I'm going to tell you of the original fae.... not tinkerbell, the cute little helpful fairy of modern myth, but the passionate creatures of the Celts. (Or other cultures) Sometimes ugly or with enchanting beauty that can kill, the Fae's origins are a bit unclear because of the advent of Christianity in the Celtic people.

There are two types of myths, Post-Christian and Pre-Christian. In Post-Christianity, it was believed the Fae were the spirits of unbaptized children, fallen angels, or ancient druids that grew smaller as they refused to become Christians. Because of this they were not good enough for heaven but too good for hell and expelled to the middle world. One of the earliest Pre-Christian myths known of the Fae is that faeries are the elemental nature spirits of the water, land and air. Which explains the Celtic God and Goddesses association with the Fae. Part of the old Celtic religion is the respect given to the three elements, water, land, and air. Some may also say five elements, earth, air, water, fire, and spirit.

Compared to the fairies of today, the emotional state of the Fae was a world apart. (Notice that I call them two different things, 'faeries' and 'fairies' Faeries are the ones that have origins in history, not movies or stories. It is also Gaelic.) The Fae have no sense of the human right and wrong, so it is very easy to upset them. They have a wonderful sense of fun.... sometimes that fun is to trick humans. Maeve Silvermoon writes the following description of the Fae's disposition.

"Fairies prefer, above all else, to be left alone. They are at home in their world of intense emotion and delicate sensibilities. Their emotions are unmixed, so that they love and hate with a good heart, their love never palling, their vengeance never anything but deadly and sure. They are beautiful; they own all the treasures of the earth and hence can afford the luxury of generosity."

"Fairies are passionate creatures who give themselves totally to whatever they do and cannot understand those who do not maintain the same intensity. The present alone exists for the sídhe - past and future being no more than pleasurable blurs; therefore their intense moments are never dulled by hopes or regrets or memories of former attachments. What they love or hate intensely today, they may forget tomorrow. They will not wear an old sentiment for nostalgia's sake."

The Fae can best be put into four categories 1) the Fae 2) dark elves 3) nature faeries 4) people faeries

The Fae are like the enchanters and enchantresses, they are part mortal and usually part of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Dark elves are the rejected faeries that hide and eat little children. The nature faeries live mainly in the forest or the element they inhabit. They can be very tricky or helpful. The people faeries can be divided into either "Solitary" or "Communal" types, the solitary being more likely the ones that are found in homes.

There are a few creatures that are very similar to the Fae but are not faeries. Elves, pixies Gnomes and Dwarves are a sub-faery because of their different origins.

Fays -early form of the word
Fair Family -Welsh
Fair-Folk -Welsh
Farisees -Suffolk
Pharisees -Suffolk 
Fary -Northumberland
Fees -Upper Brittany
Feriers -Suffolk
Ferishers -Suffolk
Frairies -Norfolk & Suffolk
Good Neighbors -Scottish & Irish
Good People -Irish reference to the Sidhe
The Green Children -medieval literature
Greencoaties -Lincolnshire Fen version
The Grey Neighbors -Shetland nickname for the Trows
Henkies -Orkney & Shetland nickname for Trows
Klippe -Forfarshire nickname
Li'l Fellas -Manx nickname
The Old People -Cornish nickname
People of Peace -Irish reference to the Sidhe
Pigsies -Cornwall variations of Pixies
Piskies -Cornwall variations of Pixies
Sith/Si -Gaelic variations of Sidhe
Sleigh Beggey -Manx language version of Little Folk
Still-Folk -Scottish Highland version
Verry Volk -Gower (Wales) nickname
Wee Folk -Scottish and Irish nickname

It is said that if you say out loud the real name of a faery you will be under their control forever. This is why there are so many names given to the Fae.

When it comes to attracting faeries, the fae like many things. It is said if you leave out honey, milk, ground clover or bread they will come. Anything that glitters or certain plants attract the fae of the garden. To find out more about rituals, spells or things you can do to attract the fae, I have a section called, 'Calling the Fae'. Three things you must never do are to injure a Faery tree, approach a faery with Iron, or speak the true name of a faerie out loud.

Glaymor is the magick associated with faeries. It is said the fae have powerful magick and all the ancient knowledge. They use Glaymor to change into a form we can see yet not know it is a faery. For example the Hyter sprite takes the form of a sand martin most often. The fae also use glaymor to fly (they really don't need those wings) or to instantly transport themselves. Most trickster fae are very powerful, being able to affect objects other then themselves to make mischief.

One of my favorite stories that describe the nature of faeries wonderfully is a tale from Cornwall. Except from, "The Impossible People" by Georgess McHargue

"A little girl was out picking primroses one day and wandered in to the rocky place called Goblin Combe. In her playing she happened to knock on a stone, which surprised her by opening into a door in the hillside. Out of the door came the Faery Folk, who played with the child all day and then sent her home safely with the gift of a beautiful golden ball.

Now there was a conjurer in the town who heard of the little girl's adventure and thought he would try his luck at getting such a nice bit of gold. So he gathered up some primroses and went knocking on the stone. But say the tale, ''twasn't the right day, nor the right number of primroses, and he wasn't no dear little girl, so they took him!'"