When one hears the term "Fairy"the first thing that pops into people's mind is Tinkerbell. A small woman with dragonfly or butterfly wings who flits around a bunch of flowers or follow children around. But what exactly is a fairy? The word "fairy" comes from the french word "faerie" which for this paper is the term that will be used. "Faerie" could be used for multiple things. There are faerie lores all over the world, every culture has their own version of them. This paper will focus on the Celtic faeries. But even then, what counts as a faerie? For the sake of this paper a faerie will refer to any being from the Celtic "otherworld". Other terms that refer to faeries would be "fae", "fair folk", or "fae beings".
Where do the faeries come from? There are many origin theories that attempt to answer this question. A christian attempt to explain the origin of faeries is to say that faeries are fallen angels who were not evil enough to be cast into hell, but non the less were no longer welcomed in heaven. The angels and their descendants would come to be faeries. Talking to my aunt, who was raised in the baptist church, said that she thinks that faeries are minor devils that Satan sends to play tricks on people. This does make some sense because faeries are often described as very beautiful or very ugly, as well as mischievous.
Another theory that involves faeries being the descendants of another being involves the Tuatha De Dennan. These are a people that are actually shown in Celtic historical records. According to legend the Tuatha de Dennan are the children of Danu, a Celtic goddess. They were said to have shimmering and glowing skin and some even possessed powers. They ruled over Ireland until they were defeated, at which time they are said to have moved underground. Their children and descendants are said to be the modern faeries of today. Which would explain several things about the faeries, such as why their world is supposedly accessed through "faerie knolls" or hills - their world is said to be underneath ours. Faeries are also sometimes referred to as "the bright ones"; this could be explained as a physical characteristic they inherited from the demi gods, Tuatha De Dennan.
From a more non religious specific viewpoint, such as the religious theorist Otto's view points, faeries originated from a single experience. According to Otto a religious movement starts when a person has a spiritual experience, called the numinous experience. The numen is an alternate reality that exists but goes beyond human rationality and understanding. It can be experienced in many ways, it all depends on the person's personality, culture, and senses. On the account of the fair folk Otto would say hat the first person to ever "see" or experience the fae was actually experiencing the numen. Due to the mystic's, the person having the experience, culture and personality he/she experienced the numen in the form of a faerie.
Whenever there is a numinous experience there is always a message, which is then either accepted or rejected. The message that faeries would present is to show respect, nurture nature, and be aware of what you say/do. Faeries are often thought to be akin to nature spirits and thus if a culture is centered around nature and agriculture then seeing a faerie would make sense. The fact that many people throughout history have had faerie experiences shows how quickly a movement can spread. After the first initial "sighting" people would be more open to the idea of seeing a faerie and thus are opening themselves up for a numinous experience themselves, with the expectation of it to present itself in a certain form - which is why it would. The numen manifests in a way that we can process it individually; if it makes more sense for you to see a faerie than a burning bush, you will see a faerie.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
spanish for work log...
08/27
training new cashier. "gracias" and she said "thats all i know" "yo hoblo poquito" introduced ourselves. askd where eachother lived and he said my spanish was good. - 5 min
09/03
greeting - hablo poquito - 2 min
greeting - hablo poquito - 2 min
09/29
Spoke with John "what are you doing" "que esta haciendo" - 3 min
*standard y yo soy estudiante - 3 min
10/03
deonte teaches me how to ask for a hug. "puede darle un abrazo?" - 5 min
10/04
Deonte asked about the day before (i was having a bad day) and if i was feeling better. Asked what i did after work. - 6 minutes
10/10
Found out that John was pretty much fluent in spanish he has family from Chili - his mom and grandma = after he overheard me teaching spanish to one of the managers.
talked about my love of spanish as well. - 15 minutes
10/12
spoke to spanish father and little girl. Asked about their day and if the little girl liked lions. gave her atttoo. - 3 min
spoke to john about his day and my exam. then *standard as he left. - 3 min
10/12
*standard - 3
*standard - 3
*standard - one remembered i had a twin because she has twin daugfhters - 5
10/13
greeted john and we spoke about when we both next worked and we parted ways - 3 min
11/02
"hola.." gentleman with the piercing - Customer A
"centamos! - 2 min
spoke with Senore Anderson's span 1 student. about where i go to school and whos class. Standard - 5 min
11/6
*standard *meantioned i'm a student - 3 min
11/7
John - "no hug this morning" - in span when i was gighting a cold. "esta enferma?" - 5 min
*standard
"i like your spanish!" *yo soy estudiante - new customer - 3 min
aliciana came in. we greeted eachother and asked how we were. *standard - 3 min
11/8
"Listo?" *standard - 3 min
11/16
buenos noches - propane exchange - 3 min.
training new cashier. "gracias" and she said "thats all i know" "yo hoblo poquito" introduced ourselves. askd where eachother lived and he said my spanish was good. - 5 min
09/03
greeting - hablo poquito - 2 min
greeting - hablo poquito - 2 min
09/29
Spoke with John "what are you doing" "que esta haciendo" - 3 min
*standard y yo soy estudiante - 3 min
10/03
deonte teaches me how to ask for a hug. "puede darle un abrazo?" - 5 min
10/04
Deonte asked about the day before (i was having a bad day) and if i was feeling better. Asked what i did after work. - 6 minutes
10/10
Found out that John was pretty much fluent in spanish he has family from Chili - his mom and grandma = after he overheard me teaching spanish to one of the managers.
talked about my love of spanish as well. - 15 minutes
10/12
spoke to spanish father and little girl. Asked about their day and if the little girl liked lions. gave her atttoo. - 3 min
spoke to john about his day and my exam. then *standard as he left. - 3 min
10/12
*standard - 3
*standard - 3
*standard - one remembered i had a twin because she has twin daugfhters - 5
10/13
greeted john and we spoke about when we both next worked and we parted ways - 3 min
11/02
"hola.." gentleman with the piercing - Customer A
"centamos! - 2 min
spoke with Senore Anderson's span 1 student. about where i go to school and whos class. Standard - 5 min
11/6
*standard *meantioned i'm a student - 3 min
11/7
John - "no hug this morning" - in span when i was gighting a cold. "esta enferma?" - 5 min
*standard
"i like your spanish!" *yo soy estudiante - new customer - 3 min
aliciana came in. we greeted eachother and asked how we were. *standard - 3 min
11/8
"Listo?" *standard - 3 min
11/16
buenos noches - propane exchange - 3 min.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Bibliography for faerie paper
- Black, Holly. Ironside, Holly Black. S.l.: Simon and Schuster, 2008. Print.
- Black, Holly. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
- Broome, Fiona. "Faeries Likes and Dislikes." Faerie Magick. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Chauncey, George. Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Makings of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. New York: Basic, 1994. Print.
- Dale, Heather. Fair Folk. Heather Dale. Heather Dale, 2011. MP3.
- Dale, Heather. The Maiden and the Selkie. Heather Dale. Heather Dale, 2009. MP3.
- "Faeries in Scottish Folklore." Scotland.com. N.p., n.d. Web
- "Fairy Trivia." Faeriefae.50megs.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Heckart, Kelly. "FAERY LORE." Kellyheckart.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Kagawa, Julie. The Iron King. Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Teen, 2010. Print.
- Keightley, Thomas. "The Fairy Mythology." The Fairy Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Levine, Gail Carson. The Two Princesses of Bamarre. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Print.
- McCoy, Edain. A Witch's Guide to Faery Folk: How to Work with the Elemental World. St. Paul, MN: Llewelyn Publications, 2004. Print.
- Mist, Heron. "The Fern Law of Faery: Welsh Faerie Lore." The Fern Law of Faery: Welsh Faerie Lore. Blogspot.com, 06 June 2012. Web.
- Morningstar, Arshae. "On the Fae Court System, or Which Fae Is Which?" Sacred Liminality. Wordpress, 10 Apr. 2014. Web.
- Sikes, Wirt. "British Goblins." Sacred Texts. N.p., n.d. Web.
- Stadler, Gary. Dance of the Wild Fairies. Gary Stadler. Sequoia Records, 2004. MP3.
- The Fairy Faith. Dir. John Walker. Perf. Peter Aziz and Elizabeth Jane Baldry. Wellspring Media, 2001. Online Documentary.
- Weems, Mickey. "Fairy." Qualia Folk. Wordpress, 08 Dec. 2011. Web.
- "Why Can't Faeries Lie?" Titled Forum Project. N.p., n.d. Web.
People i've spoken to about faeries and their religion:
Josh Nelson - Agnostic
Emily R. Nelson - Christian
Lisa Sawyer - Pagan
why can' faeries lie
.it in part goes back to the old belief that oaths had power, and that to break one was to break certain rules of both society and religion- certain powerful beings were ascribed the inability to lie, as it was their job to enforce oaths.. hence swearing by whatever god, through the ages.... also, certain evil powers, down through the chrisitan devil, have been known as the father or mother of lies....
"Why Can't Faeries Lie?" Titled Forum Project. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Why Can't Faeries Lie?" Titled Forum Project. N.p., n.d. Web.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
what faeries mean to me -> growing up with the little people
PERSONAL IMPACT OF FAERIES IN MY LIFE
Faeries have a very big impact on my life and world view. In this section i will go into detail about how my interest in faeries came to be and how it has shaped my life thus far.
Growing up with "the little people"
From Early childhood i have been raised with the believe in "the little people". Although the term "the little people" is actually a Native American term for faeries, in my family it is used to refer to what the Irish would call the house or Scottish rural fairies; or the welsh guardian faeries. This belief has run in my family for several generations, starting with my great grandmother who was half Native American. Although she denied that part of her heritage, she kept the belief in the "little people" which she then passed down to my grandmother.
My grandmother then passed it down to my mother, who although she would never say she outright believes in them, shared the stories with us, my sisters and i. The little people are small men who live in or around the house that cause minor mischief. Although they aren't necessarily out to hurt you, they can cause annoying and inconvenient things to happen. You are never to talk about them at night; this seems to call them near or anger them and that usually leads to unwanted involvement on their part.
An example of a small or playful mischief that my mother will account to the little people, although she still would not actually say she believes in them, happened when my twin sister and i were very small. My mother would always keep out shoes by the front door so that when we needed to leave for school we would know where they were. One day when were about to leave for school, my sister's shoes weren't where they were supposed to be. We all searched for the shoes all over the house, in our rooms, the living room, the kitchen, and couldn't find them. Finally, very angry, my mother told my sister to put on her flip flops because we were going to be late. That night when we came home, the shoes were sitting by the door. The laces were even tied in neat bows.
Something small and playful like that is what their pranks involve. No actual harm, just inconveniences. I have personally experienced 2 pranks that i can recall in detail. They both happened within the past three years. The first was when i was during a sunny summer day when I was doing the dishes. For convenience i always put the sponge that i use to clean in the same spot, on the counter by the sink. For some reason I was either called by my mother or distracted by something because i walked away. When i came back the sponge was gone. I searched all over the kitchen. I searched inside the sink and on the counters. It wasn't on the floor, or the kitchen table. Finally i just started to laugh and said "Ok, you got me. Give it back please." I walked out of the room, to give them a chance. When i walked back in, the sponge was on the counter next to the sink.
The second example would be when i was doing math homework during my freshman year in college. I had taken my textbook out, and in order to prevent it from getting lost i put my homework inside the book. Later when i went to put it in my book bag, i noticed the paper was gone. I searched through all of the pages in the textbook. I looked under the couch and the coffee table. No sign of it. Sighing with frustration i went over to get a new sheet of paper out of a drawer to redo my homework when i noticed a paper sitting on my lizard's cage. It was my homework. Again, the prank caused no harm but still caused frustration and eventually laughter.
It is important to know that the little people do not only cause problems. Many times they have helped me, rather than hindered me. It is a very common occurrence that i misplace my glasses or some other small important object. My entire family could help me look, but they never seem to be found until after i ask the little people for help. Other times, they seem to prevent or clean up messes, a job attributed to the house faeries called "brownies". Having cats means that messes are a very common occurrence. As stereotypical as it is, our cats are notorious for shredding toilet paper. One day my mother came home to find that someone had re-rolled the shredded toilet paper and put it back on the bathroom counter. Confused as to why we had re-rolled it instead of just throwing it away my mother asked us when we got home. The answer was puzzling because no one had known about the mess and didn't clean it up. Jokingly my little sister said in a over dramatized voice "it was the little people" and laughed. Although she mocked, i was one hundred percent sure it had been.
Although all of us, my two sisters and i, had grown up with the little people, i seem to be the only true believer in the house. As seen in the situation just stated, my little sister not only doesn't believe, but she mocks them. Faeries demand respect, house faeries are no different. Although she would never connect the dots, every time that my younger sister mocks or says something rude about the little people, something of hers always goes missing. Or she bumps into an object that normally wouldn't have been there, such as a stool or trips over a shoe.
As respectful as i am to them, i too have had to deal with the house faerie's wrath. Since my twin sister has gone to school in New York i have switched rooms with my little sister. My new room is smaller than my previous room and thus needs to be re-arranged whenever my twin comes home to visit. The very first time i rearranged the room so that i could fit the pullout mattress i didn't say anything to the house faerie(s). For the next two days i experienced severe pain in the form of stepping on sharp objects that should not have been in the carpet. I stepped on earrings, needles, tacks, and i even almost stepped a fishing hook. It got so bad that i had to wear shoes inside out of fear of what i would step on next. Finally, out of desperation on the third day i went into my room and apologized to the little people, one of whom i suspect lives in my room, and said that the change was only temporary. After the apology, sharp objects stopped showing up and my feet no longer seemed to be in danger.
But growing up with the little people was only one of the many aspects of faeries that impacted me.
Faeries have a very big impact on my life and world view. In this section i will go into detail about how my interest in faeries came to be and how it has shaped my life thus far.
Growing up with "the little people"
From Early childhood i have been raised with the believe in "the little people". Although the term "the little people" is actually a Native American term for faeries, in my family it is used to refer to what the Irish would call the house or Scottish rural fairies; or the welsh guardian faeries. This belief has run in my family for several generations, starting with my great grandmother who was half Native American. Although she denied that part of her heritage, she kept the belief in the "little people" which she then passed down to my grandmother.
My grandmother then passed it down to my mother, who although she would never say she outright believes in them, shared the stories with us, my sisters and i. The little people are small men who live in or around the house that cause minor mischief. Although they aren't necessarily out to hurt you, they can cause annoying and inconvenient things to happen. You are never to talk about them at night; this seems to call them near or anger them and that usually leads to unwanted involvement on their part.
An example of a small or playful mischief that my mother will account to the little people, although she still would not actually say she believes in them, happened when my twin sister and i were very small. My mother would always keep out shoes by the front door so that when we needed to leave for school we would know where they were. One day when were about to leave for school, my sister's shoes weren't where they were supposed to be. We all searched for the shoes all over the house, in our rooms, the living room, the kitchen, and couldn't find them. Finally, very angry, my mother told my sister to put on her flip flops because we were going to be late. That night when we came home, the shoes were sitting by the door. The laces were even tied in neat bows.
Something small and playful like that is what their pranks involve. No actual harm, just inconveniences. I have personally experienced 2 pranks that i can recall in detail. They both happened within the past three years. The first was when i was during a sunny summer day when I was doing the dishes. For convenience i always put the sponge that i use to clean in the same spot, on the counter by the sink. For some reason I was either called by my mother or distracted by something because i walked away. When i came back the sponge was gone. I searched all over the kitchen. I searched inside the sink and on the counters. It wasn't on the floor, or the kitchen table. Finally i just started to laugh and said "Ok, you got me. Give it back please." I walked out of the room, to give them a chance. When i walked back in, the sponge was on the counter next to the sink.
The second example would be when i was doing math homework during my freshman year in college. I had taken my textbook out, and in order to prevent it from getting lost i put my homework inside the book. Later when i went to put it in my book bag, i noticed the paper was gone. I searched through all of the pages in the textbook. I looked under the couch and the coffee table. No sign of it. Sighing with frustration i went over to get a new sheet of paper out of a drawer to redo my homework when i noticed a paper sitting on my lizard's cage. It was my homework. Again, the prank caused no harm but still caused frustration and eventually laughter.
It is important to know that the little people do not only cause problems. Many times they have helped me, rather than hindered me. It is a very common occurrence that i misplace my glasses or some other small important object. My entire family could help me look, but they never seem to be found until after i ask the little people for help. Other times, they seem to prevent or clean up messes, a job attributed to the house faeries called "brownies". Having cats means that messes are a very common occurrence. As stereotypical as it is, our cats are notorious for shredding toilet paper. One day my mother came home to find that someone had re-rolled the shredded toilet paper and put it back on the bathroom counter. Confused as to why we had re-rolled it instead of just throwing it away my mother asked us when we got home. The answer was puzzling because no one had known about the mess and didn't clean it up. Jokingly my little sister said in a over dramatized voice "it was the little people" and laughed. Although she mocked, i was one hundred percent sure it had been.
Although all of us, my two sisters and i, had grown up with the little people, i seem to be the only true believer in the house. As seen in the situation just stated, my little sister not only doesn't believe, but she mocks them. Faeries demand respect, house faeries are no different. Although she would never connect the dots, every time that my younger sister mocks or says something rude about the little people, something of hers always goes missing. Or she bumps into an object that normally wouldn't have been there, such as a stool or trips over a shoe.
As respectful as i am to them, i too have had to deal with the house faerie's wrath. Since my twin sister has gone to school in New York i have switched rooms with my little sister. My new room is smaller than my previous room and thus needs to be re-arranged whenever my twin comes home to visit. The very first time i rearranged the room so that i could fit the pullout mattress i didn't say anything to the house faerie(s). For the next two days i experienced severe pain in the form of stepping on sharp objects that should not have been in the carpet. I stepped on earrings, needles, tacks, and i even almost stepped a fishing hook. It got so bad that i had to wear shoes inside out of fear of what i would step on next. Finally, out of desperation on the third day i went into my room and apologized to the little people, one of whom i suspect lives in my room, and said that the change was only temporary. After the apology, sharp objects stopped showing up and my feet no longer seemed to be in danger.
But growing up with the little people was only one of the many aspects of faeries that impacted me.
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