Wherein the Danger Lies

Modern fairies (by any names) are viewed in vastly different ways by different people and groups of people. To some, fairies are intrinsically dangerous and must always be avoided. To others, fairies are intrinsically good and only ever do helpful things. My own approach is very much a middle road - I don't believe that fairies are entirely any one thing or that their motives can easily be understood in most situations. They are, in short, their own people with culture and etiquette and agency and agendas. They may help or they may harm based on their own reasoning in a situation and that rarely lines up with human concepts.

I am a person who is rather deeply involved with the Shining Ones and yet I'm also someone who regularly warns other people not to jump in to interacting with these beings. Why? Because in my own experience too many people love the idea of fairies without grasping the reality of fairies. They see the beauty and the magic -the enchantment - of these beings but don't see them as actual independent life forms. And in many cases they envision themselves like the main character of a novel, clearly playing a central and vital role that insulates them from harm or even real consequences.
And none of that is good.
We can't, as people who claim to believe in these beings and seek to connect to them, treat them this way. You either believe they are real or you don't. And if you do believe they are real then you need to accept that they exist outside humanity, however overlapping they may be at times, and that they deserve to be respected as much as any living thing does. You also have to accept that they aren't just another version of humans, but a distinct thing of their own (yes even the ones who were human once).

Certainly there are a wide range of types of beings that fall under the general label of 'fairy' in English and certainly some of those beings are friendlier and more forgiving than others, some are even along the lines of the post-Victorian ideas of fairies as tiny, helpful, disembodied, et cetera. But that's only some. And while I do know people who only interact with those safer beings and have only had positive experiences I also know others who have expected the tiny helpful fairies and gotten bitten instead (in some cases literally).

They exist outside of humanity and follow different rules and we need to acknowledge that in seeking to understand them.

I have experienced enormous blessings from the Good Folk and have also been harmed by them. The first is usually coming from a specific group I'm aligned with and owe fealty to, while the second is usually (not always) coming from outside that group. Because even though I have a close connection to one group of the Gentry it doesn't mean I have carte blanche with every Otherworldly being. In fact my allegiance to one group puts me at odds with others who are against that group, because just like humans the Good Folk have their own friends and rivals, allies and enemies - and as a human when you step into that you bear the consequences of involvement and you are, always, inherently, the weakest link for them and the most expendable.
For one fairly tame example, when I was in Iceland I generally had good experiences and interactions with the local spirit beings. But when we went to Dimmuborgir, the home of Grýla and the Yule Lads, it was quickly made clear that I was not welcome there. I respected that and didn't push, because I understood that it was an issue of wider connections and animosity between the Other. Things like that happen sometimes and this is when we most need to remember that we aren't the main character in a novel, because consequences of offending some beings are very, very tangible. 

This is a story I heard once.
A man in Ireland, about 100 years ago, was walking home when he met with a group of the Daoine Maithe. They told him they were going to play a game against a rival group of Gentry and needed a referee. The game could only be played with a human present and with a human as the impartial arbiter of the rules. He agreed and went along with them to the field the game was to be played at.
The group he'd met first won, fairly, but the rival group swore they'd have their revenge on the human man for his part in their loss. Meanwhile the first group promised him luck and fortune, and took him back home celebrating.
Three years went by with the man living a good life.
And then one night when the fairies' hurling match was far from the man's mind and he was travelling the road a fairy man of the rival group passed him and gave him the fairy stroke. He fell in the road and never rose in his right mind again.
Humans forget. The Othercrowd do not. And being involved with them is both a blessing and a target on your back in these situations. 

And since the theme of this blog tends to be me sharing messages from my Other People, I suppose I 'll wrap up with this* from my main guide/cara sí: "Are we dangerous? Of course we are. Anything is if provoked to it; even mice will bite to defend themselves, thorns will draw blood, and bees will sting. Are they dangerous? Do you fear them, or do you understand that it is your action which earns the bite or prick or sting? Actions earn responses and it is the action that begins it that should be examined.
Asking if we are dangerous is the wrong question. What should be asked is why would we be dangerous? Because the real answer lies there."




*it is a fairly brief response because she seemed to find the question ridiculous, or perhaps just really obvious.