Published in Issue 14 of Pagan Ireland (WInter 2024/25). Get a copy of this issue here: https://paganireland.com/buyissues

What is the nature of the other-dimensional world of fairyland? Since ancient times, seers have described the parallel world of nature spirits and deities. Peeling away the biased accounts of medieval monks, one finds archaic fragments of mythos of the Other, also in children’s stories. The Other, the different dimensional worlds, are as real as the world of ordinary reality.

In Ireland, where ‘the veils are thin’, we can potentially encounter spiritual beings at many special places around the magical island. The spiritual reality is timeless and the Otherworld are all around us, but in Ireland they seem to be very close indeed. However one’s culturally conditioned sense of the world may not accommodate the consciousness of nature and the spirits of place. We may filter out that which we are ignorant about or wilfully choose not to see something, if it clashes with our belief system. To have no belief system and thus be open to other realities is a great blessing, I discovered from my own life.

Growing up in Australia and unburdened by a mainstream religious view, I found my own way of viewing the world that was informed by indigenous perspectives. My first school in the early 1960s was with Aboriginal kids and we’d dig up edible roots in the playground for snacks. Later I met Aboriginal elders and learnt about the Dreaming of their Country, about spirit beings who were there from the beginning, creating landscapes and continuing to reside in the land, their sacred site homes now officially recognised and protected by federal laws, in theory at least.

Clairvoyantly sensing the spirits of place helped to reinforce these understandings. I spent time with people who could see them clearly and gained confidence in my own impressions. Becoming a professional geomancer, advising people about subtle energies and spirit beings in the environment, I realised that animistic perspectives were once universal. It’s our common cultural base. Animism’s demise ushered in the exploitation of nature and Country everywhere.

From teaching the art of dowsing in the early 1980’s - helping people develop their innate intuition and sense of subtle energies - I started to share techniques to locate and connect with nature spirits. These beings can be found by anyone who learns to dowse. You don’t have to be especially ‘gifted’, just open and curious. They can be detected by dowsing their basic form - as spherical energy fields that move around and expand and contract at will. I was a presenter at the British Society of Dowsers international conference in 2003, that had a theme of ‘New Work’, and I introduced this very subject to them. It has been so rewarding to share this and I still find it a vast and exciting field of discovery.

But Aboriginal Dreaming is not my ancestral heritage, there are limits to my connection to it and I’m not qualified to know or talk of its secrets. So much has been taken from indigenous Australians in the brutal course of colonisation, often all they have left are stories, their greatest cultural treasures. I can only speak of my own experiences.

With English and Irish ancestry, I always felt at home in Ireland and I live there now. After a recent sojourn to Australia, before returning home I chatted to an Aboriginal woman elder who spoke passionately about concerns for her Country in north central Victoria. I was proud to tell her - “I’m going back to my Dreaming Country now”. I came back and finished writing my recent book Fairy Haunts of Ireland. It was inspired by my own experiences of ‘fairyland’ in Ireland, including seven years of observing fairy beings on the rural property where I lived.


Seven Years in a Fairyfield

In 2015 I came to live in a de-populated corner of Irish countryside amidst tiny Cow fields and empty stone cottages. Tall trees grew out of the hedges surrounding the fields and nature was happy with the neglect of the land. The farmers, who mostly all have day jobs, weren’t using agri-chemicals much, so it was a relatively clean, green environment.

It was also a haven for fairies, who can’t tolerate chemical pollution, and I called my one hectare of paradise - Fairyfield. I gradually got to know many who resided there. I made contact with them on a regular basis over seven years, mainly during my morning meditation sessions. I developed a ‘fairy meditation’ process of remote viewing that dropped me into their world, let me observe any changes and interact with them briefly. I learned a lot in the process.

I won’t disclose the names that I assign to these spiritual beings, as it would be impolite to do so. Uttering the name of a being can invite its presence and if there is no good reason to do this, they won’t be impressed, so I’ll paint a brief picture of Irish fairy life and they will remain nameless.

Where to begin? Generally speaking there are two groups that I’ve observed - the summer and winter beings. I watched over seven years as they made their appearances according to the seasons. They’re not slaves to particular dates for this; rather, the weather dictates their comings and goings. Until temperatures allow for the emergence of plants and animals, there is no reason for summer fairies to be around. By around May 1st, when the cold and storms have mostly abated, the summer fairies arrive. Having wintered in the Underworld, they are fresh and ready for action.

It was the queen of each fairy territory that I became friends with. To me they appeared somewhat as a white gowned or golden princess. They generally act like a CEO of the fairy company of local beings, ushering in those lesser beings required for biological processes to unfold and working with the energies of place.

One fairy queen usually stations herself at the entrance to a geo-vortex that’s an earthing point for a Fairy Path. I’ve surrounded this Fairy Hole with a small stone circle and the ‘little people’ love to dance there, preferring that I keep the grass short. She’ll convey her annoyance if I let it go a bit wild. Like most nature spirits, she doesn’t like the presence of metal in her territory, as it’s an ‘interruptor of energy’, so I have to give her plenty of warning before bringing the lawnmower inside the stone circle and I’m quick to get it out of there when finished. She’s delighted with the outcome, as dancing is a favourite fairy activity and a dedicated dance ground needs to be fairly neat and tidy.

One summer’s day, when the grass and wild plants had become long and tangled around the perimeter of the stone circle and covered the stones, I decided it was time to chop them back with some hand tools. I had a helper friend, as well as a new, good quality reaping hook that was super sharp. I was chopping with another tool with my back to my friend who, I didn’t realise, was getting dangerously close to the Fairy Circle. He had not sought approval for chopping in there and they probably wouldn’t give consent anyway. I should have warned him!

Soon I heard a loud exclamation - “Ohhhhhh!!!” The blade of the new hook had snapped off! I sent a photo to the supplier and they were aghast. They’d never seen a breakage like that before and they sent me a replacement. When I asked the friend where he’d been chopping I found out that it was actually caused by fairy wrath, not defective metal, and I had to laugh at the powerful lesson he’d received to help overcome his fairy scepticism.

The event was described to me thus. When starting to chop weeds on the edge of the fairy circle, the power in his arm and the previous easy slicing action of the sickle for no obvious reason suddenly became weaker and weaker. A few seconds later the brand new blade just snapped! This fairy queen surely detests the sickle, an ancient tool for taming the wildness of the land and harvesting its bounty. I’ve never gained permission from her to use it within the fairy circle. While the lawn mower she tolerates briefly, I guess that the sickle harbours traumatic ancestral memories for her species.

Another fairy queen lives across the road, stationed under a vigorous young Oak tree. While the Oak grew rapidly, the original fairy queen had a child (by a sort of cloning) then disappeared, presumed ‘dead’. Before she moved on, the daughter was trained by her mother in the art of dancing and it was such a joy to observe them dancing together. I didn’t know then that I’d be losing the queen so soon. But the daughter took over her mother’s duties and there was perfect continuity.

A male land spirit rules over a back field that had previously been the home of a stud billy Goat. Usually keeping to himself, no-one was allowed to disturb his little grassy field. He was adamant about that. However if he needed to contact me for a good reason, he’d take on whatever form he felt I’d be open to perceiving, often appearing in the image of characters I’d seen or that resonated with me. Such is the ability of the astral field of these beings, that it allows them to conjure up whatever appearance they want to project, just as we physically choose an outfit from our wardrobe. (And yes, they are influenced by fashion!)

One day, as I stood looking at garden plants, I became aware of the land spirit standing at the side of a path that goes through the food forest. He was in a most beautiful form to behold. To really attract my attention he’d taken the beguiling appearance of Lord Krishna, in a classic pose with a flute to his lips. He beckoned me to follow him. Wondering what it was all about, I followed behind him as he glided up the forest path. Finally he stopped. Right there was a young tree that had been blown over in a recent storm. I was able to lift it and tie it onto something to keep it up. It was a job that no nature spirit could accomplish by itself and a good example of ‘co-creative gardening’, to use a modern term.


Dowsing the nature spirits

People talk about the Fairy Faith but you don’t have to ‘believe’ in them to perceive and interact with them! I was brought up with no belief system about spirits. But spirits came to me and made their presences felt and sometimes seen. I do believe that “they live in their world and we live in ours”, as has been said by others. We ideally limit our interactions with them, because our energy is not always appreciated by them, plus they can play with out minds! But as a geomancer, I find there is a need to know where their homes and pathways are located, so that we can protect and respect those special places.

As a dowser, I use my focused senses to find the location of the energy fields of the nature beings. It as simple as finding the auras of people, plants and animals. This is what I like to teach people at workshops and it’s what we’ll be exploring at my next workshop in Germany. As well as the Energy Dowsing techniques I’ll be sharing, I sometimes ‘interview’ nature spirits with my pendulum. The questions need to be framed so that they can only have a yes, no, or don’t know response. The first question is - “Would you kindly agree to be interviewed?” If you want to develop a nice relationship with a nature spirit you could ask it for a name that you can call it. Be open to hearing a sound that might initiate the creation of a name. Ask if it’s happy to go by that name. If so, then you will be able to contact that being all the quicker. But don’t be calling upon it too often and never without a good reason.

Generally speaking, I think we need to earn their respect before we go out and start making any demands on the fairy folk. Be a good gard-

ener, for example, and your love of the land will be noticed and give you a greater chance to befriend them. They will look up to you and help you in subtle ways to make a better garden for all! If you are a ‘tree hugger’, then forests are an awesome place to discover nature beings, spirits of trees and the huge forest spirits that the Swedes know as Trolls, the Polish call them Leshii. When we contacted one in a German forest and mentally connected with it, many wonderful messages were received by percipients in the workshop. I wrote about such things in my book Plant Spirit Gardener. If we care for the wellbeing and protection of forests, then we will receive back the love and respect of all the forest beings. When we hug trees, our energy fields can become enormous! That’s a sure sign of a beneficial relationship.

We can live our life oblivious of the other-dimensional worlds of nature. But when we acknowledge, respect and participate in them, life can become more magical and fulfilling. Nature beings can add a dimension of fun and enjoyment, as they encourage us to sing and dance as they love to do so. They can help to make the world a happier place.

Alanna Moore