Does tradition not indicate the danger of eating "fairy food?" To do so is to become possibly "trapped in fairyland...."
In the ensuing three years since this mysterious event, the child insists that these subterranean people come to her at night as she dreams, and urge her to come outside, where they are waiting for her. They've indicated that they want her to go with them, back beneath the ground. The mother indicates that strange phenomena and experiences have been plaguing her and her daughter, and although they've moved repeatedly, the subterraneans always find them right away and resume the harassment. The lady is considering moving out of the state, which may or may not alleviate her problem; even more dangerously, she has sought refuge in some forms of mysticism and magic, which is of course traditionally considered the realm of expertise of those from "below." This was known to many ancient peoples as well, particularly the Hebrews:
In Psalm 74:20, we find:
"Have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."
The "covenant" would have been the Hebrew's particular covenant with their God, including the various prohibitions against divination, witchcraft, and so forth. Robert Kirk addressed the consequences of this in THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH, averring that to assume the mantle of clairvoyance or second-sight is to abandon the protection of God, and to be under the power of the beings which are spied upon:
"The men with Second Sight (clairvoyance) discern mysteries when queried, by
going into a trance-like state, as if possessed at that moment by some
familiar spirit. I have often spoken with one of these who, in his
trance-state revealed that he had cut the form of one of these beings in
twain with his iron blade, and thus escaped the trance (or channeling
state). But when he came out of it he saw no trace of the split body he had
thought to see previously (while in the beginning of the "trance). Upon
other occasions, he out-grappled others of their kind when they seized him.
His neighbors regularly watched this fellow vanish at a specific location,
and then reappear around an hour later, finding himself almost a bow's shot
distant from his vanishing-point. It was in the place that he became unseen,
he explained, that the subterrestrials did meet and fight (abduct) him."
J.G. Campbell relates a tale similar to that of the lost Oklahoman child:
"The Elves sometimes took care of neglected children. The herd who tendered the Baile-phuill cattle on Heynist Hill sat down one day on a green eminence (cnoc) in the hill, which had the reputation of being tenanted by the Fairies. His son, a young child, was along with him. He fell asleep, and when he awoke the child was away. He roused himself, and vowed aloud, that unless his boy was restored he would not leave a stone or clod of the hillock together. A voice from underground answered that the child was safe at home with its mother, and they (the `people') had taken it lest it come to harm with the cold."
Campbell is not clear on whether or not the child was returned to its parents, but if it was, it was probably harassed repeatedly as in the case of the mother and daughter from Oklahoma City. One aspect of both "fairy abduction" and "ufo abduction" is that once the little buggers get a taste, they seem to keep coming back for more.
The occurence of these "little people," subterraneans, and so forth, goes back into antiquity all over the Earth, and particularly in the British Isles. Regarding the Scottish Picts, a very real pre-Celtic or partially-Celtic people, one Icelandic scribe writing in the 12th century chronicle Historia Norvegiae, stated that the Picts were a race of pygmies, who were known to "do wonders in the mornings and the evenings, but at mid-day lost their strength and hid in holes in the ground."
The actual tribes called "Picts" were not pygmies, nor did it seem that any of the ancient human beings of Scotland were particularly laid low by the noonday sun, so this Norseman may have been talking about some other group or race of beings, similar to the huldre or hidden folk of his own traditions. The increased activity in the pre-dawn and twilight hours, the hiding from the sun in holes in the ground, would all seem to tie these so-called "Picts" in with the Sidhe (shee), the gnomes, goblins, faeries, and so forth. Even Mimoto's dragon-lover preferred to come out into the surface world by night. Ireland and Scotland in particular were haunted by communities of these beings, as Kirk also stated:
"Even in this modern time (Kirk's time of writing) they are at times noticed
to be baking bread, striking with hammers, and undertaking similar domestic
activities in the small hills which they frequent most often. They are of
an ancient epoch of time before the advent of Christianity and the end of
paganism, and in some wild barbaric places still, they come into houses when
the inhabitants are asleep, cleaning the kitchen and all of the dishes.
This variety are calle Braunies (Brownies). When we humans have abundance,
they have little in their abodes; and the inverse is often true, although
they are not allowed a free rein in their predations. Their thefts aside,
they can many times be seen interfering with the fertility of the grains and
crops, influencing either scarcity or overabundance."
The Icelandic Chroniclers were no strangers to the belief in underworld beings, being of Norse extraction themselves. As an island-nation with isolated genetics, they too seemed to be particularly plagued by underworld or faerie activity. The belief that some strange race in Scotland might live "in holes in the ground" would not have been excessively exotic, nor would the tales of aversion to sunlight. The Icelandic sagas are filled with incidents of interference and conflict with hudre (hidden) or elf-folk, and trolls. An account from Grettir's Saga (Icelandic, 14th Century) indicates how familiar the viking peoples were with the habits of the subterraneans, and their matter-of-fact attitude about them. In the following passage (Translation from the icelandic by G. H. Hight, London, 1914), Grettir has killed a man during the daytime, and initially blames the death on a female troll or ogress:
"Soon Skeggi was missed in the company, and when Grettir came up they asked him what news he had of Skeggi. He answered in a verse:
"Then Thorkell's men sprang up and said it was impossible that a troll should have taken the man in full daylight."
Apparently they were quite familiar with the habits of trolls. An excellent example of these habits is described in the tale of Peer Gynt, as immortalized by Henrik Ibsen in his play of the same name; but the story is based on an earlier Norwegian tale or series of similar tales, which in turn are based on the Scandinavian troll and huldre traditions. Peer, the ne'er-do-well son of a hardworking mother, forsakes a good and loving betrothed for dalliance with troll-maidens, and eventually a tryst with the green-clad daughter of the Dovre(troll)-King himself. A night of debauchery leads to nearly being ensnared in an unnatural marriage, and eternal entrapment in the underworld kingdom of the troll-king. No better than the trolls in some respects, Peer does what he is best at doing--he breaks his word--and manages to escape a host of subterranean enemies, as well as a horrible, captive fate as stallion to the troll-woman, thanks to the sound of church-bells and to distant prayers said for his sake. Later in the play or story, however, he meets the troll-woman in her true form and does not at first recognize her ; and she has with her their half-human son, who has one malformed leg. The troll-folk under the hill also have tails and other non-human characteristics. Deformities or non-human irregularities of the extremities are a regular feature of the subterranean folk, as will be demonstrated further.
Another contemporary account which has come to light is from Timothy H., who lives in Idaho, but is partially of Scottish descent. As a child he went to visit his grandfather in Scotland, where he had a most unusual encounter which would seem to indicate that there may be two or more factions of such beings (or perhaps numerous nations), some malevolent, some more-or-less friendly, apparently as the mood hits them or as it suits their purposes.
While riding his tricycle along a pathway near Inverary, he took a hard tumble, and thinks to this day that he probably broke his arm. After he'd been sitting there alone and crying for a few minutes, a little person--no more than two and a half feet tall--appeared out of nowhere to assist him. Somehow he tended to Tim and healed his injury almost instantly. Tim says he asked the little man who he was, and the reply came that he was a gnome; the boy observed that he was a leprechaun, and the little man corrected him patiently, saying that no, he was a gnome. About this time Tim's parents, who had been looking for him, came near to the scene, and the little man scurried away into the underbrush. The parents didn't believe their son's story, but his old Scottish grandfather did, and he told Tim that only people of Gaelic descent, and most often children, see the subterraneans. This may be true in Scotland, but tell that to the people in Alabama and Oklahoma! But again a bloodline-tie or interest is indicated by this story, wherein which members of a particular ethnic or tribal group are singled out for attention from unknown forces.
Obviously, not all subterraneans are diminutive. Often they more closely resemble Mimoto's lover. Another lady from Oklahoma says that as a child, forty or more years ago, she was 'befriended" by "very tall people" who lived in an underground river tunnel which exists beneath Oklahoma City. She would play in the water at the edge of the tunnel entrance, and they would "watch over her" as she played, "keeping snakes away." Apparently big snakes scare away little ones, because she also says that, like the Ryu in the Japanese story, these beings were "not human-looking."
The reptilian aspect of some underworlders permeates folklore. One universal theme that recurs in the folktales of many, many cultures is that of the snake-husband or snake-wife, who can transform into a "human" or humanoid form and is invariably (of course) of royal blood among his or her own kind (talk about the ultimate pick-up line!). Often the snake or serpent-man exacts a promise of marriage, or the hand of an unborn human child in betrothal, consistent with the theme of the subterraneans' interest in maintaining their own genetic diversity. A variant of this should be familiar to most readers of fairytales, in the form of "The Frog Prince." The frog-prince is a Handsome Prince, but like the Japanese seducing dragon, he has a reptilian or amphibian form. The underworld link is complete, for frequently the frog lives in a deep well, from which he is discovered or rescued by the female protagonist. A possible connection is evident in the Scandinavian belief that some dwarves would "turn into toads," if caught by the sun, much like Mimoto's lover turned from a man into a "dragon" when the same thing happened. Slovenia has its legends of fairies and "little people," but Slovenian fairytales are also permeated by the presence of the "Snake Queen," a great, white, cave-dwelling creature who is part woman and part serpent. The serpentine-yet-human Nagas are still believed by devout Hindus and some Buddhists to dwell beneath India, Nepal, and Tibet. And of course, if we consider the connection between the fairytales of recent centuries, and the ancient knowledge of Lilith, the Nefilim, and Rahab, it would seem that perhaps St. Patrick missed a few snakes when he was cleaning them "out of" the hills of the Emeral Isle, after all.
Other reptilian connections exist, possibly too many to document in one volume. Some tales of nocturnal Germanic dwarves indicate that they hid a "deformity" from prying human eyes, that deformity being "goose-like" feet--that is, their feet are webbed with four amphibian-like toes (Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, German Legends). This is a common motif which differentiates "supernatural," faerie, or other strange beings from humanity, particularly in European folklore ("deformities" or "defects of the fairies," as Katherine Briggs calls them)--the Bean Sidhe (Banshee) has one webbed foot (as well as other deformities), the Scottish Glaistig hides goat's hooves beneath her long dress, the Shetland Henkies limp strangely when they dance, and so forth. Underworld imps and devils were said to have hooves as well. Webbed fingers, tails, and other non-human characteristics are a sure give-away of underworld genetics. Even modern "gray aliens" are said to suffer from similar deformities of the extremities, and move in a "shuffling" gait as if uncertain of their balance, much like the "Henkies." Some of these deformities could well be adaptations to the challenges of living underground, where sure grips are needed when clambering and climbing, and banged extremities might occur more often.
Most people in the western world have probably heard the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Three goats of varying size are harassed by a hideous and voracious troll which lives under a bridge. This story originated in the high, mountainous region of Scandinavia, where a rich folk-belief in trolls and other supernatural beings exists, but it is by no means a purely Norse motif; the theft of livestock is a recurring theme around the world, as is the "cross-breeding" of livestock owned by humans with creatures owned by subterranean races. Another aspect of this is livestock mutilation, a form of harvesting which may be, among other things, in order to obtain cells for cloning or purposes of genetic manipulation. As gruesome as it might sound, the obtaining of protein--food-- is another definite possible motive behind both cattle and human abductions.
John Gregorson Campbell, in "Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland," relates many such examples of similar behavior, which bear some startling similarities to modern day "cattle mutilations" that are attributed to UFO activity:
"The Charmed Hill (Beinn Shianta), from its height, greenness, or pointed summit, forms a conspicuous object on the Ardnamurchan coast, at the north entrance of the Sound of Mull. On `the shoulder' of this hill, were two hamlets, Sginid and Corryvulin, the lands attached to which, now forming part of a large sheep farm, were at one time occupied in common by a three tenants, one of whom was named Luran Black (Luran Mac-ille-dhui). One particular season a cow of Luran's was found unaccountably dead each morning. Suspicioun fell on the tenants of the Culver (an cuilibheir),. a green knoll in Corryvulin, having the reputation of being tenanted by the Fairies. Luran resolved to watch his cattle for a night, and ascertain the cause of his mysterious losses. Before long he saw the Culver opening, and a host of little people pouring out. They surrounded a grey cow (mart glas) belonging to him and drove it into the knoll. Not one busied himself in doing this more than Luran himself; he was, according to the Gaelic expression, `as one and as two' (mar a h-aon 's mar a dha) in his exertions. The cow was killed and skinned. An old Elf, a tailor sitting in the upper part of the brugh, with a needle in the right lappel of his coat, was forcibly caught hold of, stuffed into the cow's hide, and sewn up. He was then taken to the door and rolled down the slope. Festivities commenced, and whoever might be on the floor dancing, Luran was sure to be. He was `as one and as two' at the dance, as he had been at driving the cow. A number of gorgeous cups and dishes were put on the table, and Luran, resolving to make up for the loss of the grey cow, watched his opportunity and made off with one of the cups (corn). The Fairies observed him and started in pursuit."
Before modern cattle ranchers lament that they've never received payment in gold for the pilfering and mutilation of their cattle, they should be glad to not have taken anything in payment or restitution:
"Their persecution of Luran did not, however, cease. While on his way to Inveraray Castle, with his fairy cup, he was lifted mysteriously with his treasure out of the boat, in which he was taking his passage, and was never seen or heard after."
Much like their modern counterparts the "UFOnauts," the sidhe often used an inscrutable power of flight as their means of locomotion, and their swift abduction of victims. Often the fairies sweep through a region in a storm or whirlwind, abducting as they go. The Highland Gaelic peoples believed in two distinct groups of kidnapping fairies: the sidhe who were encountered walking on the ground after sunset, even as early as twilight, and who could still befuddle and abduct the unwary mortal, and the "Sluagh Sidhe", a malevolent fairy host which travelled through the air by night, and was known to take mortals with them for the ride. These latter are synonymous with both the demonic "Unseelie Court" of Highland belief, which does the same thing, and with (incredible as it might seem) the modern-day "alien abductors," be they human-like in appearance, or gray or reptilian humanoids of uncanny look. It should be noted again that Satan was also called "The Prince of the Powers of Air." What is not at first apparent is that these "powers," while atmospheric, may have subterranean origins.
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