--- In allplanets-hollow@y..., "Hazel" <lunaticfringe@b...> wrote:
Mike, Where you find Demons, I find Angels, but as we've
mentioned before,
we may both be partially correct (or partially wrong.) I'll read
some Kirk
and Campbell though.
Hazel,
As you no doubt know, many Gaelic folk and fairy beliefs
represent diminished forms of pre-Christian deities and heroes.
If you study the work of serious folklore studies in-depth, like the
work of Evans-Wentz, Katherine Briggs, J.W. Campbell, and
several others, you will find that, seperate from the
highly-romantized, expurgated, and sanitized Victorian versions
of the stories and traditions, the reality presented a much darker
face indeed.
The fairy-folk--even the Tuatha de Danaan--were renowned as
tricksters, deceivers, thieves, abductors and so on. The various
folklorists who met with the common folk of the 19th century, took
their stories first-hand, got the exact meanings and
interpretations and so on, and this left NO doubt as to this
aspect of fairy lore, even among the so-called "trooping" or regal
fairies like the de Danaan. In fact, euphemisms were used for
them out of FEAR of their wrath; hence they were called "the
good neighbors," "the good folk," and so on. This was to
appease beings whose malice was greatly feared and whose
mercurial wrath was easily aroused. Like among the Highland
Scots (see Campbell and Kirk), great lengths were made to
appease or placate the fairies, including the de Danaan. Food
and milk offerings were often left for them, "their" places were
avoided out of fear (called "respect"), and doors and windows
were securely locked or latched at night.
The romantics like Yeats and others, who wrote fanciful dreamy
verses about how wonderful and enlightened and special these
beings were, were creating pure romantic fabrications with little
basis in the reality of folk-belief as believed in by the common
people of the countryside at the time. In fact, Yeats and Lady
Gregory were mostly interested in creating an "Irish
Renaissance," fabricating a "high culture" from the myths and
legends of Ireland's past. A great deal of sanitization, along with
sheer romantic fabrication, was the result.
The Irish Book of Conquests, particularly the Early Mythological
Cycle (the other sections are the Ulster Cycle, Fenian Cycle, and
Historical Cycle), seem to recount the events of real and ancient
beings and human beings, who warred over ownership of
Ireland in antiquity. These beings, successively, were driven
beneath the ground where they dwindled in stature, venturing
forth to prey upon GENETICS from the surface--human
abduction, inbreeding and even marriages, livestock, and
vegetable produce alike. This much is wholly clear from the
serious study of not just the Book of Conquests, but from the
folklore of the common men and women of Ireland, which
fortunately we have thanks to the many days and nights of
tireless efforts of many dedicated folklorists.
Romanticism of terrors is just another way the human mind
seeks to dismiss or alter--or sanitize--unpleasant facts for
mental consumption. The Victorian take on "fairies" and the
supernatural is highly suspect, yet has unfortunately tainted
much of what most people think or know about this subject.
--Mike