Changlings

by Erika
(USA)

Changlings: Are they real? Are they a type of faerie? I'd be surprised to find out that fey steal away children and replace them with their own. (Seems like pretty bad parenting, if you ask me!) If it IS true, do only Unseele do it? If you use iron to protect a baby, does it hurt the fey, or just ward them off? (so many questions so little time <3)

Ophelia Fey says -- You are very right to be suspicious whether changlings are real. They are not. Those stories originated in olden times, times that were full of superstition and fear. And children did get lost, even stolen (by people), on a regular basis. They do today as well, but not as frequently. Or if a child became ill, deformed, or something else was wrong, the parent might announce that the child was not theirs; that a fairy had left another in its place. We would not leave our young in the mortal dimension. For one thing, they would not survive without a mature fairy with them. We are a very protective race.

The people of those times tended to blame almost everything that ever went wrong on the Unseen. Mostly fae folk; all different types of fairies. These types of superstitions are what many of the old fairy tales are based upon. They may be interesting to read (although often gruesome) but should not be taken seriously.

Regarding iron, it does project an energy, as all elements and things of the earth do. It is very heavy. It doesn't exactly ward off fae, but we do not prefer it. Some fae folk rather dislike it, in fact. Very young fairies find it difficult to be around for any length of time. But it wouldn't harm us.

Ophelia Fey, fairy