As supernatural beings, fairies have a variety of powers. It depends on the type of fairy. Each species has its own signature power and, some of them, may actually be magic. Fairies use their powers to help or harm humans, but they usually don’t use their powers on other Fae.
Common Fairy Powers
Fairies don’t use their powers on other Fae. We’re not sure why that is. However, they will readily use them on humans. We can only speculate that fairy powers don’t work on other Fae.
Here are some of the most common powers used by fairies:
Luck – This means good–or bad–fortune. You could win the lotto or lose your fortune in the stock market. We’d consider any luck to be a curse because there’s always a cost. Under most situations, the person enters into a contract of some kind or provides a service to the fairy. If you break the contract or you don’t deliver as promised, then you get bad luck.
Invisibility – Generally, most fairies are invisible to the mortal eye. Fairies can show themselves if they want, but mortal minds have a hard time understanding what they’ve just seen. Fairies also give magical items that can make a person invisible.
Glamour – Usually, bad fairies use this power. Glamour is an illusion. The bad fairy looks beautiful, when it’s truly an ugly creature. Once a human sees the fairy’s ugliness, he or she can never ‘not see’ it as anything other than ugly. In other words, once you know the fairy is bad and ugly, it can never hide that from you again.
Healing – Some fairies have the ability to heal people. How they do it depends on the fairy. Very few can use touch to heal. Most of them use an ointment or feed you some of its food.
Clairvoyance – A fairy can grant you the ability to see the future or see the hidden world of the fairies. This is a temporary gift and it will fade in time, or the fairy can revoke it.
Flight – Only a few fairies can fly and they usually don’t have wings. Usually, flight is used as a defensive tactic: If a fairy feels threatened, you can get pushed back by a freak wind gust or step into a vortex. That’s really a group of fairies flying around you.
Nimble – This power is better observed than described, but here it goes: Some fairies move so fast or have some much agility, they can dodge anything and never get hit.
Enhanced Senses – Most fairies have better eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and smell than humans. They can see at night with ease, hear better than dogs, better taste than a sommelier, interpret emotions on touch, and smell better than a bloodhound.
Illumination – Some fairies, like Will o’ the Wisps, bright elves and White Ladies, can generate light from their bodies that can light up a large room.
Resistance – These creatures are quite durable for their small size. They can take a licking and keep on ticking. Within 24 hours, a fairy should be healed and ready to go.
Shadowmelding – A certain type of fairy, called a darkling, can merge with shadows. It allows them to quickly move between shadows and become intangible.
Animal Communication – Many fairies can communicate with animals and understand their emotions. They can summon most animals in their immediate area for protection.
“Fairies: Mysteries, Folklore and Facts,” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
“The Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Spirits,” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
“Monsters,” by John Michael Greer
“Is Your House Haunted?,” by Fiona Broome
“Changeling: The Lost,” by White Wolf Publishing
Feature Image Source: lytum.com
Jacob ‘Jake’ Rice has always loved ghosts monsters. When he’s not being a tech nerd for work, he’s the gadget guy on the team. He hunts ghosts, monsters and other paranormal entities in Seattle and the Puget Sound area.