Occult books about nature spirits and fairies
Five classic books about the hidden side of Nature and the inhabitants of the four elemental kingdoms
Introduction
Nature spirits or elementals (the same thing) both surround us and are within us at all times. They produce the phenomena we know as light, heat, magnetism, growth, decay, and so on. They dwell in the very marrow and sinews of our bodies and regulate the blood in our veins and the various chemical processes that sustain us. They manipulate the formation of minerals, the growth of crystals, the development of plants and animals, and the awakening within them of the first germ of consciousness. The trained Seer sees and knows them as they are, and in the great Mystery Schools of ancient Egypt the pupils learnt all their secrets; long forgotten now by most and veiled from vulgar gaze.
These five books bring the inhabitants of the Elemental Kingdoms vividly to life, so that even those of us who are not clairvoyant may profit from, and we may say, be uplifted and inspired, by the descriptions of the invisible workmen of Nature. You can read more about matter from the standpoint of Occult Science in our article why matter matters. Three of the books we review were written by Geoffrey Hodson, a gifted clairvoyant and Theosophist, whose descriptions of Devas and nature spirits are the most accurate and truthful ever published. You can read more about this humble and accomplished occultist and teacher on our Wisdom on the Web page.
The Coming of the Fairies—by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Hodder and Stoughton 1922. Reprinted by Pavilion Books, London 1997. Hardcover 112pp. ISBN 1-86205-122-4. Available second-hand from £1.63 from Amazon.co.uk and other booksellers.
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon.co.uk and other booksellers
Notwithstanding the fact that the Cottingley fairy photographs were faked and the personalities involved in this trickery had very mixed motives for sustaining the fraud, Conan Doyle's account of the Cottingley fairies phenomenon is well worth reading. Not only is it an excellent introduction to the subject for those who know little or nothing about fairies, but it also provides the reader with the full facts of the little girls' remarkable clairvoyant gift and detailed descriptions of what they saw.
The book includes eleven of the photographs that initially fooled the 'experts', plus Conan Doyle's original articles which were first published in The Strand magazine.
We would add that Conan Doyle himself never claimed the Cottingley photographs were genuine, though we have good reasons for thinking that he privately believed they might be. He was of course wrong, for the reasons we discuss in our article about fairies and nature spirits.
Fairies at work and at play—by Geoffrey Hodson
Theosophical Publishing House 1925. Reprinted by Quest Books 1982. Softcover. 126pp. ISBN 978-0-8356-0553-3. Price new $12.95. Also available second-hand from £5.00 from Amazon.co.uk and other booksellers.
AVAILABLE NEW FROM Quest Books in the USA
Fairies at work and at play was the first of the author's books describing his clairvoyant investigations of the invisible kingdoms of the elements. For some reason the second iteration of the preposition 'at' has been dropped from the title in subsequent reprints of this book—perhaps because it confused Americans, many of whom seem to have a horror of prepositions!
It is noteworthy that this seminal book appeared just a few years after Conan Doyle published his famous researches into the Cottingley Fairies, for without the groundwork he laid, it is doubtful whether Hodson's book would have elicited more than token attention from a few Theosophists. As it was, Fairies at work and at play was an instant success, and has remained in print for almost a century, which is quite an accomplishment for a book on a subject that interests comparatively few readers.
In this book Hodson describes for the first time the astonishing variety of nature spirits which nurture and stimulate the growth of all living things. Here we meet with ravishingly beautiful flower fairies who tend the blossoms that adorn both field and garden. We enter the magical miniature world of green, transparent sea spirits; the entrancingly beautiful undine who sports in pools and waterfalls; the laughing Devas of tree and leaf, plain and mountain, and the rustic-looking, hard working gnomes.
This is a remarkable book which can enlarge your perception of the natural world and give you an understanding of the secret work of the dynamic, unseen forces of Nature and the fairy forms which surround us on all sides and help onwards the evolutionary plans of the Creator of All.
The Kingdom of Faerie—by Geoffrey Hodson
Theosophical Publishing House, London 1927.
AVAILABLE NEW FROM Amazon.co.uk
Digitised text available to read online at hpb.narod.ru
The original edition of Geoffrey Hodson's second book on fairies is now scarce and difficult to obtain. A new paperback edition was published by Book Tree in 2003 under the new title The Fairy Kingdom. This is available in paperback from Amazon—price £8.95 (see first link above). So far as we have been able to ascertain this is identical to the original hardcover edition of 1927. There is also a digitised edition on a Russian website devoted to H. P. Blavatsky (see second link above). This online text has its flaws, notably the substitution of question marks for hyphens, no doubt due to careless typesetting and HTML coding! So unless you are on a very tight budget, the online edition is probably best avoided.
The book contains meticulously detailed descriptions of the many varieties of nature spirits Geoffrey Hodson observed, both in England and abroad. These include Devas, sylphs, gnomes, brownies, mannikins, flower fairies and fauns.
What makes this book especially interesting are the author's attempts to contact the consciousness of nature spirits and the information he was able to obtain from these contacts. The facts Geoffrey Hodson presents and the sane deductions he draws from these remarkable contacts are as far removed from the wishy-washy speculations and fantasies of New Age channelers as it is possible to get, and for this reason the book has great value for the occult student. Having said that, some of the author's statements, notably that made in chapter 8 wherein Hodson says that Francis Bacon was a reincarnation of St Alban, who later incarnated as the Comte de St. Germain and now dwells in the Carpathian mountains(!) under the name of the 'Master Rakcoczi' is sheer fantasy. We would add by way of explanation that Hodson worked closely with the notorious Theosophist 'Bishop' C. W. Leadbeater, whose addiction to paedophilia did much to wreck the Theosophical Society. It is the nonsensical notions propagated by Leadbeater about the 'Ascended Masters' (later embroidered by other theosophists) that sadly influenced Hodson's thinking in this and some of his later books.
Note: you can read more about the Theosophical cult of the 'Masters' in the Afterword to part five of Astral Conversation—Out to lunch with Tibetan Lamas.
The Kingdom of the Gods—by Geoffrey Hodson
Illustrated by Ethelwynne M. Quail
Quest Books/Theosophical Publishing House 1952 - 1987. Hardcover. 272pp. 29 colour illus. ISBN 978-81-7059-292-1. Price new $25.95. Also available second-hand from £20.00 from Amazon.co.uk and other booksellers.AVAILABLE NEW FROM Quest Books in the USA
Available TO READ & DOWNLOAD HERE IN PDF FORMAT
In this, the third of Geoffrey Hodson's books on nature spirits, the author brings together the results of a lifetime's research into the varied inhabitants of the hidden elemental kingdoms. The book is embellished with 29 magnificent colour illustrations made by the gifted artist, Ethelwynne M. Quail, under the direct supervision of the author. It is quite astonishing how well she has managed to capture the sublime beauty and glory of these Divine Beings which many clairvoyants have mistaken for God and His Angels.
What distinguishes this book from the many published accounts of nature spirits seen by psychics and clairvoyants is the author's dedication to accurate observation and scrupulous honesty. This remarkable book contains absolutely TRUE descriptions of this little-known and hidden side of Nature written in clear, simple language all can understand, and so obtain a glimpse, albeit at second-hand, of the Glory and Beauty of the Realms of the Spirit which is the inheritance of all—provided we sincerely desire and work for it.
Although all of Geoffrey Hodson's books on Fairies and Nature Spirits are well worth reading, The Kingdom of the Gods remains the most readily available and comprehensive work on this subject ever written, and we highly recommend it.
Note: The PDF edition you can download from us is verbatim with the printed edition of 1952 except that it lacks the index and the footnotes have been moved to the end of the book.
Seeing Fairies—by Marjorie T. Johnson
Anomalist Books, San Antonio, Texas, USA., 2014. Hardcover. 363pp.
ISBN 978-1938398261. Price £19.99 or in softcover price £13.99.AVAILABLE NEW FROM Amazon.co.uk
In 1950 Marjorie T. Johnson became Honorary Secretary of the resurrected 'Fairy Investigation Society', an exclusive and somewhat secretive organisation which had been founded by Captain Quentin C. A. Craufurd, a rather colourful Naval officer, in 1927. Miss Johnson collected accounts of fairies and elemental beings of all kinds from many of the members over many years. In 1955 the Scottish author and folklorist Alasdair Alpin MacGregor collaborated with her in sending letters to the British national press asking for further true experiences, and many more were received. The result is this book, published in English in 2014 for the first time.
Seeing Fairies is a unique record of a very large number of sightings of elemental beings from around the world. The descriptions are mostly from the twentieth century and were provided by ordinary people from all walks of life with no obvious motive for deception or dishonesty. So far as we are aware this is the first time such a complete and extensive record of fairy sightings has ever been published and that is the principle reason we recommend this book. The students of Occult Science among our regular readers will find these accounts of great interest, and be able to recognise the different elementary beings described and distinguish between them.
You can read more about the hidden side of Nature in our article What are Nature spirits and Fairies? as well as in The Elfin Queen a short story by J Michaud PhD. In addition, guest writer Erika Hahn has contributed several fairy-tales and an article about the hidden meaning in fairy-tales to us over the years. See list of her contributions on our Homepage.
This page was last updated on 28 April 2024 — © Copyright occult-mysteries.org.