The Real World of Fairies is a privileged glimpse into a joyous, animated universe. Dora's enchanting vision of her encounters with the fairy realm delights the child in us, while it excites our grown-up imagination, rekindles our creative energy, and deepens our sense of connection with nature. This new edition features a foreword by Celtic folk expert Caitlin Matthews. Caitlin's personal experiences and deep knowledge of the fairy world resonate brilliantly with Dora's, adding a fresh perspective for contemporary readers. Less than a century ago, particularly in Celtic countries, fairies were not dismissed so much as superstition but rather as a force to be reckoned with. It's curious that activities now attributed to aliens, such as crop circles and abductions, were once considered the ken of fairies; fairies today are merely woodland nymphs of yore by another name. Author and former president of the Theosophical Society Dora Van Gelder was born 95 years ago and saw these little creatures as a child in the northern California redwood forests and woodlands of the Pacific Northwest. One has to wonder at how much change Van Gelder has seen, especially how dreadfully our relationship to the natural world (of which fairies are so much a part) has changed in the second half of the 20th century. At the very least, Van Gelder's matter-of-fact descriptions of the various types of fairies and tree spirits will charm you. And maybe the book will help you to see through the blinders of modern life and into mystical realms. As an added bonus, this second edition of the 1977 classic has a new introduction by Celtic folk expert Caitlín Matthews, which places belief in the fairy realm into fascinating historical perspective. --Randall Cohan Caitlín Matthews is internationally acknowledged for her exposition of Celtic spiritual traditions. She teaches practical applications of the ancestral and shamanic lore of Britain, Ireland and Europe worldwide. She is the author of nearly 50 books. The Real World of Fairies A First-Person Account By Dora van Gelder Theosophical Publishing House Copyright © 1999 Theosophical Publishing House All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8356-0779-7 Contents FOREWORD BY CAITLÍN MATTHEWS, 1 INTRODUCTION TO FAIRY WORLDS, 2 DIALOGUES WITH LITTLE PEOPLE, 3 A TYPICAL FAIRY, 4 FAIRY LIFE, 5 EARTH FAIRIES, 6 GARDEN FAIRIES, 7 TREE SPIRITS, 8 MOUNTAIN FAIRIES, 9 WATER FAIRIES, 10 FIRE FAIRIES, 11 AIR FAIRIES, 12 THE HURRICANE, EPILOGUE: PRESENT CONDITIONS, ROSTER OF FAIRIES, CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO FAIRY WORLDS Many people are willing and even longing to believe in the existence of fairies. The Little People are so bound up with happy memories of childhood that they are recalled with delight as part of a less materialistic world. But, to most of us, they stand as a lost illusion. Not so with everyone, fortunately. For I, amongst others, have seen all kinds of fairies for as long as I can remember, and I still see them daily. By seeing I mean that they are as much outside me as trees and are seen just as objectively. In the following pages I propose to make these delightful beings as much a reality for you as I can. It is best that I try at the outset to make it clear why I have some special advantages for this enterprise. For one thing, having been born in the East, I have never been discouraged in my observations of fairies, because there are many people there who do see—and very many more who believe in—fairies. For this and other reasons, the not uncommon power among children to see them has in me persisted. Then, I have had the good fortune to fall in this life among family and friends who included several who could also see; and travel has enlarged the list. Therefore, what I have here set down is not the imagination of an isolated child. It is information gathered from many contacts and conversations with fairies all over the world in circumstances perfectly natural, however unusual. One can communicate with these beings in just as definite a manner as we human beings talk to one another—more so, for though the method (which I shall describe shortly) is slightly different, it is more rapid than speech, and, in some ways at least, it is a more accurate exchange. It is important to mention these things, for once we see the world from the fairy point of view, we get a glimpse of a new universe. So many things that matter very much to us do not seem to matter at all to them. Life and death, for instance, are things that they know all about; to them there is no uncertainty and no tragedy involved. Human beings so often shrink from life and fear death. Fairies actually see the flow of life through all things. We live in a world of form without understanding the life force beneath the forms. To us the loss of the form means the end of the life, but fairies are never deceived in this way. They have a penetrating and powerful lesson for us. Why