Do Fairies Exist?
(continued from Part 2)

by Dora Van Gelder

Can adults still learn to see fairies?

The question will be asked why more people cannot see fairies. I suppose part of the answer is that almost nobody tries after they are grown UP, or even in childhood for that matter, and the rest of the answer is that the few who know that fairies exist do not always try to see them in the right way. 

As far as I am concerned I can see fairies. I can see them with my eyes shut, but I do not close my eyes ordinarily, as it is for one thing unnecessary, and for another, when clairvoyant sight has brought fairies into range, ordinary sight helps very much to observe details. And many fairies are so nearly perceptible by ordinary sight that it is much easier to study them with that. Just what sort of light they give off or reflect (for they are themselves luminous) I do not know, for I am not a physicist, and even if I were, where are the instruments with which to study anything so subtle? 

A scientific friend suggested looking at fairies with and without some borrowed spectacles, by way of making some sort of test about the kind of light that is involved. I did so and found that the fairies looked different through the spectacles, just as trees look different. But perhaps the distortion is due to the effect upon one's ordinary sight. Again, fairies seem not so visible through ordinary window glass, but the same difficulty arises here as before: is it the dimming of light to ordinary eyes that is affected? 

I was only one of many children who have known of fairies from the very earliest years, but in my case -- owing to my good fortune and perhaps special advantages -- this knowledge has not only persisted but widened. The reader may know of cases like this; I also have met many children who see and many more adults who still remember the days when they had this power. But not many have the courage to own up to their faculties, for often they are afraid of being thought peculiar. The very way so many parents treat children puts them on the defensive in the matter. Being spanked for "telling lies" is no encouragement to pursue the subject further. It makes the child ashamed of a lovely experience.

Furthermore, we must remember that the whole business of seeing fairies is a delicate operation at best. The power to see requires conditions of quiet and peace; and then, fairies are themselves quite as shy as wild creatures and have to be tamed and attracted. Altogether, even under the best circumstances, especially around cities, the undertaking is not easy for the inexperienced. Add to this the ignorant hostility of the majority and, what is more, a fixed belief that only the dense material is real, and one can begin to appreciate the problem faced by the seeing child. Fortunately, more and more parents are becoming aware of nurturing creative abilities and higher sense perceptions in their children.

In childhood, the relationship between the two kingdoms is closer than at any other time of life. This is because children are closer by nature to fairies than any other human beings. They are naturally happy and spontaneous in action; they fit well into nature; they are also somewhat irresponsible, with few worries about food and clothing; and they have a remarkable capacity for finding delight, fascination, and creative joy in little things like a pebble or a shell or an empty box. They also take an intense interest in young and growing things, are boundlessly curious about everything within range, have no consciousness of conventional traditions of behavior or moralities, and love adventure, dressing up, and tales of mystery and imagination. In all these ways children are close to the fairies in character. This is why in childhood the gates are so often open, and the human and fairy worlds are so completely one.

Even though fairies have been supplanted in children's imaginations by more modern fancies, like creatures from outer space, they remain a deep, instinctive need of humanity. This yearning for their friendship and for the mere knowledge that they exist has its root in the fact that the fairies are there, silent and unseen to most people, yet close at hand -- as it were, with elfin hands on the thin shell between the two worlds. The clear bell notes of their music can almost be heard. The gaiety and beauty which they embody presses in upon us from every bit of parkland, of wood, of garden. The sky and sea are joyous thresholds into their worlds. On every side there are fairies, and therefore on every side loveliness and happiness.

If adults could but recapture the simplicity and directness of children even in some small degree, they too would recover the lost land of happiness that is the kingdom of the Little People, for the fairies would delight in becoming their simple friends, always to be depended upon, always kind.

About The Author

Dora Van Gelder-Kunz was born in 1904 with clairvoyant faculties, further trained during her association with C. W. Leadbeater. She has been associated for many years with new techniques in healing, including developing Therapeutic Touch with Dr. Dolores Krieger. Former president of The Theosophical Society in America, she is author of The Chakras and the Human Energy Fields (with Dr. Shafica Karagulla), The Personal Aura, and the anthology Spiritual Healing. This article was excerpted with permission from "The Real World of Fairies", a Quest Book, published by the Theosophical Publishing House. www.theosophical.org 

This article was excerpted from

 "The Real World of Fairies: A First Person Account"
by
Dora Van Gelder

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