Customer Reviews

A Witch's Guide to Faery Folk: How to Work with the Elemental World (Llewellyn's New Age)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am an academic folklorist, and my specialties are fairy lore and classical fairy tales (which are related, but not identical areas of study). Speaking as a scholar, I have to say that her scholarship, while not outstanding, was better than a lot of New Age fairy books. She occasionally indulges in the fluffs, but she has the sense to list most of the fairies in her rather interesting "Dictionary" as dangerous, and not to be contacted. In this aspect, I found her to be better than Ted Andrews, and even the otherwise excellent Patricia Telesco; most of her fairies aren't adorable, and she advises respect at all times, even with benevolent fairies. The breakdown of the steps involved in spell and ritual construction were useful, and she included a halfway decent bibliography. On the other hand, this book definitely has problems. Her sections on the fairies of various lands are generalized and sloppy. She doesn't footnote -- her scholarship is strongest when she's referencing Katharine Briggs, but she doesn't credit her. To top it off, she commits one big, blistering error, which, if contact was attempted, might get some dumb fluff bunny killed: the bannik -- the Russian spirit of the bath house -- is most definitely a "Contact not advised!" entity. Folklore relates that, while banniks have occasionally been known to do good deeds, in general they are considered among the nastiest spirits in the Russian fairy pantheon; one of their favorite activities is skinning unwary bathers alive (see _Russian Folk Belief_, by Linda Ivanits). In general, I agree with the person who stated that if you want accurate fairy lore, go to Katharine Briggs (I would also suggest Carole Silver and Maureen Duffy); however, this is the most useful book for Neo-Pagans interested in making contact with the fairies in a ritual context. Just be sure to cross-check fairy types with Briggs' _Encyclopedia of Fairies_!

I used to own a metaphysical bookstore, and was duly excited when this book came out. However, upon reading it, I sent every copy back to the distributor, with the exception of one copy I kept as an example of a badly researched book for neophyte witches.

The author did not do her homework on the subject very well. In her view, the Good Folk are little, friendly creatures who are glad to be contacted and in some cases, ordered about by neopagans and witches. The bulk of extant folklore does not bear out these white-light, fluffy-bunny cutsie-wootsie beliefs.

In the traditions of the British Isles, and among the Native American tribes, the Little People were considered to sometimes be allied with humanity, but were more likely to be at odds with humans or at the least, uncaring of humanity. Rituals were developed, and a complex set of rules were followed on how to propitiate these beings and to keep human relations with them on a safe level. The powers that these beings were said to wield were considerable, and not to be trifled with.

As a witch for over 17 years, and as someone who has studied the folklore of the Good Folk for around 20 years, I refuse to believe that someone who has obviously not bothered do her homework on a subject could be qualified as an authority on it. No, thank you, I will stick to the tried and true methods developed by people over hundreds of years when dealing with unknown entities such as the Good Folk, and ignore the advice of someone who likely hasn't seen one in her life, and who probably only wrote the book for the money it would bring her.

If anyone wants to learn more about the Little People, I would suggest that they read Katherine Brigg's work, "The Encyclopedia of Fairies," which is a far more interesting book, written by someone who has made the study of the folklore and beliefs about the Good Folk her life's work.

Written in fourth-grader style, not well researched, and frequently inaccurate. Author quotes books of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose, Brian Froud, the 'Enchanted World' series of Time-Life books, and her own works in the bibliography; the closest this book gets to genuine research is an abridged version of Frazer and a speculative work of Joseph Campbell's.
Use this book for magic at your own risk!
Or, save yourself the trouble of having to relearn the right information later, and instead buy a copy of Alexander Porteous' The Forest in Folklore and Mythology.

No book is perfect, and there are several flaws to McCoy's work, but all and all, this is a fine book. The premise is the witch working with the faery, an excellent idea, and a valuable collection to any collector of books on witchcraft, wicca, and faerylore. The introduction is wonderful, and the source list is valuable. The book also includes a dictionary of some 200 plus faery creatures. If I have a complaint, it's that McCoy does not write enough on the German, French, and Bohemian experience, where faery creatures existed as surely as they existed in Ireland, Scotland, and England. McCoy's background is basically Celtic, as with many in the witchcraft community. Love the book, its premise, but I sure would have liked more on the French, Italian, and German folklore. A must for collectors.

Most of this book is well written, however, i do not think it is organized well enough. Half the book is on the dictionary of 230 faeries. I must say that everything BEFORE the dictionary. Most of the ways to contact the faeries are 'Contact unknown' or 'Contact not advised.' Edain mccoy is also not clear on how to contact the fae. She just says 'cast the circle and invoke them' Well edain, thats great but what do you do now? The lore of the faeries in the dictionary was good.

Her perspective of the fae is also different, she sees them mostly as dangerous creatures, but not all are like this, they are more wild and playful than actually dangerous. You won't be needing this book as much as you THINK you would. But it is still a good reference to keep on the shelf. I especially liked the part of how she taught to create an energy fae to help tasks. The meditation, just as Ted Andrews are too 'forcing' She should teach to let the fae take charge while in astral plane instead of force them to speak and smile. Although this book was better than Ted Andrews _Enchantment of the faerie realm_ i still give it a very low rating. It hasn't helped me that much, and i dont think it will be much of a help for you also. Try Sirona knight's _Faery Magick_ instead.

This book is very good for reference. The dictionary of faeries is very useful and accurate. However, I did not like how most "How to contact" said "Contact not advised." The spells in the book are very effective, and the guided meditation is a wonderful journey to the faery realm. The book is a little disorganized with bits and peices of information thrown around here and there. Overall though, this book was well written.

There are many books on the Fey and Faery folk out on the market today. Many are good resources, but Mccoy's is the best. Informatoin on any and every aspect of the folk you could imagine. Origins, history, how to protect against, how to attract, and a encyclopedia of faery species. Very useful resource.

This has been one of my favorite books about the faery folk.
Not only informative, but can help you slide into another world and meet enchanting beings while reading. If you love getting to know the little people ( oops they don't like to be called that )and being with them, this book is for you.

This book is a wonderful referrence for Fay folk. However some discriptions and locations are off. Not all of her research is accurate either, over all this is a fairly good book. Just read it with a grain (maybe a couple?) of salt.

Certainly not the best book on fairies but still a good source anyway. I read through it and when I got to the dictionary I was a bit disappointed. It seems very incomplete and not accurate.

For example; When you go to the Barabaos it refers to the Masseriol. The fairies are two different fairies. Similar but not the same. The Barabaos are small shape-shifters. Usually they appear as a fat man in a red cap. He will change himself into a thread to nestle between breasts. For he loves human women. He crys out in pleasure and when the woman looks down he has already vanished to nestle between the next victims breast. He is a bit of a trickster. He likes to steal bread and pull clothes off lines before they have the chance to dry. He also squeezes in keyholes to watch couples making love.

The Massariol; also known as (Little Farmer) are northeastern Italian male house fairies. They help out on farms with livestock and they braid horses' manes every Friday. They also help out in the farm house. They like to lure women to mountains. There they dance with the pretty young women but do not harm them. They dress in red and look like elderly men with large red hats. They have a laugh like a horses' and are very kind creatures.

It aggravated me that Edain McCoy did not give the differences of these two fairies. Instead she treated it as if they were the same. That is just only one example. But it is a small dictionary and not an encyclopedia. She does give origins, other names they may go by, elements, appearance and temperament, the time they are most active, lore, where to find them, how to contact them, and magical and ritual help.

Other than that the book is great. It tells you allot about fairies and where they came from. The chapter I liked best was The faery Experience Around The Globe. There you learn about other cultures and their belief in the fairy. Celtic Beliefs, The Welsh and English Experience, and Germanic and Nordic Faeries. Those are only a few that are in this book. I found it very informational.

I must also include that if you are a Wiccan or Pagan and deal with magic. This book also has a few fairy spells. Including protection spells from the fae.