Fairies 2

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There are four principal proposed origins of fairies:

1. Fairies are the souls of the pagan dead. Being unbaptized, the shades, or souls, are caught in a netherworld and are not bad enough to descend into hell nor good enough to rise into heaven.

2. Fairies are fallen angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to Lucifer plunged down toward hell with him. But God raised his hand and stopped them in midflight, condemning them to remain where they were. Some were in the air, some in the earth and some in the seas and rivers. This belief is widespread in the lore of Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia.

3. Fairies are nature spirits. Fairies are among the many spirits that populate all things and places on the planet.

4. Fairies are diminutive human beings. Evidence exists that small-statured races populated parts of Europe and the British Isles in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, before the spread of the Celts. In Ireland, a mythical race called the Tuatha de Danaan lived in barrows and in shelters burrowed under hills and mounds. They were shy and hard-working, and, as stronger races invaded and conquered with their
iron weapons, they retreated into the woodlands to live secretive lives. They were pagan and continued to worship pagan deities. They were close to nature and had keen psychic senses. Some were skilled in metals and mining, and some were herdsmen, keeping stocks of diminutive cattle and horses. Some maintained a guerilla warfare against invaders. The legends of Robin Hood and Rob Roy may
be related to fairy lore.