Creideamh Sidhe is the belief and practice around the Sidhe, the Good Folk. A big part of this folkloric common faith is to not refer to the Neighbours as "fairies" as it is seen as disrespectful. Instead you should use euphemisms like: Good Neighbours, The Good People, The Folk, The Gentry etc. Traditionally in Ireland the Sidhe were not thought of as Disney fairies who spread joy and magic, they were to be respected and feared, whatever you may do to them they will gladly do back to you ten times harder. There is a story of where someone being rude to a stranger who may be Aengus Óg and this stranger shows himself to be a part of the Sidhe and curses him tenfold.
Even if you didn't cause the Sidhe to be mad at you, there is still the possibility to get caught in the crossfire of warring Sidhe or caught up in their celebrations. With events like the Wildhunt or the Sidhe Gaoithe (Fairy Wind) or even stepping into a Lios/Raths (Fairy Forts) can easily get you into the shit list of the Good Neighbours. Even if not on their bad side, they are known to try and get humans back to their realm, where time moves odd. A well known story is a man who was approached by the Queen of the Sidhe and was taken to her party. There he danced with her in a trance for what felt like hours. He eventually finds a way out and finds the whole world has been made strange. He asks a stranger for the time and he finds seven years has passed. Red and white are colours traditionally connected to the Folk. Traditional offerings to them are red apples, milk and honey. I offer these to my plants when I can.
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In Shaktism there is a belief that Devi, the goddess in Hinduism, pervades the whole world and livens the cosmos up. Another name for Devi is Shakti which means power. Often the gods consorts are called their shaktis, without their wives they cannot do their jobs. She is the active creative principle (Prakriti) and Her consort is the passive creative principle (Purusha). Since Devi wakes everything up with Her power by pervading them there is a belief held by some that world is inherently more sacred than when viewed through Vaishnavism or Shaivism.
While nature spirits like yakshasas or yakshinis are viewed somewhat negatively, Devi pervading the world is viewed as good. This does seem to then deny a thought of animism until also taken into consideration Hinduism's general view on the human soul and all souls. In the Gita Krishna tells Arjuna he is within the hearts of all, even many artworks of Hanuman ji show him opening his chest to reveal Shiva and Parvati. God is within the hearts of all, animating us and reminding us to do good and follow our dharma. God is not outside the asuras and yakshasas. |
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