Ralph Harvey, a self-proclaimed pagan priest and the head of the Order of Artemis, presents Fairies: Plain and Simple. Harvey begins with a brief overview of what the reader should know about fairies. Things like where they are said to live, what they are said to look like and also to dispel a few misconceptions that people have of the fee. The reader is taken across the world on an adventure learning all about how the fee is known in that area, the stories and myths surrounding them, historical data, and even court documents that describe their presence. You will see how that culture respected, honored, and, occasionally, even feared them.
We look at the history of arts and see how the fee were painted and even sang or written about as if part of the everyday norm in their pieces time. Hughes, Kingsley, Simmons, Grimshaw, Shakespeare, Kipling, Scott, Keats, and so on… are all names of artists that are connected to Fairy depictions in well-known art.
The information that Harvey lays out for the reader is supported by well-known facts, lore, and researchable data that can still be found when looking in the right places. He dates the accounts of the fairy people back to before the 1600 and places the accounts of their existence all the way up to 2005.
The reader then journeys through some well documented mysteries that still leave investigators unsettled with all the questions left unanswered. One of these mysteries includes the Cottingly Mystery, where cousins were supposedly caught faking photographs of fairies that they had claimed to see. Others were accounts of missing persons or people returned as “changelings”.
As the book concludes the reader will learn all things fee. You can expect to learn their likes, dislikes, preferred offerings, and how to connect with them. A brief overview of elemental beings that are often mistaken for the fee and how to protect one’s self from all of them. Learn how to dowse for elemental beings using different methods. Correspondences are given for reference with details on corresponding element, zodiac, stones, flowers, metals, etc.
One of the most unique and interesting things found in this book, is Harvey’s personal account and recollection of a trip with his wife to Ireland. This first person perspective that changed a man’s belief in elemental beings, directed him to writing this book and also to what seemingly encouraged a much more in depth look at the fee.
This book would have been wonderful full of just the folktales, research, and history; however, the personal story of changing a man from blind tourist to believer is one that touches the reader. The tale leaves them wanting to learn how to have their own experience and relationship with the fee. This book is wonderful for the beginner or the intermediate studier of fee lore. Its pages are a great read and will prove to be fantastic for reference material in personal libraries for years to come.
~review by Keri Nichol
Author: Ralph Harvey
Hampton Roads Publishing, 2017
p. 131, $$14.95
