Light And Dark: Seelie and Unseelie

There are many classifications of faeries. You can split them right down the middle between flying and non-flying faeries, such as piskies to elves, or to regal and non-regal faeries (such as elves to trolls or brownies to ogres). However, there is one classification that affects human lives too-the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

These two courts rule the faerie kingdom in different parts of the year, and are said to trade their power during the Summer and Winter Solstices. The Seelie Court is said to be the most benign; though still often mischievous and easy to insult, according to Wikipedia, the likeliness of them returning a good favor is high and, more often than not, seek help from everyday humans. Their reign is during the Spring and Summer months. However, the Unseelie Court is much more malevolent  to the Seelie's benevolence, and prefers harm to benefits. One such example of the Unseelie Court's cruelty is that of Changelings, as can be learned about in this previous post, as well as tormenting those who have Faerie Sight.

Standing at the crossroads,

Paralyzed by fear,

Neither Fall nor Winter,

Neither there, nor here.

The brand new year is dawning,

Tomorrow with the Sun,

Tonight though, worlds collide,

And the impact leads to fun.

-Kate Hockersmith, 'All Hallow's Eve'

Mysterious Discoveries

This post is about two young girls that, in their young age, claimed to have captured Faeries through a camera. It is the story of the Photographs and what really happened. This story is now a film called Fairy Tale: A True Story. If you want to know more about this then I would recommend watching the film.

When I was much younger (around 5) I watched the film about two young girls that had claimed they had found faeries and had taken pictures of them. I was completly mesmerised by this story and still remember it to this day. So what happened was two cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, took so pictures of some Faeries that they saw. At the time they were living in Cottingley, England and the photographs caught the attention of a writer- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was really enthusiastic about these photographs and used them in one of his articles called Faeries for the 1920 addition of the Strand Magazine. The reaction from the public was mixed, some claiming it was fake and others accepting the images as real. There were five photographs and all triggered a strong public reaction. After the girls were married and grown up in 1966 a reporter traced Elsie, she said that the photographs expressed her thoughts and the story once again became popular. Later, in the 1980's, Frances and Elsie admitted that the photographs were fake, but Frances still claimed that the fifth was real.

The moonlit garden,
The twinkling stars,
The shimmering fairies,
The glowing fires,
Tell a sweet story,
Tell all who will listen,
Tell of the magic,
Tell while they glisten

-Randi Kuhne

Changelings-Are You One?

My favorite concept of faerie lore are Changelings.

Have you never heard of them?

Painting by John Bauer of a human child
in the world of Fae with trolls. Thanks to
Wikipedia.org

Well, you should now. 

A changeling, according to these faerie myths, is a child replaced with a faerie baby. These babies are often unwanted and ugly, and spelled with a glamour so they look almost exactly like the baby that was taken away. A way you can tell a baby is a changeling is if they start speaking in a different language, do peculiar and mischievous things, and start performing things physically impossible.

But there are many ways that you can get rid of a faerie baby as well.

In one episode of So Weird (Yes, I am quoting TV shows now), the main character encounters a changeling and has to lure him away by making the baby laugh. One way to do this is to cook things in an eggshell, which I guess, as well as being incredibly ridiculous and weird, is remarkably humorous to the faerie baby. Another is to open a window, though most faeries, to keep from having to take back their baby, keeps this from happening by using magic.

No one really knows what happens at the opposite end of the spectrum, to the human child who is kept in the care of the faeries. One faerie reference that all should read is entitled 13 Curses, which is about a girl named Red who searches for her brother, who has been kidnapped by faeries. For all who want to read it, please do not look ahead.

*SPOILER ALERT*





Just for those people who need a bit of space before they can skip it. But anyways, in this book, Red finds her brother, but realizes that his faerie parents have adopted him with great care. They glamoured him so that he looked like a faerie, and as time doesn't ever flow in Fae as it does in the human world, her brother was already three years old when he should've just been one.






*END OF SPOILER ALERT*

It is yet to be known whether babies ever do come book from the mysterious haven of Fae. But best be on the lookout-you never know when one might appear.

This child is not mine as the first was,

Yet it lies in my little one's cradle

And sits in my little one's chair,

And the light of the heaven she's gone to

Transfigures its golden hair.

-James Russel Lowell, excerpt from 'The Changeling'

An Unknown Encounter

Everybody wants to meet a Faerie or have something magical happen in their life. Well, the thing that we are not realising is that almost everybody has had an encounter with these magical creatures.

Can you remember that strange movement in the corner of the room, but when you went to look, there was nothing there? Oh, and their was also that small unreadable face in the corner of the television. Your concience tells you that these things mean nothing, but when you think about it, does it really make sense. One thing that I know is that not everything makes sense, some things just are.


Faeries are not shy to the human world, it is just the lack of human belief. While you can have a Faerie encounter on any day at any time, there are some days when it seems more likely. It really depends on you point of view. For example, I always think of Faeries on rainy days, because their seems to be some sort of magic in the air. For others it may be at dusk or in the morning etc.

If you are looking to meet faeries then there are many different ways. Some, I think, are completely crazy and do not mean anything. My advice would be to sit in a quiet, natural place and wait, but there are many other times and places that you can meet them. If you try something and it doesn't work, then don't be unhappy, and don't give up.

I hope you will all have an encounter with a faerie or two! If not then you must never stop beliving...

I am a creature of the Fey

Prepare to give your soul away

My spell is passion and it is art

My song can bind a human heart

And if you chance to know my face

My hold shall be your last embrace

I shall be thy lover

-Brenna Gwyn

Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

It's not surprising how beautiful a walk around your town can be, especially when you know faeries are hiding just around the corner.

A few days ago, Laura and I were walking to the library after school, as we usually do on Wednesdays. The sun glowed cold and blared its pale, wavering waves at us through wispy winds and thin clouds. We sidetracked to many back-streets, where we found the most beautiful place:

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb386/ABrokenFaerieTale/The%20Walk%20to%20Book%20Club/DSCF0934.jpg

It was next to an Italian restaurant called the Vineyard, and as I thought the culture of Italy was awesome, I absolutely fell in love. Hopefully the faeries that live there will not desert, for they make the plants there beautiful and fragile even in the dying light of winter.

And in book club, I found the most exciting book:

I finished it just a day ago, and though short and sweet, the book gives a lot of facts about faeries. Did you know that if you put a penny on the ground, and whatever color it glows is how 'bad' the faerie is? And did you know about the faerie ring that is possibly stealing hot water from your basement? (If indeed your hot water is being curiously derived from your basement sinks and showers).

Obviously, I thought it was really fun, and you should definitely read it if you want to know a more modern guide on modern-day faeries.

I hope the days for you have gone well, and that you have had more encounters with faeries in the week. (Even if they happen to be the human kind.)

The fairy poet takes a sheet

Of moonbeam, silver white;

His ink is dew from daisies sweet,

His pen a point of light.

~Joyce Kilmer

Introduction to Find the Faeries

Hey,
Firstly what I would like to say is that anyone (who belives in Faeries) can become a member of the Find the Faeries Association. I would love to welcome anyone into this, and would also love your input in some of our discussions. Once you become a member of the FTFA (Find the Faeries Association), you will recive a button, and can speak freely about your thoughts.
The second most important thing is what this blog is about, take a guess. Yes, it is about faeries. I am not talking about Disney faeries like Tinkerbell, etc. I am talking about the faries that exist in the real world.
Okay, so now I have got all that out of my head I will give you a bit more infomation on the blog.
So what I will mainly be posting about is anything that I think has had something to do with faeries that has happened in my life. This is NOT going to me a biography about me, but about how faeries impact everyday life. If that is not what your looking for then I am happy to tell you I will also be posting the facts of faeries: not all that fake stuff. This will include types of faeries and how faeries make a living. If you have any other suggestions for stuff to post about then please comment below or e-mail me.
One other thing is that you can tell anyone about the FTFA but I would really appreciate it if you would not tell people who do not belive or think it is stupid. This is not a private site, but I don't want any crazy person taking advantage of it. If you want to become a member then I will put a few questions up on another page and you can e-mail them to me. If you get a certain number right and I think you qualify then I will send you back the HTML of you member button, that you can put on your blog or something.
Now I'm done with talking, so you can look around the Find the Faeries blog.
I hope you like it,
Thank you,
Laura