The History of Fairies

Most studies of fairies believe they originated within Celtic mythology. When we think of fairies we think of fairytale characters like Tinkerbell who have wings and fly around making magic, but Diane Purkiss makes a case for the harbingers of birth, marriage and death of ancient Greek and Mesopotamian cultures as the dangerous visitors that our idea of fairies grew from. The stillborn ghosts named Kubu, the childless Lamia that turns her loneliness to hunger and the Nymphs who like in "Peter Pan," keeps a boy ever young and in a world of paradise.

The Word hada comes from the Latin fata which derived from fatum, means fate or destiny. The French word fee has a similar origin and resulted in the English words fey and fairies, which as time went by it suffered spelling variations until it became fairy.

The world of fairies is a mixture of a mysterious enchantment, an endearing beauty, humor, malice, happiness and inspiration, fear and laughter, love and tragedy. Like humans they live in a world of contradictions.

One of the legends assures that fairies are fallen angels or dead pagans not good enough to be admitted in Eden, but not wicked enough to go to hell. That is why they were lost in another world without beginning or end.

The locations of fairies vary with each culture. For the Irish sometimes it was found in the horizon, others believe they reside on hills, seas or under the ocean. Some even say they live beyond the sun, in the breeze. Summing up, air, water, earth and fire are the four elements where spirits are contained.

The air element, featured by intelligence is believed to be inhabited by Sylphs, represented by Apring and Dawn, in the form of butterflies. They control the wind, direct the birds to migrate, and whisper in the wind. Nymphs, mermaids and their like inhabit the water element represented by Autumn and Sunset. They appear as mythological creatures in all liquids, such as seas, rivers, brooks, falls, and clouds.

The Earth element is the densest. It is represented by Winter and the night. Goblins, gnomes and trolls are their inhabitants. They are usually green, and have a receptive energy.

Fairies can be old or young, tiny or huge. Finally the fire element features both creation and destruction. It is represented by Summer, and daylight. Salamanders, dragons send forth projective energy, and dominate the element. Fairies of all kinds possess energy, light, and magic.