Morgan Daimler - Fairies: A Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk

In my opinion this is the best book on Fairy and quite possibly the only one you will ever need. Morgan Daimler is my guru on all things fairy and this book is now my new go-to guide. Leaving behind all the gossamer wings and flowery petal skirts (thankfully) this book covers all you need to know and more from traditional fairy to the modern world and everything in between. If you want to step away from the glitter and into the REAL world of fairy then this book is a must have. Highly recommended.

Rachel Patterson, author of Kitchen Witchcraft, The Cailleach and Moon Magic

Impeccably researched and delightfully well written, Fairies A Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk is a book that every pagan who is interested in following the fairy path should read. Morgan Daimler is a leading expert on traditional Celtic fairylore and this is her finest work on the subject to date.

Lucya Starza, author of Pagan Portals Candle Magic and A Bad Witchs Blog

Living in the Irish countryside where fairy raths, paths and strange goings on are part of everyday life, I was captivated by Fairies: A Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk. As with all of Daimlers books I was impressed by her thorough research, her clarity of writing and the inclusion of a chapter giving basic guidelines for dealing with fairies. There is so much to commend in this book that I believe it is the most thorough guide to the Good People I have read.

Jane Brideson, Artist and blogger at The Ever-Living Ones Irish Goddesses & Gods in Landscape, Myth & Custom

Other Books by Morgan Daimler

Fairycraft

Following the Path of Fairy Witchcraft

Fairy Witchcraft

A Neopagans Guide to the Celtic Fairy Faith

Irish Paganism

Reconstructing Irish Polytheism

Gods and Goddesses of Ireland

A Guide to Irish Deities

The Morrigan

Meeting the Great Queens

Brigid

Meeting the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Forge, and Healing Well

Where the Hawthorn Grows

An American Druids reflections

First published by Moon Books, 2017

Moon Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

www.johnhuntpublishing.com

www.moon-books.net

For distributor details and how to order please visit the Ordering section on our website.

Text copyright: Morgan Daimler 2016

ISBN: 978 1 78279 650 3

978 1 78279 696 1 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017932673

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Morgan Daimler as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY, UK

We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.

For those who seek the truth in the legends.

This book is dedicated to those who give me reasons to believe. With great thanks to Aileen Paul, for your support and encouragement.

And thanks to Gemma McGowan for being the amazing priestess you are, and for everything at Tlachtga, the dark moon, Samhain, 2016.

Like a shadow, shifting, seeking

what Ive found yet still must find,

wrapped in motion, wrapped in time,

bound yet still compelled to bind

echoes like ripples of each action

as here and there merge in my mind

spirit balanced in the eager edges

Wandering the Otherworld is chancy

though the fairy road is always near

tempting and teasing and tangling

touching this to that, and there to here

a bare breath away, a whole world apart

pulled and pushed by hope and fear

I am compelled to turn and return again

I am on wings, flying, swiftly silent

eyes keen in the darkness of night

seeking what is waiting for me

someone found in shade and light;

I am a white hind in trackless woods

running, racing, sharp and bright;

illusions hold the truth of form here

The paths I walk are distant memories

the place I rest a long forgotten tale

my companion, fierce and fearsome,

so that, compared, I seem faint and frail,

there is music, sourceless, around us

and the moon, a lantern, clear and pale,

so painfully idyllic I look for thorns

Dark and dangerous this dreaming

like ground ivy, twining, creeping

intoxicating as sweet rowan mead

into my heart and mind softly seeping

leaving no corner or crevice empty

planting, tending, nourishing, reaping,

changing from the core to make anew

I feel it digging deep and deeper

wearing me away like water on stone

working relentlessly towards its goal

weaving through flesh, blood, and bone

strong its power, stronger its purpose

for in the most primal intent it was sown

and every wish comes with its cost

Days, or Years, or Decades, or Hours

time has no anchor here, it drifts

I am carried with its restless motion

turning and twisting as it all shifts

but I knew before I bargained that

they are clever when they give gifts

and I valued gingerbread over gold

M. Daimler, copyright 2016

Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Fairies have long fascinated and frightened people and a complex set of traditions has risen around them that reflects this. In a Celtic context these beliefs and practices are often called the Fairy Faith and represent the sum total of what humans have learned about fairies over countless generations. Despite its name the Fairy Faith is not actually a specific religion itself, although it is most strongly associated with Christianity, and anyone of any belief system can follow the Fairy Faith.

This book is not a text on the modern idea of what fairies are, and really theres little need for such a book. There are already quite a few on the market that are aimed at a pagan audience and written from that perspective. What this book is meant to be is a text for pagans focusing on the older understanding of fairies while still seeing them as a part of our very modern world. It focuses largely on the Celtic fairies and to some degree closely related cultures with similar fairy beliefs, but fairies can be found around the world and in every culture as far as I know. It would be impossible, though, to discuss every fairy from every culture in any depth in a single book, so instead this book will aim at offering a deeper view with a specific focus.