Another delve into the original interview recordings I made in early 2017 when the Modern Fairy Sightings Project first launched. Mark Norman and I were at the time researching for the Devon chapter in Simon Young’s book Magical Folk.
One particular woman responded to a poster I’d pinned up in Dartmoor, calling for people to contact with their fairy encounters! We spoke about her family history with fairies and her own understandings of the Otherworld.
In the bonus episode on Patreon, we explore 20th century Dartmoor folklore by Theo Brown, which mentions a few stories of sightings in Postbridge, not far from Bovey Tracey, where our guest had lived.
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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older. This show is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
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Contact me at: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
If you love the show and want support it and join our loving community you can find us at Patreon
I speak with paranormal investigator, Kate ‘Hare Girl’ Ray from her excellent YouTube podcast show, Hare in the Hawthorn.
Originally hailing from Nottingham, Kate has a particular interest in the Wollaton Gnomes case, and is a published author on the subject. She also writes for Haunted Magazine and creates magnificent mushroom-related art pieces in her spare time!
Kate shares a gnome encounter that took place in her teens at the Uffington White Horse and describes the time she acted as a mediator between a troubled home owner and an angry French Fae being, for the TV show Help my House is Haunted. We also discuss the strange potency of this time we are living through.
In the bonus episode waiting for you on Patreon, Kate shares a shocking experience which left her terrified but offered a greater understanding and respect for the Fae. Join us there for access to a whole back catalogue of bonus episodes.
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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older. This show is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
Shownotes
In the main episode, Kate describes a being she saw on the way down to Wayland Smithy from the Uffington Horse. Here’s what she created in its likeness:
Likeness of a Fairy Being seen by Kate Ray in the bushes near Wayland SmithyBy Kate HareGirl Ray of Hare in the Hawthorn
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A multiple witness sighting of a walking tree trunk in the grounds of a university in Brazil, in around 1999/2000.
A Brazilian man and his companion simultaneously observed the tree trunk walking along the side of the road. They caught up with it after losing sight and felt certain he had changed into an old man with leathery lined skin “like the tree trunk“.
It’s a fascinating share. I describe my own sighting of one of these beings, which I also witnessed with two other people. A further example of these stick men/Ents/tree men is described in Episode 4: Mysterious Illuminations, which again, was a multiple witness sighting. From reported observation in all three instances, these beings appear to have a notably strange or comical gait when they move.
This interview is from the archives. I began interviewing people about their fairy encounters in 2016 when folklorist, Mark Norman and I were researching for our Devon chapter in Magical Folk: British and Irish Fairies: 500 AD to the Present. In those days, I conducted interviews on Skype, took notes and audio-recorded on my phone. I have since contacted this man and he is happy for his story to be shared on the podcast.
Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older. This show is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
Show notes
This submission of a gnome appearing to change into a tree trunk, was made to The Fairy Society’s Fairy Census 2014 – 2017 collected by Dr Simon Young.
§18) England (Cornwall). Female; 1970s: I was on holiday in Cornwall with my family. I think I was about thirteen. We’d been on holiday in Cornwall before, and had joked about the ‘Little People’ who lived in the tin mines etc. I think we’d also bought souvenir Cornish Piskies in the past. The first proper day of our holiday we went for a walk on a clear sunny day. It was very rural; I remember we were walking down a grassy track with large banks of wild hedges running alongside. It could’ve been somewhere near Polperro. I am not sure. I was walking a few steps ahead of my mum and sisters, excited about having a whole week off, when I saw a gnome sitting by the side of the path. It was so unexpected; I think I remember feeling scared – or wondering if I was seeing things or going mad? I took another couple of steps and I saw his nut brown wizened face in detail. He was cheekily grinning at me. He had a mossy brown beard and dark brown shining eyes; he was wearing a peaked hat (brown) and a shiny jacket and trousers in shades of brown and ochre. I’d say he was about twelve- to fourteen-inches tall. I (literally) could not believe my eyes. I was even too amazed (dumbstruck is apt here) to turn around and tell my family to ‘look at the gnome’ by the path. Then the gnome cocked his head (again, cheekily), turned his back on me and kind of changed/melted (transmogrified??) into an old tree stump. This must’ve all happened in a second, just as I found the breath to say ‘Mum! Look…!’ But, of course, there was nothing to see but a tree stump. I felt really stupid then, so I ‘muttered something non-consequential as we walked past. I was almost panicking, trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed. I was quite shaken. It was a breathtaking experience. It seemed so silly, (and I felt so silly) that I didn’t tell anyone what I’d just seen. Yet I really believed I had witnessed a spirit of nature, or a gnome, or something… but I also felt stupid. Like a trick and been played on me, and I had fallen for it. I felt like the joke was on me and the gnome was having a laugh about it.’
This one is a similar description to our guest’s observation:
§39) England (Devon). Female; 2000s; aged 41-50 ‘Was sat on my stairs on the telephone looking out of the hall window that looks across my front garden (no hedges), and onto the second main route into town. Time would be approximately 10.30 pm but visibility is good on the road as it is the secondary main route into the town centre. The road was quiet as it is a seaside town and it was out of season. The road is well lit by streetlights. As I was talking on the telephone I watched a ‘tree-man’ walk slowly down the road. There were no hedges in my field of vision and I could clearly see any foliage that is across the road in the gardens opposite as ‘he’ walked past them. This tree-man took so long (approximately up to two minutes) to pass I actually had time to mention it to my husband on the telephone and describe what I was seeing. The figure was approximately seven-foot tall, slim, I could clearly see a trunk like body from the waist up, branch-like arms and a quite haggard face with short branches coming from the top of the head and sides, but not like a true tree, they didn’t seem to taper to twigs. It walked in a measured way, as though putting one foot down and then making effort to pull forward, arms swinging. The figure was slightly leaning forwards. It passed my field of vision and I stood up to look down the road, but next door’s hedge blocked my view. I did not feel it was threatening in any way, but it just seemed to be going about its business.’
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
Want to report a sighting?
Contact me at: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
If you love the show and want support it and join our loving community you can find us at Patreon
A beautiful in-depth chat with Brett Manning – a well known and much admired artist of the strange. Her new book, One Foot in the Green presents insightful and characterful interpretations of the Fae and cryptid beings.
Brett’s sense of the Otherworld is inspired by her own dreams and personal experiences. This chat is a really generous and open hearted discussion about her relationship with these beings and their realms.
Hop over to the Patreon BONUS EPISODE to hear excerpts from Brett’s book, One Foot in the Green.
Brett Manning’s Art
Content warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some episodes may contain details which some may find unsettling or frightening. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Please do subscribe, rate and share this episode and support the podcast by joining Patreon if you can. Thank you
Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
A man from Washington State describes hearing Santa’s Sleigh land on his roof complete with the sounds of sleigh bells, hooves, a heavy sack and footsteps!
At the time he was a 20 year old college student. He had never held any strong belief in Santa and his family generally took a skeptical view on strange phenomena. To this day, he hasn’t told his family but like many others, he is sure of what he heard.
We all have a ‘boggle threshold’ – where the idea of extraordinary phenomena is repelled by our brain’s filter of improbability, based on our beliefs, experiences and willingness to consider what has previously remained outside our knowledge and level of understanding.
I had heard stories of people seeing and hearing Santa before but this is the first time I’ve spoken to someone about their experience. It turns out that many people have had similar experiences, either in childhood or as adults.
This was an enlightening chat for me and it has brought a sense of unexpected magic to this holiday. For that I am very grateful. I hope you enjoy it too.
Merry Yuletide One and All ✨🎅🎄❤️
Content warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some episodes may contain details which some may find unsettling or frightening. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Shownotes
Looking for more Father Christmas / Santa Claus experiences? You will love this article
I didn’t hear the sledge hitting the roof but I definitely heard the sleigh bells and so did my two children. It was Xmas eve and I was putting them to bed, it was just after I said you better get to sleep quickly as Santa will be here soon, at that exact moment we distinctly heard sleigh bells on the roof. My two children who were around 3 and 6 years old at the time went wide eyed and said ‘he’s here!’ and closed their eyes tight to go to sleep. It was very magical for us and only happened the once.
Anonymous member of The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast Facebook Group (Nov, 2022)
I did see him once. My mother had mentioned him coming to visit us that night and I looked out of my bedroom window. The moon was high in the sky and I saw what looked to me like a sleigh and reindeer fly beneath the moon at a very fast speed.
I told everyone about it, but they never believed me. I learned quickly to keep my experiences to myself.
Anonymous member of The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast Facebook Group (Nov, 2022)
Join us for a Fairy Tea Ritual Workshop with Todd Grube, experiencer and ‘mystic mover’ on January 7th or January 14th
Todd is also offering a six-week Shamanic Qigong workshop to aid connection with nature spirits, starting at the end of January.
This event is exclusive to members of the Patreon group. Join the community for just £3 a month to support the show, get bonus episodes every fortnight and take part in events.
Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios
Main image featured: Vintage illustration of Santa Claus and his sleigh landing on a roof, 1940s-1950s.
Paul Devereux and his wife Charla shared an unexpected and startling fairy encounter in 2003, during a research trip in Ireland. This event transformed Paul’s outlook on the reality of fairy sightings.
Content warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some episodes may contain details which some may find unsettling or frightening. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Paul and Charla Devereux
Paul is a well-known author and long-time researcher into the study of sound at ancient places, ancient and traditional life-ways, the anthropology and archaeology of consciousness, sacred sites and landscapes, general consciousness studies including psi phenomena, and unusual geophysical events.
Paul co-founded and is a previous editor of ‘Time & Mind – The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture.
Charla has been researching alongside Paul since the mid-1980s and is an author on wellbeing subjects such as meditation, aromatherapy and lucid dreaming.
Join us for a Fairy Tea Ritual Workshop with Todd Grube, experiencer and ‘mystic mover’ on January 7th or January 14th
Todd is also offering a six-week Shamanic Qigong workshop to aid connection with nature spirits, starting at the end of January.
This event is exclusive to members of the Patreon group. Join the community for just £3 a month to support the show, get bonus episodes every fortnight and take part in events.
Originally from New Zealand but living in Vancouver, our guest tells us of her Otherworldly experiences whilst on a vision quest in the Rocky Mountains. She also describes a number of UFO sightings and offers some insight into her husband’s upbringing in a First Nations community.
We end with a good ol’ chat about energies of place and reflect on the journey of transition that the world is currently going through.
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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older.This episode is particularly unsettling and is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
Show notes
Our guest described her experience of “the little people” as clearly heard children’s laughter, though at the top of a mountain in potentially dangerous conditions, there were no children in the vicinity. Sounds of unusual strange laughter are sometimes reported in conjunction with Otherworldly experiences. People do occasionally describe hearing children giggling with no apparent source.
Simon Young’s Fairy Investigation Society Fairy Census (2014 – 2017) is a collection of reported encounters. The census is ongoing and you can report your own experiences at The Fairy Investigation Society. The following entry, no. 306 was reported by a male from Michigan, took place in the 1990’s when the witness was in their 20’s. They were by themselves in woodland between the hours of 6pm to 9pm. They report feeling a ‘profound silence’ before the experience:
‘While out walking after having eaten dinner, on a moonless night, taking a ‘short-cut’ through the woods behind the library in *** (a small stretch of land that runs east-west between ***and ***) I heard the sound of small indistinct voices talking, whispering and laughing from trees around me. I could see nothing, but caught glimpses of small black shadows moving in the branches. The night was pitch black and impossible to see, and though I had walked the path through the woods many times and houses with lights could not have been more than a hundred yards away, I felt quite lost and confused of my way. On a whim, I reached into a pocket of the backpack I was carrying with and found a small metal bell that I had found someplace and had kept as an oddment. I tinkled it for a few minutes and said aloud, ‘Here, you can have this,’ and hooked in on the nearest branch I could reach in the darkness. The woods seemed a little less dark and the path, though not visible, was suddenly discernible underfoot, as a flat clear space to walk. I quickly found myself out of the woods and on the sidewalk and made my way straight home without looking back. I went back to look for the bell the next day. But it was nowhere in sight.’
Simon Young’s Fairy Census (2014 – 2017) The Fairy Investigation Society
During the episode I read from Ron Quinn’s book, The Little People (2010). The book contains reported encounters from New York State, in particular the Catskill Mountains region.
This week’s bonus ‘Lost Time’
Our guest describes a playful prank between First Nation shamens which resulted in an extraordinary ‘lost time’ event. Released 11pm, 26th September.
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If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
Want to report a sighting?
Contact me at: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
If you love the show and want support it and join our loving community you can find us at Patreon
A gentle story in this episode. A man from Maryland describes meeting an Otherworldly being, backstage at a music festival and tells of his son’s childhood fairy friend. We look at stories of encounters with tall other-than-human folk, who appear and disappear and we explore memories of childhood experiences.
Main image: Holly Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker
NB: This episode has a trigger warning for themes of death and dying.
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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older.This episode is particularly unsettling and is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
Show notes
The episode features excerpts from Seeing Fairiesby Marjorie T. Johnson (2014) (ed. Simon Young) and the Fairy Investigation Society’s Fairy Census which you can still take part in here.
“Naked Fiddler with an old fool from Basel” (Nackte Fiedlerin mit einem alten Basler Narren). Urs Graf, 1523.
Bonus Episode
This week’s bonus on Patreon is a recording of Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral. We arrived there just in time to be admitted to this choral service after walking the ley line from Chartham.
The book I was inspired by, The Ley Hunter’s Companion by Paul Devereux and Ian Thomson, suggests that the alignment of the cathedral possibly stands on a previous ancient megalith site.
Subscribe, rate, review and share the wonder ❤️✨
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
Want to report a sighting?
Contact me at: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
If you love the show and want support it and join our loving community you can find us at Patreon
A 74 year old woman who has been psychic all her life describes how, in early childhood, she played with fairies in her garden rockery. In that same garden – a monk’s retreat in times past – she recalls seeing ghostly robed figures wandering around in prayer. We discuss how psychic abilities seem to run in families and she reveals how she was once requested to read a nun’s aura!
Series Four sees a return to fortnightly episodes 🎉
In the BONUS EPISODE on Patreon, our guest describes the way in which psychic abilities seem to have passed down her own family line and she divulges a very useful method of protection when communing with Otherworldly beings. We also exchange experiences of going to primary and secondary convent schools.
Please do subscribe, rate and share this episode 🙂 and support the podcast by joining Patreon if you can 💚
Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers andlisteners 16 years and older.This episode is particularly unsettling and is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.
References
On the show I read an excerpt from: Johnson M.T. (2014) ‘Seeing Fairies: From the Lost Archives of the Fairy Investigation Society, Authentic Reports of Fairies in Modern Times‘. San Antonio: Anomalist Books.
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios
Music used in the audio version of this podcast episode:
The Gecko Geek 'Birdsong' https://freesound.org/people/TheGeckoGeek/sounds/634796/
Dr Simon Young, an academic on the supernatural, fairy sightings and related folklore meets with me to discuss: Marjorie T. Johnson, ‘The Fairy Investigation Society’, fairy sightings research, experiences running through family generations, The Fairy Census and the academic study of fairies.
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Content warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Some episodes may contain details which some may find unsettling or frightening. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.
Dr Simon Young
Simon is a British folklore historian based in Italy. He has written extensively on the nineteenth-century supernatural. His book The Boggart (from Exeter University Press) and The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends (from Mississippi University Press) are both due out in 2022. A companion volume to accompany The Boggart is available freely here.
If you enjoy the show, please consider sharing your favourite episodes with friends. Don't forget to rate and subscribe wherever you listen, and if you can, please support by joining The Curious Crew on Patreon
Want to report a sighting?
Contact me at: scarlettofthefae@gmail.com
If you love the show and want support it and join our loving community you can find us at Patreon
