tales from the golden wood

The Cottingley Faeries

2012-02-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

“And after all, what is a lie? ‘Tis but the truth in masquerade.” (Lord Byron)

I want to tell you a story about one of the greatest lies ever perpetrated. This lie was so good that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. It is the story of the Cottingley Faeries.

Cottingley is a small, scenic village situated between the larger towns of Shipley and Bingley, West Yorkshire in England. For the most part, many of the historic buildings from the 1800s still stand, though many of them do not. The village of Cottingley has grown to over 4,500. (1991 Census) It has a beautiful spot known as “the beck”, with a waterfall and stream. This is where the story begins.

It was July in 1917. Frances Griffiths, ten years old, knew she was going to be in trouble. She had fallen in the stream in the beck and gotten all wet. Sure enough, when she got home, her mother was furious. In an effort to avoid trouble, Frances explained she had fallen in while playing with the faeries. Of course her mother didn’t believe a word of it and sent her right upstairs. Upset, she convinced her cousin Elsie Wright, sixteen years old, to take pictures of the faeries with her father’s Midg camera. Thinking this would end the whole thing, Arthur Wright, Elsie’s father agreed that the girls could use the camera.

The girls set out for the beck with camera in hand, loaded and ready to go. When they returned, Arthur took the plate to develop and there was the now famous image of Frances surrounded by dancing faeries. Of course Arthur didn’t see it; he asked what “all the bits of paper” were. (www.cottingley .net) The photograph was set aside and forgotten until another small figure was photographed, this time with Elsie. Now, her father was sure it was all a joke, despite the girl’s insistence that they were capturing real faeries. This led Arthur to refuse the girls access to the camera, as well as to a though investigation by the parents to find evidence of the trickery. Despite their best efforts, no evidence was ever found. The mothers, Polly and Annie Wright, weren’t so sure though. They were more inclined to believe the story of faeries in the beck than Elsie’s skeptical father after attending some spiritual seminars in Bradford. It was at one of these seminars that the faery photos garnered some interest. “The topic of discussion was "fairy life" and during the meeting one of the mothers was overheard talking about the children's photos. The lecturer asked to see them and was astounded.

In the autumn months the two photos were presented at the Theosophical Society in Harrogate where a captivated audience believed that evidence of countless tales of fairy sightings had finally been presented. Skeptics gathered with plenty of mockery - how could so many people be fooled by such obvious trickery?

Interest was to gain pace in May when a letter was sent to leading Theosophist Edward L Gardner with two small prints asking for his opinion. Intrigued, he requested that the original plates be sent to him and on receipt asked Harold Snelling, a friend and photographic expert, to prepare new prints from the original negatives.” (www.cottingley.net)

The prints were analyzed and found to be genuine; the experts at Kodak had confirmed it.

Gardener traveled to Cottingley and interviewed the girls. Finding them to be sincere, he decided, and recommended to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that more photos were needed.

Three more photos were taken with cameras provided the girls by Gardener. These were sent to Doyle, who was holding lectures in Australia. Doyle was an avid spiritualist, having lost his son to the war, and had been a speaker on the subject for many years.

The story ended up being published and interest grew daily. “By now the public demanded more and more from the investigators and Doyle duly complied. He published the last 3 photographs in The Strand and waited for the response. Not all the comments were kind and the most repeated view was that the fairies had very fashionable hairstyles... a view originally given by Kodak laboratories in 1920 after they inspected the first two pictures.” (www.cottingley.net)

Somewhere along the line, public refused to believe anymore. The public humiliation for Doyle was great; however, he died still believing in faeries in 1930. As the years went on, Elsie was interviewed time after time, all reports found her to be charming, but elusive. The lie was not to be proven till 1978 when magician James Randi became involved and a computer-based study was done on the photos. There, clearly represented, were the strings holding the “faeries” up.

In 1983, the girls finally confessed the trickery. “It was supposed to be a joke,” said Frances, “but everyone else kept it going. It should have died a natural death sixty years ago.” (www.cottinley.net) The girls never wavered in their story that there really were faeries at the beck, and both died still believing in them. If this teaches us anything, it is that even a photo can lie but still be believed and taken for gospel truth.

foggy morning

2012-01-27T04:36:00.000-08:00

It's a cold, morning, and fog hangs in the air, thick and white. It's a perfect time for faeries to be about, keeping their secrets in the thick mist. I should be sleeping, but am not, and so have decided to spend a few minutes communing with the faeries, something I haven't done a lot of recently. I can tell they are beginning to notice. They seem agitated, and unsettled. I think they want me to write about them. They do usually. They poke and prod until I sit down with a pen and paper. Or, in this case, at the puter. We have to honor the faerie folk and the requests they make of us if we want to keep the lines of communication open. While they are often fickle and may not be around for a time, when they want us, they want us now. So keep you eyes, ears, and most especially, your heart open to faerie prods, or you risk losing that delicate balance.

Drive-by Posting

2011-12-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been scarce of late, I've had school, including finals. Faeries willing, I think I passed.
Promise to update again soon.

Faerie Gift

2011-09-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Faerie is not to be taken for granted, nor is it to be trespassed upon lightly. When the fae accept you as part of their world, it's a gift. A wonderful gift. If they haven't yet accepted you, have a care about trespassing upon them. They can be wondrous and merry, but they can also be terrifying and nasty. If they have accepted you, treasure the gift and never, ever take it for granted. They can disappear just as fast as they came.

Faerieland

2011-09-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

So where exactly is Faerieland? According to most of what I've read, and I believe this to be true, it's a parallel world that in places overlaps our own. According to the Sidhe John Matthews talked with, they went "below ground" meaning not under the earth as most people think so much as a parallel dimension. (Although they did and do in fact have vast caverns below the earth.) So how does one get there? Meditation and astral travel can get you there. Granted for some that is difficult. I haven't yet mastered either, and astral travel is beyond me at this point in time. I have found it is helpful to meditate just before going to sleep or upon awakening, when you are still half in a dream state. I have had more contact with faeries when I was sleepy and daydreaming than any other time. Although I can't promise you'll get to Faerieland, you may have some interesting contact.
What is Faerieland like? Very much like our natural world, but the colors are brighter, according to the Sidhe. It is supposedly a reflection of the world when it was new. My visit to Faerieland was apparently at night, because it was dark there and the fae had fires and torches going. And it may have been just the outskirts of Faerieland that I was able to access through meditation. Generally they will meet you in the between. (Their favorite place)
If you don't have much luck getting there, don't give up! Keep trying and working on it. Most, but not all, of the sidhe would like to have us find the way.

Contacting the Fae

2011-09-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

When I said in my last post that my efforts to contact the Sidhe didn't work, I did mean to contact them in the sense of person to person contact in our plane of existence.
As my faery guide reminds me, I have contact with them on a regular basis through meditation and dreams. I was just hoping to lure one into my world for a change. I guess it's not time.
They do tend to contact me in dreams quite frequently. And just as frequently, they show up as Jareth from the movie Labyrinth. They do have a sense of humor.
Anyone can learn to contact the faery, but it takes time, patience and a sense of playfulness. I suggest starting out with Brian Froud's Faerie's Oracle cards. That's a very good way to start opening the channels to Faery. (Or if you prefer, use The Heart of Faerie's Oracle)
Once you let the faery into your life, however, be prepared. They are full of mischief and riddles and playfulness, and they don't break the contact easily. As long as you have something that keeps them interested that is. You do have to keep them interested and entertained.
If you are Wiccan, you are already very close to the faery, invite them to your circle and see what happens. They can lend powerful energy to your spells, if they choose to do so. Remember that when you call the corners and the elements, you are already calling faery. Undines are water elements, gnomes are earth, salamanders are fire and sylphs are air. Try calling them by name. One thing though, if you use an alter bell, you may frighten away the fae. (they don't care for bells. They also aren't fond of smoke and incense may drive them away as well)
You may start noticing contact with smell. Faeries often cause perfumey smells, or floral smells. Or it could be sound, you may hear the tinkling of bells that is faery laughter. Rarely do you start out with sight, but you could. Be sensitive to your environment. Small changes could mean faery presence.

books, books and more books

2011-09-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading a wonderful book called The Faery Teachings by Orion Foxwood. I just finished one called The Sidhe: Wisdom From the Celtic Otherworld, by John Matthews, that I would highly recommend to anyone who believes even a little. Although I have tried his method for contacting the Sidhe with no results. I keep hoping though. My sis got me How To See Faeries by Brian Froud and John Matthews for my birthday, that'll be the next one I read.
I have decided that when I move to Alaska, everything will be gotten rid of except my books. (And my faery movies of course) I really can't wait to get up there. Yes I know it's cold, and it is the land of Sarah Palin, but it's just sooo beautiful there! What better place for faeries?