Trisha Wooldridge, fantasy writer and faerie folklorist and resident of Auburn MA, told the Boston Pagan Examiner the correct and safe way to behave when meeting a potentially unfriendly faerie or when entering the faerie realm. She also explained why such rules relate to modern paganism.
So, if you meet a faerie:
- Don’t tell any faeries your full name. “Names have power,” says Ms. Wooldridge. “In any mythology, you use the full name when you’re asking something from a God, or when you’re casting a spell. In Celtic [tradition], the reason we have middle names is because the faeries cannot steal the child if they do not know the full name.”
- In some cultures, iron may be helpful when combating dangerous faeries. “Iron is detrimental because you’ve destroyed the Earth to get it.”
- When dealing with any stranger, use caution; they may be a faerie or deity in disguise. “You need to have manners. If you don’t treat deities in disguise with hospitality, they will smite you.”
- But be careful how you have manners! “The wording for ‘thank you’ is to say you’re indebted to someone. You do not want to be indebted to a faerie.”
- “Time moves differently in Faerie. It does not follow the same rules as in the human realm.” When returning from the faerie realm, you may find that much time has passed (as, for example, in Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving) or that no time at all has passed (as in the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis).
The traditional rules about faeries are a legacy from pre-Christian cultures, cultures that often practiced a form of paganism. They have survived in the form of faerie tales, folk tales, and what we now often consider children’s stories. They are our hints to those cultures and what they believed. “That’s why [these rules about faeries] relate to paganism.”
During the transition to Christianity, the new culture often tried to suppress or subvert non-Christian practices and beliefs. “The historical records were all destroyed,” says Ms. Wooldridge.
“These rules come from the old pagan practices. They could be from anywhere in the world that Christianity conquered. The safe way to pass this information along was through word of mouth. So, faerie tales and folk tales were passed down through the generations to keep these truths alive. These are the stories that have survived Christianity’s purge.”
Learn more about Trisha Wooldridge at www.anovelfriend.com.
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