Thread: The Concept of Fairies/Angels/Witches

the topic is/was in season so I thought I bring this up:
I need to address the three concept in a piece of fiction without having to worry about some kind of a clash bang possibility.
my story is to bring all three characters under the light of goodness ,hence shifting the 'evilness' but then I cannot just pretend that the other dark side of each and one of them is not there.
all three examples I brought up are POSITIVE images to these characters and so leads me to believe I can go ahead with that but then why all three?

some article I read recently by Gloria Hunniford, entitled
''Caron sends me messages from heaven''
'Caron sends me messages from Heaven': Gloria Hunniford on how she copes with her daughter's death | Mail Online

then I want to include something like
a fairy
A fairy (also faery, faerie, fay, fae; euphemistically wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, etc.)^[1] is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural

Angel
The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spiritual beings found in many other religious traditions.

the movie Bewitched comes to mind , the way the mother in law appears,in and out of reality strikes me similar to the fairy GodMother in Cinderalla story.

then trying to define a witch, and in here it seems contradictive to the dictionary entry

witch/wiCH/

Noun:	A woman thought to have evil magic powers. Witches are popularly depicted as wearing a black cloak and pointed hat, and flying on a...
Verb:	(of a witch) Cast an evil spell on.
Synonyms:	noun. hag - sorceress - harridan - hex - beldam - enchantress verb. spellbind - enchant - fascinate - charm - conjure

the question I have is
how do I incorporate all three, the angel, the fariy and the witch without having to confuse all of them?

"Goodness" need not be one thing. The angel, for example, could be seen as the agent of a higher being, the fairy as representative of something separate from humans, seeing the world from a different perspective from ours, and the witch as being one of us, seeing it our way, but with added powers. Any help?

Originally Posted by Olly Buckle

"Goodness" need not be one thing. The angel, for example, could be seen as the agent of a higher being, the fairy as representative of something separate from humans, seeing the world from a different perspective from ours, and the witch as being one of us, seeing it our way, but with added powers. Any help?

that is a good idea,never thought of it that way..but then aren't you stil not bringing both angels and fairies under one roof?
I get the witch though being one of us.

You can do whatever you like in your story. Such is the power of fiction.

You can have disgruntled angels instead of kind, holy ones. You can have benevolent witches, instead of cackling cauldron-stirrers. And everything in between. Don't feel bound by the mythos.

In fact, defying stereotypes can lead you to create some terrific characters. Readers will be thankful when you give them something unexpected.

hey Kyle thanks for that.
I am excatly into defying stereotypes and that is I think the power of energy, imagination and words
I like the word mythos by the way it sounds almost like a cute word.

You can do whatever you like in your story. Such is the power of fiction.

You can have disgruntled angels instead of kind, holy ones. You can have benevolent witches, instead of cackling cauldron-stirrers. And everything in between. Don't feel bound by the mythos.

In fact, defying stereotypes can lead you to create some terrific characters. Readers will be thankful when you give them something unexpected.

here are some the characters I have come up with

the fairy male character
because the concept of a male version does not exit and therefore would put a twist to my story.
he again would be given a chance to become mortal in exchange of his power to become the one that help solve human curiosity,guide man in understanding the planet and the human race in all areas of knowledge.

the male witch
because it is not mentioned anywhere and again, it would stand out.
he would propably appear as a horse rider, and would have the choice to become a mortal in exchange of his power to scare away the bad witches when and he is around he could be a kind of a
symbolof fertility on the land.

and
the angel
who once came down to earth and became a mortal would have then the power to change from man to woman whenever the moods takes him. that would be his power on earth.
he would also help chase all the bad angels away.
his/her role is to appease human feelings when distressed, a kind of a reassurance, and so his popularity grows and he is able to develop and become thousands of humans like him on earth.

the idea is to turn angels, witches and fairies into mortals beings, and as a reward they have the magic power to save the human race and to make better people of them,
hence spread happiness knowledge and prosperity.
This has never been tried before and so I thought I might venturing into something this concept.

would appreciate some feedback.

Be careful having a male fairy, or at least referring to him as a fairy. In England this is a homosexual implication. I male witch may be ok, but I think they are usually called sorcerers. The notion of a witch has always been female, so it may be hard to convince average readers to take a male witch seriously.

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

I male witch may be ok, but I think they are usually called sorcerers. The notion of a witch has always been female, so it may be hard to convince average readers to take a male witch seriously.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that's a relatively modern idea and that "witch" is actually a gender neutral word for anyone who practices witchcraft.

Note that there is no defined spear counterpart for witch in English, whereas "sorceror" does have a distaff counterpart. (Sorceress.) From what I can tell, the etymology for "witch" derives from the Old English wicca (masculin, meaning sorceror or wizard) and wicce. (Feminin, meaning sorceress.)

The closest actual word for "male witch" is "warlock", though that has a newer and somewhat different etymology. ("Traitor, oathbreaker.") It came into use around the same time people started to think of witches as exclusively female.

That Bewitched lady was hot. Why did she marry such a big doofus? Puzzling.

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

Be careful having a male fairy, or at least referring to him as a fairy. In England this is a homosexual implication. I male witch may be ok, but I think they are usually called sorcerers. The notion of a witch has always been female, so it may be hard to convince average readers to take a male witch seriously.

that is the whole point of a male fairy something startling unbelieavable and slightly camp ..so be it.
I think you'll be amased that lots of reader will be first shocked, bemused bedazzled, it is fiction after all expect the unexpected.
you either like it or leave it but Iknow the impression would be far greater and best remembered.
I think the quicker we shift stagnating stereotype the better we would be for it.
I am out to shock but in a more fluffy gentle way why not??

Originally Posted by JosephB

That Bewitched lady was hot. Why did she marry such a big doofus? Puzzling.

maybe the big doofus was no so bad after all..
plus it was Jim Carey youcould not get a funnier more dashing funnier man than him..
I could not think of another star that would fit the bill.

The closest actual word for "male witch" is "warlock", though that has a newer and somewhat different etymology. ("Traitor, oathbreaker.") It came into use around the same time people started to think of witches as exclusively female

Anders (what does Anders mean by the way?)

Traitor as in a male witch sounds rather far fetched prejudiced and dated.
It almost reminds of Queen Elizabeth 'lover.
what puzzles me is it all a bit sexist but in the opposite way if you like, where by all these fairies and witches are exclusively female and what's more they do not seem to have nay background existence to them.
they see to appear from nowhere and yet last forver,
I can almost say that if humans were not around these witches and fairies would not have a reason to be.
the same apply to angels descending from heaven, under the command of god and their only existence is because man exists so in an a way their credibiltiy would begin to shake if we stop believing in them which makes us humans more powerfull then them,hence my logic fo bringing these beings into mortality is justified.

Originally Posted by Nacian

the question I have is
how do I incorporate all three, the angel, the fariy and the witch without having to confuse all of them?

The fact that you have to ask the question has worrying implications for your motives. If you don't have a concrete idea of what angels, fairies, and witches are, why is it a requirement that all three be in your story?

If you must have three distinct supernatural entities, decide for yourself what they are and apply terms to them later. Like KyleColorado said, people like it when you shatter stereotypes. That's what gives your story originality.

what puzzles me is it all a bit sexist but in the opposite way if you like, where by all these fairies and witches are exclusively female and what's more they do not seem to have nay background existence to them.
they see to appear from nowhere and yet last forver,

You should read "Puck of Pooks Hill" and "Rewards and Fairies". Oberon is the king of the fairies, so there are other male fairies besides Puck, but they dislike the name because of the gossamer winged namby pamby brigade, and so tend to call themselves "The little people". The story of "Weyland Smith" explains where they come from, and "The Dymchurch flit" in rewards and Fairies also explains their scarcity nowadays. Rudyard Kipling is a master storyteller and it is a great lesson in how to construct a myth.

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

The fact that you have to ask the question has worrying implications for your motives. If you don't have a concrete idea of what angels, fairies, and witches are, why is it a requirement that all three be in your story?

If you must have three distinct supernatural entities, decide for yourself what they are and apply terms to them later. Like KyleColorado said, people like it when you shatter stereotypes. That's what gives your story originality.

how do you mean worrying?
my only motive is to use the three of them but without having to repeat myself because we know according to myths all three have supernatural powers. tehy all disappear and reappear and do things such as either send a message, cast a spell or magic out things.
all three are human related in the sense that their existence rely on humans.
my idea is to write sitcom, akind of a spoof where I could make these characters laughable and have them act in a comic way to laugh at each other and the only way to do it, we wanted to laugh at their expense, and that is one way of breaking their stereotype is to for example disempower them and make them act totally powerlessly.
I reckon that would quitefunny. I can just imagine the sketch.
this is how I would approach it.
this what you see on TV all the time.

Originally Posted by Olly Buckle

You should read "Puck of Pooks Hill" and "Rewards and Fairies". Oberon is the king of the fairies, so there are other male fairies besides Puck, but they dislike the name because of the gossamer winged namby pamby brigade, and so tend to call themselves "The little people". The story of "Weyland Smith" explains where they come from, and "The Dymchurch flit" in rewards and Fairies also explains their scarcity nowadays. Rudyard Kipling is a master storyteller and it is a great lesson in how to construct a myth.

thank you Olly, I am not aware of
"Puck of Pooks Hill''
and
"Rewards and Fairies''
I will look them up.
they sound righ up my street.
thank you I will have a read and will most propably feed back, I am already liking the name Oberon.

Originally Posted by Anders Ämting

Actually, I'm pretty sure that's a relatively modern idea and that "witch" is actually a gender neutral word for anyone who practices witchcraft.

Note that there is no defined spear counterpart for witch in English, whereas "sorceror" does have a distaff counterpart. (Sorceress.) From what I can tell, the etymology for "witch" derives from the Old English wicca (masculin, meaning sorceror or wizard) and wicce. (Feminin, meaning sorceress.)

The closest actual word for "male witch" is "warlock", though that has a newer and somewhat different etymology. ("Traitor, oathbreaker.") It came into use around the same time people started to think of witches as exclusively female.

I think the male counterpart to witch is wizard. The notion of a witch is a sign that men created the English language and so its their word for a tricky, sinister woman who can cast spells on men.

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

I think the male counterpart to witch is wizard. The notion of a witch is a sign that men created the English language and so its their word for a tricky, sinister woman who can cast spells on men.

what do you mean men created the English Language and what is it got todo with casting spells and witches?
I don't understand