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The Fair Folk as Counselors



In the old days, when people had problems, they would visit the holy cave or the well of light or the ancient tree located at the gateway of the worlds. There they would turn to the Fair Folk with their problems of love and obligation, or human cruelty and deceit, and we would counsel and guide them. We have been secret helpers, imaginary friends, and forest spirits who cheer up the lonely and despairing. We came in shapes of light and power to chase away fear.

We were secret companions of mankind. Today we would be imaginary friends, but in the past, the line between physical reality and imagination was not as clear. We helped the child hungry and confined to bed because of famine or the child sick with fever to relax. We helped the isolated maiden with no boyfriend to appreciate her, and the widow whose heart was lonely and whose good deeds went unappreciated. We would support the householder whose family was not satisfied, and the elderly with nothing to look forward to whose family had moved away or was dead. There is yearning at all ages - from the child who was hungry or had been beaten unjustly, to the old woman with no one to love.

The Fair Folk were companions and counselors, and the supporters and substitutes for those whose relations were dead and gone. We gave encouragement, optimism, and hope for a better day. Sometimes we could even direct hungry people to stores of food, or take them for a visit to our world to give them the equivalent of a good meal.

We could point out the beauty in the awkward teenage girl, the nobility of trying to a support a family, even in poverty, the future virtues and helpfulness of a clumsy child, and the good deeds done by the elderly that showed that their life had worth and meaning.

People would come to see us on festival days and sacred nights, at the new moon and the celebration of the ancestors, and during the difficult periods of death and birth. We could help guide the souls of the dead who were anxious in their travels, and point out how change could be a good thing for travelers.

While mages might come when specifically called, many of our young people saw helping humanity as a good deed, or a kind of community service. People dealt with loneliness and death much better because of our efforts.



Introduction | History | Manannan Mac Lir | Merlin | Taliesin | Building the Realms of the Fair Folk | Lir and Danu | Lugh and the Morrigan | Anya, Daughter of Manannan | Manannan's Ocean Kingdom | Aengus, The Poet God of Love and Romance | The Ancient Roads to the Fair Folk | Manannan's Horses | The Society of the Fair Folk | The Place of Transformation | Traveling Between the Worlds | Research Methodology | Conclusion

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