#FaeBeliefsThatNeedToStop

[mordigen]

“Fae” tendencies and tropes that need to be stopped

On this Halloween day, I am drawn once again to a problem I have always taken issue with. 

As I have been indulging in forums, groups, chats and the like since Quarantine has taken over our lives - I have come across a common theme, that, frankly, I never realized was a real thing outside of Fantasy canon and DnD. And now as everyone is preparing their Samhain rites, a common thread seems to have approached, again, on the matter:

The Fae are evil. The Fae are killed/scared of iron. 

And as I discovered how absolutely widespread this theory was, in light of a recent...faux pas? Of a certain collection of people “hexing” the moon, and planning to hex the Fae. And as the obnoxious (or possibly hilarious) revolt of the internet reacted, it culminated into a long-standing issue I have had with theories, folklores, and myths of the “Fae”.

Firstly, and most generally, what is the definition of “Fae”?  For me, in my faith - it is the ancestral demi-gods that have been driven underground, and live betwixt and between this realm and the Otherworld.  

But I have heard “Faes” described as, literally, anything and everything that is a humanoid ethereal and/or fantasy creature. Faeries, fairies, pixies, nymphs, sprites, spirits, brownies, gnomes, elves, elementals.  Just about anything and everything can fall under the umbrella of “Fae” - and this just seems problematic, and inaccurate.  Where did this come from? How did this happen?

My incessant googling as offered up little more than a flabbergasted shrug, unfortunately. There seems to be no collective answer to this - it just sorta happened. Well, great. 

The issue I take with this is that, in my culture and faith - which seems to be the very rarely disputed “origin” of the term, at least, if not the general idea of Otherworldly beings - they are a very specific thing, and are very much their own, defined, beings - Species, I guess you could qualify it as. And in the same vein, each and every one of the other hodge-podge of creatures that can be clumped together under the ‘Fae’ term are ALSO each their own very distinctive, individual and different beings, that have their own tales, histories and mythos that define them. Each unique and significant, if not similar to one another. But similarity does not make them the same being. Similarity does not even make them the same species. So why do they get lumped together?

The best common thread I can come up with seems to be : Christianized Fear. That may sound harsh - but it seems to be the common thread that the Christian community that was moving into these Pagan-dominated regions seemed to clump all these smaller, lesser, various foreign ideas, peoples and beliefs they didn’t quite understand and could accurately differentiate together as varying pieces of the same greater “thing”, thusly muddying up each of their distinct origins and histories and cultures. Anything that wasn’t Christian, was ‘otherly’ - and anything that was ‘otherly’ was Fae. End of story.  And I guess the idea just spread, and stuck over all the generations. 

Secondly - Why are they evil??? I get the Christian concept of presenting these Otherworldly beings as evil. It is nearly self exaplanatory - but why do WE as Pagans, still adhere to the idea that they are Evil ?? If they are beings, just like any other beings in the universe, then they are capable of individualism just like every other living creature out there - some are good, some are bad, the collective WHOLE is never just one or the other. So why is this story so pervasive - especially in groups of various faiths that hold reverence towards these people, if not some that flat-out worship them? 

I, personally, think this is just flat-out wrong. As in inaccurate, not as in immoral, just to clarify. Again - sure, some of them could be evil. Absolutely. Just like some people are evil - but that doesn mean all.  So why do we classify them as “all” ? It doesn’t make sense.  

I have asked this questions in groups, to individuals - both pagan and not- and I’m given a collection of very vague, parroted responses like “They’ll kidnap you!” or they’re “Spiteful and vindictive”.  

But, if you read the tales, look at the collective folklore, the instances of purported kidnappings happen to take place while trespassing. And the acts of violence or retribution happen in response to some trangression of humans against the Fae. And if you actually read the tales of “changelings” - it’s clear that changelings aren’t actually a thing. Again, lets reference the Christianized fear, of blaiming things they had trouble comprehending on other things they didn’t understand, and thusly feared. If a child was born with defects or disabilities, it was a changeline. If there was some mental issue - it was a changeline. If it was the wrong sex that the parents desired - it was a changeline. If it was just ugly - it was a changeling. Not exactly the most compelling cases of legitimate child abductions, if you ask me, that the Fae have consistently been blamed for over the course of centuries.  Well, hell. I’d be a bit bitter and salty towards human kind, too, in that case - but that still doesn’t make them “evil”. In fact....It’d be hard to argue that most of us wouldn’t react in the exact same, or similar (some cases, WORSE) manner if people kept trespassing & disrespecting my property, continued to trick or deceive me, or did not keep up their end of a deal, bargain or trade, and continued to lie and blame me for EVERYTHING that ever went wrong in their lives. In fact, that, to me, is a much better argument that they are very real, sound minded people capable of pain, insult & injury just like anyone else, rather than cases of them being “evil”.

Thirdly. Iron is their kryptonite. Why? How? I can find various passing references of this through many different texts on mythology and folklore back through the 1600s. But absolutely no explanation, or origin, whatsoever. Where did this come from?  I don’t care who you classify the “Fae” to be - all of the many forms and iterations they take ALL...have... S M I T H S in their mythos, culture or canons. They all use weapons, presumably of some form of iron as they have very specific titles and descriptions for those who work in non-ferrous material, such as copperwrights, or silversmiths, etc.  And things such as aluminum and tin just wouldn’t be feasible for weapons or armory, as they are low density, fairly malleable and doesn’t hold an edge well. So why would something they actively use ever be considered a deterrent for them?  This one just baffles me wholly, and I can only assume that it was some sort of snake-oil remedy of some charlatan that they just clung to, and since the vast majority of their “Fae” claims tended to be horrible scape-goating, their superstitious “deterrent” appeared to actually work, and therefore forged itself into immortality, and infamy, for all the generations to come. 

So overall, I just find all of these things just plain - well, weird, to put it bluntly. They just don’t make sense, don’t stand up to scrutiny, and have no real basis of evidence or even reference of how, or why, they came to be. The best we have are some vague theories, reaching at a collection of passing references from an overly superstitious, Christian authority. Hardly the people to have the right to dictate the truth, or facts, of the collective Pagan cultures and faiths. This is why I find all of these things just horribly inaccurate, and personally, I believe it to just be complacent, or pure laziness, to be a Pagan and continue to perpetuate these worn out tropes. 

Do your due diligence. Investigate. Ask questions - and have conviction. Don’t just believe something because it was “told” to you, or because some book says so. Or because it is “just known”. “Collective Intelligence” is a very real psychological phenomenon, and though can be intuitive or benign, is not always a good thing.