The case of The Cottingley Fairies has captured people's imaginations for over a century. But the photos that Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths created of the "Beck Fairies" near their home on the outskirts of Bradford in 1917 are now more famous for being the subject of a hoax.

However, there is much more to the story and it is really one of tragedy rather than trickery.

I chat to Dr Simon Young about the lesser known aspects of the case, predominantly from the perspective of the younger child, Frances who was the only one who had claimed to see the fairies.

We discuss how her personal experience became twisted into a painful untruth which burdened Frances for her entire life.

The work of Dr Simon Young is highly respected in the fairy community and much loved for his resurrection of The Fairy Investigation Society and subsequent Fairy Census, which is ongoing.

Simon will be joining TMFSP members for an exclusive Patreon Zoom on Thursday April 30th 🤩

In 2024 Simon released two books: Essays on The Cottingley Fairies featuring offerings from Neil Rushton, Kate Ray, Meri Dickson and Joshua Cutchin among others together with a Source Book of primary material.

Simon's podcast Boggart and Banshee which he hosts with Chris Woodyard, is a favourite of our community here on Discord.

Simon’s Substack:
https://britishmythology.substack.com/
Boggart and Banshee Episode on Cottingley: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/boggart-and-banshee-a-supernatural-podcast/id1588119563?i=1000675313217

Frances’ memoir, ‘Reflections on the Cottingley Fairies': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reflections-Cottingley-Fairies-Griffiths-Additional/dp/1899228063

The Coming of the Fairies: The Cottingley Incident by Arthur Conan Doyle
https://amzn.eu/d/0fyKtYRx

The Case of the Cottingley Fairies: Joe Cooper
https://amzn.eu/d/09CB56qq

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For some time now, I had been meaning to share the profound experiences that took place in relation to my father’s death.

It feels tender and vulnerable to offer these stories but I own the decision to do that. I hope that hearing about these experiences might help someone else who is moving through a death or grief process…or they might simply provide another way to view these moments which inevitably take place at some time or another in all our lives.

It’s been quiet on the Pod lately as I’m in the last few weeks of writing my book, ‘Modern Fairy Sightings: Personal Encounters in Extraordinary Times.’ I'll be back to my normal fortnightly release from April onwards. We will return to fairy experiences then.

These topics around life and death feel relevant - particularly in these times. To me, they suggest that the separation between our realm and Other realms may not be as fixed as we hold it to be.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on all of this.

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Part two of my chat with Faun.

🌊 💫 Faun's relationship with water as a healing archetype.
🧝🏻‍♀️ a meeting with a Völva (Icelandic Seeress)
🧌 encountering a Guardian of the Land
♊️ seeing a double of themselves

The full length video version includes on Patreon includes:
🏡 powerful experiences incl. a levitation at Faun's grandmother's home.

I found our conversation an enriching experience.

Afterwards I was reflecting how many of the conversations we hear these days are 'Yang' - everything is uber-active and fast moving.

This chat feels 'Yin' - spacious in places. I wonder if this is something that we may get more used to, as we move into the Age of Aquarius.

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Faun discusses a transformative experience under an elder tree at a crossroads, experiencing The Hat Man as a teenager and a childhood memory of a transparent young girl .

Faun came on pilgrimage to Britain and met some of us at the MFSP patreon community meet up in Glastonbury. They had many synchronicities and profound experiences during their journey: an archetypal-looking pilgrim who kept appearing and a person whom appeared to be channelling Dionysus on Glastonbury Tor.

In the BONUS EXCLUSIVE FULL-LENGTH VIDEO VERSION on Patreon we hear about the powerful qualities of Elder and Faun shares a further experience with Orbs and a malevolent manifestation which took place in her mothers bedroom.

Music in this episode: Fae Transit by Sam McLoughlin

https://folkloretapes.bandcamp.com/album/fae-transit

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What a delight to speak again with Lodge Tales podcast's creator, Rod Williamson for this Winter Special.

Here we chat about indigenous winter story traditions, Rod shares his snow blizzard encounter with a helpful guide and his tree/stick man experience.

Our previous discussion is here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/54Ahd2Y0Ykgxw89f1HR3Op

Shownotes:

Lodge Tales Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/297OY0B4Of8Pc66SyiKa3C

Lodge Tales Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/c/u86352417/posts

Lodge Tales website:
https://lodge-tales.beam.ly/

Rod's TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@lodgetales⁠⁠r=1&⁠⁠t=ZT-92ARLTHliJB⁠

Rod's recommendations on TikTok:

"The top 2 links are Venita and Shy. They're known as the Whisper Sisters and they are Dinè. The Live (ghost story session) they do is the Midnight Cedar Society. It's a really good indigenous ghost story gathering of Native Americans. You can follow either of these ladies and check their pages for upcoming Lives they are conducting."

https://www.tiktok.com/@veegarcia14r=1&t=ZT-92ARGCQ3pah https://www.tiktok.com/@shyrapocor=1&t=ZT-92ARIhvzLq3

In the intro:

Winter sound effect by Sound Effect by DARRYLL DAVID BELIRAN from PixabayVideo by Nils Vega from Pixabay

(some owl-eared members might recognise a line written by my dear friend Fox which I reworked as: 'To those who dare to seek, the darkness brings the brightest of knowing').

I know he would approve 🦊

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Part Two of my chat with Jessica. Part One is here:

https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PHTE6587632258.mp3?updated=1765138058

Jessica can be contacted by people through Substack or at [email protected]

Here’s her Substack:
Uisce Awakening | Substack  

And YouTube channel:
https://youtube.com/@uisceawakening?si=Ijk7k_XRoZAqKA0E 

Show Notes:

Boggart and the Banshee episode Bunny Horror: Ghostly Rabbits and Witchy Hares: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/bunny-horror-ghostly-rabbits-and-witchy-hares/id1588119563?i=1000739101148

Isobel Gowdie's chant to turn into a hare:

I shall go into a hare,With sorrow and sych and meickle care;And I shall go in the Devil's name,Ay while I come home again.

To change back:

Hare, hare, God send thee care.I am in a hare's likeness now,But I shall be in a woman's likeness even now.

(Pitcairn, 1833)

The Tale of Taliesin in The Mabinogion
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/mab/mab32.htm

Image: Etching of a hare by Curt Meyer Eberhardt (1895-1977)

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I speak to Jessica in Oxfordshire who has had a number of encounters including a brownie.

Her story begins with meeting a handsome Otherworldly man, dressed completely in green in her local woods who she feels turned out to be Gwyn ap Nudd. It sent her on a journey to discover her ancestry as connected to one of the 'Families of the 'Old North'. The quest entirely transformed the way she lives her life.

This is part one of two episodes.

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I speak to Robert in Slovakia who shares his family's encounter with a 'Magical Grandpa' encounter when he was seven years old.
When a local woman at his school shared her own mystical encounters, it seemed to offer him an opportunity to understand the world in a very different way

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In early childhood, Breanna became used to the presence of 'The Hat Man' - an increasingly-reported shadow-being.

Recognisable as a tall, dark figure wearing a hat, and sometimes a cape or trench coat the Hat Man is often said to be without any distinguishable facial features and like 'The Dark Man', people describe him as "blacker than black."
In the full length version on Patreon Breanna describes her aunt's encounter with a white lady on a bridge, folk magic in her community and what happened when her father visited a 'granny witch'

The Hatman Project is full of stories from people who have also encountered The Hat Man.
https://thehatmanproject.com/

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Music in this episode:

Impact Lento Kevin MacLeod https://freemusicarchive.org/

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Clean Soul Kevin MacLeod https://freemusicarchive.org/

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Brother Richard returns for a discussion on Halloween Traditions including those related to Samhain, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, 'Trick or Treating' customs in Ireland and how we can invite our departed loved ones to join us at this time.

We also further discuss 'Dissertations upon the apparitions of angels, dæmons, and ghosts, and concerning the vampires of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia' by Father Dom Augustin Calmet (first published in 1746)

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29412/29412-h/29412-h.htm

We get into the regularity of levitation experiences, safe approaches to dealing with Otherworldly beings and much more...and we end with a very moving seasonal poem by Brother Richard.

Brother Richard is a Capuchin Franciscan priest-friar living and working in Ireland. His poem ‘Lockdown’ went viral on social media in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

His books Still Points: A Guide to Living the Mindful, Meditative Way and Calming the Storms: Meditation as a Path to Inner Peace and Happiness are aids to daily life in this busy modern world. Brother Richard teaches Christian meditation and mindfulness with the Sanctuary Spirituality Centre.

Find @brorichard on Instagram and Facebook

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Still-Points-Living-Mindful-Meditative/dp/1399700669

https://amzn.eu/d/39dnEGn

For those who wish to make a donation, The Capuchin Day Centre for homeless people in Ireland, is a charity arm of the Capuchin Franciscan order that Brother Richard Order belongs to: capuchindaycentre.ie

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