Spirituality
Nature Spirits, Faeries, And Elementals
The children of Mother Earth
Fairy Stories
I found an old notebook, in it were the musings of my Victorian granddad, now long dead. He was born in 1888 and he was already very old when I was born. He came from the West Riding of Yorkshire and knew about ‘the old ways’. He spoke in the Old English dialect of those parts.
Granddad believed in faeries He would sit me on his knee and recite to me the Old English faerie tales that were told to him — not those usually told to children, and definitely not those found in popular culture. He knew them all off by heart. They were stories about faeries, sprites, brownies and elves. Some of the tales he told me were really frightening such as Childe Rowland and The Yorkshire Boggart.
The fairies in Granddad’s stories were always trying to steal human children. I spent my early childhood worrying about being kidnapped by some form of Elemental, remembering not to walk ‘widdershins’ around churches in case I woke the elves.
I’m sure you are all acquainted with the seven dwarfs in the Snow White story, the Little Mermaid, Rumplestiltskin, and Tinkerbelle from Peter Pan. Here in the UK there is enduring folk-lore around the fairie and nature spirit realms — this article is a taster on the subject. You may wish to find out more for yourself.
Supernatural sprites of the British Isles
You’re more likely to spot a faerie on Midsummer’s Eve than at any other time of the year.
Faerie: Nature Faeries are small, supernatural winged beings who appear as flickers of red, blue or green light. They live deep within forests where they tend to the animals and plants. They shun human companionship, but will help anyone who gets lost.
Faerie Elves: Small, supernatural beings of human form. Faeries and elves may be bad or good. Elves are the only faeries able to mate with humans and have children with them.
Dwarves: Small, ugly creatures who are incredibly strong. They are talented artisans and craftsmen. If they like you, they will be a good and loyal friend. If not, they can be mean and hurtful.
Blue Men of the Minch (Storm Kelpies): Found anywhere in the stretch of water between the islands of the Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland. The Blue Men of the Minch are water faeries who enjoy causing shipwrecks and drowning sailors.
Bogles: Goblins who harm anyone who lies.
Brownies: Helpful household faeries who like to clean, wash, milk cows and generally do good. Don’t leave them money as a reward, they see this as an insult.
Gwragedd Annwn (Lake Maidens): Beautiful female water faeries who live beneath lakes and in rivers. Reputed to steal husbands.
Piskeys (Pixies): Mischievious horse-stealing faeries from the counties of Devon & Cornwall. Piskeys like to play tricks, especially on travellers, often leading them off course and getting them lost.
Silkies: Seal people of the Scottish Isles. They take on human form when on the land.
Tylwyth Teg: Welsh faeries who bestow gifts, like to dance in faerie rings and kidnap children with long, golden hair.
Mab: A tiny sprite who grants wishes from dreams or brings curses through nightmares.
Faerie Trees
Alder: Used as a charm against evil faeries.
Ash: If an Ash stands by itself in the centre of a field or by the road-side it is said to be a fairy tree and the gateway between this world and the other-world. Place in a child’s cot to prevent it being traded for a changeling.
Clover: A four-leafed clover can break faerie spells. If you wear clover in your hat it opens your third eye and lets you see the faeries.
Hawthorn: The Witches tree — when growing in a grove this is the perfect place to watch the faeries dance.
Oak: This tree is home to sprites, elves, faeries and demons. Wear your coat turned inside out to neutralise their powers.
Rowan: Use its branches to protect your home.
Nature Spirits
According to Granddad, Nature Spirits are the children of Mother Earth. They are as diverse as nature herself. Nature Spirits form part of the angelic orders. Although they make Earth their home, they can work throughout the different dimensions.
Apparently, Nature Spirits need contact with humans to allow them to live and evolve. It seems they live in faerie mounds, inside faerie rings, in trees, water and caves, and anywhere and everywhere — even inside our own homes. It is said our lack of respect and destruction of nature is killing off their natural habitats and, in turn, killing these delicate nature spirits.
Nature spirits have several names. Here are a few we use in the UK.
- Flower Faeries: drawn to children, especially those playing out-doors.
- Fauni: these have horns and tails and live in forests.
- Silvani: these are wood and forest sprites.
- Rock/Stone Devas: these beings of light are said to hold the key to prophesy, Magick, and secret treasures.
- Crystal Devas: these beings of light unlock the powers of crystals for healing and such like.
- Flower Devas: these beings of light unlock the powers of plants and flowers for healing and such like.
- Pixies: also known as faerie elves (gnomes with wings)
- Nymphs: spirits who live in wells.
- Naiads: water nymphs who live in streams and rivers.
- Mermaids/Merman: water nymphs who live in seas and oceans.
Dryads
My favourite Nature Spirits from the old stories are the Dryads. These are tree spirits. They can leave their tree for short periods of time. This is usually at night when the tree is resting. Dryads have strong energies that can give us the chills and shivers. Apparently, this accounts for the feelings of uneasiness you may experience when walking through a forest of wood. Dryads are (so grandad said) quite affectionate beings and will not hurt you. If you have a favourite tree under which you like to sit, or feel the need to hug, it is likely you have an affinity for the Dryad which inhabits it.
Elementals
Elementals are nature spirits that are linked to specific ‘elements’. They are conscious, four-dimensional beings of pure spiritual energy. According to folk-lore there are four groups of Elementals, each has an Archangel overseeing their activities.
Gnomes: These are the spirits of earth, their colour is green. Their Archangel is Auriel. Gnomes can’t fly, and they can be harmed by fire. They grow old and are usually depicted as very small, ancient, gnarled men. Gnomes help to create colour in nature through plants, trees, crystals, stones and metals. They can be quite grumpy but can be appeased with offerings.
Gnomes help us to maintain our bodies, giving us all the vitamins and minerals we need through our food. If you abuse your body, you abuse these Elementals. Gnomes help to maintain balance in the earth so it produces everything we need to enable us to survive.
Undines: (pronounced oon-dine). These are the spirits of water, their colour is blue. Their Archangel is Gabriel. They are found wherever there is a natural water source. Undines are often depicted as tall, willowy and fluid. They help us to maintain our astral bodies, our emotions and sensitivity. They are responsible for maintaining our bodily fluids.
Undines work with us through our dreams, and are there to guide us when we have out-of-body experiences.
I once had an encounter with a young woman who knew nothing about the old ways or stories. She told me about the death of her boyfriend, he had drowned while white-water rafting. She said she had a dream afterwards, and in that dream she saw her boyfriend floating face down in the water. Then she saw a figure rise from the water and lift her boyfriend up and away. She didn’t have a clue what this dream meant, but she said, she felt strangely comforted by it. Perhaps it was the undines letting her know they had her boyfriend’s spirit in their keeping.
Sylphs: There are the spirits of the air, their colour is yellow. Their Archangel is Raphael. Sylphs work hand-in-hand with Angels. Their special task is to help the souls of children who have died to find their way to the light. Sylphs are assigned just one human each and act as our temporary companions. They enhance our psychic abilities and help us attune to spirit.
Sylphs maintain our mental faculties so our thought, whether good or bad, affect them too. They stimulate our thirst for knowledge and our creativity. They also help us to protect our homes and property.
Salamanders: These are the spirits of fire, their colour is red. Their Archangel is Michael. Salamanders help us to tear down the old and build up the new. No fire is lit without their help — whether real, or metaphorical.
Salamanders aid our circulation, and regulate our temperatures and metabolism. They love music, and they work with poets and composers. Salamanders aid in all healing situations but their energy must be used with care as they are extremely energetic and, like fire, are not easily controlled.
Other Elementals are household sprites such as Brownies, Hobgoblins, Bogles and dark elves who live in cellars, basements and — well — anywhere dark.
Nature spirits in human form
In the old stories we see time and time again that nature spirits can reveal themselves in a physical, human form to trick us. They will assume the look which the person to whom they are revealing themselves will expect to see.
Two of the most common forms of Elementals are the Fees and the White Ladies. The Fees are patronesses — the original faerie godmothers. They are said to be the oldest beings on this planet. The White Ladies are only ever seen in the act of kissing (or having just kissed) a baby or young child. They reveal themselves as old ladies, and disappear just as quickly as they arrived.
My mother swore she had a visit from a nature spirit. She lived in a solitary cottage in the middle of a long, straight, un-made lane. Just after I was born (late February, always the coldest month in the UK). I was put out in the garden in my pram for some fresh air (In February, brrr!). A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Mother opened to door to an old lady, she asked mother about me, and then asked for a drink of water. Mother thought this strange as no-one ever walked down that lane. She went to the sink to oblige but, when she came back with the glass, the woman had disappeared. Mother went outside, looked up and down the lane but the woman was no-where to be seen. She was far to old to have walked out of sight that quickly, or to have climbed over the hedge into one of the fields, and the road wasn’t good enough for vehicles other than a horse and cart. Mother panicked, remembering the old stories granddad told about human babies being swapped for fairy babies, for a moment she thought I might have been snatched, but there I was in the pram, smiling away (in February, brrr!) She was convinced the visitor was one of the White Ladies.
Perhaps I am a changeling — who knows?
Finally
According to granddad Smith, nature Spirits rarely make promises, so don’t bother to ask. And, they detest nothing more than a liar — hence the old rhyme: Every time you tell a lie, a little faerie has to die.
This faerie folk-lore was compiled from the oral history and notes of Frederick Smith (1888–1978)
