Do fairies really exist? Do fairies exist? The image of a fairy in cultural works

If so modern humanity tend to believe in the existence of werewolves and vampires, why not believe in the existence of fairies? Anyway, legends and myths describe these tiny spirits air element, as kind and beautiful creatures. However, it is possible that behind the fabulous veil lies knowledge about long-forgotten pages of the history of our planet and about the ancient and amazing inhabitants Earth.

I believe because I want to

The fairies' most loyal supporters are little girls. Many of them want to believe it so much that they can convince not only themselves, but also those around them, of the reality of the existence of fairies. The most serious attempt to enlighten the overly sober world of adults was made in 1917 by two girls from England - Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths. They lived in the small village of Cottingley in Yorkshire. Elsie and Francis were tired of unsuccessfully convincing adults that they were playing with fairies next to the stream, the girls took a camera and photographed the fairy babies. Many respectable adults believed in the reality of these sensational photographs, in particular the famous writer Sir Conan Doyle. He even wrote and published the book “The Coming of the Fairies” in 1922. In the 80s of the twentieth century, it became clear how exactly these fake photographs were taken, but the unshakable belief in fairies was still not shaken.

I want to believe in the existence of these magical creatures, and not only for children. How else can one explain the belief in fairies of a very rational, stern and strong man - Lord Dowding, who was an air marshal, one of the most authoritative military leaders of the British Air Force. In 1927, in Dublin (Ireland), he organized a society for the search and study of fairies.

In 2009, a London resident managed to take a photo real fairy in your yard. The woman stated that she did not see anything unusual at the time the photograph was taken. It was only after viewing the pictures that this strange thing was noticed glowing creature with wings, which was very reminiscent of a fairy. The examination showed that the photograph was genuine and had not undergone any digital processing. Many authoritative world media reported on this amazing incident. It still remains a mystery what kind of creature is depicted in the photo.

Fairy photo:

Another case that alarmed the world community in 2007 cannot be ignored.

According to the author of the photographs, who, by the way, also lives in London, the mummy mysterious creature was found by him in the forest while he was walking his dog. Although 10 days after the photo was published in the media, the owner said that it was all a fake, many people did not believe in the fake, because they decided that the government again wanted to hide the amazing find from them.

But could such a desire of people be a manifestation of intuitive knowledge about a truly once-existing magical people? Many Irish, Scandinavian, German legends are dedicated to them and there are so many of them that the thought of the reality of these legends involuntarily arises.

Fairies, elves or elves?

The idea of fairies as small winged creatures only emerged in the 19th century. Numerous folklore legends about magical people differ somewhat from these ideas. First of all, let’s figure out where the name “fairy” came from. Its source is the Old French word "faerie", which in turn comes from the Latin word - fata, meaning guardian spirit. In England, especially rich in legends about magical people, they were called elves; the name fairy came here later under the influence of French literature. In Scandinavia, the name Alva prevailed. The first written source to mention folklore stories about elves were the records of Giraldus Cambrens, made in the 12th century. Especially widespread stories about elves were received in Ireland, Cornwall, Scotland, Wales, that is, in those lands where the Celts had long lived. Evan Wentz, in the book “Mystical Beliefs in the Celtic Countries,” wrote that fairies are truly real invisible creatures living in a vast invisible world. And our world, which we consider real, is simply immersed, like an island, in this nonsense. visible world, which we normally cannot perceive. The invisible world is inhabited by creatures whose capabilities are wider and more varied than those of us living in the revealed world. E. Wentz came to this conclusion after studying Celtic myths and legends about fairies, or more precisely, elves.

There are legends in the Celtic chronicles that say that when their ancestors came to the territory of Ireland, the Fomorian giants and the people of the goddess Danu or the Tuatha De Danann were already living there, warring with each other. Myths describe the Tuatha Dé Danann as very beautiful, intelligent, sophisticated creatures, excellent musicians and skilled craftsmen, possessing magical abilities. The people of the goddess Danu were called the Sids or the Shi people. According to legend, they went to live in hollow hills, but sometimes they appear in our world. Myths about the elves, the Sids, and the Shi people are closely intertwined with each other. This gives reason to assume that the origins of fairy tales about elves can go back thousands of years and contain echoes of information about the ancient inhabitants of our planet, perhaps very different from us.

Some intuitive people, perhaps at the level of genetic memory, seem to remember that very distant period of time from us. Especially a shining example This phenomenon may be the work of J. Ronald Tolkien, because the idea of his now very popular series of novels “The Lord of the Rings” did not come by chance. A linguistics professor keen on studying old languages came across a poem in Old English written by Cunewulf in the 11th century. Two lines forever sank into his soul:

"Hail to you, Eärendel, brightest of angels,
Sent over Middle-earth to people!

It seemed to the scientist that behind these lines there was hidden “something infinitely distant, strange and beautiful, lying beyond the boundaries of Old English...”. He suggested that the origins of this force of influence lie in something else, even more ancient world. This world appeared to Tolkien in his dreams, and he spent his whole life trying to find it. Such an attempt was the creation of the novels “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Silmarilion”, one of the heroes of which were elves. Tolkien even invented the language of the elves.

So we can come to the conclusion that the origins of the belief in the existence of fairies lie in legends and traditions about two different creatures, the myths about which are intertwined, creating a beautiful, but somewhat contradictory image of fairies. First source- unconscious knowledge of the existence of a world of spirits invisible to us, one of which is the spirits of the air element fairies - this is on the one hand. Second source- many ancient myths, legends, even historical chronicles, which mention magical people, whose representatives are called either fairies or elves.

Before we figure out whether fairies exist, let's give them a clear description. Firstly, this is the same evil spirits as vampires, werewolves, ghosts... Yes, yes! Secondly, the world has never heard of male fairies. This means they are all female. Thirdly, fairies are charming and beautiful creatures. What conclusion can be drawn from all of the above? No, no, friends! This issue should be understood in more detail; not everything is as simple as it seems! Let's talk about this.

Are fairies evil spirits? It looks like yes!

Despite their attractive appearance, each of the fairies has some character trait that goes beyond the human essence. Moreover, this proves their demonic origin. For example, some fairies have a snake or goat tail, others have bird or deer legs.

Do fairies exist?

This question remains open to this day. No one has seen them with their own eyes, but everyone knows everything about them! For example, every person who at least sometimes looks into books knows that fairies most often live near bodies of water, just like mermaids. They spend the lion's share of their immense time in the water: splashing, swimming, washing their snow-white clothes. And in the evening they put on wet clothes and start dancing to dry them. Strange way of drying clothes, isn't it?

Best friends

Do fairies exist in our country? Most esotericists say yes! AND

Russian fairies, unlike foreign ones, are not teeth or godparents! These are practically the best friends of Russian mermaids, who also charm men who accidentally get lost on the shore.

What to do if you meet a fairy?

Since they are the same as mermaids, vampires, and werewolves, when meeting them you should pray and hold your hand pectoral cross or for anything iron. The fact is that these creatures are afraid of cold iron! It is in this case that their deceitful charm will disappear!

What happens if you don’t protect yourself in time?

It turns out interesting: humanity is not sure whether fairies exist (photos of these creatures, you understand, were created using the well-known Photoshop program), but they have already come up with protection against them and even predicted further development events in the absence of it! Funny? Perhaps. But what to do - the situation needs to be covered objectively.

So, if you don’t grab the cross or the iron in time and allow the fairy to approach you, it will be very bad... She will entice her victim into a dance, and then begin to play mischief with you, offering to do something stupid. After she gets tired of you, she can turn you into one animal or another, for example, a horse.

Interestingly, this applies to both men and women. I don't know where this information came from, but some sources claim that many fairies are attracted to women... or not, I don't know. However, according to myths and legends, some of them are able to set their victims free, while others will drown them!

Conclusion

This is perhaps the minimum we should know about fairies. As you can see, we cannot get an answer to the question we asked at the very beginning of our article. Most likely, fairies are exactly why they should be perceived as good creatures, so that our children are raised in the right way! By the way, about children. Many girls dream of becoming fairies.

Let's help them make this dream come true!

How to become a fairy?

For our little readers who want to create real miracles, I will explain how you can turn into a good fairy!

Wait until the full moon.
Fill a glass with water.
Take a piece of paper.
Using multi-colored pencils or felt-tip pens, draw on it the fairy you want to become, describe what good deeds you are going to do.
After this, take a glass filled with water and stand near the window so that the light of the Moon is reflected in this glass.
Dip the leaf with your wish into the water and immediately pour it on yourself.
Go to bed and don't think about anything. You did everything right. Soon you will become a real fairy!

Of course, this is the most common joke. But if you really want to become like a fairy, then just start treating everyone around you the way a good fairy would. Always help them in everything. No magical rituals or transformations are needed here! Good luck to you, young princesses!

Fairies are gentle, almost ghostly figures with transparent wings behind their backs. Back in the 8th-9th centuries in Europe, most often on the islands of Britain, there are references to these strange creatures.

Without going into the essence, you can answer: “Yes, they exist! fairy tales, in dreams, in our imagination!..." And brownies, mermaids, ghosts, gnomes?... After all, if you think about it, this is a huge magical invisible world...

Most lovers of extrasensory perception and everything unknown, when asked whether fairies exist, will answer in all seriousness: “Yes!”

The greatest dreamer and inventor Arthur Conan Doyle published amazing information in 1920. According to him, two young English women photographed each other surrounded by gnome-spirits (fairies) with wings on their shoulders. The photo was published in all newspapers. This was then considered real confirmation of whether fairies existed.

Later, priests, scientists and even Air Marshal Lord Dowding proved that these sorceresses exist. Only they were often imagined not as kind and sensitive, but as angry, envious and very touchy.

Do you think Winx fairies exist?

This is an easier question. After all, they are fairy girls from an Italian animated series.

Having thought about whether Winx fairies exist, we can assume that these sorceresses were born in the imagination of the authors of the series, incl. directed by Iginio Straffi.

They look completely different, ordinary girls are very loyal and sincere friends, they value family values, fall in love. Helping others strive for self-improvement and preaching eternal values, Winx fairies "save the world." Main character Bloom lived in ignorance. What she didn’t know about herself was that she was capable of performing miracles. Her friends are the Winx fairies Stella, Tecna, Muse, Flora and Leila. It's in the series.

And in real life, a musical based on this plot has already been released, books have been written, video games have been created, and even staged Ice show. Here is the answer to the question whether Winx fairies exist. A generous, kind heart, the ability to understand another person and help - this is something that will always have a very high price.

Do fairies really exist? If so, are they really light and graceful and have the finest wings on their backs? These are typical questions that arise for anyone who does not believe in the existence of supernatural creatures. Nevertheless, the magical world is inhabited by both giants and dwarfs, evil and scary, or kind and just mischievous. Why are the roots of belief in the existence of a magical world so deep, especially in the British Isles? Mentions of it can be found in written traditions of the 8th-9th centuries. Some modern believers claim that fairies are spirits that monitor the growth of plants. Is this true?

"Epic event - fairies photographed." This is just one of the headlines of articles published in 1920 in leading English magazines. Below is usually a photograph of a girl surrounded by light, airy figures. The second photo showed another girl beckoning small, gnome-like creatures with wings. The girls' names were Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright. They took photographs of each other and, since they had never even held a camera in their hands before, deception was unlikely. This article, published in many publications, was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a respected author famous stories about Sherlock Holmes. The entire circulation with photographs and an article about fairies sold out in one day. The news, supported by photographs, spread throughout the world, giving rise to disputes that have not been resolved to this day.

Do you believe in the existence of fairies? Most of us answer no quite emphatically. The idea of fairies is so absurd that we even use the expression "fairy tales" when talking about something that we consider to be an outright lie. However, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, a master of logic, felt confident enough to publicly declare his belief in magical creatures. And Conan Doyle was not alone. Air Marshal Lord Dowding, one of the major military leaders of the British Air Force during the Second World War, also believed in the existence of fairies. This harsh one strong man of a rational mind showed visitors a book with photographs of fairies and spoke about them with the same seriousness as about military tactics. Many prudent and balanced people, including priests, professors and doctors, proved the existence of such creatures, and some claimed to have seen them. However, according to their testimony, these creatures only occasionally resembled the small, graceful creatures with transparent wings photographed by Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright. As a rule, they were disgusting, sinister, and sometimes perfect monsters.

Once upon a time, belief in fairies was widespread and supernatural beings were revered as a formidable force to be reckoned with. Evans Wentz, author of the book Mystical Beliefs in Celtic Countries, competent in this matter, wrote: “Apparently there were no tribes, no races and civilized nations in whose religions there was not, in one form or another, belief in the existence of an invisible world inhabited by invisible creatures." Wentz argued that "fairies are indeed invisible beings, possibly intelligent", and the fairy world is " invisible world, in which the visible world is immersed like islands in unexplored ocean, and the creatures inhabiting it are much more diverse in nature than the inhabitants of this world, since their capabilities are incomparably more varied and wider."

The population of the wizarding world is indeed "wide and varied". Fairies appear in it in all shapes and sizes. They usually appear tiny, but can also be around two and a half meters tall. Fairies often have a human-like appearance and like to interfere in human affairs. With the help of magic, they can kidnap or bewitch a mortal, ruin a harvest, kill cattle with an arrow, confuse a person, or bring misfortune. The appearance of some fairies foretells a person's imminent death. Others, on the contrary, are generous and provide help, bring gifts and clean the house. But in relationships even with such fairies, caution is required. There is no such thing as a completely good fairy. Even the most beautiful fairy can become evil if provoked. Fairies are extremely capricious and most often openly unfriendly. In addition to elves from romantic legends, their number also includes dwarfs, brownies, banshees, goblins, ghosts, devils, spirits of the forces of nature and many others. Their power of different nature, but the majority are not disposed towards people and tend to harm rather than help a person.

Fairy tales are told all over the world, but the belief in fairies is strongest in the British Isles. However, even here there are different fairies in different areas. The most beautiful - elves - live in Ireland: slender, graceful little creatures known as Dana 0"Shi. They live in the Kingdom of eternal beauty and always remain young. Dana 0"Shi look like medieval knights and ladies, they have their own king, queen and royal court. They wear jeweled clothing and enjoy melodious music, dancing and hunting. A mortal can see them when, as is their custom, they ride out in a magnificent procession, led by the king and queen.

However, even the friendliest elves are dangerous, and some people believe that they came from the Kingdom of the Dead. Those who are enchanted by their music or seduced by their beauty may perish. An Irish tale tells of a man whose wife was kidnapped by elves. He tracked them down on Halloween - All Saints' Day, when they were riding horseback with his wife, and threw a jug of milk on her. But he did not know that a few drops of water accidentally got into the milk, and therefore the liberation ritual lost its power. His wife fell from her horse, the elves rushed to her - and from then on her husband never saw her again. The next morning, the entire road was covered in the blood of the unfortunate woman. So the elves took revenge for the attempt to interfere in their affairs.

Also in Ireland live the so-called little people, whose representatives are far from being so sinister, and sometimes truly comical. Although these mischievous warriors of a magical land sometimes like to play tricks on people, it happens that they turn out to be very useful and hardworking. The most famous of them are dwarfs, they make fairy shoes and guard piles of magical gold, long wanted by mortals. Some representatives of the little people help people in homework, others, on the contrary, ask people to help them repair their tiny furniture and farm tools, and in return they often give gifts that bring happiness.

Brownies from Cornwall in South-West England are also generous, but they reserve their gifts for the most thrifty owners, and their silver coins go to those who have a neater and cleaner kitchen. Carefree brownies, little red-haired and snub-nosed people, are always ready to play pranks - blow out a candle, knock on the walls, kiss an unexpectedly young girl. They love to confuse people and there are many stories told in Cornwall about how dangerous this is. A person walking at dusk may suddenly feel dizzy and hear peals of frightening laughter all around. If he does not resort to the right remedy against the witchcraft of the brownies and does not turn his cloak or pockets inside out, then he will dance for long hours between hedges and ditches. In such cases they say that he was bewitched by the brownies. They are also famous for the fact that they can tirelessly travel vast distances in search of a wine warehouse, which is why they sometimes say about drunkards that they have been bewitched by a brownie.

Some brownies constantly help people with housework and household chores. They are known to be loyal and caring homemakers because they prefer to stay in the same family or place. But if you treat them badly, they will leave the house. Like most magical creatures, brownies cannot tolerate anything related to the church. There is a Scottish tale about a brownie who was devoted to a young woman. He helped her in love, arranged her wedding and brought a midwife to her when she gave birth to her first child. Although the midwife was very afraid of the brownies, he carefully carried her through the stormy waters of the enchanted lake. Having heard about this, the local priest decided that such a good and devoted servant must certainly be baptized. The priest hid in the stable and, when the brownie was about to work there, doused him with holy water and began to pronounce the words of baptism. With a loud cry of horror, the brownie disappeared and was never seen again.

This story highlights the vague and sinister aura of fear that surrounds even the friendliest of magical creatures. An offended brownie can become very dangerous. However, brownies will never be as dangerous as other magical creatures from Ireland and Scotland called banshees. The terrible moans of the banshee, from which the blood runs cold, are a warning of imminent death. The word "banshee" is Irish for "fairy woman", although a banshee is more of a female ghost who appears to members of a family or clan when one of them is about to die. If a person manages to catch her, then she will have to tell him the name of the doomed man or woman. The banshee has one nostril, protruding fangs, webbed toes, and red eyes from constant crying. The cry of several banshees immediately foreshadows the death of the priest.

Of all magical creatures, the most disgusting and insidious are goblins, devils and ghosts. The devils apparently came straight from hell. In an engraving from the 16th - 17th centuries, one of them is depicted as a small devil in a round hat, pointed shoes, with a long shaggy tail and bare feet instead of hands. In her book The Inhabitants of the Faery Land, Catherine M. Briggs describes a particularly nasty breed of devil called the Nukelavi, an animated creature that manifests itself in the valleys of Scotland. It lives in the sea, and rides to land on a horse as disgusting as itself, so that many believe that the Nukelawi and the horse form a single whole. His head is like a human's, only ten times larger, his mouth is like a pig's, and there is no hair on his body at all, because he also has no skin. Nukelawi's breath is fatal to plants and weak animals, so it is often blamed for causing crop failure or causing an animal to fall off a cliff. One old man, who claimed to have once met a nukelavi, describes it as a huge creature without legs, with arms dragging along the ground and a head that was spinning so violently in all its armor that it threatened to come off. The worst thing was that it was as if his skin had been torn off, and yellow veins with clots of black blood snaked through his exposed flesh.

Equally terrifying are the "red hoods", a type of ghost in the Scottish borders. Their appearance is always accompanied by crime, they kill travelers and rinse their red caps in the blood of their victims. High in the mountains live glaistigs, or vampires, who take the form beautiful women who dance with men and suck their blood. Mermen in the form of horses carry unwary riders to the bottom of dark lakes and devour them there.

The complete opposite of this evil evil spirits are the spirits of the forces of nature that live in streams, lakes, forests and mountains. Their job is to take care of the plants. True, among them there are also those who can be scared. This is especially true for those spirits who deal with the primordial and formidable forces of nature, such as wind, storms and earthquakes. Clairvoyant Geoffrey Hodson, who has received many messages from magical creatures that he claims to have seen, describes a higher spirit - the guardian of the mountain - in his book Fairies at Work and Play. "The first impression was that I see a huge shining scarlet figure, resembling bat, staring intently at me with burning eyes, he writes. - He had eyes like a man, and wings that stretched over the mountainside. At first it seemed to me that this radiance occupied several hundred meters of space, but later, when he appeared to me again, I looked closer and could see that his height was 3-3.6 meters."

The magical creatures that appear can have the most different type: From white-clad angels to dark and terrifying monsters. Most of the attire of magical creatures, from the small simple suits of dwarfs and brownies to the sparkling cloaks of the most beautiful fairies, have green. There are also those whose clothes are multi-colored, and some brownies do without clothes at all. Fairies are usually light, graceful and so tiny that they can fit in a flower, and their men are short and repulsive in appearance. Brownies are usually ugly and shaggy, with large open nostrils instead of noses, and ghosts constantly change their shape, tending to take on the most unpleasant appearance.

As can be seen from the stories that are told about magical creatures, they are united by some common features. All fairies have a special interest in procreation, and they usually treat lovers very favorably. They themselves are described as dissolute and promiscuous. Be that as it may, in those few known cases When fairies had children, they were frail and weak. Therefore, fairies have a nasty habit of stealing human babies from the cradles, and instead leaving their changelings - ugly and stupid children. Fairies only occasionally rewarded parents from whom a child was stolen, and, according to legend, they usually humiliated and beat the fairy child. Such cruelty towards the changeling is explained by the fact that they sought to drive him away and regain their own child. But, however, if he returned, it was only after many years. Fairies are probably immortal, but despite this, they are always concerned about replenishing their kind. Therefore, not only babies are kidnapped, but also nursing mothers, so that they can feed their own stunted offspring. They choose their brides from young girls and kidnap them, and also take away strong or skilled young people and force them to work for themselves. There are many versions of one of the most famous fairy tales, which tells of a midwife who was visited one night by a strange elderly couple. They took her to a house where a lovely young woman was giving birth. When the child was born, the old people gave the midwife some kind of ointment and told her to anoint the baby’s eyes and at the same time take care of her own. Either by accident or carelessness, the midwife ignored the warning and touched the ointment to her eyes. At that very moment she appeared before her scary picture: dead mother lying in bed, surrounded by a crowd terrible monsters, and the ugliest of all was that same elderly couple. The midwife hid her fear and reached her home safely. After some time, she met these old men again when they, along with the rest of the werewolves, were stealing goods from stalls at the fair. She called out to them, and the werewolves asked her which eye she saw them with. She answered: both, and then they blew right into her eyes, after which the woman became completely blind.

Fairies do not like people who eavesdrop and spy on them and often punish them with blindness. Not paying attention to the thieves of their fellow tribesmen, they are very harsh with those envious people who are haunted by their magical goods. They treat well those who have a free, open and generous nature, and sometimes visit mortals secretly to test their character. Therefore, if a family wants to please the fairies, they should sometimes leave a jug of milk or a plate of beans on the windowsill for them, or place a bucket in the kitchen clean water so that fairies could bathe their babies in it. Those who neglect such things may be punished with painful cramps.

To thank the fairies, you need to show immoderate generosity, even if it turns out to be ruinous. This does not apply to brownies who help people selflessly. Many stories are told about how some person repaid the fairies for their services with new clothes, which they loved very much, and they disappeared forever. Sometimes they fly like witches, only instead of a broom they have a leaf or a twig.

In fairy stories some are praised famous personalities, such as Queen Mob. She is believed to send dreams; and her height is not more than three-quarters of an inch. The book, published in England in 1588 and entitled "The Amazing Adventures and Careless Jokes of Robin Goodfellow", depicts the image of a wizard, the son of a mortal woman and the magical king Oberon. Some associate Goodfellow's personality with the famous hero of legends, Robin Hood, who wore the green color favored by fairies. William Shakespeare used the images of Robin Goodfellow and other famous magical characters in his plays. Thanks to many writers and poets, magical legends have been preserved for centuries.

Today we are all on friendly terms with the characters of children's fairy tales, but how should we treat documented cases? Looking back into the past, one can find that the earliest mentions of fairies in England are found in chronicles of the 8th or 9th centuries. It's about about Anglo-Saxon spells against magic arrows, which, according to legend, are released by elves and become the cause of many human diseases. These are followed by accounts made by early chroniclers such as Walter Map, who recorded the legend of King Hirla and the fairies in the late 12th century.

The chronicler Gervase of Tilbury, who lived in the early 13th century, was the first to mention tiny fairies measuring only an inch and a half. They were known not only in England, but, apparently, throughout Europe. The legend of Elidor belongs to another chronicler, little boy, who often visited fairies in their underground kingdom, where there was no sun, moon or stars. The fairies were kind and trusted him, and he came to them freely until his mother ordered to steal the golden ball from the son of the king of the elves. When Elidor was returning home with the ball, two elves led him astray, took the ball and disappeared. Since then, Elidor, no matter how hard he tried, could no longer find the magic kingdom.

Early records of stealth werewolves also date back to the Middle Ages. The most famous story is about Malekin, a girl who was stolen from her mother by fairies and had the gift of becoming invisible at will. From time to time Malekin, looking like a little girl in a white cape, would appear near Suffolk in East Anglia. She ate food that was left for her and spoke to the servants in Suffolk dialect. However, if she met a priest, she spoke Latin to him.

Suffolk also became the habitat of the small sad Green Children, brother and sister, found by people at the entrance to a cave. Although they looked human, their skin appeared completely green and their speech was incomprehensible. Crying and hungry, they nevertheless refused to eat until they were offered beans - the favorite food of fairies, and more for a long time then they ate nothing else. The Green Boy eventually withered away and died, but his sister gradually became accustomed to human food and parted ways with green. According to her, they came from the Land of Twilight, but got lost in the caves and were exhausted from the heat and bright sunlight. The Green Girl grew up and married a local man, but was known for her "loose and dissolute behavior."

The incident with the Green Children "happened" in the middle of the 12th century and was recorded by chroniclers as documentary fact. Then, in the mists of time, eyewitnesses of magical events were encountered much more often, especially in remote places countries.

But in modern times, a much more remarkable confirmation of the existence of fairies was made when Francis Griffiths and Elsie Wright photographed elves and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article about it. No matter how incredible this incident may seem, it remains uncontested to this day. Let's go back to 1920 and see what was hidden under the title "Epic Event Photographed by Fairies."

In the summer of 1917, ten-year-old Frances Griffiths arrived from South Africa to the village of Cottingley in Yorkshire to visit his cousin, thirteen-year-old Elsie Wright. Behind Elsie's house there began a beautiful wild valley where streams flowed. The valley soon became the girls' favorite place; they assured that they met elves there and played with them. Of course, Elsie's parents did not take the girls' stories seriously, but one day, when Elsie begged them for the hundredth time to give her the opportunity to prove that she was telling the truth, Mr. Wright allowed her to take his new photographic camera. He inserted the record inside, set up the camera, and taught Elsie how to use it.

An hour later the girls returned home, and Arthur Wright took out the record. It clearly showed Frances Griffiths holding her chin in her hand, around whom small, butterfly-like elves danced and cavorted.

Amazed but not convinced, Mr. Wright charged the camera again and gave it to the girls. This time the photo was of Elsie, and little winged gnomes, dressed in tights and pointy shoes, were frolicking on her lap.

The Wrights suggested that the girls used cut-out figures. Elsie's father walked around the entire valley looking for scraps of paper or pieces of cardboard, but found nothing. There was also no evidence found in the girls' room. The parents, confident in their deception, were nevertheless surprised by the tenacity with which the girls defended their innocence. The girls were no longer given a camera, and two photographs went on the shelf, where they remained for three years.

In 1920, Mrs. Wright attended a lecture. The lecturer mentioned fairies and Mrs. Wright told him about those two photographs. As a result, the pictures were sent to Edward L. Gardner, a member of the occult organization known as the Theosophical Society, who was particularly interested in so-called spiritualist photographs. At first, Gardner, who was not interested in the photographs, had them checked by a professional photographer and expert in photo forgery, Henry Spelling.

Snelling declared that both photographs were genuine. “These two negatives are completely genuine and unadulterated photographs taken outdoors at the same exposure, there is movement in all the magical figures and there is no trace of studio work using paper or cardboard models, darkened backgrounds, painted figures or the like. I believe both of these photographs are absolutely authentic."

And then the opportunity presented itself for Sir Arthur to strengthen his reputation as a mystery writer. Conan Doyle. He was planning to write an article about fairy tales for the Christmas issue of a magazine and thought he could illustrate it with photographs. But above all, he needed additional proof of their authenticity. The negatives were sent to Kodak for verification. They also said that they did not see any traces of forgery, although they did not exclude such a possibility.

Despite the fact that it has been standing for two weeks bad weather, the girls took three more photographs. On each were tiny figures of elves. The photographic company pre-labeled its branded plates, and subsequent analysis did not reveal any fraud. Gardner was satisfied. He emphasized that Wright did not want any fuss and insisted that Conan Doyle's article not use their real names, and also refused payment for photographs. He also pointed out the fact that forgery would require considerable time and professional skill, far beyond the capabilities of an amateur photographer.

Based on Gardner's report, Conan Doyle published his sensational article. It was followed in March 1921 by another article, and later by a book entitled The Coming of the Fairies. But Doyle himself had never been to Cottingles or spoken to the girls. One of those who went there was the clairvoyant Geoffrey Hodson. After several weeks, he was completely convinced of the girls' honesty. Together with Gardner, he came to the conclusion that the girls were clairvoyants, and Francis was such an exceptional medium that the elves, using her ectoplasm (a special substance inherent in mediums), were able to materialize in front of the camera.

Today's skeptic, looking at photographs, will not hesitate to declare that they are faked. The magical figures fully correspond to the traditional idea of elves, right down to the very tips of their transparent wings, and are even combed in 1920 fashion. On the first, most famous photograph Frances looks straight ahead, apparently not noticing the small creatures frolicking in front of her. Elsie's hand in another photo looks rather strange - unusually large and twisted at the wrist. And although the girls continued to see elves and claimed that the valley was simply teeming with magical creatures, they never brought any new photographs.

Were there elements of adult self-deception in the whole story described here? Critics point to factors such as Gardner's deep interest in research paranormal phenomena; Mr. Wright was a theosophist and, finally, with all his reputation as a man famous for his logical abilities, Conan Doyle recently became a spiritualist, turning to this faith after experiencing the shock caused by the death of his beloved son. Do these facts mean that they simply sought to believe in the Cottingley fairies?

Gardner vehemently denied this possibility, citing completely unexpected evidence obtained a year after Conan Doyle published the article. A friend of Frances Griffiths from South Africa printed copies of the first photograph, which, as it turned out, Frances sent her in a letter back in 1917. The point was not only that there were still several years left before the publication of the article, but also that in this letter references to fairies are contained in a few simple and ordinary phrases and go along with stories about parents, about dolls and one more thing. Photography by Frances. This supported Gardner's assertions that it was not unusual for Frances to be surrounded by fairies. According to Elsie Wright, Frances was much more interested in the opportunity to get her photo than the elves, whom she could already see every day. Gardner attributed the unusual appearance of Elsie's hand to the fact that she has disproportionately long fingers and hands, and the appearance of the elves, which suspiciously corresponded to the popular idea of their typical appearance, to the fact that they materialize exactly in the form in which children and peasants expect to see them , because this type is the most preferable or attractive for them. “It would be strange if they looked any different,” Gardner said.

Conan Doyle and Gardner believed that after 1920 the girls did not take other photographs because, having matured, they had lost the gullibility and innocence characteristic of childhood. Despite the fact that they remained extraordinary mediums, Francis's ectoplasm could no longer be used by the elves for materialization, which means they could no longer be photographed. Conan Doyle wrote that "the onset of the period of maturation often proves fatal to psychic energy." According to Gardner, these photographs were obtained through an exceptionally rare combination of circumstances and people in Cottingles. Some previous attempts to photograph magical creatures had indeed been successful, but they could not even be compared with the amazing results obtained by Elsie and Francis.

In present-day Cottingley there is a road bearing the magical name of Fairy Valley and reminiscent of a completely inexplicable phenomenon that became a sensation of the 20th century. Despite the enormous popularity that Wright never managed to escape, no one has yet completely refuted the authenticity of the photographs. Fraud in this situation would mean that the Wright family, like any other, could easily deceive professional experts.

What if the photos were doctored after all? Can fairies even exist? Nowadays it is often repeated that modern city dwellers have lost the original purity of perception to such phenomena. This flexibility of the psyche in to a greater extent, than the rest, were preserved by villagers and children. However, perhaps village people are more simple-minded, and children are more prone to fantasies than to concentration. In remote corners of the country, to this day, people are just as susceptible to the influence of ancient magical legends as Haitian children are subject to the prejudices of the voodoo in whose atmosphere they grow up. Greater persuasiveness of fairy stories is achieved by emphasizing the specific features inherent in a particular area. For example, in Irish fairy tales, popular dances there to the music of bagpipes are often mentioned. In one of the tales, a woman who lived with the fairies for seven years appears again without her toes, because she In many Celtic regions, anything that appears suddenly or inexplicably is called magical: a random mound becomes a magical mound, a dust whirlwind becomes a magical wind, a strong and unexpected feeling of hunger becomes a devilish appetite, and, finally, even a rainbow indicates witchcraft hidden in the ground. gold.

In most cases, eyewitness testimony is the result of delusion, when people are mistaken, mistaking some things for completely different ones. Sometimes the explanations are simple, as, for example, in the case of the ghost of the White Lady appearing at night, which turned out to be an ordinary swan.

Nevertheless, supporters of belief in fairies continue to stubbornly defend their point of view, including an expert in the field of magical legends, Dr. McManus. He cites as evidence the example of the magical Black Dog, popular in our century - a terrifying version of the evil spirits known in Ireland, which takes the form of animals. This dog, always pitch black, has human eyes and a grinning mouth. One old man told McManus that few people dared to cross the bridge after midnight for fear of the Black Dog. Wanting to check this out, McManus discovered many locals who agreed with the old man's words. One of them reported how, having stopped to pump up a bicycle tire, he saw a huge black dog that jumped over the fence and stood right in front of him. Without any doubt about its magical origin, he quickly began to read a prayer and rushed away as fast as the flat tire would allow.

This immediate perception of the Black Dog as a mystical creature shows how deeply rooted prejudices are. Even McManus himself did not agree that the dog could be just a stray black Labrador, arguing that if it were so, then people would easily recognize it as an ordinary animal, because this breed widespread in those places.

He also denied any connection of this phenomenon with the prevailing belief that the Black Dog is a relative of witches, although this kind of information from the field of black magic can perfectly explain the fear of the appearance of the Black Dog and other mysterious creatures. Many people are confident that such creatures are intelligent creatures of black magic. It is reliably known that European ritual magic of the 16th - 17th centuries was replete with spells of supernatural beings and spirits of the forces of nature. One of these creatures, called elementals, is described by Geoffrey Hodson as follows: “Completely black, with characteristic satanic features in appearance, it looked more like a real devil than anything I had ever seen ... It was an elemental left over from ancient magical rituals. At that distant time, he was a free and sinister demon in the form of a giant vampire. A group of priests brought him to life and used him to carry out their dark plans."

In the Middle Ages, almost everyone believed in fairies, and the church considered them to be fallen angels, defeated by God, but continuing to challenge him. Many priests directly called fairies “demons and devils from hell.” The Irish found more comprehensive and forgiving explanations for the appearance of the little people. According to today's thinking in Ireland, fairies are indeed fallen angels, deceived by Satan, who are not good enough to remain in heaven, but not bad enough to be cast into hell. God threw them from heaven so that the worst fell into underground caves and became gnomes and goblins, others fell into forests and waters and turned into elves and nature spirits, and those who fell near human habitation became brownies.

Some believe that fairies stand somewhere between humans and angels, and call them "animate animals." Others consider them more like people, standing at a higher stage of development compared to the others. There are those who claim that fairies are the souls of dead people who cannot be saved or defeated and are not suitable for either heaven or hell, the souls of those who died without repentance or who accepted a violent death (the latter assumption often explains the attraction of spirits to spiritualists) . In other words, we are moving into a world of ghosts.

It is common in Irish tradition to place some fairies in the "kingdom of the dead." Elsewhere, fairies are also often thought of as ghosts, especially the ghosts of long-dead pagans. In her book Fairies in Literature and Culture, Katherine Briggs quotes a popular fairy story about a man who was forced into a fairyland and later had this to say about his captors: "They are completely insensitive; the last thing they need in their present existence is memories of what touched them when they were still mortal - probably thousands of years ago."

Serious researchers of magical beliefs suggest that in fact fairies are only a memory preserved by people of what once existed. ancient race, a small people who, from time immemorial, lived in the territory present France. Defeated and driven into shelters, they were forced to live in caves and on hills, only daring to go out at night. Their position made fairies skilled at stealing grain, milk, livestock and even brides - that is, everything that, as legends say, fairies steal.

Traces of other sources of existence for fairies go even further back into the past - to the deities and spirits who were worshiped in pagan times. It is very likely that the ancestors of the spirits of the forces of nature were the ancient spirits of rivers and forests. People who were buried under their own houses could be considered powerful spirits who provided protection to a given family. Katherine Briggs believes that the typical idea of small in stature Most fairies come from the primitive belief that the soul is a tiny creature that curls up in the mouth of the sleeper and brings dreams to him.

The word "fairy" comes from the Latin word "fate", meaning "divine guardian of human destiny." In past times, they were believed to sit over the cradle of a newborn, like the fairy godmother from the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Nymphs and other minor deities turned into fairies, and many consider the beautiful Dan 0 "Shi to be half-forgotten Irish deities. The Irish poet W. B. Yeats, who enthusiastically wrote about magical traditions, called fairies earthly gods. He considered them immortal and happily quoted one elderly a lady who once told him that she did not believe in hell, “invented by priests,” or in ghosts, “who should not be allowed to wander the earth just because they want to,” but believes in “fairies, and little dwarfs, and water horses, and fallen angels."

Many poets and occult writers of all times and countries were convinced that the visible world is surrounded by a multitude of invisible intelligent creatures, “coming not from heaven, but from earth, not having a constant form, but changing it at will or depending on whether who sees them." According to Geoffrey Hodson, "the occultist knows no 'dead matter' - in every cobblestone there is a quivering of life, every stone has its own, however tiny, consciousness. The grass and trees pulsate with the touch of the little workers, whose magnetic bodies serve as the matrix that brings the miracle to life growth and color."

Hodson and other modern followers of their beliefs, such as Edward Gardner and Lord Dowding, believed that all fairies were spirits of nature, whose task was to pollinate plants and watch over their growth and flowering. Hodson claimed that he saw a growing onion, around which microscopic creatures scurried around, each busy with their own business. More powerful spirits, in his opinion, take care of these humble workers with the necessary care and guide them along the path destined by Nature.

More skeptical researchers call fairies just a figment of our imagination, symbols of fears and repressed desires. They emphasize the presence of themes common to all fairy stories: the powerlessness and despair of a person entangled in the witchcraft web of entire hordes of fairies, or the abduction of a beautiful bride by an evil and disgusting monster.

The reasons for such a persistent belief in fairies are as varied as the fairies themselves. There are probably grains of truth in everything that is said about them. Of course, 99 percent of all evidence is fiction and delusion, but what about the remaining one percent? Can we believe, as Conan Doyle did, that our planet is inhabited by myriads of invisible creatures, flickering before us? eyes closed? Or has the ointment of civilization made us forever blind to the dreams and nightmares of the Magic Land?

Do you believe in fairies? What do you say about these photographs?

The remains of an unidentified creature could be...a fairy?!

Such mysterious creatures as fairies are mentioned in many legends. According to legend, these creatures live in flower meadows and in the shade of dense forests. They can appear to a person and even speak to him. But in order to understand that there is truly a fairy-tale creature in front of you, you should know what real fairies look like, how they behave and whether there is a need to be afraid of meeting them.

What does a fairy look like?

According to legends, a fairy is a beautiful girl with shiny wings on her back. The height of these beauties is not great and rarely exceeds 15 cm. They can be either smartly dressed or without a dress at all. Their appearance and the way she speaks and moves can charm anyone.

You can often find information that fairies can be very playful. They are not averse to making fun of a person and making him nervous. True, there is no need to be afraid of them; according to legend, fairies do not bring misfortune to a person and cannot do anything bad to him.

What does the fairy queen look like?

These fairy-tale creatures are also led by a fairy. It’s easy to find out that it’s the queen who’s standing in front of you. Her head will be crowned with a tiara, and her dress will be more elegant than that of the other fairies. The queen, along with other beauties, participates in man-playing, and can often lead these fun.

Such a fairy lives in the very beautiful flower in the clearing. It is believed that her home may be in a rose, because crowned person It’s fitting to live only in a royal flower.

What do fairies look like in real life?

These are one of the few fairy-tale creatures that do not change their appearance in the presence of a person. If anyone happens to see a fairy, she will look exactly as described above. Therefore, it will be easy to recognize her, because it is extremely difficult not to notice the miniature girl with wings behind her back.