Fire Fairies, and the Element of Fire and Faeries

Of Fire Fairies…

The Autumn Fairy (1919)
by Ida Outhwaite (1888 – 1960 Australian)

For some time now for some obscure reason, I have been compelled to write about ‘Fire Fairies’. All fairies are primarily aligned or endowed with characteristics of one of the elementals – earth, air, water, fire – more than the others. It is similar to humans being born under certain horoscope signs. This all hearkens back to the writings of Paracelus (1493 – 1541), who defined fairies are entities of the four elements, described in his own words from his posthumously published book ‘A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits‘ – Salamanders, which correspond to fire; Gnomes, corresponding to earth; Undines, corresponding to water; and Sylphs, corresponding to air.

Paracelsus
Physician, Alchemist, Philosopher
(1493 – 1541)

The whole discussion of the elements is much older however, with the first recorded descriptions of the elements being from the Greek philosopher Empedocles (c. 450 BC) who was the first recorded instance to propose the four classical elements as a set: fire, earth, air, and water, which he referred to as the four “roots”. Since then the concept of the foundational elements was part of general philosophical discussion and discussed by Plato, Aristotle and other western philosophers, deeply embedding and influencing European thought and culture throughout the ages that followed.

When focusing on and considering the fire element and its characteristics, the operative word is ‘transformation’. One way to think about this is considering the cycle of the elements, how they are cyclical, moving from one element to another – air to water, water to earth, earth to fire, fire to air. As the summer dries out, and the dryness of autumn settles, fires take hold transforming the earth, rising up as flame, then smoke to air. This is the fundamental nature of fire, to change, to transform, to purify. Fire is also about energy, activity, regeneration, change, strength and life force.

‘Fire Fairy’
by Erich Schütz (1886-1937 Austrian)

Fire fairies possess these qualities, and align with them. As such, fire fairies are a powerful influence towards change, movement and rebirth in all its meanings. They are intensely passionate, creative and forceful. And while all fairies are good at light magic, fire fairies in particular are good at all types of fire magic, creating fire, working with fire, playing with fire and such. They can create warmth, light and all aspects of fire, such as flame, flashes, flickers, sparkles and similar tricks. Some fire fairies have a deep attraction and reverence for the sun, and love to play, dance, or simply sit in sunlight.

‘How Loving Laili Became Young Again’
by John D. Batten
Published Indian Fairy Tales (1892)

Having a fire fairy in one’s life is somewhat like having a ‘hot’ girlfriend, temperamental, prickly, feisty and the like. But if a fire fairy is in one’s life, it can be a strong catalyst toward life changes, oftentimes things that only the transformative effect of fire can address, but it is also somewhat similar to a forest fire, in that things can get out of hand quickly. Fire fairies possess great energy due to their spiritual alignment with this element, so one needs to relate to a fire fairy with great care, and can benefit greatly but careless actions can create difficultly and trauma.

Other than ‘regular’ fairies with fire magic, there are other different types of fire fairies, with differing aspects. Salamanders, the classical fire fairy, are nearly pure fire, often taking embodiment within flame. Drakes embody fire internally like dragons but only smaller amounts and temperatures, while dragons command fire in all its aspects and with the wisdom to use if as needed. The phoenix is another exotic fairy creature and finds rebirth or regeneration through fire flame, immolation. Other types of fire fairies are sparkles, star fairies and sun sprites.

References –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

https://www.sparklestories.com/blog/post/all-about-fairies/

https://www.quora.com/What-are-fire-fairies

http://thefae.freeservers.com/firefaeries.html