Faery Beginings           The Etruscans were ancient people rising as the first civilization in what is now Northern Italy, sometime around 1000 BC. It was claimed that they were heirs to the Neolithic religion of the Great Goddess in Old Europe. They worshipped a Great Mother Goddess called Uni, along with her consort Tina.      The Etruscans were devoted to their religious practices and they excelled in the arts of Divination and Magick. They believed in the ultimate power of Supernateral forces and all acts of Nature were seen as initiated by a god or spirit. Ancient historians tell us that they were the most knowledged Occultists that the world had ever known. There was an entire library of Etruscan texts on religion, magick and Divination. But they were burned under the Emperor Honorius in AD 395-423 as being heretical texts and offensive to Christianity, their wisdom being lost forever.      The earliest origins of faeries appear in ancient Etruscan Art circa 600 BC. On tomb paintings they feature as small winged beings known as Lasa. Sometimes they were human sized in the company of a god or goddess. The small winged ones were always pictured with humans and would hover over a container of incense or an offering bowl. Lasa were associated with Ancestor Worship, their images found in Etruscan Shrines. This linked the Fairy/Lasa with the Cult Of The Dead. These beings were also known as Lare, when the Romans later absorbed and modified Etruscan Lasa beliefs.      The Etruscan faeries were associated with Vegetation and the Secrets of Nature. In art they are unclothed, winged and carrying a small vial of elixir. This liquid could produce any 3 results- 1 drop = to Heal 2 drops = opened the eyes to the secrets of Nature 3 drops = transformed matter into Spirit and vice versa The 3 drops were needed to pass from Faery World into the Physical World and vice versa. This also appears later in Celtic Faery Legends, when Celtic contact with the Etruscans occured cira 400 BC.   Cult Of The Dead This was an ancient Neolithic Cult that buried its dead in a tomb surrounded by a mound of earth, with items intended for use in the after life. Included in the tomb were symbolisms of Solar and Lunar, the tombs entrances were aligned with the position of the Moon at the Winter Solstice.      These burial mounds were later believed to be Faery Hills, as faeries were considered to be the souls of the departed, as in the Cult Of The Dead's Elemental Kingdom Of Nature. It was believed that faeries could help and harm human beings, therefore it was important to thank them for good fortune.      NEXT     page by witching puppy