Ethical Use of the words "Fairy" and or "Faerie"

[Adalyna]

I've finally figured out what exactly it was I've been looking for all this time, and what makes my style of animism different from others. All this time these words have been involved, and my obsession with them has filled me with shame and fear about expressing my beliefs, but without it I would not have had any direction at all. I know what I believe now, but I want to get the last and final question about these words out of my system:

I've rounded my assessment of the words "Fairy and Faerie" down to the following criteria:

Inter-dimensionality, and an association with otherworldly faiths. and the idea that the spirit world is very close to our own and permeable.

Neutrality, being while often hostile, scary, dangerous and unpredictable, not always perceived as good or evil.

Anthropomorphic animism, the idea that spirit world citizens are diverse with a number of different features from not only living things, but even from abstract concepts or cultures, or that fairies might be tied in with alchemy (which I have yet to study more of but would like to)

Belief systems perceived as "fairy faiths" tend to have very indigenous mythology, while the word itself seems to be broad enough to reapply to different cultures, the mythology beneath that tends to be more tied with the people and with the land and the culture that grows in that land, and less broad in nature.

to a seemingly lesser extent, associated with the dead, although looked at in more of its "original" contexts this concept seems more prevalent.

Magical. And tied to traditions that practice some form of magic.

often tied with fertility and teeming life.

I've seen it attached to the following cultures, often arbitrarily and perhaps inaccurately: Irish Cornish Scottish French(Breton) and other European often closed traditions. I've seen it associated with the Roma, and even Japanese Shinto Most of the time this seems homogenizing and does little justice to the deeper context of these cultures. I wonder of the cultures therein ever wanted these words in the first place: although the word "Faerie" seems to be french in origin, and by nature could have a closer tie to Breton culture, meaning the word may belong to the Bretons and not to me.

These cultures tend to be closed cultures, so I wonder if a personal path, let alone an open path I'm trying to create if others want it, can be accurately described as "Faerie" or "Fairy"

The other word "Fairy" seems to from several dictionaries and Wikipedia derive from the Latin Fatum, but it doesn't seem specific to Latin tradition at all.

The French word seems to fit easier with describing the world, while the Latin word seems to f

I think that, ultimately it comes down to the opinions of the cultures labeled as "Fairy" cultures and "Faerie" cultures. I know what I believe now, I just know know if I get to call it by these words (or the spanish word Hada, which is a whole other can of worms I haven't gone into researching much yet)
I'm no longer concerned with perceived silliness in my attachments to these words, I'm only concerned with if there is an empirical reason for perceived silliness, such as intellectual dishonesty, or lack of ethics.
Now that I finally know what I was looking for in these words, I feel ready to let them go, for fear that they were never mine to begin with, but if I can share these words I would like to make use of them. Also I know I'm not the only one with a powerful attachment to these words, so I'd like to be able to tell friends and other people who feel like I do what I've heard from other people more educated about the boundaries between cultures.


I could go into specific Fairy myths and whether or not I can share with them or not, but that is a whole other gaping can of worms, so for now just know that I'd rather err on the side of caution towards intellectual honesty and respect for cultural boundaries.

Edit: I realized I may have skipped over some details or made some mistakes in this post, and if I have feel free to point them out so I can correct myself, that's what this guild is for right? While I know intent is not an excuse for ignorance, I do feel it makes a difference in a first time offense, as people need room to learn. I hope I only make first time offenses here if I am to make any at all.  

[Maze]

Is this the "Good Neighbour" type of Fey? Or is Fey not an accepted term in this cosmology?

And there's no difference between "Faerie" and "Fairy" in your belief system? Did I get that right? Or is it just that both words refer to similar criteria but may yet still be used independently to point out related, but different things?

Your piece of text is a little confusingly blob-like, but that might just be me today, I will admit. XD;  

[Adalyna]

The specifics of my cosmology have become very complex. I refer to many of the spirits as "fairies" in the assumption this is ethically sound. Fey is more an adjective to describe something fairy like. Faerie is useful in that it describes the worlds (which is actually in specifics to my faith, a mesh of two worlds that are distinct from about two or four others, plus the one we're in now. Faerie actually describes the worlds closest to this world. All of this is in the assumption that this is ethical and not Breton culture rape, or any other form of intellectual dishonesty. I have to do a huge update on my pathways thread. I don't use the terms "good neighbors" because I don't believe they need me to sugar coat what they are. I don't hate or revile them in fact I'm rather fond of them, but if I'm in the woods surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, I have a rather reasonable expectation to be lunch, I still think wolves are beautiful animals but I don't try to make them human. Good neighbors implies i have to pretend to like them and must actually fear them. My experience is, whatever these creatures are called, that they don't take kindly to trespassers and can behave unpredictably, I respect fear and admire them, all at once, but I'm fairly up front with them about that and they seem to be okay with it. I do use iron and silver in my correspondences, eerily, this is not really influenced by any tradition at all, and I initially tried to reject the use of these correspondences, as being cliche, but they insisted on their practicality in banishing and warding. ironically fairy spirits can have elements of iron in them too, it just makes them more closely bound to this world, and therefor easier to communicate with.

TL biggrin R is whatever I should be calling them, I don't hate them at all I'm rather fond of them but it's a very cautious admiration.

EDIT: the idea of my original post is to look into the criteria for the definition of the word, to see if it would be ethical for me at all, or if the criteria is specific to certain closed traditions, or just other traditions that have already been established. I can't determine by myself and without others consideration if it's ethical for use in my own tradition. The cosmology I've developed is a whole can of worms razz  

[Maze]

If you're in the woods surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, then you haven't been paying enough attention. XD;

I wasn't aware calling them "Good Neighbours" was something that was done because people feared upsetting them. Silly me for supposing people actually meant what they said when they said it, maybe, but.. o:

Your "fairies/faeries" aren't bothered by iron? Because that's been a fair - hah - constant in whatever readings I've done (most of which were probably unprofessional, don't get me wrong there), I have to admit.

You can use it, I guess, but they're supposedly not so fond of it. Historically speaking, anyway. Same as with.. what was it.. broomwood or something? I gave the book back that I found it in, so I know there was one or two herbs of which they reportedly don't like the smell, but whatever.

If your "fairies/faeries" is just what you call anything around you, though, I suppose this might not count because you're not - technically - talking about the traditional "fairies/faeries." So while I don't know if it's 'ethical' to use the terms as you see fit, it doesn't seem to be the 'traditional' way to use them from what little I've gleaned so far.

But as said, I'm hardly a professional. biggrin  

[Adalyna]

Maze

If you're in the woods surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, then you haven't been paying enough attention. XD;

I wasn't aware calling them "Good Neighbours" was something that was done because people feared upsetting them. Silly me for supposing people actually meant what they said when they said it, maybe, but.. o:

Your "fairies/faeries" aren't bothered by iron? Because that's been a fair - hah - constant in whatever readings I've done (most of which were probably unprofessional, don't get me wrong there), I have to admit.

You can use it, I guess, but they're supposedly not so fond of it. Historically speaking, anyway. Same as with.. what was it.. broomwood or something? I gave the book back that I found it in, so I know there was one or two herbs of which they reportedly don't like the smell, but whatever.

If your "fairies/faeries" is just what you call anything around you, though, I suppose this might not count because you're not - technically - talking about the traditional "fairies/faeries." So while I don't know if it's 'ethical' to use the terms as you see fit, it doesn't seem to be the 'traditional' way to use them from what little I've gleaned so far.

But as said, I'm hardly a professional. biggrin

I need to write this in my pathway thread. Their not exactly "bothered" by iron iron is just symbolically connected to the material world, we can playfully refer to it as "Ironside" though I'm grasping at enough cliche's here. The reason it sends fairies away is because, it makes the threshold between worlds grow thicker, and silver can be used to banish them because it represents the world they came from. As far as paying attention goes, its the same with the spirits I believe in, although, I'm finding more and more that the land here around me is relatively easygoing, so long as i pay it respects and acknowledgment. It makes sense since AltaDena is a very laid back community, and culture has its own spiritual essences which bleed into the spirit world and effect the dwellers there. Thats why we see fairies as looking human too, we move to an area and portions of our own spirits become a part of the land. So I could call them the good neighbors for fact that in my area their actually somewhat agreeable, but it bears the connotation of fear and revulsion and it wouldn't be very conducive to forging any kinds of pacts with the land or keeping them.