Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

June 12, 2020 curiousadmin

A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical or supernatural.

These beings are usually magical creatures with humanoid features, small in size, and are full of deception. At other times they have been described as any magical creature, such as Goblins and Gnomes.

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

Fairy has at times been used as an adjective, with a meaning equivalent to “enchanted” or “magical”.

There is a perception among people that fairies have no fixed physical body, and that when they appear to us they shape themselves to our expectations. This notion first seems to be mentioned in a fairy context by W. B. Yeats in his introduction to Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry (1888). This idea was elaborated by Charles Leadbeater and he describes then in his book The Hidden Side of Things as

“The type best known to man is that of the fairies, the spirits who live normally upon the surface of the earth, though, since their bodies are of etheric matter, they can pass into the ground at will. Their forms are many and various, but most frequently human in shape and somewhat diminutive in size. They have also colors of their own, marking the difference between their tribes or species, just as the birds have differences of plumage.”

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

FAIRY LIFE AND DEATH

“The life-periods of the different subdivisions of nature-spirits vary greatly, some being quite short, others much longer than our human lifetime. A fairy appears in his world full-sized, as an insect does. He lives his life, short or long, without any appearance of fatigue or need of rest, and without any perceptible signs of age as the years pass”.

Various kind of Fairies

Brownies

A brownie or broonie is a household spirit from British folklore that is said to come out at night and perform various chores. The owners of the house must leave a bowl of milk or cream for the brownie, usually by the fireplace. Brownies are supposed to be easily upset and will leave their homes forever if they feel they have been insulted. Brownies are normally mischievous and are often said to punish or pull pranks on lazy servants.

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

Pixies

Pixies are generally kind, mischievous, short in stature, and childlike. They are fond of dancing and gather outdoors in huge numbers to dance through the night. In modern times they are usually shown with pointed ears, and wearing a green outfit and pointed hat although traditional stories describe them wearing dirty ragged bundles of rags which they happily discard for gifts of new clothes.

Ralph Whitlock (1914–1995) was a Wiltshire farmer, broadcaster, conservationist, journalist, and author of over 100 books. He wrote about the Devon region of United Kindom and Celtic folklore.

“Devon, even till the present century, was a county of isolated communities,” wrote Ralph Whitlock in The Folklore of Devon in 1977.

The folklore of this county, Whitlock explains, is “a rich mixture of Celtic, Saxon, Danish and goodness knows what other elements, including quite possibly some that are pre-Celtic.”

“Pixies are said to dance in a number of the stone circles on Dartmoor, including the one on Huccaby Moor. A story is told of Tom White, a young man of Postbridge, who went courting a girl at Huccaby, which involved frequent five-mile walks each way over the wild moors. “

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

“One summer night he saw a crowd of pixies dancing near Bellever Tor. He watched them for a while and then tried to steal away but the pixies saw him. They formed a ring and danced around him till dawn, making him twirl like a top all the time. When eventually he was released, at sunrise, exhausted and frightened, he declared he would never risk such an experience again. He died a bachelor.”

Folk musician Seth Lakeman, who lives over Tavistock way, inspired by folklore and history of Dartmoor has created his best work– including “Kitty Jay,” “The Bold Knight,” and “The Courier”, and “The White Hare,” performed with Lisbee Stainton in the video below.

If you go hunting, Lakeman warns,
Or go calling out your prey,
Or if you see a fair maid
With hair an ashen grey,
Careful you don’t catch her,
Or give her right of way,
For she will look upon you
Steal your soul away…

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

Leprechauns

According to fables, Leprechauns are small spirits that usually take the form of an old man in a red or green coat. They are naughty little creatures that like to make shoes and store their gold coins in a pot of gold that is hidden at the end of a rainbow. If you happen to get hold of a Leprechaun, he will give you three wishes provided you let him go.

Dwarves

Dwarves, originally come from German folklore. Later they were absorbed into English tales during the early-1800s. They are human-shaped entities that live in mountains and in the earth and are associated with wisdom, Ironwork, and crafting. Dwarfs are often depicted as short and ugly, They can be great friends to humans, but they can be mean and harmful if you offend them. Dwarves are very proud of their craftsmanship.

Fairies: Fickle and Fair, Are They Gemini?

Elves

The elves of Norse mythology have survived into folklore mainly as females, living in hills and mounds of stones. The Swedish älvor were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king.

The elves could be seen dancing over meadows, particularly at night and on misty mornings. They left a circle where they had danced, which were called älvdanser (elf dances) or älvringar (elf circles), and to urinate in one was thought to cause venereal diseases. Typically, elf circles were fairy rings consisting of a ring of small mushrooms. If a human watched the dance of the elves, he would discover that even though only a few hours seemed to have passed, many years had passed in the real world. Humans being invited or lured to the elf dance is a common motif transferred from older Scandinavian ballads.. Elves may be the only fairy to have children with humans.

Kobolds

They live in mines. If there’s danger to the mineworkers, they’ll start knocking on the tunnels to let everyone know there’s danger of a cave in.

Nature Fairies

These little fairies don’t have human forms and appear as flickers of blue, red, and green light deep in a forest. They can be very shy and generally tend to animals and plants in the forest. They rarely interfere with humans, but they have helped people lost in the woods by showing them a way to get out of the forest.

If you have survived till now, let us equate these qualities to Gemini traits. Gemini folks are also expressive and quick-witted. They are sociable, communicative, and ready for fun, and restless. Like Fairies, they are fascinated with the world around them and extremely curious.

Paintings credits: H.J. Ford, Warwick Goble, Charles Robinson, Adrienne Ségur, Marianne Stokes, Alan Lee, Brian Froud & Arthur Rackham.Drawings by Terri Winding, Arthur Rackham and Internet resources