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In a famous legend, Madame White was sighted by a young man named Xuxuan who was on his way by ferry to a temple on the bank of West Lake in central China. It was early spring, during the Quing Ming Festival (a time of rememberance of the dead during which many supernatural sightings take place). He was charmed by her, paid her fare, and, as it had begun to rain loaned her his umbrella. Madame White invited him to visit her at home, and soon after his arrival, she gave him many silver pieces, declared her love for him, and even proposed marriage. Unfortunately, when Xuxuan arrived inhis own hometown with the silver, the pieces were discovered to bear treasury marks and he found himself under arrest. He protested his innocence and told the authorities where and how he had acquired the silver. They all went to visit Madame White, but found her "mansion" to be an abandoned ruin. Just as the inspectors entered, the demoness made a flittingly breif but astonishing appearance, then vanished, leaving in her stead the rest of the silver. Xuxuan was exonerated but, perhaps because of his contact with unnatural spirits, was forced to leave his native province to work in a far off place. There, he again ran into Madame White. She persuaded him that the silver incident had been a simple misunderstanding. They married and lived happily for a while. When spring came Xuxuan went again to the temple for the Qing Ming Festival, and there met a Taoist priest. As they stood outside the temple talking Madame White approached on a boat with her maid in blue to bring Xuxuan home. Seeing her, the priest called out: "Demon!" She vanished. So did the boat and the maid. Xuxuan was very upset. The priest told him to go back to his hometown. He did, only to find "Madame White" lying in wait for him as his "wife." By now he was very frightened that at any moment what he now knew to be his supernatural wife would do him harm. He asked the local village priest for help. The priest gave him a bowl and told him to press it on Madame White's head as hard as he could. Xuxuan did and watched as she became smaller and smaller under pressure. When she had shrunk to almost nothing, the priest commanded her to name herself. She confessed that she was a white python who had fallen in love with Xuxuan from a distance, and thus changed into human form to gain his affection. The priest chanted incantations that kept her in the bowl in the form of a small white snake accompanied by a blue fish. They still live under a pagoda near a lake.
In an eerier sighting, again on Quig Ming, another vulnerable young man, Xuanzan, was out by himself passing by the Broken Bridge when he saw a little girl crying. He stopped to help. She said her name was White and she lived by the lake. She had been walking with her grandmother and was now lost. He took the child in. Soon the grandmother showed up, and in gratitude she invited him home for dinner. Home turned out to be an exquisitely furnished grand palace near the temple that he had never noticed before. A beautiful woman dressed all in white came to greet him, saying she was the little girl's mother. They all drank a bit and then it was suggested that Xuanzan should become her new bridegroom. "Yes," she said, "and have the other prepared for an appetizer." So the servants dragged her old lover from a chamber where he had been resting, tore him apart, cut open his belly, and removed his heart and liver. They offered some of this appetizer along with hot wine to Xuanzan. Xuanzan wanted desperately to flee. However, he managed to spend the night with the woman in white and before he noticed a month had passed. At this point a new groom arrived. Xuanzan knew he was slated for vivisection, but he was saved by the little grandaughter. She flew him home, for she had certain magical powers. Unfortunately this was not the end of it. Next Qing Ming Festival, it happened again. It was not that Xuanzan was guilible or that he did not learn from experience, it was a case of holiday possession. He was again saved by the skin of his teeth. But this time the demon woman in white was furious. She turned up at his home and claimed he owed her his heart and liver. Fortunately, Xuanzan's uncle was a Taoist preist and realized his nephew was under attack. He recited incantations, burned incense, and successfully exorcised the demonic creatures.
Japan
Late one afternoon, a young boy was swimming with his friends. He was much too far out and the sea was rough in the rising winds. The other boys tried to warn him, but he only laughed. Then suddenly, he disappeared beneath the pounding surf. Whe he came up he was no longer laughing, and he seemed caught somehow. But by what? In the fading light they could barely see him and they ran off to tell his father. "He's drowing!" they shouted, and they all ran back to show him the spot. But now the waters were dark and oddly still and the boy was no longer there. Devestated, the boy's father plunged into the water. Deeper and deeper he went, the water crushing his chest as he searched for his son. At the very bottom he saw a long shadowy form resting among the seagrass and mounds of shells. He drifted closer. it seemed to be a strange house, all covered with mysterious carvings, with no windows; it was a long, low dwelling that might hold several families. He circled the house in search of the entrance until he came to a door, and attached to the door hung the body of his drowned child. Shaken, he went inside. The house was empty but for a very old and frail woman who say just inside the doorway. "Show me the people who stole my son!" he demanded. The old woman decided to help him. She said, "This is the home of the Ponaturi. Do as I tell you if you want to avenge your son's death. First, cover all the cracks in the house and then hide yourself well." The father of the drowned boy did as he was told. When, near dawn, the Ponaturi returned, he began to leave his hiding place to go after them, but the woman held her hand out. "Wait," she whispered. "The Ponaturi do not know that the cracks of their house are covered, and when the new day is at its brightest they will be tricked into thinking it is night. The light of the sun will kill them instantly. The Ponaturi were soon fast asleep, and after a few hours the father made a loud noise. The chief was the first to awaken, and asked if it was still day. The old woman replied, "No, you have slept long and it is nearly night." The chief said, "I will sleep a few more hours because I am still tired. Wake me then." When the sun was high in the sky, the old woman awakened the Ponaturi in the darkened house. The chief asked, "What time is it now?" And the old woman answered, "It is time for you to get to work" When all the terrible fairies had gathered to leave, the father crept out of his hiding place, and opened the door very wide. The Ponaturi burst thorugh the doorway and shot upward to the surface of the water. Powerful rays of sunlight flooded the house, and instantly they all died, swallowed by the light of the new day. The father bid the old woman good-bye. He tore the terrible dore to the house of the sea fairies from its hinges and took it with him. When he returned to the shore the villagers looked at the door in wonder: it held a wood carving so like his drowned child that it moved them to tears. It is said that from this tragic drowning and from the brave father's descent to the dwelling of demons, the art of carving was transmitted to the Maori people.
New Zealand
The Huldrefolk live very much like Homo sapiens in their parallel universe. They get married, have offspring, own homes, farms, and businesses. The Huldrefolk are said to be Adam's chidlren, by his first wife Lilith. It is said that when the Lord unexpectedly dropped by and asked Eve to show him the children, she hid Lilith's. The Lord asked her if she had shown him all the children. She said yes and he replied, "Let those not revealed remain concealed." This is why the Huldrefolk are still hidden from our view.
Norway
Once a man's wife was carried off by a Patupairehe. The man searched everywhere but could only find her footprints which led far away into the hills. He asked the village wise man for help. The wise man performed secret ceremonies to cause the kidnapped woman to remember her human husband (for in the fairy world, humans never remember their ordinary lives), and told the man to rub his house all over with red ochre, put some food on the fire, and wait. Meanwhile, in the mountains, the wife was affected by the wise man's magic, and she began to long for her human husband so much that she wandered from the fairy hills and headed for home. The Patupairehe chief noticed she was missing and went after her. He followed her footprints until he came to the village. Aghast, he saw her hut covered with red ochre and smelled home cooking. Naturally, these sights and odors were Patupairehe repellents that set the fairy running back to his foggy mountain home. The man and his wife lived happily ever after.
One day a man passed a spot on the beach where he saw the remains of fish that people had apparently been cleaning. Thinking it odd that anybody would abandon a catch, he looked around for the fishermen. The beach was deserted. When he looked closely at the footprints he saw they were faint, as if they'd been made the night before. He wondered if the fishermen were spirits who had been forced to leave because of the approach of daylight. The man decided to return to the spot that night to see if the mysterious fishermen would return. At midnight he hid and watched from nearby. There they were, the Patupairhe, throwing their magic net to catch fish. As they worked, the man unobtrusively joined them. He was paler than most men, almost as pale as the fairies, so they didn't noice him. He worked among them all night and learned how to throw the spirits' nets. Before dawn, the fairies started to collect their catch and bring in the net. They worked quickly, eager to finish while it was still dark. Each fairy ran a string through the gills of the fish he claimed. The man kept up with them, collecting fish for himself, but his string seemed too short, and the fish would not stay on when tied. Seeing his difficulty, the fairies helped him and soon taught him how to string fish. Just before dawn some Patupairhe realized that they had been working with a human. At this discover immediate confusion and argument ensued, but the sun had begun to rise, so they had to vanish. In their haste they left everything behind. The man escaped safely in the morning sunlight and he kept the fairy net. This was how the Maori learned to make fishing nets and string fish and become great fishermen.
New Zealand
Once on a dark evening, a young man attempted to cross the hills. He had lost his way just before sunset, and by nightfall was trapped in the middle of nowhere. He knew he was many miles from where he was supposed to be, and had no light to guide him. He decided to stop for the night to avoid getting even more lost. As he was about to sit down, he saw a flickering light in the distance. Thinking it might be the house of a sheperd, he walked in that direction. When he finally reached the light he saw a small hut, with a roof of thick sod. He enetered. Between two stones, there was a small fire on the floor that he was most happy to see. Near the fire was a pile of kindling and on the other side two huge logs. The traveler put some small sticks on the fire and lay down to rest. But soon as he had begun to doze off, the door opened and a tiny man entered silently and stared darkly at the intruder. The man stared back and knew he was looking at one of the infamous Duergars, and that under no condition should he offend him. Everybody knew that the Duergar had a hair-trigger temper and could do great damage when enraged. So the sensible young man kept still and did nothing but stare back at the scowling creature, keeping his gaze as neutral as possible. The fire died down and the man grew cold but dared not move. Finally he began shivering and had to put some twigs on the fire. No sooner had he finished than the tiny Duergar picked up one of the huge logs, fours times his size, and with a meaningful glance at the young man broke it in two like a toothpick. Clearly, this was a silent challenge to the man to break the other log, but instead, he remained motionless for the rest of the night. When daylight came, the Duergar vanished, as most demons do. The hut and fire also disappeared. The traveler now saw that he was perched on the edge of a stepp precipice. If he had leaned over to grab the "log" as the Duergar intended him to do, he would have certainly fallen to his death and not lived to see the daylight.
Great Britian
A Skoggra has so enchanted a hunter that he made his way nightly into the dangerous woods for a tryst. But with each passing day he returned home looking paler, more tormented and haggard, until his friends decided something had to be done. They pleaded with him not to succumb, and the next night they held him back and struggled with him as the forest spirit called and called. They sat on him and held him down. When he hadn't gone to her by the following night the Skoggra came to get him; closer and closer she sidled, calling to him as his friends held him tightly. He frothed at the mouth and was so out of control that finally his best friend went out with a gun and aimed it at the spirit. A shot rang out and she fell to the ground. Immediately all the other Skoggra manifested from the darkness of leaves and branches. They sadly picked her up and carried her back into the forest. The man who shot her lost his eye, the vey one with which he'd found her through his target sight. The eye simply vanished. But he felt that it was worth the loss to save the life of his friend.
Sweden
Long ago, when the Mimi were not as utterly invisible as they are now, special people could see them, and one man was even invited to visit the camp of the Mimi. Food and women were offered to him, but he knew that if he accepted, he might turn into a Mimi spirit himself. He waited until the Mimi were asleep, then he escaped and ran back to his human camp. He could hear the angry Mimi call out to him. He told everybody of his encounter. He apparently learned magical things from the Mimi, because he became one of the first powerful Aboriginal healers.
Arnhem Land, Australia
A woman who suspected her child might be a Changeling was so upset she didn't know what to do. She just knew that the weird-looking thing in her house was not her own sweet babe. She told her neighbour about her suspicions and the neighbour gave her some advice. She sat the baby down in a chair in the kitchen, and then she carefully boiled some water and then threw in eggshells, discarding the eggs. The Changeling suddenly asked; "What are you brewing?" Of course, the spoken words themselves were advanced enought to send a chill through the mother. "I'm brewing eggshells!" she replied calmly as she could. "Oh!" the Changeling exclaimed, "In the fifteen hundred years that I have been alive, I have never seen anyone brew eggshells before!" When the mother then turned to destory the now proven supernatural creature, she found instead her own innocent babe asleep in its place.
Great Britian
One morning a young man was carrying a load of vegetables across a field with several companions. All of a sudden he seemed struck by some force that froze him in midstep. He dropped his baskets and at once began to rave like a madman. Soon the whole village was talking about the incident. The young man claimed to be possessed by a Fox Fairy. When a person is possed by a huli jing he not only becomes a raving maniac, he gains the power to heal. This young man was suddenly able to sure diseases. People came from all over, begging to be cured. Word of his powers spread and people came from afar. He grew so wealthy that he erected a beautiful shrine to the Fox Fairy.
Once there was a wealthy man living in northern Chine. He had a large, ever-growing pile of straw in his yard that was left untouched by his servants, who only added more fresh straw as it was believed to be the abode of the Fox Fairy. One day the spirit, in the shape of an old man, came to the master of the house and invited him into the straw pile for a drink. The man at first refused, but when he finally consented and went through the hole in the straw, he was astonished to find that in the simple straw there were elaborate rooms, furnished luxuriously. The two sat down to drink tea and wine, and later, when the rich man left, he turned to say farewll only to find that all the furnishings had vanished. The Fox Fairy, up to mischief, continued to visit his neighbor in the old man guise and would leave suddenly for "other engagements." Burning with curiousity, the rich man asked him where he went each night and the demon answered that at night he usually visited friends and asked if his neighbor would like to join him. After declining at first, the rich man decided to go. That night they flew through the air like a gust of wind and arrived at an inn. There the "old man" led his victim to the gallery above a large and crowded room, and went himself to fetch food from the banquet table below to eat in the quiet gallery. When the rich man spotted some fruit on a table below, he asked for some. The Fox Fair said, "I cannot get them for I cannot go anywhere near that man who's standing near the fruit, as he is a very good and upright man." The rich man suddenly realized that he might not be an upright man since he consorted with a Fox Fairy, and he determined not to involve himself with such spirits any longer. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he seemed to fall from the gallery and crashed into the party beneath. The guests at the banquet were astonished to see him, especially because there was no gallery above, only a wooden rafter. At first they thought him a malevolent spirit, but when he explained how he had arrived, they all recognized it was Fox Fairy mischief. They gave him money to return to his home, which turned out to be more than a thousand li away.
China
Once a man saw a packet of silver lying on the road and knew it was a Kitchen Fairy, but could resist the money, so he grabbed it and went to the river (they can't cross water). The Fairy had leaped on his hat, so he threw the hat into the water and left with the silver. He grew rich. Meanwhile the hat was found by a passerby and hung to dry on a tree branch. The tree withered. Much later the rich man went to sit near that very tree, and when asked why the tree was so withered, he laughingly told the old story of the Kitchen Fairy, the hat, and the silver. Unfortunately the spirit was still there, invisible, and overheard the tale. Infuriated it jumped on the man and ate his soul. The man withered and died.
China
Once there was a young man who one morning put on a new pair of sandals that he had never seen before. He went out walking and found himself singing a new tune. Befoe long, there appeared three beautiful women beckoning him to join them in a dance. Naturally, he was delighted to do as they asked, and it wasn't until many hours later that a neighbor passed by and saw him twirling around by himself in a field. "For the love of God," shouted the neighbor, "what are you doing!" At the word "God," the young man fell down dumbstruck. The neighbor ran over and looked at the poor young man lying there. He saw that the new sandals were worn away and the soles of his feet were already quite bloody. It wasn't until much later that the lad recovered from the incident that he'd brought on himself by donning enchanted sandals and thus stepping into the platter of the Fair Lady.
Hungary
There was a Nisse who gave all his attention to his favorite black horse. This horse grew fatter and sleeker than the other horses and its coat was better groomed. The farmer grew angry at the stable boy and accused him of neglecting all the horses but one. "That's not me," said the boy. "That's the Nisse!" That evening, after the horses had been fed, the farmer went down to the barn to see for himself. Indeed, the black horse had been fed extra hay, so the farmer angrily took some of it and threw it to the side, whereupon he got a quick, powerful blow to the head that knocked him to the ground. No visible being was around! After that, the horse was allowed to eat all that he receieved, and the farmer never complained again.
Once a girl was on her way to feed the family Nisse, and instead sat down to eat the good sweet porriage herself. When at last she brought his offering, he noticed she'd replaced the good food with plain porriage and sour milk, served up in a pig's trough. The invisible Nisse grabbed the girl and began to dance with her. He danced faster and faster throughout the night until she was gasping for air. While dancing, he sang: "If the Nisse's porriage you did steal, the Nisse will dance until you reel!" The girl nearly died by morning.
Norway
Fairy Books
Brian Froud
Faeries
Good Faeries/Bad Faeries
Faerie Oracle
Winter Child
Pressed Fairy Book
Suza Scalora
The Fairies
The Witches & Wizards Of Oberon
Gossamer Penwyche
World Of Fairies
Edain McCoy
Witches Guide To Faerie Folk
RJ Stewart
Living World Of Faery
Pieree Dubois
Great Encyclopedia Of Fairies
Amber Wolfe
Elemental Power: Celtic Faerie Craft & Druidic Magic
Ted Andrews
Enchantment Of The Faery Realm
WY Evans-Wentz
The Fairy Faith In Celtic Countries
Geoffrey Hudson
Fairies At Work And At Play
Thomas Keightley
The World Guide To Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, And Other Little People
The Fairy Mythology
Jeff Rovin
The Fantasy Almanac
Jack Zipes
The Complete Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm
Nancy Arrowsmith and George Moorse
A Field Guide To The Little People
Katherine Briggs
The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore And Legends
The Fairies In Traditions And Literature
Scott Cunningham
Earth Powers: Techniques Of Natural Magic
Earth, Air, Fire, And Water: More Techniques Of Natural Magic
(Both of these books have spells which are easy to adapt for working with fairies.)
Tor Age Bringsvaerd
Phantoms And Fairies From Norweigen Folklore
Thomas Crofton Croken
Fairy Legends And Traditions Of The South Of Ireland
George Douglas
Scottish Fairy And Folktales
Alexander Porteous
Forest Folklore, Mythology And Romance
Moss Roberts
Chinese Fairytales And Fantasies
WB Yeats
Fairy And Folk Tales Of The Irish Peasantry
Steve Szilagyi
Photographing Fairies
(Also a movie.)
Laurell K Hamilton
A Kiss Of Shadows
Bronwyn Carton and John Ney Reiber
The Books Of Faerie: Auberon's Tale
Cicely Mary Barker
Flower Fairies Of The Trees
Flower Fairies Of The Gardens
Flower Fairy Of The Wayside
Flower Fairy Alphabet
Lee Bennett Hopkins
Elves, Fairies, And Gnomes
Hugh Mayne
Faerie Way
Patricia Telesco
Dancing With Devas
Richard Murphy and Time Appenzeller
Fairies And Elves
Fairy Music
Fairy Of The Woods By Gary Stadler
Fairy Nigtsongs By Gary Stadler
Earth Magic By Lady Pythia
Faeries, Dreams & Other Friends By Elaine Silver
Faerie Goddess By Elaine Silver
Into The Woodland By Woodland
Enchated Forest By Jerry Marchand
Fairy Ring By Mike Rowland
Avalon Rising By Avalon Rising
Princess Of Flowers By Margaret Davis
Terra Firma By The Changelings
The Mask And The Mirror By Loreena McKennit
The Land Of Fairies By Darragh Nagle
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