A Fairy's Appearance

Now, when looking for fairies in nature, you must not expect that they are going to look like little winged people with magic wands. It seems that most humans assume exactly that. But really, they are spirits of nature. Some fairies do chose to look slightly like the types of fairies we imagine, with human features and long, silky hair, wings of dragonflies or butterflies, dresses or clothing fashioned from leaves and mosses and flowers; due to the help of a little fairy glamour. Glamour is the type of magic that can make an ugly old hag appear to the human eye as a beautiful young maiden, or make a pile of ashes or dirt take the form of a ripe, golden apple. But in reality, if consuming that ripe, golden apple, you are still eating a pile of ashes or dirt. Or if befriending that beautiful, young maiden, she is still an ugly old hag. That is how fairy glamour works. It is commonly used for the changeling trade, which is when fairy parents switch their sick or ugly Fae child for a beautiful healthy mortal child. Or sometimes, the fairy parents just leave an enchanted piece of wood, known as a board, which is when the glamour applies. The Fae use glamour to make the wood board look like a human baby, where it appears to grow sick and die right in front of the mortal parent's eyes. It is actually quite sad, it is deffinately one of the Fae's most unpleasant traditions. Anyway, let us get back to fairy appearances. We will explain more about changelings another time. So, fairies generally tend look like mists, balls of light (known as orbs), flashes of color, shadowy figures, etc. You usually will see them in those basic forms, because most people cannot always see them full on. Unless, of course, you practice regularly and learn to train your brain. Fairies can obviously fly, accept they do not need wings. They can sometimes choose to have wings for decoration, but they re not absolutely necessary because they can fly naturally. Now, if you have ever seen any of those things (mysterious mists, balls of light, flashes of color, or shadowy figures), you have probably seen a fairy! So keep your eyes open, and remember, expect the unexpected.