faery races, either.

 

There are numerous faert types one should probibaly not attempt to seek out. But on the other hand, if you should run into them while travelling in the realms of Faeryland, there is no need to flee in terror. You may either pass on by with a mere nod of acknowlwdgement, or, if you are the brave type, you can attemptto draw them into a conversation which is apt to be bizarre at best. The last thing you should ever do is run. This will only inflame their intrest, just as it did to that bully who used to chase you home from kindergarden.Remember the old saying, "If you don't run, you can't be chased."

 

((For more info on faeries check out Edain McCoy's book entitled A Witches Guide to Faery Folk, note that you don't have to be a witch to read the book and understand the info))