Boudicca Andarta December, 2011

Winter Protection from the Snow Faeries

Snow Faeries, Frost Faeries, Ice faeries or Winter Faeries; by whichever name you know them, they are the personification of the Winter season.  Their element is Water.  In the physical world, they are found throughout Europe and Asia, particularly at nocturnal Winter woods and water, and are the most active from late Autumn through early Spring, usually at night.  In the Land of the Fay, Snow Faeries can be spotted in the realm of Winter.

Depending on which culture you find them, the appearance of Snow Faeries can vary.  Because they are pure energy, they can take on any form that they wish.  Snow Faeries, like other Faeries, can mimic objects from their surrounding environment.  This is why Snow Faeries appear frosty and glittery, are often dressed in white and may choose to have wings.

There are also individual Snow Faeries that have stood out in ancient lore.  Quite possibly the most famous would be the English Jack Frost.  In Russia, he is called the Frost King or Father Frost.  Another name he is known by is Old Man Winter because his job, like all Snow Faeries, is bring Winter to the land and sometimes death to those who travel the winter wonderland.  By whatever name he is known by, he seems to be a solitary male even though there is also a Snow Queen.  She is known from Scandinavia to Japan as the bringer of Winter; she has her own frosty kingdom with a large white castle and rules the season of Winter.  It has been surmised that the Snow Queen may have descended from the Crone aspect of the Goddess and Pagans will give her offerings of libations to her for her protection.  The Snow Queen has no children, but lore tells of her searching out an unwanted human child that she could raise as her own.

Like Jack Frost and the Snow Queen, the vocation of the Faeries of Winter is to bring and keep Winter to the land in which they reside.  Snow Faeries will cover the fields with sparkling frost, encourage snowfall, produce icicles on your rooftop and paint the windows with frost.  Snow Faeries enjoy their work so much that it saddens them to see it all melt away.  Even though they know that Spring must come, Snow Faeries will often cause late snow flurries to cover early Spring flowers.

Because Snow Faeries do not possess a physical body as we humans do, they do not get cold.  Many Faeries, who are linked to flowers and other plant life, will retreat deeper into the Land of the Fay during the Winter season, but it is not due to the declining temperature.  It is simply because it is not their preferred environment or time of the year.

THE SPELL

The purpose of this spell is to request the protection from the Winter Faeries while you travel on the icy roads in the Winter.

You will need one winter-themed item to hang form your rearview mirror or place inside your glove box or center console.  This could be an icicle, a snowflake or a frosty-looking Faery.  You will be asking for the blessing from the Winter Faeries, then charging the item followed by placing it in your vehicle.  You will also need a bowl of water, or better yet, a bowl of ice cubes or snow.  Inside this will be a candle (pick a “wintry” color such as white, silver or blue); the easiest to use would be either a taper or a pillar (something that won’t be extinguished by the water/ice/snow).  Finally, you will need some type of offering; either a traditional libation or even birdseed that can be put outside afterwards.

If you wish, you can cover your altar in Faery Dust (glitter), twinkling lights, crystals, snowflakes and icicles.

1- Ground and Center to start, and if you wish, feel free to meditate.

2- Either create Sacred Space or cast a Magic Circle in the style of your Tradition.

3- Begin your spell with the evocation of the Winter Faeries and the Snow Queen:

“I call to the Frost Faeries and the Snow Queen.

Please travel from your wintry scene;

Your snowy kingdom in the Land of Fay,

Please join me in my working today.”

4- Place the bowl of water/ice/snow (with the candle resting inside) on the altar.  Light the candle and say:

“I’ve asked your presence here tonight,

And called you by this sacred light,

To lend your magic for my protection,

While I travel this wintry season.”

5- Pick up the item that you will charge with protective energy and hold it up while saying:

“Tonight we charge this talisman,

Melding our energies to create this charm.

I ask that you do everything you can,

To keep me safe and free from harm;

As I travel the snowy lanes,

Keep my journeys accident-free,

Ensure that I have no trials or pain,

As my will, so mote it be.”

Either silently or aloud, call forth the good will and protective energy form the Snow Queen just as Pagans have done in the past.  In your own words, explain to her your need to get through the Winter.  Ask that she fills the item with protective energy so that no matter where you travel, you will be safe and free from harm.  If you feel like raising energy through drumming, chanting, singing or dancing, do so now.  When you feel that your goal has been accomplished, say:

“For the good of all and with harm to none,

So say I, so shall it be done!”

6- To show your appreciation and gratitude, place your offering on the altar and say:

“To the Winter Faeries and their reigning Queen,

I give to you this offering;

My gratitude for the magic we wove,

Before you return to your snowy grove.”

7- If possible, let the candle burn out, but never leave a lit candle unattended!  Place the talisman in your vehicle and know that the Snow Queen is with you throughout this season.

8- It is time to take care of the offering.  If it is edible, either place your offering outside (if it is for the outdoor animals) or leave it on the altar overnight so that the Snow Queen and her Winter Faeries can take in the essence.  If it is something sparkly, either place it on your Faery shrine/altar (if you have one) or place it outside for the Faeries to enjoy.

Tags: faery, protection, winter

• Spells & Rituals

Cassandra Sagram April, 2011

Faeries

Tinkerbell was one. Thumbelina was rumored to be one. Amy Brown is famous for her drawings and art of them. Little girls love them. The Grimm Brothers wrote tales about them…well not exactly about them but tales within their realm. What or who are they? They’re fairies. More specifically…the fae or fair folk. Fairy is derivative of an old Middle English word, faierie also spelled fayerye, feirie, and feirie, which in itself is pulled from the the Old French language; faerie or in Modern French féerie. Originally this word meant, not the people but the land, activity, or characteristic of legendary people of folklore and romance. People like Hercules, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Cassandra from Greek mythology, the Native American Thunderbirds….all of these people or beings would have at one point been considered fairies because their relam is that of folklore or magic. It’s a little interesting to note that the actual word goes all the way back to the Latin word fata.. which meant Fate. Literally when one spoke of the fae folk or fairies, they were speaking of what the three Fates, Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis had in mind. In short..to speak of the fae folk was the speak of chance and fate. Over time…the word fairy came to mean little people. Specifically…little mischievous, prank playing , enticing, magical little folks. Some were or are helpful. Some loathe mortals and want to do nothing but put an end to them. Beings like the Irish leprechaun, Scottish banshee, pixies, nixies, water sprites, everything and anything  magical or unusual were considered fairy or fae. Some legends separate the fae folk into two categories. Good fae folk….helpful beings kind of like Tinkerbell, the Lady of the Lake, the fairy god mothers from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty…beings like these often protected forests, knew how to protect mortals, were kind to mortals and would help if asked politely. Not so nice fae folk like kelpies, nixies, in some cases brownies…all these fae folk sought out to destroy mortals. Kelpies…they would often take the form of a beautiful horse in the water. The second somebody touched it…they became stuck to the Kelpie. The Kelpie would then drag the poor soul out into the water and drown them. Sometimes it was to feed…most often it was simply because they could.  Brownies were very rarely mean….or good. Mostly brownies were the helpful sort of fairy. They were the type that would clean your house at night, straighten things up, put an item thought to belong lost in the right spot for you to find. Pixies…pixies could go either way. Sometimes they were helpful, sometimes they used their beauty to lure men and women into traps. If they were in an especially mean mood..they would seduce their choosen victim to death. All in all…to play in the realm of fairies is to play with chance and fate. You may make it back to the mortal realm…or you may be stuck in the fairie’s realm forever. If you do make it back to the mortal realm..you may or may not be considered  a friend…able to return at will. For the most part…as with all magical creatures, the fae folk are apt to leave you alone… unless you wander into their realm….then they mess with you a little bit. How much depends on your reaction. If you’re polite..you have a better chance of being left alone. If you’re mean…well you’ll be dealt with accordingly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy

Tags: faery, fairy, myths

• Articles

Morgana Moonfire November, 2010

When in doubt, blame the Tokoloshe!

Although some consider this fairy to be the African equivalent of the European brownie, many of its characteristics rather seem to portray it as a creature which could have walked straight out of a horror movie.

The Tokoloshe has acquired quite a lot of fame in Africa as most people living there will be familiar with it, especially in Southern Africa. “Tokoloshe” is believed to be derived from the Xhosa word “uthikoloshe”, but it is used by all peoples. According to one source, the name “Tikolosj” means “bag carrier” in Zulu and refers to the huge genitals of the Tokoloshe. It may also be called a Hili, Uhlakanyana or Gilikango.

Traditional magic and superstition have always constituted an important part of Southern African folklore and culture, in which the Tokoloshe appears most frequently. Belief in the Tokoloshe is widespread and whenever something goes wrong, it is not uncommon to blame this creature. We may regard the Tokoloshe as an imaginary creature from the rich and vivid African folklore, or as a creature which may have been invented to scare children; but in Africa every year serious crimes including murder are reported to have been committed by Tokoloshe. Many people in Africa are still reluctant to discuss the Tokoloshe as they believe that even using its name will call him to you and cause trouble.

Due to a lack of clarity as to which creature is exactly indicated with the word Tokoloshe, various fairies in Bantu folklore have come to be identified as Tokoloshe. Originally the Tokoloshe was a water sprite. The name is also often used for a domestic spirit in a witch’s or warlock’s household. This kind of Tokoloshe bears much more resemblance to the European brownie as it is usually described as a brown, hairy dwarf. However, the creature which is most frequently thought of when one hears the name “Tokoloshe” is a fearsome dwarf zombie, created out of a corpse in order to harm and torment the person that has been causing one distress or hardship.

This article will focus on the last type of Tokoloshe. References to this type of creature date back to before 1700. It is an evil or mischievous creature, half man half spirit, called into being by a witch doctor: a sangoma or n’anga. In order to create a Tokoloshe, the eyes and tongue from a fresh full-sized corpse should be removed, as well as the brain, which would cause their bodies to shrink to the size of a child and which would give them their pale, sickly and zombie-like appearance. The Tokoloshe would then be brought to life by a magical powder that is blown into their nostrils by the witch doctor. However, the spirits do not give life freely and as such they require the death of a relative within the year. For if you are prepared to create an unnatural life, you must also be prepared to destroy a natural one.

The Tokoloshe can only be seen by the intended victim unless it becomes completely invisible by swallowing a pebble. It may then go about different ways to terrorize the victim, ranging from physical attacks, illness and death to random appearances, the destruction of personal belongings and the home, all of which make the victim seem completely deranged to their surroundings as no-one else can see the Tokoloshe. The victim’s nightmare would be real only to them. The only way to get rid of a Tokoloshe is to call in the help of a witch doctor who would then trap, paralyze and catch the Tokoloshe with “muti”, a magical substance made from the body of a dead Tokoloshe. It will then become visible, allowing it to be killed.

The Tokoloshe can be described as follows: it is approximately 3.5 foot in height and is always male with genitals so large that it carries its penis slung over its shoulder. Some descriptions also claim that it has two animal horns protruding from its head. It appears as an ugly creature to men but may cast a spell to make itself handsome to women. It likes to wrap itself in hairy fur or dresses in the traditional way similar to the attire worn by witch doctors. According to some sources, the Tokoloshe has a single buttock. Regarding its oversized genitals, it is said that no man can beat the Tokoloshe when it comes to sexual skills. Some accounts of the Tokoloshe even include its function as a demon lover, having to satisfy the witch that controls it in bed.

It is a common belief among white people in South Africa that the black maids raise their beds on bricks in order to protect them from the Tokoloshe. The current joke in South Africa is about Skulk Burger, a great rugby player in the national team. It is said that Skulk Burger is so mean that the Tokoloshe sleep on raised beds. This joke proves just how current the Tokoloshe still is in South Africa.

Sources

http://www.mythical-creatures-and-beasts.com/tokoloshe.html

http://www.tokoloshe.tk/

http://www.vanhunks.com/tokoloshe1.html

http://www.lyfe.freeserve.co.uk/tokolosheadd.htm

http://www.safarinewsreel.com/blog/?p=227

http://www.aquiziam.com/tokkeloshe.html

http://www.gotravel24.com/theme/feature-focus/beware-tokoloshe

Tags: faery, fairy, Tokoloshe

• Articles

Administrator September, 2010

Faery Oils

Dryad Oil

musk (main  scent)
oakmoss (minor scent)
civet (trace)
vanilla (trace)
An  excellent blend for pursuing the arts of natural magick, this
preparation was  specially designed for contacting the elemental spirits of the
earth.

Faerie  Enchantment Oil

10 drops rose
5 drops thyme
1 drop evening primrose  oil

Faerie Fire Oil

(Useful  in contacting Faeries connected with the Fire element: Will o'
the wisps, Flame  Dancers, etc.)

1/4 oz. almond oil
12 drops peach oil
5 drops ylang  ylang
4 drops new-mown hay oil
4 drops dark musk
2 drops chamomile
2  drops poppy oil
2 drops dragons blood oil
chamomile  flowers
oatstraw
peridot
garnet

Gnome's Cap Oil

(useful in  contacting Faeries connected with the Earth element:
Gnomes,
Dwarfs,  etc.)

1/4 oz. almond oil
10 drops cypress e.o.
5 drops lilac  oil
25 drops Siberian fir oil
10 drops dark musk oil
2 drops narcissus  oil
cedarwood
fir needles
tiger's eye

Gossamer Wings  Oil

(useful for contacting Faeries connected with the Air element:  Sylphs,
Elves, etc.)

1/4 oz. almond oil
12 drops violet oil
20  drops lavender oil
10 drops lemon oil
5 drops cajeput oil
lavender  buds
clear quartz

Siren Song Oil

(useful in contacting Faeries  connected with the Water element:
Undines,
Naiads, Sirens, etc.)

1/4 oz.  almond oil
4 drops lavender
15 drops camphor oil
3 drops lemon
3  drops primrose oil
3 drops rose geranium
geranium petals
rose  buds
iolite
amethyst

Tags: fae, faery, fairy

• Articles

Kathryn Cranston August, 2010

Nixies

Nixies are shape-changing fresh water spirits originating in Germanic myths and legends.  The term nixie (or neck) is English in origin, while nix, nyx and nixe are the German equivalents.  Nixies usually shape shift into human form, both male and female, but some can change into dragons (wyrms), horses, fish, or snakes.  Nixies can be benevolent, malicious or merely harmless.

English versions of the nixie include:

• The Knucker, a dragon-like “water monster” that lived in a pool near the village of Lyminster and was known to kill both livestock and people;
• Jenny Greenteeth, a green-skinned, sharp-toothed, long-haired river hag that pulls in and drowns children and the elderly;
• Peg Powler, another green-skinned, sharp-toothed, long-haired hag from the River Tees who enjoys the same pursuits as Jenny Greenteeth, albeit with a narrower range of activity;
• The grindylow (which may have originated from Grendel of Beowolf fame), who also is partial to pulling in and drowning children with his long, sinewy arms;
• A type of mischievous bogeyman known as a Shellycoat, which wears a rattling coat of shells and likes to mislead wanderers who happen upon its particular river or stream; and
• The brag, a shape shifting water spirit in the form of a horse or donkey that tricks unwary travelers into riding on its back, only to throw them off into the nearest pond of water while running off laughing madly.

Scandinavian versions include:

• Male water spirits who play enchanted songs on the violin, luring women and children, and sometimes men, to drown in lakes or streams.  Known as näck, nøkk, nøkken, strömkarl, Grim or FosseGrim, these entities were not intentionally malevolent.  Usually portrayed as beautiful young men very scantily clad and lonely, their heartbreaking music causes humans to fall in love with him and become as unaware of their surroundings as is the FosseGrim himself, leading to unlooked-for fatalities.
• The brook horse (bäckahästen or bækhesten) is a beautiful, bright white horse that appears near rivers in foggy weather.  Like the Scottish kelpie, once a person climbed upon its back they would be unable to dismount and the brook horse would plunge into the river, instantly drowning the rider.

German versions include:

• River mermaids (nixe) that are similar to salt water mermaids in that they are beautiful women with the tail of a fish, but can also assume human shape; river mermen (nix) can assume many different shapes, including that of a human, fish, and snake.  These water spirits are particularly fond of music, song and dancing, and use these talents to lure humans.  Some stories of nixes are malicious, but some show them as friendly and harmless.

  The two most well-known types of German nixe are:

  • Rhinemaidens:

    The most famously known reference to the Rhinemaidens appears in Richard Wagner’s opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.  Three water nymphs (Rheintöchter or “Rhine daughters”) appear in this epic, but of all the characters in the Ring cycle, they are the only ones who did not originate in the Old Norse Eddas; instead, they most likely have their origin in the German Nibelungenlied, which contains stories about nixies.

    In one part of the Nibelungenlied narrative, the Burgundian warrior, Hagen, and Gunther, the semi-legendary king of Burgundy, encounter three “wise women,” afterwards described as water-sprites, bathing in the waters of the Danube.  Hagen steals their clothes and extracts a false promise from one that the two men will find honor and glory when they enter Etzel’s (aka Attila the Hun) kingdom.  Upon return of their clothes, another of the sprites tells Hagen that her sister has lied; if they go to Etzel’s land, they will die there.

    The German legend of Lorelei may also have figured in the creation of the Rhinemaidens (more about her later).  Further possible sources lie in Greek mythology and literature.  Similarities exist between the maiden guardians in the Hesperides myth and the Rhinemaidens, in which three females guard a highly desired golden treasure that is stolen in the telling of each tale.

  • Lorelei:

    This is by far my favorite nixie of all time.

    “Loreley” is a common, alternate spelling for this fey creature.  Like the Rhinemaidens, whose form came into being over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874, during which Wagner wrote his epic cycle of operas, The Ring of the Nibelung, the Lorelei is also a recent addition to nixie lore, but is no less fascinating for it.

    There are many legends surrounding the “birth” of the Lorelei and just as many ballads about her.  One such ballad says she was so lovely a maiden that men had but only to look into her eyes to be smitten and was thus taken for a sorceress.  Claiming her one true love had abandoned her, she was committed to a nunnery and as she travelled to the convent along a narrow path above the Rhine, she espied a fisherman far below.  Crying that he was her long-lost love, she leapt into the water, never to be seen again in mortal form.

    Some say the Lorelei is the queen of the waters who’s voice “propagated the profound music of the universal soul” (Dubois, p.118), while others say she sits on the cliffs above the River Rhine, combing her hair and singing sailors to their deaths on the rocks below (McCoy, p.266).

    The name Lorelei is derived from two words from an ancient Rhine dialect: lureln, meaning murmuring or lurking, and ley, meaning rock.  There is, in fact, a 435-foot tall rock on the Rhine River called the Lorelei that is located in a particularly hazardous junction of treacherous and swift currents where many fishermen and sailors have drowned.

    She was immortalized by Heinrich Heine in 1831 in his poem Die Lorelei, which proved to be so popular during the Nazi regime they did not ban it for its Jewish authorship.  Sylvia Plath’s poem Lorelei honored her in 1956.  Ballads continue to be written and sung about this elusive water spirit, my personal favorite of which was recorded by Blackmore’s Night and released in 2003 on their CD, Ghost of a Rose:

Loreley

Merrily we sailed along
Though the waves were plenty strong
Down the twisting river Rhine
Following a song…

Oh, the song of Loreley
Charms the moon right from the sky…
She will get inside your mind, loveley Loreley…
When she cries “Be with me until the end of time”
You know you will ever be with your Loreley…

Bibliography and Works Cited/Recommended Reading:

• Blackmore’s Night, Ghost of a Rose, Hunter, 2003
• Briggs, Katharine, An Encyclopedia of Faeries, Pantheon , 1976
• Cooke, Deryck, I Saw The World End, Oxford University Press, 1979
• “Dragons & Serpents in Sussex,” http://www.sussexarch.org.uk/saaf/dragon.html
• Dubois, Pierre, The Great Encyclopedia of Faeries, Simon & Schuster, English Translation 1999
• Franklin, Anna, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies, Paper Tiger, 2002
• Grimm, Jacob, Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology (1888), online at http://www.northvegr.org/
• Harland, John and Wilkinson, T.T., Lancashire Folk-lore Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs, BiblioLife, Nov 2009
• Moorey, Teresa, The Fairy Bible, Sterling Publishing Co., 2008
• “Mythical Creatures and Beings,” http://www.windlegends.org/mythical.htm
• O’Donnell, Elliott, Ghosts, Helpful and Harmful, Kessinger Publishing, Aug 2003
• Silver, Carol G., Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oct 2000

Tags: faery, fairy

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Kathryn Cranston July, 2010

Tags: faery, fairy, Poetry

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Kathryn Cranston June, 2010

Tags: faery, fairy, Festival, midsummer, sabbat

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Kathryn Cranston March, 2010

Other Kin:  The Banshee

The banshee, from the Irish bean sídhe meaning “faerie woman” or “woman of the faerie mounds,” is a troublesome being when it comes to classification.  Although it would seem the banshee should clearly be classified as a faerie based on the meaning of the name alone, it isn’t that simple, although the banshee is clearly of the same “Other World” to which the faeries belong.

The origin of the banshee may be the Morrigan herself, a triple Goddess and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.  Banshees have been called a “Badbh,” the death and battle aspect of the Morrigan, and legends say if a warrior heard the Morrigan’s song, he was destined to die in battle.  The Morrigan was also said to wash the entrails of those about to die in a stream and to choose only the loveliest maidens to become banshees.

When the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated in battle by the Milesians, they agreed to retreat and dwell underground in the sídhe, the earthen burial mounds found throughout the Irish landscape.  They became the aes sídhe, a powerful, supernatural race comparable to the faeries or elves.  Today we use the word sídhe to refer to both the mounds and the people of the mounds.  However, the word correctly refers specifically to “the palaces, courts, halls or residences” only.  Thus does the classification of the banshee as a faerie become problematic if the meaning of bean sídhe is changed to be simply “woman of the mounds” and if the women of the mounds are comparable to the faeries, but are not actually faeries.

It is tradition in an Irish or Scottish village for a woman to sing a lament at the funeral of someone who has died. The keening of these women is said to be a combination of a wild goose’s screech, a wolf’s howl and the cry of an abandoned child, mimicking the banshee’s wail.  Legend says a “faerie” woman will sing this lament for Irish and Scottish families of pure Milesian descent, or only for the O’Grady, O’Neill, O’Brien, O’Connor, and Kavanagh families, or for families gifted with song and music.  The family may know the name of their banshee and the banshee may even follow the family overseas, despite the prohibition that the banshee cannot cross running water (a prohibition shared by many faerie entities).  Some families, however, believe their banshee is the spirit of a dead friend or family member, often a virgin, sometimes a murder victim, usually someone who died young.

The banshee may appear in various forms, including:

• An old woman dressed in green with a grey cloak
• A deathly pale woman dressed in white with long, wild red hair
• A beautiful woman, veiled in white with long white hair
• A shimmery, silvery woman with long, beautifully abundant silver-grey hair
• A headless woman, naked from the waist up
• A tall white veil in the shape of a woman with long grey hair

One visual aspect these forms share (except for the headless woman, of course) is eyes fiery red from weeping.  The banshee may appear crouched beneath trees near the house, flying past the dying person’s window, or while combing her long hair.  She may appear with the cóiste bodhar, the faeries’ hearse, an immense black coach with a coffin in it.  She may not appear at all, only be heard.

Hollywood has spread the misconception that the banshee’s voice causes death; far from it.  The banshee wails when a person is about to die or has died.  When several keen together, it foretells the death of someone very great or holy.  The banshee is actually a comfort to the family rather than an omen of ill; the banshee signals the passing of the soul and often acts as a personal escort.  This concept is illustrated in the tale, “Banshee Comes for Dying Man,” collected by Eddie Lenihan, a master Irish folklorist.  The latch on the back door lifts and the door opens of its own accord three times while a woman (banshee) cries in the back yard and the old man of the house is dying upstairs.  When they stop trying to close the door, the old man dies and the crying fades off, up the hill, leading his spirit into the Other World.

Spirit or faerie?  The banshee seems to straddle the line of being partly both.  And like any being of the Other World, her nature is dual.  Let to go about her business, she is benign and even helpful, a part of the cycle of life and death.  Interrupt her, though, and pay the penalty, as did one cheeky young man who grabbed the shoulder of “The Barefield Banshee” while she was combing her hair; she “hit him a slap across his face and set him flying.”  As told to Lenihan, “When they healed up the four scars were there, the mark o’ the four fingers…stayed with him for as long as he lived.  That boy went strange after.”

Bibliography and Works Cited/Recommended Reading:

Briggs, Katharine, An Encyclopedia of Faeries, Pantheon , 1976

Dubois, Pierre, The Great Encyclopedia of Faeries, Simon & Schuster, English Translation 1999

Franklin, Anna, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies, Paper Tiger, 2002

Illes, Judika, Encyclopedia of Spirits, Harper One, 2009

Lenihan, Eddie, Meeting the Other Crowd:  The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland, Penguin Putnam, 2003

Moorey, Teresa, The Fairy Bible, Sterling Publishing Co., 2008

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aos_s%C3%AD

Tags: banshee, faery, fairy

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Kathryn Cranston February, 2010

Tags: faery, fairy, imbolc

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Kathryn Cranston December, 2009

Tags: faery, fairy

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