human infant. There is a genetic disorder called Will-
iams Syndrome, first described in 1961, which affects
about one in 20,000 births. Those who have it “are
loving, caring, and sensitive to the feelings of others.
Despite having low IQs, many are good storytellers
and have a talent for music, notably perfect pitch. Most
striking of all is their appearance. A relatively large
number are short. They have childlike faces,
with small, upturned noses, oval ears, and
broad mouths with full lips and a small chin.
They look and behave like the tradi-
tional depiction of elves.”
(Roger High-field, The Science
of Harry Potter, pp. 192-193)
Brownies are what J. K.
Rowling calls “House Elves.” In
contrast to the fair-skinned faeries,
brownies are covered with short curly
brown hair and have wrinkled, brown
faces. They are kindly household spir-
its and guardians, doing helpful little
chores during the night. Farms are
their favorite homes, and they will often move with
their families. They delight in a bowl of cream and
some bread left out for them, but are insulted by any
gift resembling a bribe, and may even leave. In Ger-
many they are called kobolds, and in Denmark, nis.
The English call them goblins or hobgoblins, and in
France they are known as gobelins or lutins.Lesson 6. The Elven Sidhe
& The Bean-SidheThe Tuatha de Danaan, or the Sidhe (SHEE), were the
divine race who conquered the Fomor, the powers of
Darkness, and their helpers the Fir Bolgs. These are
the tall and beautiful Elves of Tolkein’s Middle Earth,
and they possessed Ireland until they were in their
turn conquered by the Gaelic people and the Romans.
Their physical bodies destroyed, they became spirit
beings, making their homes in the hollow hills and
barrow mounds of the ancients—much like ghosts who
continue to haunt the places where they once lived.
Wights are tutelary (“protector”) spirits and
guardians of the land. As with the barrow-wights
of Tolkein’s Fellowship of the Ring, they dwell
in ancient tombs and burial-mounds, as well
as sacred trees and waterfalls. The Bean-Sidhe
(BAN-shee, “woman of the faerie mounds”) is
a ghostly ancestor or household spirit who
becomes so attached to a particular family that
she wails grievously at the impending death
of one of its members. The cry of the Banshee
will chill the marrow in your bones!
Flint arrowheads dating from the Stone
Age or Neolithic often turn up in gardens,
especially after a rain. In Celtic countries theseare called “elf-shot” or “fairy-arrows.” Cattle afflicted
by unknown diseases are said to have been wounded
by such elfin arrows. With the coming of the Milesians
from Spain, many of the Tuatha sailed away over the
sea to a legendary western land that we now call North
America. Their great white ships (built in Carthage)
had sails of thin leather, upon which the salty sea
spray crystallized. Hence they were called “crystal ships.”
The prows of these vessels were in the form of swans’
heads (as the Viking ships were dragon-prowed).
They are still remembered in the legends of the
native tribes of America’s eastern seaboard as
the “great white birds” that arrived on their
shores, bearing the “True White Brothers.”
Julius Caesar encountered their entire fleet
of 220 ships in June of 50 BCE, at the English
Channel. But on that fateful day, no wind filled
the great crystal sails, and the Roman galleys,
under the command of Brutus, rowed alongside,
threw grappling hooks into the riggings, and sank
them all by fire and sword. This battle is recorded
in detail in Caesar’s 3rd book of the Gallic Wars.
After the destruction of the crystal ships, no other
vessels could cross the wide mid-Atlantic Ocean for
the next 1,542 years (until Columbus), and the West-
ern Lands, like the Elves themselves, passed into myth.
This largely forgotten sea battle was the pivotal
point in the history of Western civilization. Had there
been a wind on that day, Caesar and his forces would
have been defeated. The Elves would have lived, and
their ships would have continued linking Europe with
the Americas. The Roman Empire would never have
arisen, and never conquered Europe, Egypt, Greece,
Britain, and Israel. Jerusalem and the Great Temple
would never have been destroyed, and the Jewish
Diaspora would never have happened. Christianity
would never have been spread throughout the Empire
and the world. There would have been no Dark Ages,
no Crusades, no Inquisition, and no Burning Times.
And the worlds of Magick and Mundane would never
have be- come separated...322 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard
Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 60 6/10/2004, 4:03 PM