by
Dea Isidora
In every culture still in reverence of its indigenous spirituality, faith in the good folk is alive. Whether it is in the lore of the land or much like an experiential form of connection to nature, devas, tree dryads, sea nymphs and little people living entwined with the greening known to many as the good folk, or fairies. A vast supernatural, land-based healing knowledge is enlaced in every indigenous culture from Central Europe, through Britain to Iceland.
Fairy traditions from the British Isles are making a swift return in our lives today. Ireland’s fairy faith is unique and likely as old as the Emerald Isle itself, potentially predating the arrival of the Celts. It is in the memory of the land, deeply vowed into the undulating countryside landscape.
The sídhe
The Irish fairies, known as the sídhe (pronounced ‘shee’) or ‘the good people’, are part of the land’s national heritage and land-based lore, and many desire to return to them in search of their endemic spirituality.
The sídhe are also unique in the sense that they are closely related to the mythical tribe of the Tuatha Dé Danann, or Tuath Dé (the People of Danu, or Anu), a tribe of supernatural beings who once ruled as kings and queens of Ireland and were recorded in tales of early Bronze Age history.
The tribe of Danu was gifted with a notable influence over the elemental and spirit worlds and the sídhe, by all accounts, were not the usual ‘little folk’ depicted in Edwardian literature. They were often described in detail as tall and blonde or red-haired, and fey or fionn, from which the modern word ‘fairy’ derives, means ‘white’, ‘bright’ or ‘shining’. Their tallness was interpreted as giant-like – the sídhe stood much closer to the heavens than the humans of the time.
This mythical tribe has its fair share of heroic battles, good deeds, and land-transforming myths in Irish folk tales and literature. Their fairy origin and likeness are first found in their interwoven relationship with nature – the soil, harvest, wind and rivers – and their choice to inhabit the world below.
Secondly, the Tuath Dé’s lore alludes to a unique place of origin where the arts of healing, magic and sacred combat can be studied and mastered. Here, great spiritual wisdom and enlightenment were bestowed upon them as masters of the elements. This place is given a perfect Fairy World-like description as an ‘Island beyond the Sea’, a metaphor for the land of the fey in lore. It is also best known as simply the otherworld, Undying Lands, or in Gaelic, Tir Na Nog – the Isle of Youth.
Although later records from Victorian Ireland recognise other creatures and supernatural beings, many have faded into legend and are mistaken for the sídhe. So it is helpful to distinguish the good folk as descendants of the Tuath Dé – the sídhe of the fairy mounds – from other creatures like leprechauns, brownies and nixies.
Ireland’s recorded myth is filled with second-hand accounts of early Catholic influence, and much of the lore passed down in oral tradition warns against any interaction with the otherworld. In fact, the sídhe became associated at one time with death and suffering, as reverends and priests recounted folk stories with added religious interpretations. This was possibly motivated by fear and the intention to divorce the population from indigenous spiritual beliefs – not by denying its existence altogether, but by mortifying the population into distancing themselves from the otherworldly.
Nevertheless, it is safe to say that faith in the fairy folk stayed very much alive in Irish, Scottish and Welsh cultures, even if it has changed its ways a few times over. First-hand accounts of fairy sightings are still documented by those living close to the natural world.
Fairy traditions today
The good folk of Ireland are a part of the natural world, especially alongside rivers, on mounds and around sacred wells and springs which are considered faerie land and therefore taboo or holy.
Some say that even in towns and cities, we can see magical folk going about their daily business, although superficiality, modern inventions and excessive technology have removed people from their finer senses of observance. Sadly, the wisdom of the otherworld becomes too far, or even lost, for many.
However, some still remember and long for the mystical world – dedicated to tending the land the sídhe way. Those who speak to trees before they are cut, leave gifts at the crossroads, tell bardic tales, and sing fairy songs to remind us of the wisdom of the good people – individuals who refuse the products and unnecessary chemicals of modern agriculture, living in simple coexistence with nature.
All those who choose to live in a perpetual closeness with nature for the simple reason of the mystery found in peace and solitude are friends of the good folk. In these souls, the wisdom of the fae is still alive and continually reinvigorated by daily experience.
The rites of the good folk are deeply woven into the natural world. We celebrate the coming union of the Faery Queen (known to many as the May Queen) and the Faery King – a coming-together of natural forces turning the wheel of the seasons. Similarly, the good folk are to be found in the autumn days, when All Hallow’s Night arrives at the cusp of winter. Then, the sídhe ride out and collect lost, wandering souls as the bounty of their own harvest.
If we free our logically educated minds, the unseen world of the good folk becomes our ancient teacher. The fae become way-showers in these difficult times, offering a form of remembered wisdom which we can apply to live peacefully amongst ourselves.
Read the full article in our March/April 2023 issue.
Dea Isidora, Ph.D is an international mystic, author, and the founder of Avalon Academy.
avalonmysteryschool.co.uk
