Fairies
The word fairies or faerie comes from the old French word faes it is derived from the Latin fata or fate and was used about the 13th -14th century, originally it meant enchantmentor glamour, the power of illusion, the fairies are especially associated with the Celtic tradition of wales, ireland, Brittany and corn wall and with northern Europe, fairies reacked their height of authenticity in medieval times, a full description of fairies was given in the trial of Joan of arc as part of the evidence of her heresy, (France), some said they were fallen Angels some said they were good. In Ireland people will not build a house on a fairy path, lines which connect ancient hilltop forts. in Ireland they were are Feinne, in Scotland the Picts( which i think where the name Pixies come from).
Fairies are strongly associated with the spirit world, they are the workers of nature, they are responsible for the life allowing elements of earth, air, fire, and water that makes up nature, they are in many beliefs mother natures little helpers.
They are elemental spirits (not to be mistaken with the lower level negative thought forms such as psychic vampires and incubus or succubus or demonic beings created by tragic events)
Do fairies exist? That depends on what you believe they are, to many to dismiss the existence of the nature spirit is to dismiss the existence of nature and life its self.
Unfortunately many paranormal investigators have confused the nature elemental with the thought form of elemental (demonic thoughts) that exist as man made negative entities that come from negative human thoughts and actions from humans through out the world, these negative energies are also called (Astral Larvae), but they are not to be confused with the nature giving faes and deva's that travel the ley lines all around our planet.
The two versions of the elemental both exist but both are not the same. for some reason, the lower spirit form type that many paranormal investigators would talk about that lives in the lower realms have been confused with the nature based fae.
Astral larvae are what I would see as demons and creatures such as the psychic vampire and incubus/succubus etc they are the negative thoughts and emotions such as hate, anger, lust, and jealously that man has created, these entities have been labelled the same as nature spirits, which in my opinion is just not true. these demonic energies seem to feed of living energies and slowly over time will either fade away into the astral or if given power will grow into a conscious and terrifying demon, or evil astral being.
I find it difficult to call these types of demonic beings elementals because the modern investigators have named them that because many of these entities are summoned by negative magical rituals which resulted in demonic thought forms known as astral larvae and have been wrongly associated with nature spirits 'real elementals'.
Dark and evil rituals can and do cause the demonic type of energy that can haunt a location but they are the result of the negative energies raised in the rituals and nothing to do with nature spirits or faeries.
Elemental spirits are the spirits that represent the elements of earth, air, fire, and water as all ready stated, for instance the salamander spirit is an elemental of fire and the selkie or mermaid is water etc. These spirits are not lower entities or evil BUT can be dangerous if an inexperienced person dabbles with them or they are disrespected.
Witches when performing magic(k) will always cast a protective circle around them when calling the quarters, and invoking the elements, this kind of thing may be why witches are accused of worshipping demons because of the lower spirit form (demonic thought forms) having the same name as the elemental nature spirit.
Other names for the nature spirit elemental are faerys, faes, salamanders, pixies, elves, hob goblins, sylphs, pans, boggarts, etc you may have heard of the faerie god mother she is in many pagan beliefs is the queen of nature, the goddess and mother nature, sometimes known as Gaia, and the green man her consort is the god of nature, both are the perfect balance of the female and male elements together, as one they make up life, there fore are the divine creators of life.
As to what causes the lower realm elemental some would say they are the thoughts of man that thinks in a suppressive and negative way, they are mans personal demons that they have created within there own minds and thoughts from which they will have to wrestle with when there time comes, the more hate and more anger we have through out our physical life the stronger our demons ( Astral Larvae) will become.
The belief in nature spirits and faeries goes back as far back as man started believing in life after death and of the gods.
Nature spirits are essentially a pagan belief they are the helpers of the queen of the fae's (fairies) the moon goddess also known as the faerie god mother or mother nature in Roman mythology she is called Diana. Mother nature scatters nature spirits all over the earth and all have a purpose as mother natures life and nature weavers. Many different cultures have different names for them the Celts called them fae's or The Sidhe, all have a purpose and individual meaning to the people that believed and worked with them.
Because of the connection with the triple goddess they are more likely to be seen on a full moon or in the moon light they are very magical creatures and where and still are summoned in witchcraft today.
The ancient Greek figure Pan was said to be a nature type spirit, that had god like powers (some pagans believe that he is a god) he learnt how to enchant women in the forest with his pan pipes, its where the belief comes from about faery enchantment. Pan is looked upon as dangerous character in some occult circles the words Panic and Pandemonium where based on his legends. Peter Pan is also inspired from the Pan belief.
Many Christians had and still do have a belief that faeries where cast out of heaven, but they where not evil enough to be sent to hell so they got stuck in-between heaven and hell and where banished to the earth for all eternity.
Although faeries are a ancient belief many people still believe in them today mostly in Europe and America, there are faerie tales in the far east too, Hinduism and Buddhism have versions of the nature spirit.
Many people laugh when it comes to talking about faeries, though some view them as a very important spiritual group of entities. Its said that excepting gifts from faeries is probably not a good idea as most will want something in return but giving them gifts is a good thing if you know where faeries dwell, some legends say, on a full moon leave a moonstone for them under a toadstool by a river and good luck and fortune will soon come your way, also planting trees and plants also pleases the fae folk.
In parts of Ireland and Sweden and Scandinavia and maybe even Scotland its believed that building houses on faerie land is a huge mistake, there are houses in Ireland that where built on faerie dwellings where huge parts of the beautiful landscape was ruined, even after people warned against it and the houses now have all sorts of nasty and negative entities in them, the people that live in them are plagued with bad luck nightmares and terminal illness, the way many look at faeries are they are the driving force of nature and when you look at nature as I already mentioned it can be beautiful, tranquil, peaceful and kind, on the other hand it can be harsh, unforgiving, dangerous and frightening, many environmentalists today are pagan and believe in faerie folk, and will often say that man is abusing the forces of nature so bad that one day soon mother nature and her fae folk are going to fight back, and when she does we do not stand a chance, I do not know about you but I find that quite a frightening thing because it does seem nature does become more and more harsh the more humans are destroying out natural environment. We need to start respecting our planet.
The difference between faeries and angels?
It depends on ones individual beliefs but angels in my beliefs are messengers to the living, guardians, and helpers, they are souls that are of the light, the hands and thoughts of the divine universal consciousness we all call god/goddess they live and work on the highest reams of spirit. Angels are beings at one with the universe, that do not judge in any way shape or form, they live and work for the highest and most glorious realms of spirit, in my opinion fallen angels do not exist as they are apart of the god forces its self, and can not rebel from what it is.
Faeries on the other hand all have certain jobs and tasks to perform, some to brown the leaves, some to spread the morning dew, some to green the grass, some weave the roots of the trees and plants and some to breath oxygen into our world etc etc.....
They are responsible for nature to do its workings, they are the elements of nature, the weavers of nature, the astral children of the god and goddess of the universal nature. Faeries are not enlightened spirits and nor do they have to be, they have a job to do and they will do it, and a good job they do too, but its not all work and no play, faeries are known to love to dance and play. One of the most common past times of the fae is to play tricks and jokes on humans that wonder to deep into nature, like children they seem to enjoy messing about, some are friendly helpful and pleasant, and some are tricksters, some mischievous, and in some cases dangerous. Look at nature its self it can be beautiful, pleasant and kind, it can also be dangerous harsh and unforgiving, the fae folk are no different as they represent the elements of nature there individual nature is a mirror image of the part they play in nature.
There are other beliefs that are based on fear and ignorance that many in the modern religions believe which sprouted from the modern religions attempt to slander and demonised the old beliefs in nature spirits and the nature gods and goddesses. Faeries became the Christian fallen angels, this is a strange belief to pagans as the faeries where on the earth long before man was on earth, long before modern religion and its idea of fallen angels ever came about, but that’s how Christianity used nature spirits to help demonise the pagan religions as evil and demonic, Its also why many Christians and Catholics will refer to "earthly sins" and believe that the earth is ruled by "Satan" "the beast" and that the humans natural way was sinful and animalistic so to act natural as nature does was to act as the beast and there for was against god, this is also why many people in the more modern religions believe that animals do not have souls, something that most people who have had an animal as a pet will know is completely untrue.
