“The magic of fairies has always been bound up with stealing.”
Susanna Clarke
Cover art and all art by Arthur Rackham
I wanted to draw attention to this account of a fairy abduction which was published in 1866, although the date of the incident occurring is not recorded. Initially, this encounter might seem to follow the trajectory of other similar accounts but there are some fascinating symbols and motifs which hint at a high knowledge of ritual magic. There are also elements such as an altered state of consciousness which would recur in more contemporary supernatural abductions a century later. I will post a link to the original text, which is now part of the Google Books Database, at the end of this summation but first I will note the moments which I think are worth paying particular attention to.
The tale begins at the wedding of a couple in the town land of Curragraigue, Co. Kerry. The groom finds that his wife has vanished and immediately suspects that she has been taken by the good people. This is where the first motif of note takes place; the groom, while in a half-waking, half-dreaming state sees his wife outside his window. She is visible through the ‘slanting rays’ of the moon. This hypnagocic state has been used by human beings to explore dream meanings, receive prophecy, and in shamanic-type vision questing, to both receive ancestral and spiritual wisdom as well as journeying to higher consciousness realms. The groom being able to communicate with his wife while he is in this state is a highly significant piece of information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia
The wife then explains to her husband that on May Eve the fairy parade will depart from the local rath after midnight and this is when he must attempt to rescue her. Again, this is another detail worth mentioning. May Eve is referring to Bealtaine which is a time in the yearly cycle when fairies have traditionally moved from one home to another. I have mentioned before how this belief is also part of Scottish fairy lore with the quarter and cross-quarter days a time to avoid ancient sites. It seems, though, that on these dates, for a short time, while in transition, a spell of fairy capture can be broken.
The wife instructs her husband to wait at the rath and sprinkle a circle of holy water and bring a ‘black hafted knife’. If the husband can pull her from the fairy horse and into his circle she will be safe. The wife also mentions that until that date the husband must leave food for her on the dresser every night because she must eat but if she consumes food the good people give her she will be doomed to stay with them forever. Again, this is a recurring motif in many abductions and is recounted in indigenous fairy traditions as a taboo that must be avoided.
The wife laments the fact that she became susceptible to capture by not preparing for her wedding sacraments. This is obviously a Christian influence on the tale which most likely was used to explain how a person might be deemed attractive to the good people.
In many interpretations of fairy origins they themselves are deemed to exist in a limbo, neither good enough for heaven nor bad enough for hell. In more contemporary abduction accounts this factor has all but vanished due to the waning influence of the church. It’s also worth pointing out that in non-Christian cultures it is violating fairy protocol, first and foremost, which might lead a person to be captured.
When it comes to Bealtaine Eve the husband is waiting at the rath when it transforms into a brilliant palace and, “A thousand lights flashed from the windows and lofty hall entrance.” We can notice what Jaques Vallee would later interpret as a parallel between UFO encounters and fairy sightings in this description. The bright lights, the transformation of an ancient structure, the rath, into an almost futuristic and otherworldly realm. Folklore accounts going back hundreds of years describe the artificial light which emanates from fairy mounds and this has often been a point of bewilderment for those who witness the sight.
Now, there is another point to note here which might pass a reader by; the writer mentions that as the fairy troop pass the husband when he is standing at the rath he is unaware if they can see him or notice his presence. This might refer to a type of time distortion or extension of fairy time itself creating a pathway between mounds as the fairies move to their next place of residence. However, as Morgan Daimler has pointed out, the magic circle itself seems to act as a protection against being seen by the good people.
When the husband spots his wife he realises that he will have to break out of his magic circle to rescue her. It is only then, when the husband enters the stream of the fairy troop, that they react to him. The husband grabs his wife and rushes backs inside the circle, all the while brandishing the black hafted knife which the fairies cannot approach.
The good people, though, are compelled to continue moving and to leave the site of the rath. As angry as they are, they must leave the wife behind. As folklore tells us, because it is a cross-quarter day they cannot break this rule. This seems like a type of cycle that fairies are tied to and hints at both a connection to the opening and closing of portals as well as, perhaps, a larger cosmological pattern.
Finally, the rath darkens and the glimmering and shining parade exit the field and all becomes silent. The good people have been thwarted and the husband has rescued his wife. I think this is quite an important Irish encounter. There are so many details worth noting, with probably more that I have missed and that another researcher might uncover. The Bealtaine date is a nice find as it is something we hear about in customs and oral accounts but having a written example going back to at least 1866 is very important. The original event itself, as I have mentioned, is obviously from before this date.
The overlay of ritual magic upon Christian fairy interpretation is also interesting; magic circles and black hafted knifes in a rural setting in the middle of the 19th century might make us reconsider the depth and complexity of folk magic being practiced. Finally, the aspects of the encounter which fall into higher consciousness/ dimensional experience; hypnagocic communication, out of body travelling and what seems to be different time continuum’s are all manifestations of what would become the basis of the work of people like John Keel, Jacques Vallee and Jenny Randles in the 20th century.
Here is the link to the original account which is available on Google Books.
It appeared in Legendary Fictions of The Irish Celts by Patrick Kennedy and, as mentioned, was first published in 1866. The account was recorded as The Recovered Bride. You can read the full book here.
https://books.google.ie/books?id=j2wQAAAAYAAJ…
David Halpin
David Halpin is a writer from Tallaght, now living on the Carlow/ Wicklow border. He has been writing about Irish Forteana and spirituality for over thirty years and has had his articles published in magazines and books throughout the world. David’s photographs of Ireland’s sacred sites have been published in journals and articles worldwide and in 2020 were included in An Taisce’s annual report on the Irish landscape. David is also a reviewer of esoteric writing and as well as publishing for The Occult Book Review, he also contributes regularly to newspapers, magazines and online publications. His articles have appeared in The Wild Hunt, New Dawn Magazine, Coire Ansic, and he is a regular contributor to Ancient Origins. David also runs the blog, Circle Stories, where he focuses his writing upon the topics of consciousness and folklore.
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