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FAIRIES |
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DEFINITION AND MEANING
In the Middle Ages, it was defined by the gentiles as a divinity or unknown force which had a fascinatig effect on the other divinities and on men and events. The French word fée has a similar origin and resulted in the English words fey and fairie which, as time went by, suffered spelling variations from fayerye, fayre, faerie, faery, and fairy. According to its ethimology, it is a fantastic being pictured as a woman known to have magical powers. For the Saxons, the word ferie refers to the world of fairies as an entity, being a geographical location. In Spanish it turned out to be féerico, depicting something wonderful or fantastic, as applied for example to música féerica (fairy music).
\\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\ INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF FAIRIES
At the outset of the third millennium, in a globalized world concerned more about geopolitics and amassing large fortunes, and supported in an imposing technological development, inhabited by a man immersed himself in city stress and an endless whirl of activities, you might as well ask why speak about something so far away from the real world, making up the universe of illusion and fantasy? May be the answer is that those magical beings encourage the hope that the innocent imagination of childhood is still present in our hearts just drowsy awaiting for a fresh breeze of a pure heart, deprived of all evil to find the ideal conditions to see, talk and believe again in fairies like when he was a child. \\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\ Could anyone ever introduce us to a fairy? Or are they who freely decide whether they accept a human being or not?
In addition, extreme caution should be exercised to penetrate into this world, as nothing is more irritating to fairies than several human beings curiously moving around their extraordinary dominions, like spoiled tourists. Love, but also abandonment and death, may follow under their spell. Like human beings, they live in a universe of contradictions As stated by the brilliant English playwright William Shakespeare in his Hamlet, there are on earth more things than those that can be perceived by imagination. It could also be added that, by a high percentage, the fantastic is invisible to the naked eye. The belief in the existence of fairies is common to the most diverse cultures. It origin dates back to myths and legends of each culture. One of those legends assures that fairies are fallen angels or dead pagans not good enough to be admitted in the Eden, or not wicked enough to go to hell. That is why they were compelled to live eternally halfway. Another legend read that once Eve was on the bank of a river bathing her children when she heard God who spoke to her. Fearful, Eve hid her children who had not been bathed so that God could not see them. God, who sees everything, asked her whether all her children were there. Eve lied and bowed. God warned her that those children that had been hidden from Him would be ever after hidden from the eyes of men. Those where the children who turned out to be fairies or elfs. \\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\ LOCATION OF THE WORLD OF FAIRIES
Location of these elementary beings has varied throughout time and cultures. For the Irish, sometimes it was found in the horizon; other under their own feet; on other occasions, on hills, or in a magical island in the high seas or under the ocean. Other cultures state that the world of fairies may be found in nature, a plant, a tree, the earth, a lake, the breeze, the sun, the perfum of flowers and all that is natural around us. Summing up, air, water, earth, and fire are the four elements where Elementary Spirits are contained.
\\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\\ GENERIC CLASSIFICATION They are grouped in generic families based on big differences among them, and the elements they inhabit or preferrably domain. They could be classified as follows: Air Spirits: Silfides The air element, featured by intelligence, represented by Spring and Dawn is inhabited by Sylphs in the form of butterflies. They control winds, help birds in their migrations and flowers in their pollination. Their light yellow- toned translucent appearance is present in the scent of wet herb threatening to rain. Sylphs Water Spirits: Nymphs, Mermaids, Nereids, Naiads, Undines,and Water Goblins. The water element featured by love and cures, represented by Autumn and Sunset, is inhabited by nymphs, mermaids, nereids, and undines. They appear as mythological creatures in all liquids, such as seas, rivers, fresh water brooks, falls, and clouds. Their aspect vary depending on their habitat. Nereids rule the seas; undines called Naiads by the Greek, are found in lakes. They are mostly blue and a receptive energy. Like mermaids, they attract any sailor with their songs until they wreck. They are the ones channeling natural river beds. Earth Spirits: The Earth element is the most dense. It is represented by Winter and the night. It is inhabited by Ladies, goblins, gnomes, and trolls. They are mostly green, and have a receptive energy. Fairies or ladies are characterized by their kindness and for being the oldest inhabitants of the plant. They may either be imposing or tiny; their powers, however, are incredible and dominate nature. Fire Spirits: Salamanders
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The Spanish word hada comes from the Latin fata which, in turn, derived from fatum, meaning fate or destiny.
The world of Fairies is a mixture of a mysterious enchantment, a charming beauty, but also of a huge ugliness, of insensitive shallowness, humour, malice, joy and inspiration, fear, laughter, love, and tragedy. It is richer than what we are usually induced to think by literature. 