Post by Spirit of the Lynx on Jul 4, 2007 15:47:56 GMT -5
From: Mystical_Nightwind (Original Message) Sent: 1/11/2004 9:18 PM
The info I am posting is from The Encyclopedia Of Witches & Witchcraft second adition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley NOTE these views may not be the same as yours but in the forest we respect all views...ok now that i got that out of the way here i go woth my first entry on this subject I will make several over time cause it has alot in the encyclopedia feel free to add any input in a respectful manner here as well thank you. please post questions or comment on seperate thread if i cant answer any questions than i will find the answer.
Fairies: A host of supernatural beings and spirits who exist between earth and the heavens. Both good and evil, fairies have, at verious times in history, been blendedand confused with witches. During the witch-hunts in Europeand the BritishIsles, accused witches often sought to save their lives by claiming they were taught their witch arts by fairies, which seemed less malevolent than if they had been taught by the Devil. For the most part, fairies have remained in the category of their own, though when convenient, the clergy allied them with the devil.
Belief in fairies is universal and ancient and is especially strong in Europe and the British isles. Fairies come in all shapes and sizes and are known by scores of names, among them in Western lore brownie, elf, dwarf,troll, gnome, pokka, kobold, leprechaun and banshee. In the colonization of America, fairy beliefs were transported across the Atlantic, where they survived in the Appalachians, the Ozarks and other remote mountianous areas.
The word fairy comes from the Latin term, fata, or fate. The Fates were supernatual women who liked to visit newborn chilren. The archaic English term for fairy is fay, which means enchanted or bewitched; the state ofenchantment is fayerie, which gradually became faerie and fairy.
There are four principal proposed origins of fairies.
1. Fairies are the souls of the pagan dead. Being unbaptized, the shades, or souls, are caught in a netherworld and are not bad enough to descend into hell nor good enough ti rise into heaven.
2. Fairies are fallen angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to him plunged down toward hell with him. But God raised his hand and stopped them in midflight, condemning them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, somrs in the earth and some in the seas and rivers. This belief is widesoread in the lore of Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.
3. Fairies are nature spirits. Fairies are among the many spirits that populate all thingsand places on the planet(ee natural spirits i will post this at later time promise)
4. Fairies are diminutive human beings. Evidence exists that small-statured races populate parts of Europe and British Isles in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, before the spread of the Celts. In Ireland, they were known as the Tuatha de Danaan. They lived in barrows and in shelters burrowed under hills and mounds. They were shy and hard-working, and, as stronger races invaded and conquered with their iron weapons, they retreated into the woodlands to live secretive lives. They were pagan and continued to worship pagan deities. They were close to nature and had keen psychic senses. Some were skilled in metals and mining, and some were heredsmen, keeping stocks of diminutive cattle and horses. Some maintained a guerilla warfare against invaders. The legends og Robin Hood and Rob Roy may be related ti fairy lore.
The elusive fairy races were regarded with suspicion and superstition by the larger races and gradually became endowed in popular belief with magical attributes and characteristics. These races, such as the Lapps, Picts and Romano-British-Iberian peoples, were not so small as to be unable to mingle with the Celts, Normans and Saxons. Many were made into servants and serfs, while some married and mixed bloodlines. Prior to the 13th century, having fairy blood was admired.
Of the four main ideas, the latter two may be most likely: the small races became identified as fairys and were ascribed the supernatual abilities and characteristics of nature spirits in lore.
the next section i post will be on Fairy lore
Again please posr questions or comments on separate string i have provided
The info I am posting is from The Encyclopedia Of Witches & Witchcraft second adition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley NOTE these views may not be the same as yours but in the forest we respect all views...ok now that i got that out of the way here i go woth my first entry on this subject I will make several over time cause it has alot in the encyclopedia feel free to add any input in a respectful manner here as well thank you. please post questions or comment on seperate thread if i cant answer any questions than i will find the answer.
Fairies: A host of supernatural beings and spirits who exist between earth and the heavens. Both good and evil, fairies have, at verious times in history, been blendedand confused with witches. During the witch-hunts in Europeand the BritishIsles, accused witches often sought to save their lives by claiming they were taught their witch arts by fairies, which seemed less malevolent than if they had been taught by the Devil. For the most part, fairies have remained in the category of their own, though when convenient, the clergy allied them with the devil.
Belief in fairies is universal and ancient and is especially strong in Europe and the British isles. Fairies come in all shapes and sizes and are known by scores of names, among them in Western lore brownie, elf, dwarf,troll, gnome, pokka, kobold, leprechaun and banshee. In the colonization of America, fairy beliefs were transported across the Atlantic, where they survived in the Appalachians, the Ozarks and other remote mountianous areas.
The word fairy comes from the Latin term, fata, or fate. The Fates were supernatual women who liked to visit newborn chilren. The archaic English term for fairy is fay, which means enchanted or bewitched; the state ofenchantment is fayerie, which gradually became faerie and fairy.
There are four principal proposed origins of fairies.
1. Fairies are the souls of the pagan dead. Being unbaptized, the shades, or souls, are caught in a netherworld and are not bad enough to descend into hell nor good enough ti rise into heaven.
2. Fairies are fallen angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to him plunged down toward hell with him. But God raised his hand and stopped them in midflight, condemning them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, somrs in the earth and some in the seas and rivers. This belief is widesoread in the lore of Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.
3. Fairies are nature spirits. Fairies are among the many spirits that populate all thingsand places on the planet(ee natural spirits i will post this at later time promise)
4. Fairies are diminutive human beings. Evidence exists that small-statured races populate parts of Europe and British Isles in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, before the spread of the Celts. In Ireland, they were known as the Tuatha de Danaan. They lived in barrows and in shelters burrowed under hills and mounds. They were shy and hard-working, and, as stronger races invaded and conquered with their iron weapons, they retreated into the woodlands to live secretive lives. They were pagan and continued to worship pagan deities. They were close to nature and had keen psychic senses. Some were skilled in metals and mining, and some were heredsmen, keeping stocks of diminutive cattle and horses. Some maintained a guerilla warfare against invaders. The legends og Robin Hood and Rob Roy may be related ti fairy lore.
The elusive fairy races were regarded with suspicion and superstition by the larger races and gradually became endowed in popular belief with magical attributes and characteristics. These races, such as the Lapps, Picts and Romano-British-Iberian peoples, were not so small as to be unable to mingle with the Celts, Normans and Saxons. Many were made into servants and serfs, while some married and mixed bloodlines. Prior to the 13th century, having fairy blood was admired.
Of the four main ideas, the latter two may be most likely: the small races became identified as fairys and were ascribed the supernatual abilities and characteristics of nature spirits in lore.
the next section i post will be on Fairy lore
Again please posr questions or comments on separate string i have provided