Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

NOTE: While some mushrooms are delicious, oth-

ers are so deadly poisonous that a tiny bite can

kill you. Many of the most dangerous look so

much like harmless varieties that only an expert

can tell them apart. So you should never just go

gathering and eating wild mushrooms unless you

are with an expert mushroom hunter!

Lesson 4. Nature Spirits (Devas)

Deva is a Sanskrit (from India) word for Spirit. It is the

root of such words as divine, divinity, divination,

and even devil. Nature Spirits of all kinds are called

Devas. They are the personifications of various places

and aspects of inanimate Nature. Devas may manifest

themselves through such things as animal and insect

noises, a rising wind, or the sudden presence of a

flock of birds. Devas can be seen stimulating growth,

bringing color to flowers, hovering over beautiful sites,

playing in waves and waterfalls, dancing in the wind

and sunlight. Their work is the evolution of beautiful

and responsive forms of life.

Nymphs

In ancient Greece, such devas in feminine aspect

were called nymphs, a word meaning a young girl, bride,

or nurse. They are invested with magickal charm,

beauty, and often supernatural powers. As the female

spirits of the pulsing life of Nature, the nymphs were

often the companions of the lustful Satyrs. Nymphs

belong to the oldest and deepest layers of Greek my-

thology, populating seas, rivers, springs, trees, for-

ests, and mountains. An important traditional role of

nymphs was to look after heroes in their youth. In-

deed, many of the Greek heroes had nymphs as moth-

ers or nurses.

Oceanids are nymphs of the ocean, the daughters of

Oceanus.

Nereids are another family of sea nymphs; the daugh-

ters of Nereus, the wise old man of the sea.

Naiads are the nymphs of running water—rivers,

streams, and springs.

Oreads or Orestiads are mountain nymphs.

Dryads and Hamadryads are forest and tree nymphs.

Each has her own tree, and they live and die with

their trees.

Faeries

The word Faerie (or Fairy) comes from the Latin

fata (“fate”). The Fates were three goddesses who

visited newborn children to determine their destiny.

This word became fay in old English, meaning en-

chanted or bewitched, and fay-erie (faerie) meant both

a state of enchantment and an enchanted realm. There

are many kingdoms of faeries, with quite different ori-

gins and characteristics. Some—such as elves and

pixies—are believed to have originally been ancient

races of flesh-and-blood people. Then there are the

Nature faeries, who are devas very much like the Greek

nymphs. Many Nature faeries manifest as the spirits

of particular flowers or other plants, much as dry-

ads and ha- madryads. As such, they often ap-

pear to have wings of flower petals, or of

butterflies or other insects. Some are

associated with mushrooms, especially

those that grow in a ring.

Most faeries have powers of some

kind, and can bring good luck or ill.

Some are kindly, and oth-

ers quite wicked, but all of

them are tricksy and need

to be treated with the ut-

most respect! Thus it is

customary to refer

to them as “the

good people,”

“good neigh-

bors,” or “gentry”

so as not to offend

them. It is also a good

idea to leave offerings of milk and

honey out for them.

Faeries

by Katlyn

66 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Corrected pages 3rd printing.1.p65 26 6/10/2004, 2:59 PM