"Faerie contains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, wiches, trolls, giants, or dragons; it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted." - J.R.R. Tolkien, Tolkien On Fairy-stories
Growing up in my house, stories of Little People - fairies and gnomes, house elves and brownies - were common. My Mother was born and raised in Germany, and the stories she told were handed down from her Germanic/Norse ancestors and I could never get enough of them. (Do we need some help in the house? Ask the Little People! Who got into the cookies? Let’s leave them their own stash.) In modern High German the wordWicht means small person or dwarf, but can also mean unpleasant person, so sometimes we apparently had mischievous sorts around the house which explained a lot of missing keys and other mishaps. Because of my mother’s unwavering insistence that they were real, I have always believed in the fey, even after I knew that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the other children’s tales were just fictional tools to keep us in line and behaving. But a Tooth Fairy? What possible agenda could she have except to make me feel better after the pain of losing a tooth (unless there’s magic in teeth? Hmmmm). If house elves helped us move the TV while I was asleep, then living amongst them was fantastic, as far as I was concerned!
Myths about nature spirits have been told for millennia by many cultures around the world including the Celts, Indian Buddhists, and the Japanese. In the US, the Scotts and Finns brought their beliefs in Fey with them, but the Native Americans who were already here had their own stories. According to the First People site there are a number of tribes who tell stories about encounters with Little People in order to teach lessons about living in harmony with nature and others.
The Choctaw from Western Tennessee and Mississippi called Little People “Kowi Anukasha” or “Kwanokasha.” They are known to live in caves, and the stories say that sometimes when a boy is two, three or four years old the Kowi Anukasha would capture the boy and take him to their cave, which could be several days away. Once in the cave the boy would meet three other very old spirits with long white hair who presented the boy with three gifts: a knife, a bunch of poisonous herbs, and a bunch of medicinal herbs. If the boy accepted the knife, he was destined to become a killer and bad person. If he chose poisonous plants, he would never be able to cure or help his people. But if he chose the medicinal herbs, he was destined to become a shaman and healer. This child would then be kept in the cave for three days while the spirits imparted their wisdom on how to cure illness by making medicines from roots, herbs, and barks. When the child was sent back home, he was ordered never to speak of his encounter with the Kowi Anukasha, and to this day only prophets and healers usually have these encounters.
The Cherokee in Tennessee and North Carolina tell stories about a race of Little People who live in caves, some who are black, some white, and some golden like the Cherokee, and all around two feet high. They are either Rock People, Laurel People or Dogwood People. Rock People can be mean and vengeful if they feel disrespected and invaded. Laurel People are mischievous and like to play tricks on people, but do so out of fun and sharing joy. The Dogwood People are good, kind people who take care of others. There are also the “Yunwi Tsunsdi” or Little Men, who are also called "Thunderers." They are known for creating short, sharp claps of thunder, and reproduce by striking lightening near a woman. These women will give birth to a human with the characteristics of the Yunwi Tsunsdi.
To many people, talk of fairies and brownies are children's stories and pure wishful thinking. But what if the Fey are the barometers for our relationship to our planet? There was a time in our world when all civilizations co-existed with nature and it's spirits; in fact, it was deemed necessary for survival. But as we became more and more industrialized, we separated from nature more and more. What if Little People are the protectors , caregivers and the heartbeat of our planet? Maybe in seeking them out we choose to believe in a future for our Earth, one where we work together to restore balance and heal the planet.
Mike Garofalo, the Librarian of Gushen Grove in Red Bluff, California, has a number of wonderful resources for understanding Divas, Elementals, Fairies, Elves and other names for Nature Spirits. If you would like to invite welcoming spirits to your home and garden, here are the tips he recommends:
1. Keep your home, yard and garden neat, clean and well maintained, as well as your indoor and outdoor altars. To please the local nature spirits, place some offerings and enticements that would make them happy.
2. Always be courteous, respectful, hospitable and welcoming, but maintain some reserve. Building relationships with Nature Spirits is slow work, and being dignified and friendly will earn their trust and ensure you do not attract mean spirited or malevolent spirits.
During the pandemic my daughter sent me a Flower Fairy, and it became my project for the next year to take pictures of her sleeping in our garden and all over the neighborhood. I hope that these pictures will somehow make their way to someone who could use a smile, and especially to a hospital or daycare center where it can brighten a child’s day. Today, she keeps me company on my desk to remind me that magic does happen, that there are forces in nature beyond what we understand, and that if you can remain innocent and open you can catch a glimpse of mystery.
"Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame."
- William Butler Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire, 1894
The post on fairies, little people and other nature spirits is fascinating and inspiring…makes me believe we live in a world where magic is all around us! If only we can see! Love the quotes from Yeats and Roald Dahl. Reminds me of a Sophocles one: “look and you will find. what is unsought will go undetected.”