Fairies are mysterious and elusive creatures that inhabit an invisible realm—a realm that exists alongside the merely physical world we live in, a place the ancient Celts called the “Otherworld.”

Theirs is a kingdom where it is always summer, where the orchards bear fruit and flowers at the same time, and where death and old age are unknown. For the lucky few, these creatures are occasionally seen in the blink of an eye or on the edge of a dream, and their haunting voices heard on the wind through the lonely valleys and forests – for those who have ears to hear it.

As elusive as they are, there have been tales of humans who have spent extended time with fairies—by walking inadvertently into the mist between two stones or by stepping accidentally into a fairy ring—and who have been taught by them to heal, make potions, and use spells.

Sadly, as we humans have moved away from our close connection to the earth, we have also lost our link with the “wildfolk.” The stories of them that persisted lost their awe-inspiring quality: in our feeble imaginations we have turned them into the cute Tinkerbells of popular nursery tales.

FAIRY FACTS

• Fresh flowers and laughter attract them
• They range in size from tiny fairies smaller than fireflies to powerful forces that guide the wind
• They live on islands, in forks in the road, hollow trees, under toad stools, where streams divide or border hedges
• To discover the doorway to their world, you must walk nine times around a suspected place on a full moon night
• A ripple in the water or sudden chill may signal their presence
• They are passionately fond of music and the melodies they play are haunting and wistful
• They like to dance
• Rheumatism, cramps and bruising may be the result of pinches from an agitated fairy
• Tangles in your hair – sometimes known as ‘fairy-locks’ – are the work of fairies playing with your hair in the dead of night
• The disappearance of small objects can be a clue they have been visiting
• They can make themselves visible or invisible and can change their shapes and sizes but May Day, Midsummer’s Eve, and Halloween are good times to see them
• Children – particularly young girls – are most likely to see these little people
• They live to be several hundred years old
• They like honey, milk, and nectar
• Only certain people can see fairies. This gift is called "Fairy Sight"
• All cats have Fairy Sight by nature
• Cats are very jealous of fairies
• If you want to know where the fairies live in your house, follow your cat
• If you make a tea of marigold flowers and wash your eyelids with it, you may see fairies
• Fairies are attracted to bowls of milk, barley, cake, sprinkles and glitter
• Fairies wear clothing made of foxglove flowers. Foxglove is also called "fairie's petticoats"
• A circle of mushrooms is called a fairy circle, a sure sign of fairy activity
• Sometimes fairies disguise themselves as dragonflies, rabbits, deer or bees
• Yellow butterflies are messengers from Fairieland
• A stone with a ring around it is called a fairy stone and holds much magic