In that Victorian classic, The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley (1863), the author mocks contemporary scientific attempts to analyse the world. The character Professor Ptthmllnsprts wants to prove that:
“that nymphs, satyrs, fauns, inui, dwarfs, trolls, elves, gnomes, fairies, brownies, nixes, wilis, kobolds, leprechaunes, cluricaunes, banshees, will-o’-the-wisps, follets, lutins, magots, goblins, afrits, marids, jinns, ghouls, peris, deevs, angels, archangels, imps, bogies, or worse, were nothing at all, and pure bosh and wind. And he had to get up very early in the morning to prove that, and to eat his breakfast overnight; but he did it, at least to his own satisfaction.”
Water Babies, chapter 4
This list may seem strangely familiar to some readers, and there’s a good reason for that, It closely resembles those written by Reginald Scot in the 1594 and by Michael Denham in the nineteenth century. Whether the contents are “pure bosh and wind” is another matter again. I’ve surveyed these matters in previous posts and I recently returned to the theme in a chapter in a new book, Faery Mysteries. In this, I’ve deliberately focussed on some of the aspects of faery lore which are the most challenging or uncharacteristic for us- if we approach the subject with the conventional stereotyped image of a faery in mind. Some of the creatures listed by Denham seem barely ‘faery-like’ at all. Likewise, their means of getting about, their pastimes and some of their functions (such as influencing our dreams and nightmares– including our most secret sexual fantasies) challenge our preconceptions as to what faeries are and what they do. This may seem especially so in the final chapter of the book, in which I trace some of the close parallels between faeries and witches’ familiars. I’ll return to this particular subject in a separate post, but suffice to say now it’s another indication of how complex the relationship is between faery-kind and witches.
We all share a tendency to attach ourselves to narrative that are familiar and comforting. With faeries, this has become the image of the Good Folk as small, winged, friendly, harmless and in harmony with nature. This probably says more about our own concerns than those of our Good Neighbours. In putting together the new book, I deliberately looked for the elements of their characters and habits which are most at the boundary of what we consider ‘fae.’ To some degree, it’s a call for more flexibility in our categorisations. Comparably, my 2020 book Beyond Faery deals with those classes of faery beast that present us with similar problems: where do we draw the line between ‘Faery’ and some other species of supernatural being? Arguably, the title if the second book is a misnomer, as I’d still include the mermaids, the kelpies, water bulls and the black dogs within a more broad and generous definition of fae. What’s indisputable, though, is that faerylore always has something to surprise us; the faeries are a complex and unpredictable people- just like us.
A practical example of faery complexity and multiplicity is the question of how they get around. The modern cliche is of the winged faery, something that’s largely a conceit of artists and is unknown to British folk tradition. Native faery lore has the faeries flying, it’s true, but this is by means of enchanting plant stems to ride on or merely by dint of a magic spell that’s pronounced, often including the intended destination (“Horse and hattock” etc). That’s all well and good, but then the Good Folk confound us by walking around, or riding, or using carriages and wagons, or by sailing in boats. They’ll sometimes even borrow a horse and cart from a human neighbour. Then again, they can travel inside whirlwinds or (it appears) move about by spinning their own bodies like tops. What determines the choice of motion- ‘type’ of faery, situation, weather conditions, personal preference- we just don’t know.
Such puzzling variety exists as well in the faery relationship to our own sleeping or dreaming states. According to accounts, a half-waking, half-drowsing consciousness is common for contact with the faeries; we are, perhaps, at a liminal point between levels of awareness or ‘dimensions’ and (it appears) more receptive to them. The faeries’ interventions subsequently can be multifarious. They may bring us dreams of what we desire (materially or romantically); they may communicate with us, bringing us messages or directing us towards hidden riches; most notoriously, they may physically intervene against the sleeper. Individuals asleep have been physically punished by the faeries for perceived offences against them, they have been the subjects of attempted abductions and (of course) they have been the victims of sexual assaults. Once again, the mechanisms and precise reasons for the faeries using one medium of contact rather than another is unclear. People are as often approached (and seduced) openly and face to face, so why some have these experiences whilst asleep is another mystery.
As promised, I will return soon to the subject of witches’ imps, but in the meantime, and for much more detail, see my Faery Mysteries (Green Magic Publishing, 2022).
British Fairies 
Hi,
Some thoughts on Fairy Mobility and Fairy Communication.
So much of what I write is based on my human logic, my human interpretation, and therefore, as we well know, my human fallibility. It is not for us to fully understand their ways, and best that we don’t. However, when it comes to the subject of communication between our two races, they have many different ways in which they can get their message across should they choose to. More on that in a moment.
FAIRY – WINGED OR WINGLESS? Given that I believe most of my thoughts on this subject are being ‘channelled’, all I can say is that I believe the ones that choose to associate with me are of the Pixie Race, and they have shown no inclination to correct me on this. On those rarest of occasions when one of them has allowed me to see them in their diminutive state for all but a micro-second, they have been moving super-fast with what looks to be a blur of wings. Knowing that I was to write on this subject, the image of a humming bird comes to mind. Think how fast their wings have to beat to keep them in the hover position, and how they shoot forward when onto the next flower for inspection. At other times, Her Ladyship remains invisible, yet beats her wings close to my face so that I feel the ‘waft of air’. This may happen whether fully conscious or in the ‘limbo land’ between full consciousness and full sleep. Once, I recall actually hearing the beat of her wings, something I don’t usually hear.
Thus far, I have spoken about seeing them awake or semi-awake. It should not be forgotten, that they are superb shape-shifters, and could be ‘up close and personal’ with you, their chosen one, without you knowing for sure … For example, that dragonfly that keeps buzzing around you, going away, coming back again and again, that pair of friendly robins flying to and fro in front of you all day long. You have not seen them there before, but you are not the only angler who visits there. Is it simply what it seems, animals used to being fed maggots by humans, or is it something else? You can’t really be sure.
But here’s the thing. In my semi-dreaming or full-dreaming state, She might appear as a humanoid entity in resplendent garb so white I can barely look on without needing to shield my eyes – so much is it like looking at the sun! Earlier, she would customarily appear alone or with her followers in her humanoid form dressed in green. The one time she ‘glammed’ me to get my attention, I did not even recognise her! I just recalled locking eyes with a face the like of which I have not seen since. Only when I awoke later did she point out that that was her. Yep, that cool unblinking severe high-born look lives with me. She knows how much I like that look but keeps it from me because she is a terrible tease …!
FAIRY COMMUNICATION. Your research is very accurate and accords well with my experience. If they wish to communicate with me, it will invariably happen when I am asleep or about to fall asleep. I have always believed that this is their preferred way to communicate WITH ME. I emphasize this because I believe they take the ‘path of least resistance’. I am not without some ‘gifts’ and Her Ladyship has intimated whence some of those ‘gifts’ might have come … but we can imagine that not everyone is immediately endowed with such abilities or has a mind so receptive to their manipulation when it dreams (for, assuredly, we all dream!).
“Once again, the mechanisms and precise reasons for the faeries using one medium of contact rather than another is unclear. People are as often approached (and seduced) openly and face to face, so why some have these experiences whilst asleep is another mystery.”
I found this statement prompted several observations in me:
Not being the kind of male who was up for a ‘one night stand’ no matter how intoxicated, I find it hard to believe that an approach via the ‘Front Door’ is necessarily easier than via the ‘Back Door’ of our minds. That said, having experienced the power of a Fairy’s enchantment spell asleep, who am I to say whether they would have any difficulty possessing in person the human of their choice? Part of me thinks that there will always be some who would resist their advances on principle no matter how infatuated they may feel at the time. Obviously, there will be many who will succumb …
Further to this, if you are awake and conscious and in full possession of your faculties, you can make it very difficult for them to approach you by the use of various wards. Once you are asleep, it is much harder to keep them at bay. You are more vulnerable to their solicitations.
The dreams in which some communication is being made usually stand out from my normal vague memories. And, no matter how intense the dream itself may be, should my memory of it the following morning be a little ‘too hazy’ for their liking such that I am missing the point, then part of that memory will be restored to me, and, instead of dismissing it as a ‘wacko’ dream, I will then understand that, actually, that was the main point of the visit! In the dream itself, I will very often be communicating with them like I am one with them, like I would with a fellow human familiar with my language.
Dreams being what they are, things can sometimes get a little ‘confused’, not just in terms of the subject matter, but with whom you were actually conversing! You see, let’s imagine that it is the night of a Full Moon. They have been pranking you all day long. You are tired, but not so tired you forget to look at the moonlight and imagine them dancing away … You fall asleep quickly, but without dreams. Early the next morning (no doubt after they have finished their festivities) they come calling, waking you up with their scratching sounds. Seems like Her Ladyship is there with the rest of her followers. You awake, are briefly puzzled by their noises, but quickly fall asleep. Ah, but this time, you instantly get a dream in which you see Her staring at you unblinking seemingly with cool indifference. She achieves her aim. Even though the dream involved your partner, of whom she is fully aware, of course, She has you where She wants you. You are smitten. She knows it and immediately dispenses with that dream, exchanging it for the one that conveys her true purpose and the reason why she is there. When you awake, you recall only snatches of it. You know that you conversed at length. But the person you were conversing with was sat by your side, not face to face. Children, contracts, obligations are all talked over. Your dreaming self absorbs it and agrees with it as being totally logical. Your human self thinks it weird while the dream lasts, and then dismisses it as of no import when you awake. As the following morning goes by and you dwell on both dreams, gradually the significance is leaked into your brain. She makes clear that it is She you saw in the first dream – though you have never seen her with that face before (which she gently contradicts by reminding you of a distant memory years back of a figure partially seen from afar …). You recall the memory and concede it might have been her. As the conversation took place so quick after the first dream, you conclude that the two of you are conversing – just not face to face. She was laying down the ground rules is how I would describe it.
As I said above, these oblique conversations make it hard to know with whom you are conversing. Thus, recently, I had a dream in which I was speaking with someone obliquely. It was clear that the two of us were very comfortable together in our conversation. The only reason the dream was memorable was because of the unusual un-English phrasing used. The meaning of the question asked was clear enough, basically, “Are you going to have sex with her?”. Whether this phrasing was deliberately used to get my attention or whether it signified I was talking with a different Fae is impossible to say. Either way, I was convinced it was fairy-inspired dream. It certainly peaked my curiosity because Her Ladyship has previously used the above phrase correctly. Her Ladyship did have a rival.
You see my dilemma?
Had I been tricked and Her Ladyship’s rival had accosted me and was asking me about my intentions towards Her Ladyship? Could it have been Her Ladyship asking about my intentions towards her rival (maybe I am simply being too judgemental on the linguistics front!)? Was it a Follower of Her Ladyship asking me about her Mistress? Was it simply Her Ladyship asking about my human partner? It’s really anybody’s guess when you are in an oblique conversation with a hidden person!
Phil
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