Читать книгу 366 Celt: A Year and A Day of Celtic Wisdom and Lore - Carl McColman - Страница 83

In 1911 a young American scholar named Walter Evans-Wentz published a book developed from his dissertation at Oxford University, called The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. The book recounts the extensive collection of folklore that the young scholar made throughout the six regions in western Europe where Celtic languages survived until modern times: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. All the stories and legends and personal experiences that Evans-Wentz documents involve belief not only in the existence of fairies, but also in the many ways in which fairies can interact with the physical world. The author goes on to put forward several dated, but nonetheless fascinating, theories as to why it is scientifically plausible to believe in the fairies.

I don’t know if Evans-Wentz proved his case or not, but he certainly did anchor the link between the Celts and the fairies that seems to go back to the days of myth. Celtic wisdom takes many forms and speaks to us in many different ways. But the fairy faith knits the many strands of Celtic spirituality together. It is an integral part of the Celtic mystical world.