There are two courts of the Fae; the Seelie Court (winged fairies, gnomes, elves ) and the Unseelie Court (ogres, goblins, ). Good faeries (seelie) help mankind: they provide bread to the poor and aged, seed corn to the hardworking but unlucky, and gifts to those they like- especially those who have helped out the fairies with gifts. Bad fairies (unseelie) inflict harm and loss. They abduct people, especially babies, who placed themselves in their power, steal goods and kill cattle. The Scottish people divided these two courts into the good and bad, something that has been carried down in folklore. The Scottish word ‘seelie’ come from the Anglo-Saxon (ge)sælig/ sællic meaning ‘happy’ or ‘prosperous.’
The seelie court rules from Midsummer to Midwinter. The Unseelie Court rules the night from Midwinter to Midsummer. All fairies love liminal spaces, where one thing meets another – where the sidewalk meets the grass, twilight and dawn (where the day meets the night). Offerings of beer, honey and eggshells to sit on are especially favored.
