FAERIE

The world of faerie is one of magical, beautiful beings who still get too freaked out by the word "religion" to talk about Gods and Goddesses. Instead, they claim to work with these beings, who came out of the 19th Century "Celtic" revival. Faerie Wicca and similar traditions appeal to people who are too embarrassed to work in the nude, and instead prefer to ponce about in the types of flowing, multi-coloured gowns that come out of the 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Lots of them also do live-action role playing and should probably stick to that. Any connection with the real "Celts" is purely co-incidental.

It is always pointed out that the Faerie Folk are not the 19th Century "tiny women with wings" but this is precisely the image that Faerie practitioners are subconsciously dealing with. They will often show off their knowledge by speaking of the Tuatha de Danaan, but they never make it clear whether these are the Faeries or the Gods and Goddesses worshipped by the Tuatha de Danaan. This is because they have never read the Book of Invasions and so don't know the difference. Or that the De Danaan's fought bloody battles all of the time. They have all, however, read "Mists Of Avalon".

They are unaware that the Celtic peasants were not allowed to wear more than one colour in their clothes, but if any of the real Fair Folk turned up at one of their rituals they would soon add yellow and brown to the other colours being worn. In pagan reality, the Fair Folk are so called so as not to offend them, and the best description of how our ancestors actually viewed them is probably Terry Pratchett's "Lords and Ladies". But that's just fiction. Unlike Mists of Avalon