Guest Post - Could Fairies Be Real? By Vanessa Finaughty - Wizard of Ends Tour
- Tabitha Tomala
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Welcome to Day 9 of the Wizard of Ends virtual book tour!
What is Wizard of Ends you ask? Check out the book trailer!
Now it's time for the guest post by Vanessa Finaughty!
Could Faeries Be Real?
Humans have believed in the existence of fairies for thousands of years. Even today, some still believe. Do fairies perhaps have their root in something real? A misidentified animal, perchance, or something more exciting yet to be proven real –
or do people just sometimes imagine seeing things that they’ve heard described by others?
When we hear the word ‘fairy’, most of us picture a tiny, magic-wielding, human-like being with beautiful transparent wings shaped similar to butterfly wings. However, not all cultures describe them thus. In fact, this description only became popular sometime in the 1800s, I think. Prior to this, fairies were often described as being similar in size to a human adult, or even up to 14 feet tall. For example, in 18th century Wales, fairies were believed to be ancestral spirits that were more than six feet tall. In Cornwall, it was believed that fairies came in different sizes and were shapeshifters who became smaller every time they shifted.
Here’s something that might surprise you. It’s said that there are different types of fairies – some that I just can’t wrap my head around being considered fairies (probably due to the tiny, cute winged person image stuck in my head). These include goblins (ugly and ill-tempered), brownies (helpful fairies that clean your house), nymphs (usually beautiful women found somewhere in nature), pixies (mischievous) and even leprechauns (tiny old men). Even more surprising is that the following are on the list too: elves (the males of which were said to have been old men in some cultures), gnomes (15th century earth elementals with superhuman speed) and dwarves (who could reportedly become invisible).
However you visualise fairies, the question remains: if they exist, what are they? Here are some theories:
A strange creature not yet properly studied and documented
Ancestral spirits come to guide us
Spirits of nature that can take on physical form
Evil spirits come to cause havoc
Low-ranking angels that watch over us
Fallen angels
Interdimensional beings
Spirits from a time before recorded history
The souls of those not bad enough for Hell, but not good enough for Heaven
I’m more inclined to believe the first on the above list – possibly even the third last. I also think they were possibly bug-like in appearance, maybe mistaken for tiny humans due to having a humanoid shape.
So let’s say for argument’s sake that at least some fairies are really small – in which case, there are plenty of claims of discoveries that ‘prove’ fairies exist or, at the very least, make one think fairies. I can find no verified evidence for any of it, sadly. Although the internet is full of such claims, they all appear to be hoaxes. There is even someone who claims to have taken a photo of fairies – Manchester Metropolitan University’s Professor John Hyatt. You can see the photo here. I couldn’t verify this, either – and I’m not really convinced about Hyatt’s photo.
As I mentioned, if anything even remotely like a Tinkerbell fairy exists/existed in the real world, I think they are/were probably some type of insect with a humanoid body, and were thus misidentified as ‘little people with wings’. I admit, I’m disappointed to have found no solid evidence that makes me think fairies might actually be real – still, the world is full of discoveries waiting to happen, so who knows? At the very least, all of this is good fuel for a writer’s muse!
Wizard of Ends, Book 1 – permafree
Smashwords | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple | Everand | Vivlio | Fable | Palace
Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature
Smashwords | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple | Everand | Vivlio | Fable | Palace
Wizard of Ends, Book 3: United Army
Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Everand | Vivlio | Fable | Palace
Wizard of Ends companion: Magic in the Real World
Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Everand | Vivlio | Fable | Palace | Books2Read
About the Author
Vanessa Finaughty is a multi-genre author who has published more than 20 books, including school books published by Oxford University Press Southern Africa. Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and still lives there with her husband and their four children (two human and two furry, four-legged).
Vanessa has always been passionate about books, and knew from a young age that she wanted to write them one day. She loves animals, coffee and the smell of wet grass, and hates excessive weather, long queues and liars. Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, mythology, aliens and outer space, ancient history, life’s mysteries and martial arts, in which she has five years’ experience in Ki Aikido.
