Being in Service to the Other

 

written in 2022; revised 2026

 

Recently I've seen a lot of discussion about what exactly pagan priesthood is and should be, which is a good thing. This is a topic that needs to be discussed more often and more thoroughly in a community where many people clamour for the title but fewer are perhaps willing or equipped to do the actual work. John Beckett has written about pagan priesthood in several blogs including 'Preparing for Pagan Priesthood' and 'The Limits of Accessibility for Pagan Clergy' and Lora O'Brien has an entire book on the subject: 'A Practical Guide to Pagan Priesthood'. These are all vital aspects of the ongoing conversation and I sincerely hope that they move the wider understanding of modern pagan clergy forward.

 

From my own perspective, admittedly as someone raised a bit feral and without structured religion, it has often seemed to me that Pagan priesthood today is heavily modelled after Christian clergy. There is an ingrained idea that a single person can or does serve all roles - ritualist, teacher, counsellor, mediator between humans and spirits, magician, organizer. I don't often see the idea of pagan priesthood specializing, or the acknowledgement that a single person may not be equipped to handle all aspects of such service. There's also a pervasive sense that the clergy person may be serving the Gods or spirits but is primarily serving the human community and in place to aid that human community and to help it grow and flourish in its spirituality.

 

I am not part of that kind of priesthood, although do consider myself clergy.

 

I can obviously only speak for myself here so I'm not trying to make any blanket statements for everyone who may feel they are clergy serving the Other[1] and whose experiences differ from my own. Hopefully other voices will add themselves to this discussion and a fuller picture will appear of what this type of priesthood is like. For now I will at least offer my own ideas and experiences here.

 

The first thing that I would say here is that this is not a path I chose and I suspect that those who end up serving the Other don't do so because they set out to. I'm not implying that I'm special in any way - I don't think I am at all and I know other people who have similar stories - but I do think that it isn't for us to decide that we are going to do this the way we might decide to set ourselves to learn a skill or train for a job. This is a calling, something that we are compelled to do. In point of fact while I can certainly look back all the way to my childhood and see a trail of interaction that logically led me to where I am now up until 2016 I was quite happily focusing on other things; my connection to the Otherworld was only a part of who I was, not the sum total of my identity. That didn't change because I decided it was going to but because They intervened, and I think that's how it tends to go. This is not a choice we make but one we can only fight against or consent to.

 

Whereas those who are priests/priestesses for the human community are logically focused on serving the human community the focus for those who are clergy to the Other is unrelated to the human community except when and where that human community must be dealt with for the sake of the Other. Let me give an example. Human focused clergy work up rituals whose ultimate purpose includes honouring and connecting to the Gods but which is also meant in large part to offer a meaningful spiritual experience for the human participants which facilitates their spiritual growth or feeling of connection. How much or how little this is the focus will vary, but I have yet to personally see a pagan ritual in this format whose purpose isn't at least in part the experience of the human participants. In contrast when I engage in ritual for or with my spirits it's not about me, it's about them and while I may get a feeling of increased connection out of it that isn't the point - and quite frankly I don't think they care whether I feel moved or not as long as they get what they need from it. I have had experiences when I didn't remember to offer something or do something and they simply took it because they considered it their due, which illustrates my wider point.

 

Another thing I would note based on my experiences is that when the Other puts a person into a position of teaching it’s for their own benefit not to better humanity. The idea isn't that you are acting to help humans evolve into better humans or achieve some higher consciousness but to help Themselves regain some of their lost respect and position. And those two goals are antithetical. I'm sorry if people disagree with me there, but it's true - in our current hubris-rich, human-centred culture we can't encourage a focus on the importance of humans and act like the Other is hyper focused on helping us be better and also return to a place where the Other was given an atavistic respect and even fear. And trust me some of Them do want to be feared again.

 

This service is also not predicated on helping or counselling the human community in relation to the Other. Now it is true that people do contact me for guidance about problems relating to the Good Neighbours, but in this context I am not advocating for or trying to assist the humans - I'm on the side of the Other and trying to act as their intermediary in the situation. To use an analogy I'm a bit like a wildlife rehabber who comes in to deal with situations where a wild animal and humans have caused each other problems; the rehabber is trying to get the best outcome for the animal and secondarily the humans. That's basically me in these situations with the Othercrowd. I am not a pastoral counsellor or spiritual therapist, I'm an Otherworldly troubleshooter.

 

Being clergy to the Other is also not in any way easy. My particular focus is the Daoine Uaisle (Gentry) and they are demanding, uncompromising, and unrelenting. This isn't hyperbole. Not to downplay the difficulties that come with serving Gods as clergy because I know that isn't easy either, but in my own experience there is something that is more relatablely human in the Gods, or in how they choose to interact with us anyway, that is absent in the Other. Macha might be sympathetic to my needs as a new mother for sleep and even Odin could be negotiated with but the Good People have only their own agenda to worry about. How their clergy manages to enact that agenda in the human world is the priest or priestess’s problem, not theirs. They can also be unremitting in their expectations and their requirements - I have things I'm expected to do, no matter what, and I have prohibitions that I must not violate, no matter what[2]. I also have layers of things I should not do that are less dire in their consequences, but still present. This service is not easy, and it isn't something to be entered into lightly. It has a heavy cost and it only grows heavier the deeper one goes.

 

Ultimately serving the Other means focusing on the Other and enacting their will, in some sense. The things that make pagan clergy useful to the human community may or may not apply to clergy for the Other but in my experience for the most part they don't overlap as much as I might have expected. To use another wildlife based analogy I might say that pagan clergy in general are like park rangers their purpose being to aid humans in interacting with an environment and its animals safely and to take care of that place, while clergy for the Other are like those people who wander off to live off grid in the woods and see themselves as part of the environment not a visitor to it. That's a very rough analogy of course but hopefully it gets a bit of the idea across.

 

Priesthood to the Other rather than the human community is a multi-layered thing, just as priesthood to the human community is, but it is different in essential ways. Priesthood for the human community is about serving the Gods and spirits in order to maintain balance and gain their favour for the human community. Priesthood for the Other, quite frankly, isn't concerned with the human community's overall well being. In point of fact in my experience serving the Other as clergy has only the most tangential connection to the human community and instead is focused on the Other. All those things that are usually listed as so essential to pagan clergy fall by the wayside when you are centred on beings who aren't interested in humanity at large, groups of worshippers, or even individual spiritual advancement. The only comparison I can think of here[3] is the difference between parish priests and monks or nuns; both serve their God but one is community faced and the other is deity focused.

 

This is also not a path for someone who has divided focus or who isn't comfortable othering themselves more than they may already be. It is a hard thing to do and one that once you start doing you can't - as far as I know - stop. It is consuming. It's also important. The Gods and the human community have clergy and as paganism grows those numbers grow and develop, but the Other increasingly is speaking and wants to be heard - and needs more of a voice.

They are reaching out and finding those who can serve that need.

 

 

 

PART 2 My Practice

 

So having written more abstractly about what I think being clergy to the Others is like in contrast to being clergy to the human community I felt like maybe I should follow that up with a bit of a more personal take on it. A discussion of what being that sort of clergy actually means in my life.

Again this is reflective of my own personal experiences and may not apply over to other people. Nonetheless I feel like sharing it may be helpful not only to illustrate what this sort of clergy actually can be but also for other people doing this same thing.

 

I want to state at the beginning that this is not something I actually encourage people to do, although I think the Other is recruiting at this point. It is not easy or light work, and while it comes with blessings it also is a full life commitment. It changes you. It changes you physically and it changes you on deeper levels and I can't emphasize this enough. I think many people either underrate of downplay this aspect of service to Themselves when it needs to be highlighted. My life is almost unrecognizable to what it was 10 years ago in many ways and not all of those changes are things I would have chosen for myself.

Cave pulchro populo.

 

I will also state up front that the words clergy and priest are not the best fit for what I actually do - that would be echlach[4] - but they are the closest words in modern pagan parlance.

 

There's a reason that I only-half-jokingly call myself the Fae Propaganda Department. A big part of what I am tasked to do is to carry messages and to spread information. Good information. Information grounded in actual folklore and genuine living belief, as opposed to modern fiction and fancy detached from belief. This means a lot of research, a lot of paying attention and respecting the cultures - particularly Ireland - where these beliefs are rooted and still found as they have been. It means knowing when to listen to others who know more and how to evaluate what is quality information and what isn't. It means sharing native voices and raising awareness of those people in Irish (or Welsh, or Scottish, etc.,) culture that are writing and talking about the older beliefs and keeping them alive. And it also means writing about and speaking about these things myself, and speaking up in cases where the misinformation out there is egregious and really needs to be addressed. Whether I want to speak up or not. What I've found is a lot of emphasis from them on people shedding the twee ideas and returning to older beliefs, those that are more respectful and even those that include fearing them. They don't want to be viewed as inconsequential or harmless, but want people to remember their power and what true awe is.

I am also sometimes asked to share more personal things I am told, what would be termed personal gnosis. This might include sharing a recipe from a dream which they wanted shared or a method of cleansing. I actually don't like sharing my own personal gnosis especially in open formats but this is something they insist on. They want certain things brought forward and sometimes I have to do that – whether I want to or not.

 

As their clergy I have sometimes acted as an intermediary between humans who are having issues with Them, and Them. In those cases my purpose is usually to identify the problem going on and help the humans to realize what they need to do to fix it. I do know how to do things like exorcizing them from a person or place, or curing elfshot, but I see these as last resorts in extreme circumstances. My role is to serve Them and help advocate for Them, not to protect the human community in general.

 

Another aspect of my own service is to create rituals that help facilitate their presence in the human world, and to help ground them here. I believe this is in order to reclaim places and space where their influence has been eroded. Seo Helrune wrote eloquently about this in their blog 'Restoration not Re-enchantment' and I recommend giving it a thorough read. This is an issue anywhere that the Good Folk once held sway and were driven out but also can be felt in places where they may not have been initially but have moved into with the people they are connected to. I have removed iron from trees and spaces they claim or wanted to claim and I've undone energy that they were averse to, when and where I could. I've also unburdened fairy trees of rubbish in the guise of 'rags'[5] tied to them that was harming them - I can't not do this because preserving these trees which are sacred to Themselves is part of what I have to do.

 

And of course I make offerings to them. I could include that as part of my clergy service I suppose. I do make offerings as well on behalf of other humans and sometimes even to try to mitigate things done by humans. for example I once went out the site of a fire started by a carelessly tossed cigarette and did what I could to soothe the anger of the spirits there. I also will sometimes act on behalf of a group for the Othercrowd, usually for safe passage or a safe visit in a specific place.

 

None of the above are contingent upon my mood or feelings. I have had to do things whether or not I wanted to, and I have had to do them when I was sick and would really, really rather not. I realize how ominous that sounds, but here's the thing - at least when it comes to me but I suspect in general - when you agree to this particular service you are committing to doing what you are required to do. I agreed to be Their clergy and that means I agreed to do what they need done. Not if I want to or if I feel like it, but if they need it done.

 

There are prohibitions that come with this type of priesthood and they aren't negotiable. There are places I can't go and if I edge into violating that, there are real world tangible consequences. I have told the story before about the dietary restrictions so all I will mention again here is that I have had to give up two of my favourite things - coffee and chocolate - because they decided I should not have them. Why? I suspect the caffeine, which a friend suggested may interfere with connecting to them. They don't hesitate to remind me of the control they have over my body and my life, which again sounds ominous, but is a reality.  My hair isn't straight anymore, my life isn't my own anymore - if it ever really was. Free will is not a concept that the Good Folk have much respect for, and in the instances were I went against things I was asked to do pressure was applied until I relented; and by pressure I mean for example going blind for three days or suffering the worst migraine of my entire life.

 

It's also worth mentioning that They are possessive. They are possessive of their places and their trees and anything else that they claim, including people. Shortly after I was fully claimed by them my ties to the Gods I'd been dedicated to began to shift and within six months the first had fallen away; within a year everything else was either gone or changed so that they were my main focus. They had always been in my life, since childhood, but before always as part of a larger whole. After my initiation they became the whole.

 

I also want to once again emphasize that this priesthood in no way makes me special or exceptional. It's important to know your own worth and not too be too humble but I'm going to emphasize this aspect precisely because I see so many people in relation to the Othercrowd who tend to put themselves in aggrandized positions. The Good Neighbours are not impressed with humans, in my experience, and they don't play to human egos unless they are playing a game - one I discourage anyone from engaging in. The Fairy Queen that I serve and the wider group of Daoine Uaisle that I am connected to are clear they need me for certain purposes and that I do have value to Them but the Queen's nickname for me translates to 'maid servant' and the actual title she gave me is older Irish for messenger or courier[6]. While it’s true that there's lots of historic precedent for the Fairy Queens and Kings taking human lovers (yes that happens in folklore and anecdotes) this doesn't indicate that those humans were actually special - just the opposite actually it was common enough to indicate that the human probably wasn't particularly special but may have filled some interchangeable ritual or cosmological role.

 

I feel very blessed to be doing what I am doing and there are good aspects of it, but it is also very difficult. I've had experiences that people wouldn't believe if I told them, although at least I have witnesses sometimes - like that time we were travelling and I made some offerings at a fence only to have a fairy ring appear at the spot the next morning. Or the time I pushed a prohibition and went into a cemetery only to find my car wouldn't start; only when I finally acknowledged that I was edging close to breaking that prohibition and promised not to do so again did the car finally start (after I'd called the tow truck of course). Much of the time when I open up about my actual service to Them and the experiences I can share I feel like other people will think I am crazy, and perhaps that's why I have such fondness for the song Bedlam Boys. This is not the romantic, idealized service to the Fair Folk that some people describe but a gritty, painful, wonderful obligation. I wouldn't trade it for anything, despite the cost but people need to understand there is a cost.

 

 

 

 

PART 3 The Trouble With Terms

 

I began this inspired by conversations I was seeing in the wider pagan community about clergy. I felt that it would be good to add my voice into this as someone who serves a different role but one which has been identified as a 'priest/ess' and willingly took on that word and its associations. This has opened a fascinating dialogue on social media that has given me a lot of insight about how other people perceive the ideas of clergy and priesthood in contrast to my own existing ideas. This dialogue has affirmed certain things for me and also made me reassess other things.

 

In part 3 I'd like to look at some of the things I've learned about the way the ideas of clergy are viewed, how those really don't apply to me (quite frankly) and discuss the difficulty that we face in witchcraft and paganism seeking accurate terms and labels for things we do. And yes, as much as we might not want to have to deal with them, labels really are useful and even necessary in interacting with others.

 

So, confession. I wasn't raised Christian and while I studied Christianity later as an adult I don't have the best grasp on its nuances. In point of fact I wasn't raised with any formal religion but with a loose secular agnosticism. Because of this my understanding of the words 'clergy' and 'priesthood' come from a wider view of the words as they are used across world religions and the dictionary definitions; this is well enough in itself but it does lack the nuanced associations that come with understanding a word in specific contexts.

  After I shared[7] my first post about priesthood in service to the Other there were several comments made across social media where people were, from my perspective, reading in different things to what I'd said than I had intended. This came from the disconnect between my admittedly simple use of the words versus the way people who have grown up using the terms think of them. There were assumptions that I was implying an authority for myself over other human beings or that I was trying to make myself seem special. My understanding of what clergy was implied that they would only have authority of those specific people who chose to adhere to that religious tradition - a catholic priest doesn't have authority over Baptists, and an Imam wouldn't have authority over Sikhs. By my logic I didn't think anyone would assume I had any authority over other humans, which as far as I'm concerned I don't. I will advise people, I will answer people's questions, I will teach. In extreme circumstances I might intervene directly. But as I once said to some friends in the context of a Fairy Ball (riffing off the idea of a designated driver) "I am no one's designated dark court fairy". In other words I'm not responsible for other people's safety or fate in relation to the Good Folk. I have no spiritual authority over human beings and I don't want any.

I also want to clarify, since this also seemed to have caused some confusion, that my service may in part involve teaching and relaying messages but I am in no way the voice of the Other. That is impossible. No one person can speak for the Other in toto and I wouldn't trust anyone who claimed otherwise. Also while I may speak of the Other generally I am tied to a very specific group and that is where my service lies; I may have some knowledge or experience with those outside that group but my focus is specific in practice not general.

 

 I used the term clergy because it's a nice gender neutral term that seemed to loosely fit - by the dictionary definition of clergy[8] - and its one that's used in often enough in neopaganism. To say clergy or priest is something that people understand and there is an ease in that. I do create and share rituals for Themselves, and I do in some circumstances engage in group ceremonies. I was proclaimed a priestess of the aos sidhe in a ritual setting[9], which was one of the most profound moments of my life and feel obligated to acknowledge that. So there are aspects of the words that I did feel applied to me and which I associated with.

However the discussion which ensued after this conversation began highlighted an aspect of the term clergy that doesn't fit what I do at all. I'm starting to realize that the English words clergy and priest might not be adequate even though they are the default equivalents. I admit I was missing nuances with the words which many people clearly inherently associate with them. It’s fascinating to see the layers and life the terms take on even in neopaganism because of external assumptions beyond the dictionary meanings.

 

In short as I explained in part 2 there are specific ways that I serve the Other - and I am not unique in this. I know other people who do the same or similar and I firmly believe They are increasingly active in the human world and seeking people to connect to, including witches. Some of the ways that I serve them do overlap with aspects of priesthood, although perhaps not enough for me to continue using the word; I am currently debating whether I will or not. I am really grateful for the discussion that was opened up by these posts and how much it has made me think - I would much rather use these terms consciously than by default.

 

If I decide not to use clergy or priesthood what then would I call what I do? I am a witch of course but that is such a broad word as to be almost meaningless without further context applied. In specific I'm a bantúaithech but most people aren't familiar with that older Irish term - it doesn't exist in modern Irish. It does describe my witchcraft much better though with its connotations of the Good Folk and of tuathail movement. There are a few modern Irish terms that partially fit what I do but firstly I don't want to apply cultural terms to myself that were usually given by community members (not self-labelled) and also even these specific terms don't fully fit. Most are meant with the intent of a person who serves the human community by intervening and mitigating harm caused by the Other. As my friend Steve rightly pointed out, my actual purpose is "primarily to keep [humans] from annoying the Other" and he's not wrong there, although there's some additional layers as well.

 

The term for what I do in relation to the Daoine Maithe, as they told me, is echlach (modern Irish eachlach). It means a servant and also a courier or messenger. I've been hesitant to use this generally in part because I know most Americans won't understand it at all, and in part because I'm not sure I should use a modern Irish term for myself (just not wanting to seem presumptuous). There is no easy English equivalent though and there's a...shall we say...humorous or humbling double meaning built into eachlach that can't be conveyed with a single English word.

The Good Folk have a sharp sense of humour.

 

So I don't know if I should use the term echlach, or not, or bantuáithech, or try to find another term that accurately defines what I do for Themselves in context. I have yet to find any English language word that is close at all. I hesitate to use the Irish but perhaps I need to accept that Irish is the only place to find the accuracy I want. There will always be situations where priestess will be the default because people do understand it better although I think I may avoid clergy and priest now due to the nuances so many people have for the words. In the same way I default to neopaganism to define my community although that too may be more habit and comfort than accuracy.

 

As our community moves forward I think these discussions are important and we do need to work out for ourselves what words we are going to use for the varying roles we fill. This is an ongoing conversation and I am looking forward to continuing to explore these concepts and terms. I have really appreciated the feedback and diverse points of view being shared with me.

 

 

 

 

---

[1] non-human spirits under any iteration

[2] there is of course some crossover here with some Gods but I mention it so people are aware that this is a part of service to them and needs to be considered.

[3] With the understanding that I may not fully grasp these roles within a Christian context

[4] modern Irish eachlach. There are two definitions, and while it’s the messenger/attendant one that applies I'm not going to argue with the second meaning either.

[5] I mean literal rubbish here not legitimate rags. The rag tree tradition is an important cultural practice that has sadly been misunderstood and misused, particularly by tourists. The result is that the material tied to the trees is often not the biodegradable fabric it's supposed to be but plastic and man made materials that will kill the tree. Rags are also tied to trees that aren't even properly rag trees, but rather any tree that people randomly decide must be special in some way.

[6] With a humorous double entendre meaning which also acts to keep me humble

[7] On social media in 2022

[8] clergy - a person ordained to perform sacred or ceremonial functions in a religion

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRXqLDL7gLg

Fairy Folklore in Unwelcome

 Today I'd like to take a look at the fairy folklore in the 2023 horror film 'Unwelcome'. This movie differs slightly from some of the previous ones we've looked at in this series; because it is folk horror the folklore elements are more pronounced and pivotal to the wider story. This is both a benefit and a weakness of the movie, as it openly incorporates beings from fairy belief but also radically changes those beings for plot purposes, in contrast to other films which are inspired by folk belief but don't claim to share those beliefs, only to springboard off of them. 

As with previous discussions we'll approach this bullet point style and talk about what we find in the movie versus what we'd expect in folklore. 
Spoilers ahead!

-This is going to be a more thorough summary than I usually offer, as the folklore is so layered into the entire plot- 
***Massive spoilers ahead***
Plot summary: The movie opens with an old woman collapsed on the ground outside near a stone wall with a short door. Another woman stands by and watches as an ambulance tends the first woman, her gaze lingering ominously on the wall and door.
The film then cuts to Maya and Jamie, a young couple living in London. Maya finds out she's pregnant and Jamie goes out to the shop to buy some alcohol free prosecco to celebrate but crosses paths with a group of men hanging out on the street who start harassing him; there is a verbal altercation between Jamie and the men then he goes back to their apartment. Maya is in the bathroom when Jamie comes back, quickly followed by the group who begin assaulting him before dragging her out and attacking her as well. She manages to grab a knife and tries to hold off the men during which the leader of the group taunts her for being unwilling to actually hurt anybody. She was able to call the police before being found and the couple are quickly rescued but are clearly traumatized. Months later, with Maya heavily pregnant, they arrive at a house in Ireland which they have inherited from Jamie's aunt Meave, the woman who was shown collapsed at the start. The house is in the middle of nowhere, with only a small town nearby. Niamh, the other woman from the opening scene, greets them and reminiscences about Meave briefly with Jamie who had spent his summers as a child at the house. Later she walks them back through their garden to the wall with the door, and explains that Maeve had a pact with a group of fairy beings who she calls both Fir Darrig and Red Caps, and explains that a piece of raw liver needs to be left at the wall every day for them. She offers to do it herself but Maya refuses, not wanting to have a stranger wandering in their yard. Niamh makes Maya promise to leave this offering every day, but Maya forgets.
The couple try to find a contractor to fix their roof but can't find anyone available, then stumble across the Whelan family who take the job. Later at the pub, where Niamh works, when the couple says they've hired the Whelans the whole place falls silent due to that family's bad reputation.  Maya confesses to Niamh that she forgot the offering but promises to remember going forward. A local later begins warning the couple about the area's history but Niamh throws him out of the pub and explains he's just a local drunk. While walking home with his dog the man is attacked in the woods. Later as people search for him Niamh tells Maya thet Maeve had made a deal with the Red Caps to heal her dying husband (who still died) and her 2 year old daughter disappeared, but Maya assumes that Maeve had killed her child in a fit of postpartum psychosis. 
The Whelans begin work on the house but are all causing trouble. The father insists on being called Daddy and is abusive to his three children, Eoin, Cillian and Aisling; Eoin is clumsy and breaks things, while Cillian and Aisling steal from the home. 
Maya makes the liver offering the next day. Walking in the woods Maya finds Molly, the missing man's dog, who leads her to a clochán* lit by candles. The dog enters and Maya starts to follow, only to realize that the inside is a spiralling staircase and looking down she sees human bones. She leaves and then runs into Eoin in the woods who assaults her; she screams for help and the Red Caps appear [off camera] and drag Eoin away. She tries to tell Jamie but he doesn't believe her. Later while home alone a Red Cap visits and gives her a plastic bag which contains Eoin's head. The Red Cap is a small goblin like creature with sharp teeth, wearing a dark reddish-brown tunic with a hood. Jamie returns and tells Maya to hide the head as the Whelans arrive to find out what happened to the missing Eoin. As Maya tries to escape she is confronted by Aisling who grabs the bag and realises her brother has been killed. Maya flees into the woods as the trio break into the house to attack Jamie in retribution for Eoin's death. Maya runs to the clochán, begging for help and offers to give the Red Caps anything if they will intervene. The Red Caps then go to the house; two are killed but the group of Red Caps manage to kill the two younger Whelans. 'Daddy' Whelan retrieves a rifle from his car and injures Jamie but is attacked by Molly [the dog] and drops the gun which Maya picks up. She shoots Daddy Whelan and kills him. 
The couple retreat to their house where Maya gives birth to a daughter. The next night the Red Caps return and take the child while Jamie is out. Maya chases them back to the clochán and goes down the stairs into an area with various smaller rooms where she finds an old human woman with her baby; she realizes the woman is Maeve's daughter. She begs for the Red Caps to give her back the baby and take her instead, but Maeve's daughter says she is too old. Maya kills a Red Cap then the old woman and takes her child. Jamie returns home and follows his daughter's cries out to the garden where he finds the Red Caps dancing around Maya chanting 'mother Red Cap' and he watches in horror as a floating human skull pours blood over Maya's head and face as she smiles. 

So first let's look at what is actually folklore in all of that:

• The idea of a promise made to the Fir Darrig having to be kept or there will be terrible consequences is inline with wider folk belief about fairies.
• The Red Caps are not averse to iron, which is true to folk belief that they are a type of fairy being who actually uses iron weapons themselves, and may wear iron shoes. 
• Help gotten from fairies, especially help that's asked for, has a cost. The Red Caps first intervention on Maya's behalf comes after she gives them the liver offering and the second only after she promises them 'anything'.
• The clochán opening up into a large space underground does seem to reflect ideas of the sidhe as entries into the Otherworld, with the beehive shape of the clochán echoing the shape of a hill and the floor actually being stairs leading down into the earth. 
• The gate and door as offering site is an interesting nod to the liminality of fairies and their preference for such spaces which exist in borders between contrasting things, in this case the civilization of the back garden and the wildness of the woods
• Fairies of various types stealing a human child is a common trope in fairy folklore, particularly seen in stories of changelings.

Now let's untangle what isn't folklore but is presented as such:

• While Niamh is quick to differentiate the Fir Darrig from Leprechauns she falsely conflates them with the Scottish Red Caps [see: here]
• Fir Darrig are known to be malicious pranksters but not murderous as such, and Fear Darrig means 'red man' not red cap. In some accounts they are said to have that name because they wear red clothes, while in one other the Fear Darrig is described with red hair. Some accounts say that Fir Darrig are smaller, around two feet tall, but more depict them as human sized or even larger.
• The Red Caps of the movie eat their human victims, but in folklore they are only said to kill and use the blood as dye.
• Fir Darrig and Red Caps are solitary beings and are not known to live or act in groups.
• There is no 'mother Red Cap' in folklore about either Red Caps or Fir Darrig, that is entirely a conceit of the movie
• The Red Caps take Maeve's child, apparently as payment after she requests her husband be healed, but he isn't healed, he still died. In folklore generally when such deals are made and the fairies take their payment they follow through and give what was requested. 
• It's also a bit muddled that the implication is if the offering isn't made the Red Caps will hurt people - which they do when Maya misses the first offering - yet the offering also means they will help Maya when asked to, one act of assistance in exchange for one offering. Usually in folk lore we find either the offering is done to keep the danger at bay or in payment for help but not both at the same time. The bulk of the Red Caps' actions in the movie are not reactions to missed offerings - as the tagline 'break a promise, pay the price' implies - but rather are actions taken in response to Maya's requests. Even the ending with her as the Mother Red Cap was a response to her plea that they take her instead of her newborn (and probably also her murdering the previous Mother). 

Ultimately the movie is definitely folk horror but the Red Caps might be better described as folkloresque than as actual folk beings. They are very loosely based on an amalgamation of Scottish Red Caps, Irish Fir Darrig, and trooping fairies (in that they live in a group), rather than showing a single type of being. It makes for an interesting, if sometimes confusing, movie but shouldn't generally be viewed as reflecting folk beliefs; it definitely isn't going on my list of media to watch to better understand fairies as the differences are too many and muddling the Scottish Red Caps and Irish Fir Darrig leans into watering down and homogenizing culturally differentiated folk beliefs. 

* a small beehive shaped hut built of stone

Irish Language Resources

 I had recently made a short video discussing [read:ranting] about people on social media who overly romanticize the Irish language and treat it as magical. In that video I strongly emphasized my belief that learning Irish is for everyone and that it is an amazing language, and was asked for my recommendations for learning Irish. Below I will offer my suggestions, with the understanding that other people's opinions may vary. Also note that I tend to take a wide approach to language learning and feel that multiple options work better than a single focused one; this means that I am including resources for different dialects rather than a single one. I also strongly recommend having some sort of audio component as Anglophones tend to struggle with reading and pronouncing Irish.

So to begin, finding an Irish language class is usually the best bet if that is an option. If that isn't an option however there are a range of books, programs, and online material that can be helpful.

 Books

Learning Irish by Mícheál Ó Siadhail
Usborne's Irish for Beginners by Angela Wilkes
Speaking Irish an Ghaeilge Bheo (with DVD) by Siuán ní Mhaonaigh and Antain Mac Lochlainn
Irish Grammar A Basic Handbook by Noel McGonagle
Teach Yourself Irish Grammar by Éamonn Ó Dónaill
Basic Irish A Grammar Workbook by Nancy Stenson
Intermediate Irish a Grammar Workbook by Nancy Stenson

Additionally you want to invest in a good dictionary. Teanglann.ie is a great online option and I personally encourage people to buy physical copies of the books used for the website. The Concise English-Irish Dictionary is also a great choice although 'concise' is used very loosely there. 

Online Courses

Rosetta Stone (expensive but thorough)
Pimsleur also offers a course (I haven't taken this one myself)
University College Dublin has a series of Irish courses on Futurelearn 
Let's Learn Irish offers courses, in person workshops, and community conversations

Apps

Madra Teanga (the updated version of Sionnach)
Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur both have apps
Nemo Irish Gaelic 

Websites

Bitesize Irish offers a range of language learning options, including the Gaeilge Gach Lá challenge and videos 
Gaelscoil Online has a short series of videos on Youtube

This covers the range of material I am familiar with. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. 

Book Review - Fairylore

 Its difficult to find a book on global fairy belief that's solid, especially in the age of AI. I have read much of what's out there that attempts to offer a wide overview of fairies or of specific types of fairy beings, from Bane's 'Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology' to the 'Fairy Bible' and consistently find them to contain glaring errors. It was exciting and refreshing to finally read a book like this that I can actually recommend.

  Fairylore by Dr Sara Cleto and Dr Brittany Warman is an excellent option for anyone looking for a wider view of fairy beliefs that extends beyond the usual suspects. I highly recommend it as a reference and also for some fun reading on the subject. 

image of the cover of Fairylore, taken by me

The book isn't exhaustive but covers a wide range of fairylike beings from around the world, and the information is generally trustworthy. My own focus is Irish, more generally Celtic, and tangentially Norse/Germanic so those are the only entries I feel confident in judging the accuracy of, but I am comfortable assuming that if those are trustworthy then the material outside those areas will be as well. 

Fairylore opens with a foreword by Terri Windling then moves into an introduction by the authors which tackles the daunting task of defining what exactly fairies are, without flinching away from the difficulty around that definition. It covers various theories across folk belief, then segues into discussions of where fairies live, common beliefs around them, and what it is about them that may be so persistent across folk belief. After the introduction the book is divided into 6 chapters, each of which focus on a particular wider type of fairy: fairies of the home, fairies of seduction, fairies of terror, fairies of nature, fairy neighbours, and our fairies ourselves. While alphabetic entries are more common in this type of text the book has a full index which can be used to quickly find a specific entry and the division that is used instead, grouping by wider type, lends itself to cross-cultural comparisons that are very enlightening. The conclusion chapter summarizes many of the wider points in the text and offers insight into fairies in the 21st century and ends by reminding us that - as has been said since Chaucer's time - the fairies are ever vanishing yet never truly gone, persisting across time and belief. The end notes provided for each chapter are also extremely useful. 

There are a few details I would disagree with, such as the Leannán Sidhe being portrayed as vampiric, but I acknowledge that such a view is genuine to existing folklore even if it originated with WB Yeats in the late 19th century. These disagreements reflect differences of opinion around complex folk belief rather than errors in the text. Overall the research presented is thorough and reliable and the bibliography is solid. 

The book is out right now only in hardcover, but the price point given that is quite reasonable and the quality is very high. I'd go so far as to say if a paperback version ever comes out the hardcover would still be the better investment. The cover art by Annie Stegg Gerard is gorgeous and the iridescent moths are a fun, whimsical touch (I did my best to capture the shimmering effect in the picture above, but it doesn't really do it justice). The book is heavily illustrated and the artwork throughout is engaging and evocative; the chapter opening images also by Stegg Gerard and in chapter art by Kristin Kwan. Kwan's art is reminiscent of Arthur Rackham without feeling derivative. Stegg Gerard's art, as in the cover example above, is vibrant and sets the tone for both the book and each chapter. The two artists' work flows well together.

A perfect option for anyone looking to learn more about who and what fairies are or to dive into the range of beings and stories found across cultures. 

Fairylore was released on 10 February 2026 and is available online and in bookstores.

Full disclosure I received an advanced digital copy of the book and provided a pre-publication endorsement for it. I had previously met the authors at a university conference in 2023. This is an honest review and reflects my thoughts and opinions on the book without bias. 

Victorian Era's Impact on the Image of Fairies

 This article was originally written for my Patreon in 2023 and I am making it public now

Yesterday I gave a talk for the Folklore Podcast,  as part of a lecture series to raise funds for the Folklore Library. My focus was tracing the history of the Scottish fairy courts across the last 500 years, from folklore to fiction. In the Q&A which followed someone asked a question about why we envision fairies as we do today and while I answered in the moment I thought I'd also offer a more expanded answer here for my patrons.

The short answer is, of course, the Victorians.

The long answer is that prior to the mid-19th century our understanding and perception of fairies was very different. They were not imagined with wings, or pointed ears, and were generally understood as being very human like in appearance, although not always in size, ranging from slightly less than two feet tall to around 6 feet tall (about 1/2 meter to 2 meters). The height often depended on the specific culture and the type of being, so that the Welsh Tylwyth Teg were described as 'the height of an 8 or 10 year old child' while the Irish Aos Sidhe were usually described as average adult height. Outside of this however there was rarely anything that physically distinguished these beings from humans, although they usually could be identified based on their words, actions, and a general aura of otherworldliness.

17th century woodcut showing fairies dancing in a ring

Henry Fuseli, 18th century, Titania and Bottom, showing the fairy queen Titania and her retinue of fairies with the donkey-headed Bottom

This began to change at some point in the early 19th century as fairies became popular in art and artists started depicting fairies with wings, and wingless elves with pointed ears. This may have been meant as a visual cue to viewers to make it clear the subject of the art were fairies or it may have represented a merging of the older understanding of fairies with the burgeoning idea of these beings as embodiments of nature and natural things, a concept which crystalized in the late 19th century with theosophies rewriting of fairies into elementals and nature spirits.

Initially however the change from non-winged fairies to winged wasn't decisive, and we see artists using both styles of imagery. For example the two following works by Francis Danby, the first of which from 1832 'Scene From a Midsummer Night's Dream' shows Oberon and Titania with wings while the second 'Oberon and Titania' from 1837 does not:

Through the 1870's we can find examples of fairies both with and without wings in art. For example this image 'The Fairy Tree' by Richard Doyle from 1865 shows 200 different fairy figures, none with wings, including several who appear to be flying:

By the 1880s however the wings dominate and can be found in all or nearly all artistic depictions of these beings. These wings are most often butterfly wings, occasionally more general insect wings, and range from small to larger than the figure itself. We also begin to see these visual cues used to gender these beings with female winged fairies and male elves with pointed ears, although there is some crossover between the two types of imagery.

It is also at this point that Theosophy begins, both taking the visual imagery of fairies found in art and also creating - or solidifying - the idea that fairies are spirits of the natural human world who are less than and dependent on humans. The combination of these two factors, Victorian cultural depictions and Theosophical descriptions, would combine to entirely rewrite the popular culture understanding of fairies in ways that are still effecting us today.

By the late Victorian era we find the idea of winged fairies, as shown in art, starting to crossover into fiction, and during the Edwardian period and first world war the wider cultural concept of fairies as small, winged, and connected to the natural world becomes nearly ubiquitous in English and American culture so that by the late 20th century people start to describe personal encounters with small winged fairies.

We shouldn't underestimate the power of art and fiction to shape folk belief, and be aware of how the media we consume influences our understanding of these beings.

References:

Fairies in Victorian Art by Christopher Wood
Victorian Fairy Paintings edited by Jane Martineau

2025 Wrap Up

 It's been a very busy year, with less blogging and more working on bigger projects. 

1. In 2025 I wrote 5 books (4 to be released next year)

1. I had 4 books published: Paid With A Kiss, Tales of the Tuatha De Danann vol 1, Pantheon the Irish, and Dangerous Magic
2. I had four articles published in various magazines and journals
3. Contributed to two anthologies which came out this year: Fairies a Companion, and Divine Wounds
4. Wrote forwards for 2 books published this year: Defying Shadows and Divide Wounds
5. Completed my translation of the Táin Bó Cúailgne, which was started in 2023
6. Participated in 4 online pagan conferences/events
7. Presented in person at the Morrigan's Call retreat
8. Presented papers at two online academic conferences
9. Wrote a chapter for a forthcoming academic work on Green Women
10. Presented a class on the Aos Sidhe for the Irish Pagan School online
11. Travelled to Ireland for a week long tour (and got to see a bunch of castles)

I'm exhausted just reading that over but like I said it's been a busy year. Next year is looking equally busy with three books currently under contract with Moon Books, and one on changelings for an academic publisher. 

In 2026 I will also be at the following events:

Between the Worlds/Sacred Space in person

ADFs Wellspring online

The Morrigan's Call Retreat in person

Harvest Gathering in person 

Changing Times Changing Worlds in person 

I had hoped to get back to Mystic South this year but that isn't looking likely for financial reasons. I have also applied for an academic conference but won't hear back about that until spring next year. 

Fairylore in Stranger Things season1

 It's been awhile since I did a 'fairylore in popular media' article, but I thought this one would be worth digging into now. Stranger Things is a cultural phenomenon which I admit I've previously avoided. But at the urging of my 12 year old I've dived in and was pleasantly surprised to see the many echos of fairylore in the show, particularly the first two seasons, although I'm focusing just on season 1 here. I think it's worthwhile to explore the way some fairy themes crossover into this show in ways that may be subtle or obvious and how that can give the show a deeper feel. 

  In previous articles I've noted what were in most cases obviously intended to be reflections of folklore but in the case of Stranger Things I don't know for certain how many of the below listed things were intentional call backs to fairy beliefs and how much is coincidence, so my approach to this will be to simply present all of the points I've noticed as a fairy focused folklorist. Other people's opinions here might vary, and if I missed anything please suggest it in the comments. 

*Spoilers for Stranger Things season 1 Below*

https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/622/739/588/stranger-things-netflix-clouds-bicycle-wallpaper-thumb.jpg

The Upside Down - A main premise of the show is that there is an alternate reality adjacent to and reflecting the human world but which is very different in nature; this is similar to a foundational premise in fairylore, that the world or reality of Fairy exists adjacent to but separated from the human world. Fairy has neither sun nor moon but exists in a perpetual twilight and the Upside Down also has no celestial bodies illuminating it but exist in a state of endless night. The Upside Down is a distorted, nightmarish counterpart to the human world, where the architecture and wilderness is the same but exist in states of decay; Fairy is sometimes described as identical to the human world but distorted in various ways. Both worlds, Fairy and the Upside Down, have different rules to the human world.

The Stolen Human - a staple in various fairy stories is the stolen human, a person who is taken by the fairies for a range of purposes, usually malevolent. Although popular stories tend to focus on infants the range of anecdotal material includes humans of many ages, with boys being the most common children taken and women the more common older children and adults taken. In the case of Stranger Things we see both as Will, a 12 year old boy, is taken first, followed later by Barb, a teenage girl. Both are taken into the Upside Down, although they meet very different fates there. As in fairylore Will and Barb are taken when they are alone and unprotected. 

The Changeling - A common theme in many stories of stolen humans is that of the changeling, an enchanted object or ailing fairy left in the place of a stolen human in order to deceive the person's family into either believing they died or to make it seem the person hasn't been stolen at all. In Stranger Things this manifests as a body left in place of the stolen Will meant to convince his family and the town of Hawkins that he drowned. This fake is revealed when the police chief, suspicious of what has been going on and swayed by the boy's mother who swears the corpse isn't her child, cuts into the corpse only to find that it is a lifelike doll stuffed with cotton. The police Chief keeps this knowledge to himself and the false Will is buried in a public funeral, leaving most people convinced he did actually die.

The Gate(s)- in the show the pathways between the human world and the Upside Down are called gates, and represent tears between realities that beings may pass through. Similarly in folk belief fairies are thought to live in the world of Fairy but access the human world through specific places that act as doorways. These may be hills, caves, trees, or rocks in folk stories; for example the cave of Uaimh na gCait (Tulsk, Roscommon) is said to be an entry to the Otherworld out of which assorted monstrous beings have appeared. In the show we find that the main gate created by one of the characters is underground, in a military complex that has a cave-like aesthetic, while a smaller gate is also shown in the woods as a hole between worlds opened up in a tree. 

Inhuman Monsters - a wider trope which is admittedly shared with a range of media including science fiction is the inhuman monster. This is also found in fairy belief where some beings from Fairy may look human but others are notably inhuman and clearly monstrous. These monsters do not follow the rules of the human world, even when they are within it, for example being almost impossible to injure or kill. In both the show and fairy stories these monstrous beings are notably vicious and brutal, while also clearly being intelligent in some way. The Demogorgons of the show, like some beings in Fairy, are superior in strength and speed to humans; like fairy beings who are described missing limbs or with a deformity, the Demogorgons have no apparent eyes, often described within the show as 'faceless'. 
They are not clearly fairies, as such, but they fit into the wider range of Fairy beings that can be found in stories.

Electrical Distortions - a key aspect to the first season of the show is Will's ability to communicate with his mother from the Upside Down using lights. Through this he can convey his presence to her and later spell out messages after she creates a clever communication method using a string of lights and letters painted on the wall. Electrical distortions are common features of supernatural encounters including fairy based ones, and the idea that lights appearing indicates the presence of otherwise unseen being is inline with wider fairy beliefs. It also represents in my opinion an interesting take on communication between worlds.

Monstrous Reproduction Via Humans - Fairylore is full of stories of humans taken in order to further the fairies agenda by providing offspring for them; in some stories the stolen human themself is transformed into a fairy. In Stranger Things it is implied in several scenes that the Demogorgons are using the corpses of the humans they kill to make more of themselves, including using the still-alive Will who in a final scene is shown vomiting up a slug-like creature which is revealed in season 2 to be the initial form of the Demogorgon. Through this means the beings reproduce, and their use of humans to do so echoes older ideas of fairies using humans as breeding stock. 

The Rescue - in stories of stolen humans there are usually two ways to rescue them, all of which must be done within a very short time limit. One way is, if the changeling left was a fairy, to torment that being until it chooses to either leave - hence returning the stolen human - or admits to its nature with the same result. The second way is to actively rescue the stolen human, usually by going to a place in the human world where the fairies are known to be at a specific time, but also in a few cases by going into the Fairy realm to bring them back, such as we see in Sir Orfeo. Stranger Things echoes this later trope, with Will's mother and the police chief venturing through the gate to rescue him and return him to the human world. This is accomplished in the show and in folklore by fighting through challenges and trials to find the person and win them back to the living world. 

Saved But Never the Same - A final note would be that after being successfully rescued Will shows clear signs that his experience has changed him on a deep, preternatural level - he has flashes of vision into the Upside Down and can sense the power that rules that realm. While some people rescued from Fairy in stories do go on to live apparently normal lives we also find tales of people so changed by their experience that they cannot reconcile it and pine away or seek to return to that world. There are also stories of people who would go on to be considered a bean feasa [wise woman] or fairy doctor who were taken into the realm of Fairy for a period of time and return with new abilities beyond the norm for humans and with a connection between themselves and the Otherworld.