Faekin

What faekin means

A faekin is an otherkin whose kintype is one of the fae. The word is broad on purpose. It takes in the tall, grave people of the mounds, small sprites of field and hedge, and spirits of wood, hill and water. Some faekin name a particular kind from a particular tradition. Many say only "fae," because the old stories themselves rarely draw clear lines between one sort of faery and another.

As with every kintype, this is a matter of identity and not of the body, and it is recognized rather than chosen.

The fair folk in tradition

The faery traditions of the British Isles and Ireland share a family likeness, but each has its own names and its own manners.

• In Ireland the fair folk are the aos si, the people of the mounds. In the old mythological tales they are linked with an ancient divine race who withdrew into the hills when newcomers took the land above. People spoke of them carefully, as the good people or the gentry, since it was thought unwise to name them plainly.
• In Scotland tradition sometimes divided them into two courts: the seelie, who might be kindly if treated well, and the unseelie, who were not.
• In Wales they are the Tylwyth Teg, the fair family, who dance in rings and live by lakes and on hillsides.
• In England the fairies shared the countryside with hobs, brownies and the household sprite called Robin Goodfellow, who did good work for a bowl of cream and mischief when slighted.

Water spirits and shape-changers such as the pooka belong to the same wide landscape, and are followed on the page on water horses and river spirits.

Mounds, thresholds, bargains and iron

Certain themes run through almost every faery tale. They are recorded here as folklore, the way the stories tell them.

• Mounds and forts. The fair folk live inside green hills and in the old earthen rings that dot the countryside. Farmers would plow around such places rather than through them.
• Thresholds. Doorways, bridges, boundaries, the edge of a wood, and the in-between hours of dusk and dawn are where the two worlds meet. So are the turning points of the year, especially May Eve and the eve of November.
• Thorn trees and wells. A lone hawthorn in a field was not to be cut, and some wells were thought to be under faery care.
• Bargains. A promise to the fair folk binds exactly, to the letter. Those who eat or drink in the hollow hills may not be able to leave, and time runs differently there: a night of dancing may be a hundred years in the world outside.
• Courtesies. Small gifts of milk or bread were left out. Boasting, prying and rudeness were punished. In many tellings a household brownie given a gift of new clothes took offense and left for good.
• Iron. Cold iron is the one thing the fair folk cannot abide. A horseshoe over the door or an iron nail in a cradle was a common protection in the old accounts.

A living belief

It is easy to treat all this as charming scenery. It is more than that. In parts of Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and elsewhere, faery belief is not only a memory. Some farmers still leave the old forts and the lone thorns alone. On the Isle of Man, many people still greet the fair folk as they cross a certain bridge. For a good number of families these are things their grandparents believed, and things they themselves do not quite disbelieve.

Faekin who draw on these traditions are guests in them. The respected ones learn from the tradition's own tellers, read the old collections of folklore and not only modern fantasy, and do not set themselves up as authorities on beliefs that belong to living communities. Identifying as one of the fair folk does not make anyone a spokesperson for the people who have told their stories for centuries.

What faekin commonly describe

• A mercurial temper. Moods that turn quickly between delight and coolness, and a playfulness with a sharper edge underneath.
• A strong feeling for promises and courtesies. Great care with exact words, a horror of breaking an agreement, and sensitivity to rudeness.
• A bond with particular places. Thresholds, wells, thorn trees, hills, and the hours of dusk.
• A dislike of iron, which faekin who report it describe as a felt aversion, a matter of feeling and association rather than any effect on the body.
• Wings, for some. Often light and insect-like. It is worth knowing that the winged fairy is largely a newer image; the fair folk of older tradition were usually wingless and often of human size.
• A sense of time slipping, and of standing a little to one side of the ordinary world.

These are felt as phantom sensations, moods and habits of attention. They are not powers. Faekin do not claim to cast glamours, grant wishes or lay curses, and the community discourages anyone who does.

Changeling lore, handled with care

In many faery traditions the fair folk were said to steal human babies and leave one of their own, or a piece of enchanted wood, in the cradle. The substitute was called a changeling.

This belief must be spoken of plainly. It was used to explain children who were sick, disabled, or did not grow as expected, and it was at times used to justify cruelty to them. Children believed to be changelings were neglected, harmed and sometimes killed. Adults were harmed under the same belief as late as the nineteenth century.

Some faekin feel drawn to the changeling story because it seems to describe their own childhood: the sense of having been swapped, of not belonging to the family or the world they woke up in. That reading is understandable, and many hold it gently. But the word carries a cruel history. It should never be applied to another person, and least of all to a child or a disabled person.

Courtesy

If faery tradition has one lesson that faekin take to heart, it is courtesy. The fair folk of the stories are dangerous, but they are also strict about manners: about keeping one's word, about not boasting, about respecting what belongs to others.

That is a good inheritance. It is a poor one to borrow only the danger. "The fae are tricksters" is not an excuse for unkindness, and an identity drawn from these stories is best honored by being reliable, discreet and generous. Keep promises. Speak with care about beliefs that are not yours. Leave other people's thresholds as you found them.

Those who are questioning will find the advice on the awakening page useful. The neighboring page on elfkin follows the closely related elves of northern tradition, and the page on memories and past lives discusses impressions of another life, which some faekin report.