Faeries & Elementals for Beginners: Learn About & Communicate With Nature Spirits (8 page)

nicate with human miners, knockers can be either a friend

or a dangerous enemy depending on how respectfully they

are treated. However, if they are befriended, knockers will lead miners to veins of valuable minerals as well as knock frantically to warn of an impending disaster.

If you should enter a mine in which knockers may

dwell, doff your hat to them before entering and make sure to bring food and drink to offer. Never swear or whistle in a mine with knockers, as they hate the sounds of either. If you ever hear insistent and fast knocking, leave the mine

and never return, or you may be buried alive or killed by

poisonous gases.

Korreds/Kores/Korrs/Pyrenees—Earth

Celtic creatures with cloven feet, small bodies, and thin

arms, korreds are hairy and have enormous heads. Their

faces sport pointed features and even spiked hair. Korreds guard standing stones. Some stone circles and dolmens

have been attributed to them as architects.

If standing stones have korreds in residence, they will

try to scare away people who are not seeking the stones for
Getting started with Faeries • 55

spiritual reasons. Korreds will appear and make hooting

noise to frighten people away. They may accept an offering of metal, since they enjoy its ability to conduct energy.

Korrigans/Corrigans—Water

Korrigans, meaning dwarves and sometimes encompassing

faeries as well, come from ancient Celtic regions of France.

Dwarves are always short and are usually not friendly to

humans. Like elves, they can do all manner of evil deeds,

from killing humans to stealing babies. At night, korrigans wear white, woolen robes, and flowers in their light-colored hair. They look exactly like people, and are not too much

shorter than a particularly short person. The only way you might be able to find out if a korrigan is impersonating a human is by asking him or her to name every day of the

week, since they always leave out one or more, or try to

change the subject to trick you.

By day, korrigans are ugly, and the men who fell in love

with them at night usually reject them. Korrigan dwarves

in particular love water, and will be attracted to play in fountains. In a myth that is perhaps related to the stories of sirens in ancient Greece, female korrigans can sing songs to make men fall in love with them. If korrigans live near you, it is best to give them a fountain or dolmen in which to play and then leave them alone. If you don’t reject a korrigan for her ugly appearance during the daytime, she may be able to become human.

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Leprechauns—Earth

Of course, leprechauns hail from Ireland, and they don’t

look like faeries at all. With dark, even grey skin and bright red noses, they wear red or green waistcoats and look

elderly, even when young. Leprechauns are shoemakers for

the faeries, and rather than wanting more gold to add to his hidden pot, a leprechaun would greatly prefer quality Irish whisky and tobacco for his pipe. You can find a leprechaun in an Irish tree hollow or in old ruined human structures

like castles.

Leprechauns are moody folk, so they can be quite unpre-

dictable. Beware a cheerful leprechaun, because in the next moment he could be drunk and irate, or even depressed and

crying. Yes, they supposedly have that pot of gold under the rainbow, but are quite wary of thieves. Leave a leprechaun an offering of pipe tobacco or a little libation of whisky to gain his friendship.

Another important tip about leprechauns is that you

shouldn’t spend all of your time searching for that mytho-

logical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They are actually quite the tricksters, and love to lead humans on a the search for hoarded treasure that either doesn’t exist or isn’t worth the chase. The pot of gold is a metaphor for the good fortune that leprechauns can bestow on people. So, don’t

plan on cashing in on some physical gold. Instead, enrich

your life through forming alliances with all people, even if they be as capricious as leprechauns, and you will find your own source of wealth.

Getting started with Faeries • 57

Leshes/Lesidhe/Leshiyes/Vodyaniyes/

Zuibotschniks—Air

Across Europe and India, leshes live in the woods and are

rarely seen. They have the basic shape of humans, but they are made up of branches and leaves, so they can only be

noticed when they move. Leshes are not very helpful to

humans except that they attempt to preserve the environ-

ment in its natural state. Unfortunately for humans, that

means that cruel pranks are played if humans in the forest are doing harm to the environment.

If you should see a leshe in the woods, you can safely

leave it alone. They are solitary faeries and do not desire companionship. Make sure that you do not litter or destroy the forest you have entered in any way. If you hear noises that seem to guide you to the road or to other people, do

not follow. Leshes can mimic any sound, and they often do

so in order to make travelers lose their way.

Lutins/Follets—Air

French shapeshifters, lutins have no known default form,

but they never take the form of humans. Lutins can be ani-

mals, mythical creatures, or even inanimate objects. When

a lutin moves from one place to another, there is a flash of light as they seem to disappear and reappear. They are not terribly helpful, and can play pranks that are quite cruel.

Lutins live in trees that are near water.

Most humans stumble across lutins when a prank is

already in progress. A lutin will change himself or herself into a gold nugget or some other item of value temporarily as a trick. Look for flashes of light that tip you off. Also, a
58 • Chapter One

lutin can’t hold a shape for long, so their pranks are never long-lived.

Mal-de-Mer—Water

French for “evil of the sea,” the mal-de-mer have not been seen directly. The effects of the mal-de-mer are mysterious lights shining on the shores of Brittany and Cornwall that can lure sailors to wreck their ships on craggy and unsafe shorelines, thinking that there is a lighthouse or a city there.

Caution should always be taken when at sea to navigate

carefully around unknown land masses. Some sightings of

the mal-de-mer lights have in later days been attributed to pirates.

Melsh Dicks and Acorn Ladies or

Churn Milk Pegs—Earth

There is a race of small English faeries in which the males are each called Melsh Dick and the females are each called Churn Milk Peg or the Acorn Lady. All of them wear tiny

versions of old peasant clothes and dine on milk, fruits,

and nuts. In fact, Pegs and Dicks love nuts so much, that

they can cast a spell on nuts in order to give indigestion to humans who eat them. They are the perfect guardians

for orchards, however, as they frighten away most thieves.

You’ll just need to offer them their preferred nuts and milk in order to harvest your fruit. Don’t fall asleep in your

orchard because, as a prank, Pegs and Dicks will sneak up

and pinch sleeping humans.

Getting started with Faeries • 59

Masseriol/Barabaos—Earth

These Italian faeries can live in either populated areas or rural locations. Those who love the city life are called bara-baos, while those who love the country are masseriol. They are always male and appear elderly, fat, and red-faced. They are always well-dressed and have a startlingly loud laugh

that sounds like a horse or a goat.

The masseriol are very friendly, and will help out with

light housework, especially if asked by a female. They love women, and might be seen as harassing the lady of the

house or beautiful daughters. They enjoy dancing and good

conversation with lovely ladies.

Menehunas—Earth

Polynesian small people dressed in native attire, menehu-

nas are tricksters who guard a fantastic treasure. They are known for their ability to grant wishes if they are captured by a human. Menehunas live near waterfalls and will hide

if called by humans, since they assume the people are after their treasures or magic.

Menehunas are not harmful if you don’t try to trap

them or steal from them. In fact, if lost in the island tropics, they may feel sorry for you. They have been known to

give food and water to travelers and even to emerge to offer guidance to lost humans.

Mermaids/Blue Men/Fish Folk/Mermen/Merpeople/

Merrows/Water Dancers—Water

The term mermaid derives from the French word for sea,

mer
. They are well known in the Near East, Europe, China,
60 • Chapter One

and India. They have the upper body of a woman and the

tail of a fish and are described as beautiful, with long flowing hair, which they love to comb. Mermen are the male

counterparts, but they are not as well known. All merfolk

love to sing, and can fall in love with humans. In Finland, mermen are known to be wise as well as handsome. They

can cure illness, lift curses, and brew potions. Mermaids are considered perilous, as they can lure with song, just like the sirens of Greek mythology. They are associated with floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drowning. But they can also bestow favors, such as riches and good fortune. The merrow of Ireland and Scotland wear a red cap, and are gentle and kind.

If the cap is captured or hidden, their tail will transform into legs and they will live on land until they find it.

Nature spirits—Earth and Air

Most faeries could be fit into the category of “nature spirits” if you consider that they all occur in nature and have a love of natural things. However, some creatures can be

described as nature spirits by their essential quality of living in only one type of natural object. Below are a few examples of nature spirits.

Jack Frost:
A living force behind freezing weather often depicted as a man covered with, or made of, ice crystals.

He is thought to be the artist who makes beautiful pat-

terns that look like ferns in the frost on windows. Jack

frost is also a trickster, pinching cheeks and noses and

sealing doors closed.

Getting started with Faeries • 61

Jack in the Green:
While Jack Frost is a frightening imp that can kill you, Jack in the Green is the green man who

represents life. He is the joy of the ancient woods, but

can be a prankster as well, especially to those who don’t

respect his wild places and animals.

Dryads:
The personified life force within trees, their name coming from the Greek word for oak,
druas
. Since the oak was considered the ruler of the forest, dryads are

the protectors of all trees. They could be considered to

be a type of nymph.

Radande:
These are Swedish faeries of the woods, one living in each tree, according to lore. They give the fruits of

the tree freely only to those who respect them.

While creatures like dryads and devas can move from

one tree to another, often choosing the largest or eldest, there’s an essential spirit of nature that dwells within each individual plant until the end of its lifespan. The Greeks called this kind of spirit a
hamadryad
, and it was often depicted as a woman with a trunk and roots instead of legs to show how they were inextricably bound to one tree. The

best way to communicate and get in touch with nature spir-

its is to just trust your own senses when in nature. Go ahead and hug a tree. Does the tree seem spooky and cold, or does it seem to lift your spirits with its own inner joy? Don’t cut down an old, strong tree that seems to have earned its own hamadryad. If you kill the tree of such a nature spirit, the hamadryad dies too.

62 • Chapter One

Nymphs—Earth and Water

Nymphs are Mediterranean faeries that are always female,

and thus represent feminine beauty and sexuality. Rather

than mating with other nymphs to reproduce, legends

say that the natural lovers of nymphs are fauns or satyrs.

Of course, in myths and legends, human men were often

seduced as well. They are usually depicted naked or wear-

ing only floating, sheer veils over their bodies. They all look mostly like extremely beautiful humans, although

some, called nereids, take the form of mermaids Like devas, nymphs have specific purposes and domains. Dryads

may be classified as a type of nymph that only looks after trees and forests. Naiads are freshwater nymphs, oceanids

and nereids are sea nymphs, while oreads are nymphs of

the mountains. Even dryads are often found near a water

source.

Naiads are very useful in areas that are prone to

drought, because they make sure that natural pools,

springs, and stream beds don’t dry up. They cannot survive without their water source. So, even if a pond once existed in a place, there will be no naiads left if the pond no longer exists. When humans drain their water sources, naiads die.

Oreads don’t just make the mountains look pretty. They

are also the followers of Aphrodite, and thus bring love,

romance and passion to high peaks and low valleys.

All nymphs are naturally shy and don’t usually allow

themselves to be seen. However, they are more likely to

respond to a human male than a female.

Getting started with Faeries • 63

Ogres—Air

There are ogres in mythology all over the world. Ogres are usually about the same size as a human, but covered with

hair and various deformities of the face and limbs. Ogres