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.
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