what EXACTLY does faery folk mean to you?

sagitarian

This came to mind after a conversation with my sister (alissa). We were talking on how we both know that we are faery friendly, but we are not reincarnated faery. In any case...here's my question.

what EXACTLY does faery, and faery folk mean to you? Is it SOLELY restricted to JUST little people with wings? This deck shows many that don't have wings, and those that aren't the "typical" faery looking folk that most people see as being faery. What exactly is faery, and faery folk?

To me, after a few days of thinking on this, I think that the fae folk can include the elves, dwarfs, gnomes, etc. Even in the deck itself, there is such fae friends. So then I asked myself, why do I restrict my "definition" of faery to being JUST little people with wings? why can't faery include elves and other folk of the sort. I've always felt like I was an elf incarnated. I've had several people tell me that I look as much too, especially with my mischievious grin, and my spirited laugh. They smile and take a second look, and then just smile themselves. Oh yes, I catch their looks, their second glances, and then I smile even more being proud of my elven spirit. I guess the only reason why I felt as though fae where only "faery's with wings and what not" is because there is other names for the others. But fae, and fae folk, now hey, fae folk INCLUDES the other "races". Wouldn't you agree?

grins rolling her eyes to the top of her head thinking to herself "think that sounded right". Laughs and pulls up a chair most interested in what others have to say.
 

Jewel

I think the misconception we have with the fae only being the cute little winged creatures is because in popular culture that is what we are tought. Personally I believe that "Faerie Folk" is an umbrella term like "human folk" ... that there different races. In other words I agree with you Sagitarius. One important group that sometimes get left out in the cold are the mermaids, selkies and kelpies ... they are fae also. I see the fae as having strong elemental ties and well ... I have been acused by some of my friends here at the forum as being a reincarnated water elemental which probably justifies my crussade for the true understanding of mermaids *LOL*.
 

Khatruman

sagitarian said:
what EXACTLY does faery, and faery folk mean to you? Is it SOLELY restricted to JUST little people with wings? This deck shows many that don't have wings, and those that aren't the "typical" faery looking folk that most people see as being faery. To me, after a few days of thinking on this, I think that the fae folk can include the elves, dwarfs, gnomes, etc. ... why do I restrict my "definition" of faery to being JUST little people with wings? why can't faery include elves and other folk of the sort. ... I guess the only reason why I felt as though fae where only "faery's with wings and what not" is because there is other names for the others. But fae, and fae folk, now hey, fae folk INCLUDES the other "races". Wouldn't you agree?
It is only in the 20th century that the fae were reduced in definition to those pretty little feminine creatures with wings (ala Disney, blechhh). Here is some info from an online Fairy Dictionary:
The word fairies does not appear until relitively late, around the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. It derived from the earlier fays, which was borrowed from the Old French faes. The origin of the latter word is disputed, but the largest consensus is that it derived from the latin Fatae, the three fates who sometimes attended the birth of great men and made pronouncements as to their fate. This motif was still present when Perrault and others recorded their courtly French fairy tales, in the form of the fairy godmother.

Faerie (in various spellings, for instance, fayerie) originally meant a state of enchantment or glamour. For instance in Chaucer's tale of the Wife of Bath:

In th' olde dayes of the kyng arthour,
Of which that britons speken greet honour,
Al was this land fulfild of fayerye.

In Spenser's time the word still had a trisyllabic pronunciation. See the definition of Faerie in the Oxford English Dictionary for more information.

Now the term fairy includes a wide range of spirits and beings. A list (by no means all inclusive) might include the following:

* The daoine sidhe of Ireland and the Highlands, and their ancestors the Tuatha de Danann.
* The Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court of Scotland.
* The elves (aelf, aelves) of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian myth.
* The tylwyth teg of Wales.
* The pixies of Devon and Cornwall.

The previous are often called trooping fairies, for they are often seen in groups, dancing on moonlit moors, riding about in a fairy rade, or in other courtly activities.

There are also the solitary fairies, and this group includes countless beings, such as (and again, this list is certainly not complete):

* The domestic fairies, such as the brownie, the bwca, and the hobgoblins
* The trickster fairies, exemplified by the Shakespearean Puck, and including the Irish phooka, the Welsh pwca, the Fir Darrig and the ignus fatuus (will-o'-the-wisp) and Robin Goodfellow
* The malicious redcap of Scotland
* The lonely banshee of Ireland and her Scottish sister, the bean-nighe.
* The well-known lepracaun.
* Many other species of trouble causers, such as the boggart, the bogie, and the bogle.
* The kelpie and the mermaid and the many spirits of the lakes, rivers, lochs, and seas of Europe. (I hope that Jewel is reading this ;)-Khat)

There are many other spirits or monsters that sometimes are classified among the fairy folk, such as the English giants (and the Irish Firbolgs), the hags and witches, the ghosts of the dead, and many other spirits, for example the fetch.

And also there are fairy animals, such as black dogs and fairy dogs (cu sith), fairy cats (cait sith) or fairies taking the forms of cats, and the fairy cattle of Ireland and elsewhere.
You really ought to get the Fairy Ring Oracle by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason. These fae are rarely cute, and can be quite malicious. Franklin is a wonderful Wiccan High Priestess who knows considerable lore about the fae (see my thread Anna Franklin interview in the Talking Tarot section). What I don't like about many fairy decks is that they reduce the fae to the cutesy image that Disney was most responsible for drilling into us in childhood. Good luck with the Gentry, or the Wee Folk (it actually was bad luck in Celtic culture to use the Fae terms)

Peace!
 

sagitarian

awesome

That was really awesome, both of you! Thank you so much for that article Khat. Absoulutely fascinating. That was what my heart feels, and wondering if any others felt that way.

BTW Jewel, sorry that I didn't consider the numerous fae creatures of the waters. Smiles. I do love mermaids myself. Did I mention that I saw one once? She was BEAUTIFUL! If your interested, I'll post my story about her. (Although, not much to the story).
 

Athara

I don't know about Jewel, but I'd like to hear you story!
 

sagitarian

mermaid sighting

This happend almost ten years ago. I live in Arizona, even in the city, there are places with cliffs and water/river running through if you know where to go, or just out of the city too.

One night, I was out with a group of friends of mine and we decided to go just out of the city to the salt lake river. We were hangin out on this edge of rocks, about 10 ft up from the river. We decided to watch the sun rise. Watching the sun rise for some odd reason always made my stomach ill. I was talking to two of the guys that went with (think there was 5 of us total) looking down at the river. I looked at him to make a comment and looked back down and the instant I did...there she was, a mermaid. He looked down and saw her to, he looked at me and asked "do you see what I see" I said "if you see a mermaid then yes I do" and smiled at him and looked back down at her. She was still there looking up at us, holding on to some rocks so she stayed put, staring up at us as we where down at her. Her hair was long and dark brownish with a little of red in it. Couldn't tell what color her eyes are, but I think they were dark colored. Her skin was a little darker then ours, but not by much. Her tail looked like some type of dark fish scales. They were kinda dark silverish. If you were to measure her in height, I would say she would be about close to 6 ft in length. Her build was thin, not super thin, but natural human thin. I just kept looking down at her smiling as did my one friend. The other took off to go talk to the others. He left before she showed up. The other guy just kept smiling at her like I was saying to himself "wow, she's beautiful" I nodded in agreeance with him. Just like that, she decided to head off. Flipped herself over and swam off. That's it. Not much to it. Just saw her, we smiled at each other, and she took off.
 

Mooness

WOW!!

you are so lucky!! imagine seeing a beautiful mermaid!! ooooooh!

faery is the broad term for all elves, goblins, brownies, mermaids, faeries etc, isn't it?
i know that the faeries have a strong and palpable energy and i don't understand their energy much so have been a little frightened away.
i am an incarnated faery. there are also incarnated leprechauns, mermaids (I have also had a past life as a mermaid according to my very evolved meditation teacher) elves, goblins.....
we have unicorns, faeries and angels as our guides, and our metaphysical wings are like faeries' or dragonflies or butterflies, rahter than feathered.

our physical features relate to the group we come from, but my face is small, delicate, refined and i have an impish kinda grin. i am relatively short and have a tiny, delicate body. i cannot kill any creature, not an ant, and cannot eat meat or disrespect mother earth. i recycle and buy earth friendly products, actually making my own herbal recipes for cleaining my home and body (I'm only 19)
i have a strong attraction to earth based spirituality like shamanism and witchcraft. i love crystals, talk to plants and recieve msg's from the breeze. i am alive with magic!!
incarnated elementals are typically cheeky, sometimes promiscuous, passionate about life, love to laugh and have fun, and sometimes get into trouble with their offbeat sense of humour! we are powerful at manifesting our desires, but must be careful not to slander somebody because they get a powerful wack of negative energy if we do!

to me, the fae folk are not in bodies. the spirit of a tree is a faery. the bud of a rose is a faery. the roots beneath us are fae. the earth mother is one great big faery! there are faery spirits in the breeze, in the leaves, in the great waters of the earth, each pot plant is a faery and has a spirit. the rocks, crystals, dirt, soil, mud, earth, sunlight, moonlight, it is all alive with faery energy. that is what the faeries are in their truest nature. however, they do take on form to appear to humans in a way we can relate to them and not be so afraid.
for this reason, all life must be respected. the soul of every animal, plant, rock and mineral is just as vital and precious as the soul of every human. unfortunaetely mankind seems to have trouble respecting the lives of eachother, let alone the lives of plants....
 

Alissa

If anyone here can pin down exactly what the Fae are, well ... I for one will want to see!

To me, Faery means energy. I don't see Faeries (although I'd love to ... and goddamnit, sag you NEVER TOLD ME you saw a freakin MERMAID!!!! GET OUTTA HERE!!!!).

I also have never seen an electrical current, but I still believe in it. Why? Because I can *feel* when I come in contact with one.

This is the same for me as Fae. I don't see them but I feel them, intuitively, and hear Them in a clairaudient way at times (which is how they "speak" to me). I have seen evidence of Them in my life, but circumstantial evidence at best.

In fact, if I were a more practical minded person, I would agree that yes my senses never have experienced a Fae, so therefore They don't exist.

But, there are so many things which are outside our realm of perception. Just because I can't see infrared light doesn't mean it doesn't exist, correct? My senses may be too limited to experience all of reality. Fae included.

I find this very difficult to express ... I thought I'd easily capture *what* Fae are. If not energy, then I don't know what. They are creatures of the astral, to me, like dragons. Fae and dragon ... these are just labels (which we associate with "imaginary") but to me these are concepts that are harder to articulate because they are rarely experienced and fleetingly, so we have limited words/language to use.

Fae live on the astral level, that realm which our soul inhabits and which we can connect to even when we are physical. I define the "astral" realm as the spiritual plane, they are the same to me. It is the energy level we approach when we are in deep prayer, trance or meditation. This is just how I approach the astral realm, as I have yet to do any "astral travelling" of sorts.

Often, the Faery realm is considered an unseen, overlaying world that blankets our own reality. This is metaphorical for saying it is there but unseen ... like energy. They exist in their (astral) plane, overlapping our plane of existence, and we interact at times, but not everyone will be aware of it.

Fae have difficulty incarnating in Their true forms, I think, but it's not impossible. I think often those who are incarnate are just quite quite good at escaping detection. And when one is seen ... well, how often does anyone believe it, if they haven't seen one for themselves (i.e. experienced it with their own senses)?

Perhaps then, to me, finding Faeries in my life means living life intuively open, and soul-listening at every moment I can in a day. They speak to me strongly, and I feel closer to Them now than I have at any other point in my life. I am also living life differently than I did then ... so that perhaps is partly why.

When we live life mindfully, paying attention to that which matters most, we gather about us the same energy and make manifest what we envision. To me, Faeries are just one type of astral being (like angels, or like dragons) whose own existence overlaps our own. We draw Them to us by the energy we use, the energy we put out, and the energy we create.

And, yes indeed ... they have as many incarnations, and faces, and identities as there are stars in the sky ... count as many types of Fae creatures as you can, and you will still be no where close to naming Them all. Elves may not be Faeries, if you ask an Elf, but for simple humans ... perhaps the best "race" term we can come up with, "faery," which means ohhhh so many different things.

Mermaids and selkies included! (;) to Jewel)
 

Jewel

~claps with glee~ Khat and Sag thanks for the acknowledgement of the water fae :), and Sag I am so glad you told your story while I was away from the computer so I could read it. What an AWSOME experience (and yes I would have asked you to post it!). You will have to check out my Queen of Cups with the Aeclectic II project once she is posted :D ... My Faerie Guide is a mermaid much like the one I depicted on the card sans the crown ~giggles~. I am hoping that once the painting is reduced in size that I can print her onto the actual Faeries Oracle card stock or get someone to do it for me as I do not have the capabilities to do so myself.

I tried to attach the draft here ... Pollux is graphically enhancing her for me (he added the water running off her body ... and will change the lip color to a more sublte and natural color ... not sure what I was thinking when I did them that bright fuccia *LOL*) Hope it attached!

:( ... sorry the file was too big, I will let you know when she is posted in the Aeclectic project so you can see her if you want.
 

sagitarian

your mermaid

oh please do! I would LOVE to see her! smiles.