A changeling is the offspring of a faerie that is left in place of a stolen human child. Some of the signs that you have a changeling instead of your own child would be if the child wasn't growing up as it should. If a baby cries all the time or is very sickly, for example, it might be a changeling.
Reasons why faeries take human children away could range from desiring a human child for their own, to acquire a human slave, thinking that the child will have a better life living with the faeries, etc. To prevent this from happening, parents might put iron or steel above the door to the child's room or to baptize the child as soon as possible.
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue (also the poem by the same name is about a changeling)
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
Just to name a few.
The story Rumplestilskin would also be an example of a situation where a faerie takes away a human child, but in that case he doesn't technically leave a changeling behind. In some versions of the story he leaves behind a straw version of the child, which could be interpreted by some as the changeling, as faeries are in some cases composed of natural elements.
Labyrinth is a fantasy film about a young girl who is caught up in her childhood, but after going on a dangerous quest to save her brother, grows up.
The story starts with the girl, Sarah, in a field reciting lines from a play. Her step mother calls her home and after having a small argument with Sarah, leaves with her father leaving Sarah to watch over her baby brother Toby. Sarah goes to her room and notices that one of her teddy bears is out of its place. She gets angry and recites a line from a play telling the goblins to take her baby brother away, and much to her dismay they do.
Sarah is then forced to make her way to the goblin king to ask for her brother back, but when she gets to the goblin's land finds a huge labyrinth between her and the goblin king's castle. As she makes her way through the labyrinth she makes various friends that either help or hinder her progress and by under going the journey she grows up.
The movie definitely isn't praised for it's stunning visual imagery, but the story in itself is very good. Sarah struggles to get beyond her childish obsessions and possessiveness in order to see the value of human life and mature from a disgruntled youth into an adult.
The Magical Times is a UK magazine that is a faerie and pagan magazine. So it will focus more on the spirituality of faeries in a new age sort of way as well as share news and folk lore.
FernGully is a great movie about a guy from a logging company who gets shrunk down to the size of a fairy and comes to see the beauty of the rain forest. The logger's name is Zak, and Zak accompanies his logging workers to the rain forest to cut down the trees there. As they're cutting down the trees however, a spunky fairy named Crysta is having fun with her friends and stumbles across a vast area of land covered with tree stumps. She's horrified and tries to find the cause. She finds Zak, shrinks him down her size and after saving him from death by logging machine, spirits him away to where she and the other fairies live.
At first Zak is really skeptical about these fairies and doesn't open himself up to them, but after he falls for Crysta he starts trying to see the world through her eyes. He eventually comes to see the beauty of the forest and does not want to cut down the trees. The threat caused by the loggers is personified in the movie by a slimy sludgy monster who grows when he drinks oil or breathes in the fumes from the logging machine. He was locked in an old tree years ago by an elder of the fairies, but the loggers cut this tree down and he takes over the logging machine. He eventually grows too big and to stop him the fairies use their magic to trap him within a tree.
The movie is very environmental, but not in an abrasive or overtly political way. It's just showing kids the wonder and beauty that's in nature, and how there are people who want to destroy the forests for money. There's also the subtle insertion of the effects of animal testing. Batty, done by Robin Williams, has wires sticking out he his head and he is literally batty because of them. These messages won't be lost on child, but the story's told in a very engaging way and is appropriate for all ages.
As some of you may know (and as others may not) today, June 24th, is international fairy day! YAY
Fairy day is a day for lovers of fairies to take joy in the everyday magic in their lives. To reflect on their love of fairies and to share that love with others.
This is a great website dedicated to fairy day. It has games, activities for young and old, ideas, and free ecards to send around to friends to celebrate the day.
This paragraph is from the fairyday.com website and tells us just what to do on fairy day
What can you do to support Fairy Day? First and foremost, take a moment that day to remember the magic you knew as a child. In the midst of your busy schedule, take a good look around you, and see the beauty that lies in even the simple things. Go for a walk outside, smell a flower, hum a tune to yourself or dance under the stars. If you have a special friend who loves fairies, send them a fairy card, or a fairy gift. Have a fairy circle and talk about the history of fairies in ancient cultures. Tell a child a magical fairy tale and watch their eyes light up with pure innocence. Those of us here in charge of the official Fairy Day web site want you to simply remember that even in this mundane world, there is magic all around you.
Tytaniafairy is a photographer who applies a special effect to her photos to give them a fairy twist. Her art was featured on the cover of the latest issue of Fae magazine. There was an article about her work within as well.
This wand is promoted as being for Harry Potter enthusiasts.... but there's nothing on this wand that says Harry Potter so I say fair game for a faerie interpretation! Another amazing product from thinkgeek.com. My faerie sense are tingling.
Basically you can program this wand to act as a tv remote and by swishing it back and forth or up and down you can change the channel or volume.
Peter Pan is HUGE for all faerie enthusiasts... it's one of the first faerie tales (not fairy tale, tale about a faerie) we all knew growing up thanks to Disney. It could be argued that Peter is a faerie himself, though a changeling would be closer to the truth. It's where most of us learned about some fundamental faerie laws... it's just the best
For those who do not know the story, or just haven't seen/ read it in a while and forget it, Peter Pan is a magical boy who lives in a place called Neverland and never wants to grow up. In the book, he looses his shadow in the nursery of three children and makes such a ruckus trying to capture it that he wakes the children, Wendy, John, and Michael. He teaches them how to fly and then off they go to Neverland to have scrapes with faeries, pirates, indians, mermaids and lost boys.
There have been numerous books and movies featuring Peter Pan, but let's start at the beginning shall we? Peter Pan was created by a Scottish playwright names James Barrie. The first time Barrie wrote about Peter was in a collection of short stories about Kensington Gardens called 'The Little White Bird" in 1902. Later, the chapters with Peter were made into a book of it's own called "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens"(1906). This discusses Peter's origins, how he came to be in Neverland. He then wrote the play, Peter Pan: or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up in 1904, and that was turned into the novel "Peter Pan and Wendy" in 1911. Barrie also wrote an epilogue to the story called "When Wendy Grew Up- An Afterthought" (1908). This short piece shows Wendy as a mother talking to her young daughter Jane, and is included in some of the modern versions of the book.
Since then there have been numerous adaptations and continuations of the story. Here are some films that stand out for me
The 1953 version by Disney
Hook (1991) a story that takes place after the events of the books (and on the note of hooks, I read somewhere that all of the hooks in the different movies have a different hook that is indicative of their character, something to look for.
Peter Pan (2003)
and finally Finding Neverland, the story of the author (in which Dustin Hoffman makes a reappearance, as he was hook in Hook.
And of course, there are other stories, earlier versions of the film, Disney's sequel, foreign films, but these are the one's I have seen that I like the most.
There have been many books, both versions of the original and prequels/ sequels. One's to take note would be of course the ones Barrie himself wrote, those would be mandatory reading before the adaptations. Here are a few.
Also, this pop-up book is phenomenal. Anything by Robert Sabuda is amazing... I highly recommend checking out any if not all of his works, his Star Wars pop-up is especially amazing. He is the master of the pop-up, his pop-ups usually have pop-ups within pop-ups... I can't speak highly enough of this man. Amazing.
This is the official sequel... decided so by whom I don't know... Hook will always be my official sequel. Peter Pan in Scarlet is basically Peter turning into Hook.
There are other sequels as well. Peter and the Starcatchers, which is the first of a series. This is a prequel to Peter Pan and Wendy. While the story is a fresh twist on a classic, it does twist the story a bit much. The protagonist hardly resembles the one we knew in the classic and the story has it's failings. Another is called The Lost Girls, and this story is basically about Wendy's daughters.
Also, I don't think I could go without mentioning Disney's offshoot series featuring Tinkerbell and her friends. I was massively displeased by this endeavour. I wasn't just mildly disappointed with it, was actually angry after I saw the movie. The fairies have been castrated in this series. The bite has been sucked out and fairies are now on par with Franklin and Caillou. There is nothing wrong with those shows, great for kids... but that's not who Tinkerbell is. If Disney wanted to release a fairy series for the princess/ homemaker type of child that's fine with me... but don't give that fairy the name of one of the most well known fairies in pop culture. The Tinkerbell in Peter Pan tried to kill Wendy... not make friends with anyone. Don't try to change a classic for the ratings. Chances are if they made up a new fairy not as many people would care... and if that happens blame the writers because the stories are far from amazing.
Winx Club is an Italian television show for kids that features a young girl named Bloom. One day while playing with her pet in the park, Bloom comes across a fairy fighting off some ghouls and a troll, and when she tries to save her she discovers that she has magical powers. The fairy, Stella, tells Bloom to attend a school for fairies called Alfea and Bloom takes this advice, after a troll attack on her home. Once there, Stella and her other room mates (of which Stella is one) go around fighting evil, which is caused by some witches. There is also a school for heroes on the other side of the forest and bloom and friends bump into them occasionally, they eventually become love interests.
The show is very girly. There are cute animals and the girls are somewhat fashion obsessed, but the fairies do fight crime so there's some action in there. The creator wanted this series to be somewhat like sailor moon, and knowing this you can definitely see the similarities when watching the show. According to Wikipedia, there were two North American releases, one by Cinélume and one by 4kids Entertainment. Of the two, 4kids Entertainment apparently changed the music, dialogue and some of the situations, so if you or the young kids in your life want to watch this show I would suggest looking up the one by Cinélume.
Michelle is a self-taught artist who uses polymer clay and mixed media to create lifelike creatures. Most of her pieces are very small and easily fit in the palm of your hand. - elfwood.com
Bradshaw's creations are amazingly life-like. For being a 'self-taught' artist, her work is really amazing.
A banshee is a spirit from Celtic mythology. Traditionally the banshee takes the form of a woman and is known to wail a warning of death to those who are living. There are different beliefs as to what a banshee is, whether or not it is an ancestral spirit or a faerie from the other world. Some believe that only a select few families can inspire a banshee to bring a warning of death, while others feel that it's just a matter of having Irish blood in you, no matter the family.
Not all banshees mourn. There are both joyous and mournful banshees. In Wentz's Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, there is a legend that after the Macleod's had borne an heir, a beautiful woman appeared at the castle, went to the newborn's cradle and chanted a series of verses over the baby. The verses fortold the future manhood of the young child and acted as a protective charm over the young one (Sleeping Beauty anyone?). After having done this she put the baby back into it's cradle and disappeared across the moorlands.
Bottle Fairy is a cute comedy anime about four little fairies who live in jars on this high school boy's desk. The comedy style is similar to a more well known anime (for those who watch anime) called Azumanga Daioh. There are 13 episodes in total, one for each month of the year plus one extra, each about 12 minutes in length.
The fairies are from another world and in each episode they discover the major holiday or event of a certain month and try to understand what it's for and how to celebrate it. In this way, it is a good show to help westerners to learn about the different celebrations that happen throughout the year in Japan, even though the fairies don't go into more detail about what they think happens than what actually does. There are four main fairies, Kururu the blue bottle fairy, Chiriri the yellow bottle fairy, Sarara the red bottle fairy, and Hororo the green bottle fairy. Kururu is very energetic and is sort of the leader of the group, Chiriri is the reserved pretty girl, Sarara is the samurai fight to the death type, and Hororo usually has a vacant expression and is either thinking about food or something completely off topic. This show is an overload of cuteness. The characters are drawn in chibi form most of the time, which means that they are drawn as children with not a lot of attention paid to detail. The show is slightly non- tangential, but that is what adds to this style of comedy.
