the modern fairy sightings podcast Archives

Ep 37: Paolo Sammut: Gnomes and Fetches in the Home

My guest, Paolo Sammut is a paranormalist and a magician based in the south west of England. Paolo has had many supernatural experiences over the years, some of which we would recognise as fairy encounters. He chats to me about the time he was awoken by a very angry fairy, possibly a hobgoblin. On other occasions, he and other family members saw beings in the house that looked like other members of the family who were not present at the time. These sound like doppelgangers but in folklore, particularly Irish folklore they are known as fetches.

Paolo will be providing the Patreon group with an exclusive talk about ghost hunting in the coming weeks.

The image above is of Paolo and I at Goblin Coombe, Bristol at the beginning of May 2022. We had a delightful picnic and did not spot any fairies. 😊

You can contact Paolo at Secret Lines of London Facebook Group

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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for viewers and listeners 16 years and older.This episode is particularly unsettling and is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content.

Shownotes

Here’s a great account of an angry fairy shared in Marjorie T. Johnson’s, Seeing Fairies:

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Oliver went to live in a very beautiful house in Cornwall, which was not expensive because it was reputed to be haunted. She was alone, with no electricity in the house, and one night when she needed another log for her fire, she went from the library without a lamp and passed through the kitchen to the washhouse where the logs were kept. “I got down on my knees on the tiled floor,” she said, “and reached under the wash-tub to dislodge a log, when I heard a noise like a scolding squirrel—‘Chit-chat, chit-chat’—and there, on top of the logs and surrounded by a green light, stood a furious little man who looked like an artichoke but was only as big as my thumb. His face was ugly and frog-like, and he was shaking his fists at me, ordering me off his property. I grabbed a log and tore back to my fire, which I banked with coal. I was terrified.” After this incident, Mrs. Oliver met the owner of the property and a previous tenant, both of whom told her that there were “pixies” in the house, and they laughed when she told them about the little man who had been so angry and rude to her. A few weeks later, when the weather turned very cold, Mrs. Oliver left that house and went to France, never to return to Cornwall.
Johnson M.T. (2014) ‘Seeing Fairies: From the Lost Archives of the Fairy Investigation Society, Authentic Reports of Fairies in Modern Times‘, Anomalist Books: San Antonio. pp. 35

Paolo also mentioned some sort of Otherworldly being who appeared to have taken the form of a member of his family. A similar story was told by our guest from Episode 36: Rescued by an Orb and Other Strange Stories in the Patron-only bonus episode on Patreon. In that case, she saw a malevolent being stood at the end of her bed that looked like her husband but in a trance. However, at the time her husband was asleep in bed beside her.

BEASTIARIUM #4 Doppelganger Dark by Ars Corvinus

These beings are more commonly known as doppelgangers but particularly in Irish folklore they are known as fetches and could be some kind of fairy or spirit that manifests in the form of a person who is familiar and often emotionally close to the seer.

The appearance of a fetch is said to indicate the forthcoming death of the person who’s likeness appears but that was not the case in either of these experiences.

Icy Sedgewick of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast has written an interesting article on ‘fetches’ here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fetch-folklore/

References

Briggs, K. (1976) An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures. New York: Pantheon Books.

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.

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Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

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Episode 35: Chat with Mike Clelland, author of ‘The Messengers’ 🦉🛸👽

I chat with Mike Clelland, researcher of the mysterious connections between owls, synchronicities and UFOs, from ancient times to the present day. His first book, The Messengers (2015), details his personal journey and provides a collection of first-hand accounts of contact encounters.

Mike shares his own personal experiences with me, including a childhood memory of a UFO sighting and a lost-time event. Later, a series of synchronistic incidents involving owls, propelled him on a course of research into the meaning of these powerful connections. His story resonates deeply with extraordinary experiencers of all kinds.

During our chat I shared my own synchronistic owl experience with Mike.

The exclusive bonus episode on Patreon includes excerpts from The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and UFO Contact with kind permission from Mike Clelland.

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This episode is also released as a video on YouTube:

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.

Mike wants to hear your owl experiences ✨🦉

You can contact him at www.mikeclelland.com and read his excellent blog there too.

Mike’s first book, The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and UFO contact, is an exploration of the mysterious connection between owls and UFOs, in ancient myths and the present day contact experiences. It’s also a an odyssey of self-discovery as the author grapples with his own encounters. What plays out is a story of transformation with the owl at the heart of the journey.

His second book, Stories from The Messengers provides further exploration into the connection between owls and UFOs, both symbolic and literal. The book reads like a collection of short stories, each chapter telling a deeply personal story. The ancient folklore of the owl is still with us—and it’s still changing people’s lives.

Hidden Experience, the third book is about the most difficult time of Mike’s life as the experiences were happening, which were captured on a blog.

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.

Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

Episode 34: Chat with Lucy Brydon of the ‘One Scot One Not’ Podcast

Lucy and Karen Campbell present Celtic myth, legends and folklore in their informative yet humorous show, which is always uplifting. They’re on Instagram if you’d like to follow them.

In our chat, Lucy shares a number of her own extraordinary experiences including a visitation from a female being, while in the early stages of pregnancy and a strange case of a call to a fairy ring which was narrowly avoided.

Beautiful and practical! A journal from Lucy’s collection available on Etsy

Lucy also creates beautiful art, check out her personal Instagram! She has an Etsy shop and teaches online art classes.

Lucy Brydon’s vibrant artwork available on her Etsy shop

If you’d like to hear more of the conversation you can head to Patreon where there is a bonus episode treat just waiting for you!

As with many of my chats with other researchers, I will release a video version of our interview in the coming months. Enjoy!

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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

Pregnancy is a liminal state of being, along with other transitional life experiences such as birth, puberty and death. In the Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast Episode 11: Make Haste for Midsummer, our guest was pregnant at the time of the fairy encounter and the time of year – being the summer solstice at the threshold between the light and darkness – is also a liminal space.

Here is another example of an extraordinary experience whilst pregnant. Similarly to Lucy, the person was only a few weeks into her pregnancy at the time:

§358) US (Oregon). Female; 2000s; 21-30; ‘It was around 10 or 11 am in the early summer of 2002, and I was in the bathroom, just starting my bath. It was so warm and bright that I had the small window open, and the breeze was coming right in from the backyard. (There was never a screen on that window because it was a little high up, and too small for a person). I shrugged off my robe, and sat down on the tub edge, waiting for the tub to fill. Quite suddenly, a flickering cloud of little lights came right in through the window and, as though attracted to me, flew close, almost touching, around my head and shoulders. I was so shocked that my brain just froze! There was a tickle in my nose, and something in my understanding just clicked. I said out loud, and I mean, LOUD, (though as a twenty-nine-year-old woman such a thing had never occurred to me as being within the realms of possibility or even reality) ‘Hey! Faeries! Go away!’ And I tossed my head and flicked my wrist. The cloud of little lights zoomed off a little bit away from me, then gathered close together, for just a second, and I almost heard a sound, but it wasn’t quite a sound, really, more of an impression that there was communication between them that I could very nearly hear, like a buzz or a high frequency whine or bells shimmering like when they bless the Host in Mass – and then they flew as one, right out the window again! I was so surprised that I jumped up, naked as a jaybird, shut the window, and yelled out to my husband to come to the bathroom. My knees were too wobbly to support me just then. Whew! Never thought I’d get a chance to tell that to someone who didn’t think I was NUTS!!! Hmm… Let’s see. I don’t think there is anything else. This was nearly fifteen years ago. Oh, and I was a few weeks pregnant at the time, just about to find out, in fact. My backyard at the time was overgrown with blackberry thickets, dandelions and bluebells, and our part of Portland is in the Southwest portion, in a place called *, which we are very privileged to still keep very green and lush. There is a lot of ivy, oak and holly here, and the Wildwood and *, one of the largest urban parks in America, are just a few miles away. The Wildwood Trail is beautiful and over thirty miles long, and * covers five thousand one hundred and fifty seven acres.’
Simon Young’s ‘Fairy Census 2014 – 2017’ The Fairy Investigation Society

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Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Episode 32: Guardians of the Stones

My conversation continues with our guest from the last episode, Arrival of the Fairy Host who experienced trooping fairies in her bedroom as a child. Now, as an adult she visits an ancient ring of standing stones and along with her party, encounters the guardians of that place.

The episode involves experiencing a Beltane fire, warping of time and tall Otherworldly beings who made themselves known.

On a bonus episode available for members of The Curious Crew on Patreon, our guest describes a traumatic situation that forced Otherworldly beings from their location and eventually also resulted in her family relocating.

Main image: Thomas Cohoon: Callanish Stones under the stars, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

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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

The conversation mentions the tall Guardians who have also been mentioned in these two episodes. If you have had experience of these beings I would love to hear from you.

In The Tall Folk and The Little People, a previous guest describes his fascinating series of encounters at a dolmen atop a mountain in Ireland, late at night.

A Maelstrom of Fairies also features these tall Guardians and you’ll find more information on the shownotes there.

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.

Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

Episode 31: Arrival of the Fairy Host

This episode is a truly spectacular personal experience. A young child has a visitation from a host of fairies, which begins a whole series of events. Many of us have memories of extraordinary encounters as young children and hearing these particular experiences resonated very deeply with me, as it will for many listeners.

The repeated visitations and later UFO event suggest the house was on a ‘fairy path’. See notes below.

This forms the first of a two part conversation and a further experience is discussed in the next episode.

We’ll be exploring this theme of childhood experiences further as the year goes on.

A bonus episode available on Patreon features extra material from the conversation and further explores possibilities.

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Warning: These are not fairytales. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.This episode is particularly unsettling and is unsuitable for children or anyone who might be sensitive to creepy content. Trigger warnings: discussion around occult practices, gory details featuring blood (folklore), ghosts.

Shownotes

Fairy Paths

It is possible that the house was built on a fairy path – or the fairies’ pass. These are routes of strong energy used by the fairies as they go about their business. There are many different cultural practices which understand and work with lines of energy within buildings and landscapes eg. Chinese geomancy and Feng Shui. The concept of ley lines, as named by early 20^th century archaeologist Alfred Watkins are now well known as lines which cross the globe, like rivers of energy intersecting with sacred monuments.

As Paul Devereux describes in his book, Spirit Roads: An Exploration of Otherworldly Routes, fairies also had their own routes through the landscape which you’d be well advised to steer clear of. Even in the early 20th century in Ireland, people were still very careful about to fairy paths wherever homes or extensions were built. Obstructing these paths could result in bad luck or illness for the family and sometimes even poltergeist energy in the home.

There were various methods of putting this right as advised by local wise women, such as filling up two side doors and opening alternatives or ensuring that windows remained open at night, to permit the onward journey of the fairies. To avoid antagonising fairies in the first place, tradition held that you should place stones or sticks at the four corners of the intended building spot overnight and see if they remained there in the morning. If they had been clouted over by protesting fairies then you’d be wise to pick another spot.

Fairies Visiting at Bedtime

Simon Young’s Fairy Census (2014-2017) is an excellent resource for anybody interested in contemporary fairy encounters.

The following two accounts were mentioned in the podcast episode as bearing similarities to our guest’s experience. Both feature ongoing night visitations. The first involves a conversation with a ‘leader of the group’ and the second describes flying over rooftops, being in control of the flying and the sense of ‘exchange that occurred’.

§167) Scotland (Glasgow). Male; 1950s; 0-10; ‘I was about seven years old (1953). I had been sharing a bedroom with my elder brother, who was about eighteen at the time, but he left to join the army. So, I was left on my own in the room. I went to sleep as normal, but woke after a time to find a group of the little people dancing around on the floor at the head of my bed. I know I had a conversation with what appeared to be the leader of the group, but at this distance of time, I couldn’t say what it was about. This went on for some months on a more or less nightly basis, but gradually the interval between appearances became longer and longer until it stopped altogether.’
Young, S. (2018) ‘The Fairy Investigation Society’s Census (2014-2017)’ available online at: http://www.fairyist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/The-Fairy-Census-2014-2017-1.pdf

§338) US (New York State). Female; 1960s; 0-10; ‘Not sure when it began as a child but I know it ended on my tenth birthday because I recall the disappointment and correlate that year. They came to me in my sleep, very often and the purpose was always the same. To take me to fly above the rooftops and tree tops throughout my neighborhood as a very exciting treat. I thought for years it was just an odd recurring dream but the details of the things I saw from that bird’s eye view would be impossible to have been a dream. In latter years I was able to understand and recall more emotional details. I don’t recall the first or last time they came but I know no actual words were spoken. They were fluid like beings that were dressed in material that barely covered and was white and thin and always flowing as they too never touched the ground although [they] had legs and feet. I went willingly and trusting as I knew it was under my control where I was to fly and when I was to return. I now feel there was an exchange that occurred. I feel they (as many as five or six) absorbed the excitement from me. Never draining although I slept deeper and always briefly awoke at the point of being back in my bed. They oddly had no identifiable age but male/female was apparent and not concealed.’
Young, S. (2018) ‘The Fairy Investigation Society’s Census (2014-2017)’ available online at: http://www.fairyist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/The-Fairy-Census-2014-2017-1.pdf

In 1951, Dr Purcell, a lecturer from Cambridge, wrote to Marjorie Johnson of the Fairy Investigation Society. He describes seeing trooping fairy soldiers cross his bedcovers some fifty years before, as a five year old child :

In the year 1900-1901, during the /south African War, when I was about five years of age, I lived in Gillingham, Kent. Every night for some months, after my mother had kissed me goodnight and shut my bedroom door, there was a short interval, and then I would begin to hear distant, massed Lilliputian bands playing. The music grew louder and louder as it came nearer and nearer. There was a night light burning on the mantelpiece, and by the light of this I saw column after column of tiny soldiers marching up from the right of my bed over my eiderdown (I remember its pattern and colour clearly) and across to the other side where they disappeared over the bedside. Each soldier was about nine inches high and wore a red coat. There was battalion after battalion of them, and each was headed by a brass band. As these passed, they played minute martial music, far more exciting than any music I had ever heard in the daytime. The march-past lasted for a few minutes, and then I fell asleep. The direction was always from right to left. I never tried to touch the soldiers, but they were completely real. I actually did see them, and I should be prepared to state this on oath, if necessary, in any Court of Law’
Johnson M.T. (2014) ‘Seeing Fairies: From the Lost Archives of the Fairy Investigation Society, Authentic Reports of Fairies in Modern Times‘, Anomalist Books: San Antonio

This last account from 1656 describes a host of fairies arriving into a bedroom late at night. It’s reported in a letter by John Lewis of Cardiganshire, Wales who was an acquaintance of the man experiencing the encounter.

A man and his family being all in bed, about after midnight, awake in bed, he could perceive a light entring a little room, where he lay, and one after another of some a dozen in the shape of men, and two or three women, with small children in their arms, entring in, and they seemed to dance, and the room to be far lighter and wider than formerly: they did seem to eat bread and cheese all about a kind of a tick upon the ground; they offered him meat, and would smile upon him: he could perceive no voice, but he once calling to God to bless him, he could perceive the whisper of a voice in Welch, bidding him hold his peace, being about four hours thus, he did what he could to wake his wife and could not: they went out into another room and after some dancing departed, and then he arose; yet being but a very small room he could not find the door, nor the way into bed, until crying out, his wife and family awaked. Being within about two miles of me, I sent for the man, who is an honest poor husbandman, and of good report: and I made him believe I would put him to his oath for the truth of this relation, who was very ready to take it.
William E.Al Axon, LL.D. (1908) Welsh Folk-Lore of the Seventeenth Century’, Y Cymmrodor, Vol.XXI p. 116 in Bord, J. (1997) Fairies: Real Encounters with Little People, Michael O’Mara Books: London

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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 ❤️

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Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

Episode 29: A Maelstrom of Fairies

In this episode we hear the second part of an interview with a British woman, who has had many extraordinary experiences in her life.

Having previously described communing with an intelligent blue light in Episode 28, we now hear of a fascinating encounter which took place two years later. This time our guest came face-to-face with what we describe as tall Guardian folk in an ancient wood. A transformative fairy experience took place that very night.

Main Image: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by Brian Froud

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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.

Tall Hooded Guardians

The tall beings described sound very similar to the ‘Guardian’ type beings in Episode 9: The Tall Folk and the Little People. We don’t know what their function truly is but they seem to guard certain landscapes and ward people away or at the very least come and take a good look at them. A soon-to-be-released episode will also feature these Otherworldly beings.

Have you seen one? Get in touch at scarlettofthefae@gmail.com.

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.

Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

Episode 28: Illumined Communion

A woman in the UK describes an extended ‘conversation’ with an intelligent blue light form which appeared in her home. The experience featured lost/altered time and a sense of innate familiarity.

Just what did this Otherworldly being of consciousness come to tell her? And were previous geometric light visitors connected in some way?

In part two, (Episode 29) this conversation continues and the same woman shares a powerful fairy experience, which had a very different feel.

Have you had similar experiences with intelligent light forms? Please do contact me and let me know your thoughts on all of this.

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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.

Blue lights and Otherworldly Beings

The following share collected as part of Simon Young’s (Fairy Investigation Society) Fairy Census (2014-2017) is most intriguing. The encounter features communication and a shift in visual form:

§339) US (New York State). Female; 1990s; 31-40; in a city; on my own
‘I was walking my dog late at night on *** [New York street]. We did a once-round the parking lot as always, and a large figure stepped out of a dark corner. He said some very personal things to me, but not unkind, more advice-like, then laughed and turned and vanished, leaving a point of light blue light about the size of a lightbulb, then that winked out.’ ‘Dressed like a ‘homeless’ person, dark skinned but I couldn’t
see any features, he had a hood or something around his head.’ ‘After I’d left the city I mentioned it to two ex-NYers, who said they had also had strange encounters with beings that looked like homeless people who dispensed advice and encouragement and vanished.’

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Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Modern Fairy Sightings Green Man Artwork: Peter Hall Studios

Episode 23: Consciousness and Playing with Other Realities

In this episode I share two experiences which instigated an interest in exploring alternate realities. I feel these events may also have opened me to the fairy encounter which happened about a year after experiencing a deep shift in my life.

The episode also includes an interview with Martin Brofman, creator of The Body Mirror System of Healing. It’s one of a series of interviews you’ll find links to below.

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Note: The information I share here and on the episode including ideas, suggestions, techniques, methods, resources, and other materials is educational in nature and is not intended to provide you with any specific health or well-being advice. For medical advice please consult a licensed health care professional.

Martin Brofman and The Body Mirror System

Martin Brofman (PhD) a former Wall Street computer expert and a student of psychology and comparative religion, was a renowned healer and founder of the Brofman Foundation for the Advancement of Healing. He developed a special healing approach, the Body Mirror System, after he releasing himself of a terminal illness which traditional medicine had considered hopeless – untreatable.

During his own healing process, he learned much about the Body Mind Interface, the relationship between the body and the consciousness, and how it works. He then developed a model in order to clarify these ideas for himself, as well as to provide a vehicle for teaching them easily and quickly to others. He helped many people over his more than 30 years in practice.

Martin was a warm, funny and wise friend and I’m just so grateful to him for opening me and many others to new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. I highly recommend his book, ‘Anything Can Be Healed’.

Here is a free meditation called Love and Energy. It’s the B side of that tape/cd that my friend initially gave me. It’s a lovely one to fall asleep to!

And in the following video, Martin shares his thoughts on the nature of consciousness.

What do YOU think about these ideas? Perhaps it’s the first time you’ve heard of these sort of explorations. Maybe it’s a big jump to even imagine them? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so get in touch.

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Episode 22: The Gentry and a Visitor

In this episode we hear from a woman living in Wales who had a visit from a green man while gardening. Later, after some ‘goings on’ in the house, she had to ask him to leave. She also describes how she watched The Gentry ride by near her home one day. We discuss these and some other extraordinary experiences.

It amazes me how many people have had something strange and inexplicable take place in their life. It seems like the majority of people can report at least one such happening. The world is a mysterious place! Let’s not forget that. There appears to be much more going on here than we generally take for granted.

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Shownotes

‘Fairy Paths and Spirit Roads: An Exploration of Otherworldly Routes by Paul Devereux’ – this is a fabulous book which covers corpse roads, fairy paths and Australian aboriginal ‘Dreamtime’ routes among others. It includes a ‘sampler’ section of the routes themselves for those curious and intrepid explorers who feel drawn to tread these paths.

‘The Middle Kingdom: The Faerie World of Ireland‘, by Dermot Mac Manus. A friend of Yeates, Mac Manus provides a fascinating insight into the customs and beliefs present in Ireland when it was written in the 1950s. Many of the memories shared stretch back to the 19th century in places and it’s really a great read. There’s a whole chapter on fairy paths.

‘Greening the Paranormal: Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary Experience’, by Dr Jack Hunter. This great book covers Animism and the idea of ‘personhood’ encompassing natural formations such as rocks and rivers. Essays explore how themes of ecology intersect with the paranormal, from different perspectives.

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 ❤️

Become a Patron!

Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Main image: ‘Då och då tog tomten tag i tyglarna’ (Every now and then santa grabbed the reins) by John Bauer.

Episode 20: Occurence at the Creek

This episode offers a very gentle conversation with an Australian woman who encountered an orb during a very beautiful and intimate event, whilst in nature. The experience drew her ever closer to nature and into environmentalism. We discuss her relationship with the Fae and how that connection was originally initiated through visiting her grandmother’s magical garden with her siblings, as a child.

There is an accompanying FREE PATHWORKING MEDITATION on Patreon which is available to anyone. It’s a gentle guide to recentring yourself and it’s particularly aimed that those who need a bit of help during this difficult time to let go of anxieties and focus on what’s meaningful. You can find it by searching for ‘free meditation’ or ‘recentring’ on Patreon.

Main image: Will-o-the-Wisp by Brett Manning Art.

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Warning: These are not fairytales and the content is unsuitable for children. Episodes may contain details which some may find unsettling or frightening. The Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast is designed for listeners 16 years and older.

Orbs

Many people believe orbs to be physical manifestations of energy. If we work with that idea and see ourselves as energy beings we can understand that it might be the same with Otherworldly beings. Perhaps orbs are the densest manifestation of the being that we’re able to see. Orbs are round and can be different sizes and colours, but they’re usually partially opaque, sometimes with swirling movement inside. People often report seeing orbs with the naked eye but sometimes they can also turn up in photographs.

In this case, our guest saw an orb in nature and felt it was some kind of energy manifestation of a fairy. She observed a sense of fluttering from within the orb, but it was more the feeling of awe that she experienced from the event which led her to feel it was a fairy experience.

Here’s an orb fairy experience which took place in Australia from Simon Young’s excellent ‘Fairy Census’ 2014-2017::

§82) England (London). Female; 1980s* [‘1990s’]; 21-30; in woodland;…The second time I saw the fae I was living in my old house in Melbourne. I lived in a dark alleyway, off the Main Street. I was sitting in my living room one night and I saw a little ball of light whizz past the window. Then there were several other little orbs of glowing light. They were around the size of tennis balls, and on closer inspection you could see the outline of spindly little bodies glowing. This sighting went on for a few hours. Since my fae sightings I have become fascinated by the wee folk. I collect little sculptures of them, books, faerie tarot cards, I paint them and I am fascinated by them. Not obsessed honest. I have also been in some very wild places around the world and I have felt their presence. Feeling these presences have made me want to stay in places where they live. They are always like personifications of the spirit of places.’ ‘(They) were like orbs of light darting around, you could see light bursting from their bodies. The made a kind of whirring fluttering sound as they moved, like a cross between birds flapping their wings and paper fluttering.’ ‘They’re very mischievous little buggers who like to poke fun at humans.’ ‘I have only told a small handful of people about my fae experiences, most folk would think I’m nuts, and I’m definitely quite sane, well educated, thoughtful and quite open minded. I’ve never been on any psyche drugs ever or seen any doctor for mental health conditions. On both nights where I saw the fae they were very real and tangible. I have felt their presence at other times.
Young S. (2018) The Fairy Census 2014-2017,

Here’s another share about a photo of an orb, also from Simon Young’s ‘Fairy Census’ 2014-2017:

§41) England (Devon). Female; 2010s; 61-70;
‘I have a friend who does photography. She took pictures of a flower and water and put them together to look as though the flower was growing out of the water. She emailed me the picture. I didn’t see anything at first, but after I enlarged the picture I saw a pink faerie rise out of the flower, with what looked like several orbs each side of the flower with elves in them. They all rose up together. The faerie was pink. I was surprised, especially as not only did I see her ‘live’ in a picture, but the picture was ‘second hand’ so to speak.’ ‘She had a pink dress on with pink wings.’
Young S. (2018) The Fairy Census 2014-2017,

The Paranormal and Ecology

For more information about extraordinary experiences and environmentalism, I highly recommend reading Dr Jack Hunter‘s book, Greening the Paranormal.

The collection of essays explores the parallels between all aspects of paranormal experience and the study of living systems and offers a fresh perspective on our relationship with our living planet, Earth.

Here’s a great podcast interview with Jack, where he discusses these themes and more.

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Podcast intro music: Transmutate by Snowflake (c) copyright 2020 Licensed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.