The Fae, commonly known as fairies or faeries, or...to quote Brian Froud: "In centuries past, we've acknowledged them by many traditional names: boggarts, bogles, bocans, bugganes, brownies, blue-caps, banshees, miffies, nippers, nickers, knockers, noggles, lobs, hobs, scrags, ouphs, spunks, spurns, hodge-pochers, moon dancers, puckles, thrumpins, mawkins, gally-trots, and Melsh Dicks". Fairy comes from Faerie (French), Faerie comes from Fa'ae (Gallic), and Fa'ae comes from Fata (Latin, meaning the fates).
Faeries are wonderful, energetic creatures. They can be mischievous, kind, paradoxical, and perplexing. They grow to be very old and therefore very, very wise. Faeries can create mischief in our lives if we intrude upon their realm, for they prefer to remain veiled to avoid contact with humans.
Because faeries are creatures of nature they have favorite plants and trees we call "faery flora". Among these favorites are: Alder, Ash, Blackthorn, Bluebells, Clover (3 Leaved Only), Cowslips, Elder, Forget-Me-Nots, Foxglove, Hawthorn, Hazel, Heather, Jasmine, Oak, Pansies, Peach, Primrose, Rowan, Silver Birch, Toadstools, White Lotus, and Wild Thyme.
How to know if faeries are about:
You see something move out of the corner of your eye but nothing is there...
Small objects disappear, or have been unexplainably moved
Sparks flying from a burning fire...fire faeries
You smell the scent of flowers (or the out doors) when neither are near
You get an unexplained pinch or tingly feeling
You suddenly get chills or goosebumps for no reason...
The goblins in the movie "Labyrinth" with David Bowie...the creatures in the Jim Henson film "The Dark Crystal" (remember the Gelflings and Skeksis?)..."Yoda" in the Star Wars film "The Empire Strikes Back"..."the Muppet Show" and "The Muppet Movie"...countless books...Brian and Wendy Froud are well known for their writing and art devoted to the Fae, so I will start this section out with selections of their works. Froud's official web address is: http://www.faeries.net and well worth a visit. (The interview with Speezle at the bottom of: http://www.faeries.net/faerytale.html had me laughing in tears....)