1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,200 This week I thought I'd talk about this article that I came across in Wired. 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:10,200 It's a little not super old, not like what was the clown being pulled by geese in a bathtub old? 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,200 Oh, the 1800s. 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:12,680 Such a good time. 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,240 Not that old. Yeah, this one's just October 2022 old. 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,120 So like a month and a little bit old, probably at the time this comes out. 7 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:25,680 And it's by Wired and it's called The Mediterranean Sea is So Hot It's Forming Carbonate Crystals. 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:31,840 Basically, it's talking about sunlight heating up the top layer of water in the Mediterranean, 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,880 which is sitting on cooler, deeper layers below. 10 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:41,200 And out in the open ocean where water temperatures are lower, CO2 dissolves in salt water, 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:49,000 which is what allows Earthsea to collectively absorb a quarter of the carbon emissions that humans pump into the atmosphere. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,840 But the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is heating up in the summer. 13 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:55,920 Obviously, it always does. It's hot. 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,160 So it can no longer absorb that gas and instead starts releasing it. 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:09,280 So it's the same thing that happens in a bottle of soda that is carbonated with carbon dioxide. 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,160 You usually keep it cold so it dissolves gases. 17 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:20,560 Its dissolved gases will stay dissolved, says Bialik, a geoscientist at the University of Muenster, I think. 18 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,240 Muenster in Germany. 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:27,120 If you leave it in your car for a while and try to open it, all the gases are going to pop out all at once, 20 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,440 because when it warms, the capacity of the fluid to hold CO2 goes down. 21 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:38,160 In the Eastern Mediterranean now, this dynamic is rather more consequential for the climate than a sticky car interior, 22 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:43,280 as the sea begins burping up great quantities of CO2 that the water can no longer hold. 23 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,920 So obviously that is not good. 24 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:55,680 The one good thing is that CO2 makes it more acidic, I believe, the water, which isn't great for the aquatic life. 25 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,960 So things in the sea will survive a little better. 26 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,440 On the downside, we're getting a flat ocean because it's giving off all its carbon dioxide. 27 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,040 Yeah, exactly. 28 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:06,560 Or sorry, a Mediterranean Sea. 29 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,560 Not only that, it's absorbing the gases that we're emitting into the atmosphere. 30 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:11,600 Exactly, yeah. 31 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:20,240 So I assume that Europe and North Africa have come up with some sort of scheme to put a soda cap lid on the Mediterranean Sea? 32 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:20,800 Probably. 33 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,400 Let me see in the article. 34 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,480 Nope, nope, that doesn't come up at all. 35 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:25,840 Oh man. 36 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,520 But that's what is going on. 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,760 And hold on, let me see if this is important. 38 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:30,880 Yeah, let me continue. 39 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:37,200 It's also worth noting that the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most microplastic polluted water bodies in the world. 40 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:44,400 In 2020, scientists reported finding 2 million particles in a single square meter of sediment that was only 5 centimeters thick. 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:45,280 Oh my God. 42 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:50,400 Are there arginite crystals are forming around the microplastics floating in the water column? 43 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:51,440 Bialik doesn't know. 44 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,840 They could probably form around any nucleation center, says Bialik. 45 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:01,840 I suspect that microplastics may also be a possible one, but as scientists love to say, more research is needed. 46 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:08,080 Obviously, that was more towards the middle of the article than the spilling out of CO2 by the water. 47 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,560 But just another thing to add into how... 48 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,320 How fucked the Mediterranean is? 49 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:12,720 Yeah. 50 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,480 Just the Mediterranean, which is a massive fuck-up of water. 51 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,320 I'm sure the rest are just fine. 52 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,040 We're fine if you're not around the Mediterranean. 53 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,600 I would want to live around the Mediterranean right now. 54 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,360 No, no, I wouldn't want to live there. 55 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,080 And with that, the more you know, Journey to the Fringe is giving you knowledge. 56 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,080 With that, let's start the episode. 57 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,520 From the unexplained to the mundane, come join us on a Journey to the Fringe. 58 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,720 Hello and welcome to Journey to the Fringe. 59 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,280 Now only available in the present time. 60 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:57,440 We are working on making these ourselves available in other time tenses, but that's going to take some work. 61 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,360 So please only talk about this podcast in the present tense for the time being. 62 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,960 That being, you can't say I listened to Journey to the Fringe. 63 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,040 You need to say I listened to Journey to the Fringe. 64 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,120 It is inconvenient, but it is what it is. 65 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,160 We are your ever present hosts, Taylor and Chelsea. 66 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,560 And today we are doing you all a solid... 67 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,640 I think the easiest way to know what the solid is that we are doing for you 68 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,960 is to just give you an idea of the topic for which you've already read the title 69 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,360 off on the podcast episode, but so what. 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,440 So you've run into the Fae. 71 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,320 Now Chelsea is going to cover what to expect from this. 72 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,640 And then I'm going to talk about some precautionary steps and some ways to help yourself. 73 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,240 Should this occur to you? 74 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:37,840 So Chelsea, why don't you take it away? 75 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,320 I'm just going to take an aside here and I completely ran with Elf on this. 76 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,160 So this is not Fae. 77 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:45,920 It is Elf completely. 78 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:47,840 I have not done a thing on Faeries. 79 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:49,760 I'm here today and today only. 80 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:54,880 Well, actually an infinite amount of times as you'll be able to go back and listen to this episode. 81 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,240 As many times as you wish. 82 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,640 It's a choose your own, listen to this episode as many times as you wish adventure. 83 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,160 And now that we've got that out of the way, I'm here to talk about Elves. 84 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,000 See, specifically Elves. 85 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,520 Specifically catering to those of you who have yet to run into one. 86 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,360 Hopefully that is most of you listening. 87 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,400 And if you have already, then you can still listen. 88 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,360 And maybe you can relate a little bit in what we talk about. 89 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:22,160 I think you can learn from other stories of Elves because Elf encounters are like beautiful snowflakes 90 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:23,600 and that no two are the same. 91 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,040 In fact, some are on fire. 92 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:26,080 Yeah, I would say that. 93 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,560 In which case, maybe nobody will be able to relate to any of our stories. 94 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,080 Yeah, and that's that's going to come up in the preventative measures too. 95 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,560 So let's just get into it. 96 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:37,440 It's finally happened. 97 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,960 You've run into an Elf or Elves where this chance meeting goes is pretty much dependent 98 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,520 on whether it's a good Elf or not so good Elf. 99 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,600 I don't know if you can say good or bad Elf or good and not good Elf. 100 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,720 I think they have a karmic sense for which we don't understand. 101 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,600 And just change how they act in certain scenarios. 102 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:56,960 Does that make sense? 103 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,240 I might be completely off base, but that's kind of what I draw from. 104 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,400 They're both equipped with both good and evil. 105 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,080 Everybody's capable of it. 106 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:04,640 Yes. 107 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,600 Yeah, also could depend on where you are geographically. 108 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,560 But if it were me, I just want to steer clear as to not accidentally piss one of these guys off 109 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,720 as they're known to have quite the tempers in accordance with what Taylor just said. 110 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:17,120 Yeah. 111 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,000 And again, how to piss them off varies greatly. 112 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,200 Exactly. And they all have the ability to get pissed off. 113 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:24,080 Just as us. 114 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,280 According to Icelandic facts, as we covered in a previous Elf episode of ours. 115 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,880 Do you remember what that one was called? 116 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,880 I think it was one of our Christmas episodes last year. 117 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,840 Yeah, it was a Christmas episode, which I learned that there, 118 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:37,920 but I'm just going to put it here or there. 119 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,520 You can still listen to it there if you want. 120 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,040 Eve was embarrassed that her children were dirty when God came to visit. 121 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,680 So she hid them away and lied about their existence. 122 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,920 God knew of her deceitfulness and proclaimed, what man hides from God. 123 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,680 God will hide from man. 124 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,920 These children then became the hidden folk who often make their homes in large rocks. 125 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,000 So here God is pissed off. 126 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,400 So he himself may also be an elf. 127 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,680 Now, elves are strongly associated with magic and nature. 128 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:09,440 In ancient days, it is thought that every place in nature and among men had a specific elf. 129 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,640 Elves live in a realm that is very near to ours and they are humanoid looking. 130 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,040 They remind me a lot of the Djinn, actually. 131 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:18,320 They can look like what they want. 132 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,080 Yeah, they live in communities. 133 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:21,840 They have good and bad elves. 134 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:26,080 They have supernatural abilities, including the ability to shape shift. 135 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,640 They're known to be mischievous, playing pranks and causing strange occurrences. 136 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:35,120 I just think it's really funny that you see commonalities between other cultures. 137 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:36,720 One just calls them another thing. 138 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,400 And that pretty much is what a Djinn is as well as an elf. 139 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,960 It is thought that elves live among men as well and have protection roles to take care 140 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,160 of buildings, families, and individuals and livestock. 141 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,200 And so on. 142 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:55,040 Where and why might you be encountering an elf after just getting that brief introduction 143 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,480 about the most briefest of introductions out of the way? 144 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,520 You may have an elf encounter without even knowing it in the form of fairy rings. 145 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:08,240 Now, I say fairy rings because I also said that I didn't do anything about fairies, 146 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,960 but fairy rings are also linked to elves as well because they love to dance. 147 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,720 This would include a ring of mushrooms left where elves have danced. 148 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,760 If you encountered this and happened to specifically pee into it, it might result in VD. 149 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:27,040 Just putting that out there, that might be where you got that case of VD peeing into it. 150 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,040 Anybody looking for an excuse. 151 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:30,640 That is now the go-to. 152 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,040 Well, I did pee into that mushroom ring that one time. 153 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,640 You may also encounter this where a forest meets a lake. 154 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:43,200 You might find a flattened circle in the grass from where the elves had danced. 155 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:49,040 Observe this with caution as you walk through it or disturbing the circle. 156 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:50,400 You could become very ill. 157 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,040 So just if you see one of those, don't go in it. 158 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:54,240 Don't go around it. 159 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,760 Turn and go the other direction. 160 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:01,520 And speaking of elf dances, you must always be on guard if you encounter elves dancing. 161 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:05,440 Not to be lured to the elf dance in which the fairy ring is formed. 162 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,560 Four, if you observe the elf dance, you're fucked. 163 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:09,200 Hear me out. 164 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:14,160 While watching the dance, you would discover that although only a few hours seem to have 165 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:18,400 passed, that it's actually many years in real human world years. 166 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:25,280 That's the elf circle fairy ring slash dancing that you might encounter the elves. 167 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:26,880 The next is illness. 168 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:28,240 Have you ever been sick? 169 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:29,040 Probably. 170 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,280 Could an elf be responsible for it? 171 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:32,000 Probably. 172 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,480 It probably could be responsible for that if you've pissed one off and you didn't even know it. 173 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:42,080 Elves have been known to inflict illness which cannot be diagnosed or properly treated by a doctor. 174 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:48,000 An elf may cast a spell of sickness if offended by an individual or you may piss them off so much 175 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,200 they shoot you with an invisible arrow carrying sickness. 176 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,960 This is called being elf shot. 177 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,920 Next time you're sick and you go into the ER or something, you say, 178 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,080 I do suspect I've been elf shot. 179 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:00,400 Check me for wound holes. 180 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,360 Yeah, check me if I've been elf shot. 181 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,160 It could explain a lot to do with this VD. 182 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:12,560 It could be as minor as a skin rash all the way up to mental illness or even physical illness, 183 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:13,840 such as epilepsy. 184 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,040 Elves has also been known on the other hand to cure illness. 185 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,360 We did say there's both good and bad elves. 186 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,720 Well, good intention and bad intention in elves, I guess. 187 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,360 While this doesn't constitute illness, the elves are the original old hake. 188 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,080 They've been known to sit on the chest of a sleeping person to give them bad dreams. 189 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,840 The German word for nightmare translates to elf pressure. 190 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,720 Illness, bad dream, same thing. 191 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:44,800 Next thing you could expect encounter with an elf, a rock in the forest or around tree 192 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,440 trunks and in the hills because that's where they live. 193 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:52,640 And you can expect that if you fuck with any one of those in which an elf or community 194 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,920 of elves inhabits for them to defend what's theirs. 195 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,040 This is still very much the case in Iceland. 196 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,080 There's a high percentage of people who do believe in this. 197 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,640 I can't remember the last time I've read it, I believe it was around like 40% of Icelandic. 198 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:08,240 I think it's higher than 40%. 199 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:09,680 Yeah, that was just off the top of my head. 200 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:11,200 It's a super high amount. 201 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,120 Yeah, we could easily just Google it right now, but we're better off to guess. 202 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:16,400 We're better at speculating. 203 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:17,840 Yeah, yeah, exactly. 204 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,640 Somewhere between 40% and a very high percentage. 205 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:28,560 It's a high percentage of people in Iceland that believe this and there are lots of heritage 206 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:35,040 sites, would you call them protected sites in Iceland around boulders and rocks inhabited by 207 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:35,520 elves. 208 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:40,080 There's one in fact, right near downtown Reykjavik, or if you do a ghost tour in Reykjavik, 209 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:40,800 they'll show you it. 210 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,240 I would be interested in that. 211 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,720 Yeah, it's still very much the case in Iceland. 212 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:50,560 Example of what we just talked about construction projects around boulders will either go around 213 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:56,560 the boulder instruction sites will stall when they're going to take out a boulder or anything 214 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,000 like that, so yeah, they're just not to be disturbed. 215 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,760 Well, and Iceland has its own distinct group of elf psychics, I think is the correct way 216 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,360 to describe them, where they will bring people in to communicate with the elves that are 217 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,440 living in an area to see what they can do. 218 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,080 Oh, I was going to say maybe elf advocates. 219 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,360 Not quite advocate, but more like mediator, I guess. 220 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:18,160 Oh, okay. 221 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,040 I can do that. 222 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:20,240 I feel like I could do that. 223 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:21,920 But I'd be too scared of pissing them off. 224 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,400 You have to be able to see and communicate with elves. 225 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,440 So I don't know how well you would do at that part of it. 226 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:28,160 I could do okay. 227 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:30,720 You can fake it pretty hard, I bet. 228 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,880 We looked at enough of these guys to fake it till they make it, I think, to actually 229 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:35,520 do pretty good. 230 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:42,000 Also, another part of Icelandic elves is that they can impregnate women. 231 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,400 It is well documented through the history of Iceland to come back to a wife who has 232 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:48,480 been impregnated by the elves. 233 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,240 I'm pretty sure I talk about that. 234 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:55,040 So if a rock is disturbed that is of importance to the elves, you can expect to get warnings 235 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,880 from the elves at first if you're lucky. 236 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,840 But if you do not heed these warnings, you can expect mishaps, freakish accidents and 237 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:02,800 illness. 238 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:08,080 That's if you disturb their place of living and you can't really know for sure that you're 239 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:09,920 disturbing an elf's place of living. 240 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,880 Just like I don't know why I keep bringing it back to the Djinn. 241 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,600 You don't know if a Djinn lives somewhere in particular. 242 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:20,000 You don't know because they're living in a world that is near to ours, but not ours. 243 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,560 So they're invisible and around us at all times. 244 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,960 Next up, elves are known to take terrible revenge on anyone who offends them. 245 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:31,200 So you could have also offended them by doing nothing, really. 246 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,040 Just being near to them and not seeing them. 247 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,760 So that actually merged well with what I just said. 248 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,240 They may steal babies, cattle, food, especially milk or bread. 249 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:41,520 They like milk or bread. 250 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:47,440 They may confuse you or bring bad luck, misplace or lose your things, enchant you to be held 251 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,200 in a spell for years at a time or just other mysterious things. 252 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,760 There's also the VD and illness portions of it that I left out of there. 253 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:00,560 They're also, on the other hand, very generous to those that offer hospitality to them, 254 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,960 rewarding with gifts and rewards. 255 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,760 Just, you know, don't be an asshole to elves. 256 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,600 You may also know an elf from it stealing your baby. 257 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,560 To start with, I was like, to steal babies. 258 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:14,080 Well, this isn't really starting. 259 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:16,160 Okay. 260 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,200 It's starting with under the heading of steal babies. 261 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,800 They're fairly well known for that. 262 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,440 Those changed out babies are called changelings, 263 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:28,800 which is a human child that might be taken for many factors all over the spectrum. 264 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,440 This could be to act as a servant. 265 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,200 I mean, it wouldn't be a great servant. 266 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,800 Babies are terrible at stuff. 267 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:35,600 Let me tell you. 268 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,120 Yeah, they would be awful. 269 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,240 Just absolutely crap. 270 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,760 To obtain the love of a human child, malice. 271 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,520 And in some instances, I'm assuming desperate instances, 272 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,360 a senior elf may be switched out for a human baby. 273 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,800 Again, terrible plan if you need that senior elf to do anything. 274 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:59,680 Human babies do sometimes look like old elves, so they would pass. 275 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,200 This is so that elderly elves have someone to take care of them. 276 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:08,400 So like I said, there's multiple reasons for the switch outs and what they're switching out. 277 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:09,280 Who knows? 278 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,600 Old, young, it's all over the place. 279 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,240 If you have been the victim of a baby switch out, you've encountered an elf. 280 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:22,080 Or if you've had like an inkling, like this might be an old elf that I'm now taking care of. 281 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,520 You probably have been the victim of Elvary. 282 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:26,640 Is that what they call it? 283 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:27,840 I think it's changeling. 284 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,880 Okay, but the act of the changeling, it would be Elvary, right? 285 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,320 I think it's changeling. 286 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:39,200 Okay, I just thought the name of the child being switched out was changeling. 287 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,560 Like I now have a changeling. 288 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,200 The name of the new creature is the changeling. 289 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,960 But in my mind, like changing out the baby is also changeling. 290 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,480 Okay, I thought it would be like the act of Elvary. 291 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:52,480 It's kind of like I'm a blacksmith. 292 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:53,040 What do you do? 293 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,080 I blacksmith. 294 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,240 Okay, that's a valid point. 295 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:57,360 Okay, so we're settled. 296 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:58,160 It's changeling. 297 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,080 You've been a victim of changeling. 298 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:01,760 Or you've been had, duped. 299 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:02,260 Yeah. 300 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:06,160 The elves pull the fast one. 301 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:08,720 You have a very desirable baby. 302 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,840 Okay, elderly elves want someone to take care of them. 303 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,360 It's obviously not going to be the elves that are doing the switching out. 304 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,440 Yeah, they actually have really bad social safety nets in the elf kingdom. 305 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,960 Elf Regen just completely destroyed them. 306 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:28,080 So that these elderly elves can live in comfort and be coddled by its new human parents. 307 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:29,840 It's a feel-good story of the year. 308 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:35,120 On the other hand, there are legends that state that the elves need help to bring children into 309 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:41,600 the world in the form of midwives and wet nurses, which may also contribute to the baby switching. 310 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:49,680 And also the kidnapping of women who have just had babies for being a wet nurse to the elves. 311 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,400 Lots of midwives have been kidnapped by the elves as well. 312 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,400 I'm going to read you just a quick story called the story of Peter Ram's 313 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,400 wife being summoned by the elves. 314 00:16:58,400 --> 00:16:59,280 I added that. 315 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:04,640 A clergyman by the name of Peter Ram was known to have told a tale of his wife being 316 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,200 summoned to help a mythical being give birth. 317 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,600 She went to the creature and performed her duties. 318 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,760 After the child was born, the grateful couple offered the midwife food and drink. 319 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,200 She kindly refused. 320 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,120 They offer her other forms of hospitality, which she refused as well. 321 00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:21,120 She was sent on her way and returned home. 322 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:26,640 The next day, she found a pile of silver pieces, a gift from the new parents for delivering their child. 323 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,120 Okay, I have a couple little tidbits to end here. 324 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:33,120 You may also encounter an elf in the form of, 325 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:39,280 I don't know how to put it, like a siren type being trying to lure you into the elf world. 326 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,720 So they will often appear as the opposite sex to tempt you into joining them, 327 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,000 where you may never return or meet a tragic fate. 328 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,520 This one is very popular, the seductive elf. 329 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:56,560 They're also known to lie and deceive in order to lure you into their world. 330 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,720 So they really do want to lure you into their world as well. 331 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,560 All I know is it seems like sometimes they're just basically up to no good, 332 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,960 and also known to help one human or two. 333 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,200 So I wouldn't really rely on that. 334 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,720 And also sometimes they just apparently genuinely need human help. 335 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,320 That does come up from time to time. 336 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,960 But when children are born or when they need a plow to be repaired. 337 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,560 Yeah, the other thing I just saw, this is pretty much all I have to talk about. 338 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,360 The other thing I just wanted to say was, 339 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,640 I should have brought this up earlier when we were talking about where they live in boulders. 340 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:36,560 But I just think it's interesting, and I don't think I couldn't find any correlation to this as well. 341 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,040 This is just my specific hearsay. 342 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,800 But they talk about things going awry if you mess with boulders, 343 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,360 and them living in boulders and stuff like that. 344 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:51,440 I just think it ought to be said out loud that there's a lot of people that go missing. 345 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,200 And it comes up in Missing 411 with David Palladis, 346 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,520 of people going missing in boulder fields. 347 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,960 And I just think someone ought to put Elf out there as a suspect. 348 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,520 But also we probably shouldn't say that because... 349 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,800 Yeah, we also haven't done our episode on Missing 411. 350 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,760 There's a whole other thing going on with that. 351 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:12,640 Oh, there is? 352 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:17,440 Well, yeah, there's David Palladis, who is the entire persona behind Missing 411, 353 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,440 has his lovers and haters. 354 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,000 And the haters have some points. 355 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:23,840 Yes, I've been noticing that lately. 356 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,080 Which we will get to in that episode. 357 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,880 Oh, yeah, that'd be a good one to do our little thingy on. 358 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:36,720 Okay, that's basically where I think that you could or would or might encounter an Elf. 359 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,480 You could encounter one daily all the time and just not know it. 360 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,960 So hopefully Taylor will give us some tips, 361 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,160 since we're encountering them so much, to keep us safe. 362 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:47,600 And that's why we're here. 363 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,560 And just to give a full disclaimer right off the front, 364 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,680 some of these are specific to geographic locations. 365 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,920 Please also keep in mind, especially with regards to some of these stories, 366 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,920 that should one of the things that we tell you to do not work at all. 367 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,080 Try in fact doing the exact opposite of what I have told you to do, 368 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,760 which in fact may be the answer in that specific scenario. 369 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:11,840 Strangely enough, that's how these work. 370 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,240 Also, just liability absolved. 371 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,080 Do not lie on this episode. 372 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,080 This is not legal and or fairy defense or fae defense advice. 373 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:20,800 Okay. 374 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,240 This is just stating what has happened in the past and what has worked. 375 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:29,120 Having said that, I've broken this up into kind of two categories of saving yourself. 376 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:31,920 Chelsea, I'm just going to start off with a bit of an anecdote. 377 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,240 What's better than coming up with an antidote or a medicine for cancer? 378 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:37,200 I got nothing. 379 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,280 Why, showing you how to prevent cancer. 380 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,080 Oh, of course. 381 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:41,040 In the first place. 382 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,480 We are going to talk about what measures you can take once you've run into an Elf, 383 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,400 but let's just talk about preventing running into an Elf in the first place. 384 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,080 Okay, I'm all ears. 385 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,960 Let's start first and foremost where we spend most of our days, 386 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,480 especially in this COVID slash post-COVID world. 387 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,440 It's kind of funny which one we're actually in right now 388 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,120 because nobody really wants to talk about it. 389 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:03,360 But anyhow, we spend a lot of time at home these days. 390 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:07,040 One thing you should avoid is keeping open flames in your house 391 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,040 as Elves and the Fae are big fans of fires. 392 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:12,480 So we don't keep them. 393 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,480 Yes, do not keep open flames in your house. 394 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,920 They will come in, they will warm themselves, they will dry their clothes. 395 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,920 They will bake and they will blacksmith in your fires. 396 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,520 And then you have them in your house and that's just a shitty thing to have. 397 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,520 I have one going right now. 398 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:28,240 What do I do? 399 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:30,000 Turn it off. 400 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:30,640 Extinguish. 401 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:33,600 Next, do you have a house? 402 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:34,640 Great thing to do. 403 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,720 Keep bells around the outside of your house, 404 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,760 particularly if they're made of iron or steel, 405 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,200 which in fact I think is part of the reasoning behind wind chimes. 406 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,600 Not only do they sound good, they keep the Fae away. 407 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:46,880 Really? 408 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:52,560 Yes, if you have enough space, keeping roosters around can drive away Fae 409 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,160 as they do not like the sound of it. 410 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,240 However, there is also contradictory stories 411 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,160 where they also enjoy keeping chickens in their own housing areas. 412 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,560 So your mileage may vary with that one. 413 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,840 So disregard all information about roosters. 414 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,680 Again, if it's not working that you have a rooster, 415 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,720 get rid of that rooster when the Elf shows up, babe. 416 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:13,680 Give it as a gift. 417 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,280 If you have too many Elves. 418 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:16,480 Give them the rooster. 419 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,080 Let us know if you got too many Elves after you got a rooster. 420 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,000 Chelsea had already said this earlier, but leaving a bowl of milk 421 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:30,160 and important here, salt-free bread outside periodically 422 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,240 will help the Elves not want to go into your house and play tricks on. 423 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,760 And if you're into gardening, there are many plants that are said to repel Elves or Fae. 424 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,760 Certain plants that are effective in repelling include St. John's Wort, 425 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,160 Red Verbena, Daisies, Ash, and Rowan. 426 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,960 For example, a branch of Mountain Ash will help pull a trapped person out of a fairy ring 427 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:54,640 as the fairies dread the tree. 428 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,080 And Catherine Briggs suggests that it is the red berries of the plant 429 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,880 which have given it its reputation for warding off evil, 430 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,520 but it has much wider magical power than this. 431 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,680 And lastly, Wurtzeichs records in British Goblins that a Gorse hedge 432 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,640 is an excellent protection against unwelcome visitors. 433 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:15,600 Conversely, there are things that attract the Fae that you should not plant. 434 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:20,480 However, if this is already on your property, don't just up and get rid of this 435 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,920 as there may already be a Fae living in it and you'll piss them off if you get rid of it. 436 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:24,960 Piss it off, yeah. 437 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,920 They're very temperamental, those little bastards. 438 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:29,680 Yeah, this includes fairy rings. 439 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:30,560 They're pretty nice little gentlemen. 440 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,240 Actually, I take it back. They're not bastards. 441 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,520 Yeah, they're fantastic little guys and gals. 442 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,880 Fairy rings, if one's there, like just accept it. 443 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,760 Maybe it's edible mushrooms. Don't pee in there. 444 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:44,320 Avoid that area. 445 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,920 Also, fox gloves, bluebells, and red companion. 446 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:53,440 An oak, ash, or hawthorn tree on a hill is an indicator that you may be on a fairy hill. 447 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:59,920 Animals such as rabbits and certain birds also are indications of fairies or Fae or elves. 448 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:03,200 But again, it might also not be. It might just be a rabbit. 449 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:09,040 The next thing you can do is you can have salt at the ready. 450 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,400 Fairies loathing salt can work in two related ways. 451 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,160 It can be used as a deliberate defense against them or it can be said to be a 452 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:21,520 messenger of the other world and will be preventing them from handling human goods. 453 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:26,400 Amongst the means used by midwives and neighbors to protect mothers in labor was sprinkling salt 454 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,400 around the house and after the baby was safely delivered, it could be guarded against abduction 455 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:35,040 by putting salt in the newborn's mouth. Related to this, there were several ways 456 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,160 of expelling a changeling in whales. One means of driving off a changeling was to 457 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,200 place salt on a shovel, make the sign of a cross in it, and then heat it over a fire. 458 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,680 And I just wanted to get all the salt stuff out of the way there. 459 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:53,840 Also, salt in food pisses them off. So if you're going to bring it as a gift for later issues, 460 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,400 by all means, make sure that you're baking without salt. 461 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:58,880 Check. Well, I mean noted. Not checked. 462 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,040 Okay. The next thing you can do is work with a wonder liquid known as 463 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:09,120 Mastyr. It's a substance used by our ancestors, stored up for use in curing leather and at a 464 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:13,440 household level for cleaning laundry as it removes stains and brightens colors. 465 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,680 Sprinkling Mastyr around a home will protect the household from the fay. 466 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,320 It is especially helpful just after a baby has been born, when both nursing mother and child 467 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,400 need to be protected against the risk of abduction. In Rossshire in the north of Scotland, 468 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,720 all newborn babies were bathed in Mastyr, also known as golden water, to prevent the 469 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,280 fairies from stealing them. Perhaps on the same basis, carrying the mother over the drain from 470 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:40,560 the cowshed is reckoned to be equally effective. Changeling could be driven away by forcing the 471 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:45,200 fairies to return their infant captive by exposing them to a range of unpleasant conditions, 472 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:50,560 of which the mildest involved Mastyr. A suspected changeling could be laid on top 473 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:54,320 of the pot in which the liquid was being stored. And because of the stench, this might alone be 474 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:59,120 enough to expel it. This remedy is plainly the flip side of the defense to newborn babies and 475 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:03,760 mothers we talked about above. And in fact, Mastyr may be a general protective against bad luck in 476 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,760 general. On the Isle of Man, for example, ploughs would be washed with the substance before they 477 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,920 were taken to the fields for the annual plowing. And on Halloween in the Highlands, cattle, 478 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,240 doorposts, and walls of houses would all be sprinkled with the liquid to protect the premises 479 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:22,400 from fay. This sounds all simple enough and great. It's at this point I should tell you that Mastyr 480 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:28,320 is stored and old urine that they've been saving up throughout the year. Yeah, yes. But you know, 481 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:33,520 great for all sorts of things. So if you've just been throwing your Mastyr down the drain like a 482 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:38,480 sucker, maybe you should be saving it now. Yeah, that would also like keep me away from your house 483 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:43,120 if you're just sprinkling it around your doorstep. Not just the fay, yes. Yeah, I'd be like, I 484 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:49,040 probably don't want to knock on that door. So those are ways to keep your house safe from the 485 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:53,440 fay and the elves. By the way, I've used the terms interchangeably more or less because in English, 486 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:58,560 elves and fay are more or less the same thing as the Germanic groups of elves and the French 487 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:04,640 roots of fay fairies more or less are the same thing. If you are out and about, like let's say 488 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,280 you can't just live in your house forever, here's a few things that you can do to prevent a run in 489 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,160 with the fay or the elves. First off, if you're going somewhere new, consult local lore or people 490 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,960 in the community to know if they live in the area you are going, especially in Europe, which, yes, 491 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:24,080 England, you still count as that. The local lore identifies areas where fay live, frequent, or 492 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,560 travel through. People in the know with the folklore will be able to give you an idea of places 493 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:33,840 to avoid. If you're in the woods and hear mysterious music, not just some asshole that brought their 494 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:39,360 Bluetooth speaker on a hike or the time of day quickly changes or animals are acting weird, 495 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:44,320 then go back from whence you came. You should probably also say as leaving the other direction, 496 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,880 sorry for intruding, you have a lovely forest. Yeah, don't just say like I'm out of here, this 497 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:54,480 place is fucked and it's ugly. This forest is the worst forest I've ever been in. Bad idea. 498 00:27:54,480 --> 00:28:00,880 Wow, what a shitty forest. I gotta turn around now. I have never seen a shitty forest. Before 499 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,320 you leave, you should actually be wearing clothes with red thread. Red thread are effective against 500 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:11,120 fairies, for example tied around a child's throat to protect them from taking or woven into the 501 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:16,880 hair of a cow's tail to prevent the fairy stealing its milk. If you want to double your protection, 502 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:22,000 securing a spring of rowan to someone or something with a red thread was recommended. Also, I have 503 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,600 heard red flannels are a way to avoid changelings on babies. This is an interesting one. If you're 504 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:33,120 going to go to the beach, stick to the beach at low tide and walk in the area below high tide, 505 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:39,920 or other high salt concentration areas such as beaches or being near the ocean, or some marshes, 506 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:46,320 as it is said that most elves and fae do not enjoy salt. Bring a four leaf clover. The Welsh 507 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:52,000 believe that holding one allows you to actually see fae and elves, which will make it much easier 508 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,720 for you to avoid them. Yeah, if you can find one. I've never found one in my life. I've found a 509 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:02,480 few before. It's just, they're hard to hold on to. And lastly, avoid wells and still waters. 510 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:07,760 Apparently elves and fae are drawn to these still waters. For example, John Riss in the Celtic 511 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:13,520 Folklore from 1901 notes the existence of several fairy wells and whales, which demand attention from 512 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:18,000 local people in the absence of which they would overflow or flood. So those are just a few tips 513 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,560 for avoiding just the run-ins in general. But let's say you couldn't stop these things from 514 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:27,680 happening. You've now come face to face with a fae. What should I have done to ready myself for the 515 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:32,720 situation? Well, you should have brought with you iron and or steel. The supernatural race cannot 516 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:39,520 abide forged metal in any form. The Reverend Kirk expressed it thus, iron hinders all the operations 517 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:44,160 of those that travel in the intrigues of these hidden dominions. In fact, metal is a double 518 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:48,320 protection. The presence of iron items will prevent harm. Touching with iron will drive 519 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:54,160 fairies away. A scythe placed sharpened edge uppermost in a chimney will repel fairies. Pins 520 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:59,600 in the swaddling clothes, scissors hung over or tongs laid upon a cradle will prevent the substitution 521 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:05,600 of a changeling, partly because the open blades will create a cross shape. An iron bolt or lock 522 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:11,200 on a door will guard a house. An axe placed under a pillow will protect the sleeper and striking a 523 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:16,080 fairy with iron will result in its instant disappearance. In Wales, the story of the fairy 524 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,800 wife lost by accidentally striking her with the iron bit of a bridle was extremely common. Contact 525 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:26,160 with the metal in these cases lost a loved one. Whilst folklore also records that if iron is thrown 526 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,880 at changelings or at a clinging fairy, the unwelcome presence will instantly be repelled. 527 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:36,080 From time to time, fairy hills will open and the sound of music will lure humans in. The best 528 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:42,000 protection against never escaping is to place a knife of iron or steel at the exit so that the 529 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,880 door cannot close again. If a person has been lured into the dancing with the fairies in a ring, 530 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:51,840 one way of recovering him or her is a touch with iron. Despite the widely tested aversion, 531 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:57,440 it is curious to note that fairies will be found using metal items sometimes. John Riss records 532 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:02,400 them borrowing griddles and pots in Wales and there are regular stories of fairies asking humans 533 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:08,320 to mend their implements. For example, a ploughman working in a field at one house just outside 534 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:14,000 Stowmarket in Suffolk was approached by a sandy colored fairy for help mending his peel. This was 535 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,480 the long handle flat iron used for removing loaves from an oven. The ploughman easily repaired the 536 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,040 broken handle and was very soon rewarded with hot cake fresh from the oven. So again, that's one of 537 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:28,000 those things where if it works, yes, that's great. If it's not working, try the exact opposite. Maybe 538 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,720 in fact, gift them the iron or steel you are carrying. This isn't working. Actually, this is 539 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:40,400 a gift for you. Try stabbing them. Oh, I was just giving it to you. Next up, always bring with you 540 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:46,080 some type of food, salt, bread, or fish. In popular romances of the West of England, Robert Hunt 541 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,400 records an interesting tale from Cornwall of a cow that was favored by the fairies for its milk. 542 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:56,240 When the milkmaids of Boss Franken Farm near St. Berrien realized what was happening, she sought 543 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:02,480 advice from a local cunning woman who advised the local fae could not abide the smell of fish or 544 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:07,280 the savor of salt or grease. Her recommendation was to rub the cow's udders with fish brine to 545 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:12,480 prevent the pesky elves. The advice worked, but the cow pined for her supernatural friends. Oddly, 546 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:17,200 however, fishermen in nearby Newlyn appeased the spriggans with an offering of fish, indicating 547 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,600 that the revulsion was not consistent. So that fish part might not be true, especially if they 548 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:26,080 live in a coastal area, but bread always seems to be something that they want or you can use to 549 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:32,160 either tear them off or appease them. Very basic meat. One ward is what is called a self-bored 550 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:37,360 stone, which if you can locate, it would be if you're on the beach and you find a stone with a 551 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:42,080 hole in the middle that was eroded away. Apparently, it's a great protection against elves. Where it 552 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:47,200 is a necklace. Really? Yeah, they're called haig stones. They can protect property if you hang it 553 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:52,240 from the edge of your property. They can protect animals. They can protect humans. Although strangely, 554 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,720 I found when they aren't being used, they should be stored in an iron box so that the fairies can't 555 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:01,360 mess with them. But wouldn't they always be used if they're like hanging? Yeah, that's that's the 556 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,680 weird part where I couldn't look too much into it. I ran out of time, but fairies would not 557 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:12,400 pass underneath or near a self-bored stone or a haig stone. If you run into elves, turn your clothes 558 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:17,600 inside out. A consistently deployed protection is to turn your coat, to turn a garment inside out as 559 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:22,480 a way of defending yourself from fairy tricks. Two quernish examples from Hunt illustrate the 560 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,600 effectiveness of the remedy. A Mr. Tassilian returning late at night from Penzance to his 561 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,880 home in St. Levin came upon the elves dancing in their rings. He felt compelled to join them, 562 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:38,160 at which point they swarmed upon him, seeing him like bees. He retained enough presence of mind to 563 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:43,040 turn his glove inside out and threw it at him, which instantly caused the throng to disappear. 564 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:49,040 Secondly, an old widow living in Chyenne Whale above Carbus Bay found that her home was favoured 565 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:54,880 by the thievish spriggans or elves of nearby Trencrom Hill. They resorted to her cottage to 566 00:33:54,880 --> 00:34:00,000 divide up their plunder and rewarded her tolerance of this by leaving her a coin after each visit. 567 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,960 She hatched a plan to get more from them and one night secretly turned her shift inside out 568 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:09,680 whilst the spriggans were present. This enabled her to seize a gold cup from them. The widow became 569 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:14,720 a wealthy woman as a result, but she could never wear that shift again, because if she did, she 570 00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:20,400 suffered agonies. So if you don't like the clothes, by all means, turn them inside out. Apparently it 571 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:25,280 works. And throw them at them? You don't have to necessarily throw them at them, but sometimes it 572 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:30,160 helps. So I would say first thing you do, turn it inside out, put it on. That doesn't work. Throw it 573 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:36,400 at them. If that doesn't work, say it's a gift. Or put it on right side again and see if that works, 574 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:41,600 maybe. Can you imagine somebody just like showing up at your house and you're like, what's up with 575 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:46,720 you while your clothes are on backwards? They're like, just ran into an elf. And you're missing a 576 00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:52,960 shoe. Yeah. And then I'd be like, should we be concerned that the elves are coming? 577 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:59,040 Be mindful when you're interacting with an elf or a fae, not to share too much information. 578 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:04,800 Always give your answers as super vague and non-specific. Information that they might ask 579 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:10,800 you for is your true name. Don't call them fae, fairy or fairies. And if they ever offer you 580 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,360 something, always say yes. I shouldn't give them my name? Never give them your name. How do I know 581 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:19,200 they're an elf? Should I just be giving out a different name to everybody? See, I don't know. 582 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:23,440 I hear everybody listening knows my name is Chelsea. No, that's just what we tell them. 583 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:29,600 Yeah. Yeah. That's not my real name at all. Hold on. Well, I turned my sweater on inside. 584 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:34,800 If they offer you a gift, this is important. Always accept it. If it's food, we're going to 585 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:39,680 get to that later. You don't need to necessarily do anything with the gift. Just accept the gift 586 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:44,320 because it's rude to not accept the gift. Once you have accepted the gift or they've done something 587 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:50,160 nice for you, do not say thank you. The fairies consider the phrase thank you to be incredibly 588 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:55,920 significant and poignant. It is equitable to say, I can never repay you for this. I owe you my life. 589 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:00,400 Now imagine if someone said that to you when all you did was wash the dishes for them or give you 590 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:05,120 a biscuit. It's weird and a bit rude. And then fairies consider saying thank you a bit of a cop 591 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:09,680 out. It is far more significant and meaningful to show that you're grateful rather than simply saying 592 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:14,080 it. This could take the format of an offering or a promise for your help in the future. Though, 593 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,720 if you do make such a promise, be clear on the parameters. You don't want to be asked for 594 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:23,280 something that you cannot deliver on. That's how first born babies get stolen. Therefore, 595 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:28,240 instead of saying thank you, show appreciation in the form of an offering or a gesture of goodwill. 596 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:32,720 Fairies also appear to appreciate self-deprecating statements such as, wow, your kindness is 597 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:38,240 unbelievable. I'm not worthy of such generosity. Always have a present handy to give them such as 598 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:43,760 an item of clothes like we talked about earlier. Some folktales recount when elves were offered. 599 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:48,720 Clothing they were offended by the inferior quality of the garments given and others recounted that 600 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:54,240 the fae were delighted with the gift and left with it. So not necessarily great odds that they're 601 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:58,240 going to be happy with it, but they'll probably leave if you give them a gift, including clothes. 602 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:04,400 So again, the steps are turn your clothes inside out, put them back on. They don't leave, throw it 603 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:08,400 at them. And if they don't still leave, say that's for you. You can take it. It's a gift. 604 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:14,240 Mm-hmm. I really like this piece of advice. Compliment the fae or elf. And if that doesn't 605 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:19,200 work, insult them. They have left households or farms because they heard a complaint or a compliment. 606 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:23,760 So, you know, just either or. Don't ignore them. Compliment or complain. 607 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,520 But what if either way they give you mental illness? 608 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,320 I would start with the compliment. Yeah, because I was just going to say, 609 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,520 start with one, you know, do it, then end with the other, I guess. And then start turning your 610 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:38,960 clothes inside out. If the interaction is going south, 611 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:44,640 then might I suggest you run across a area of running water. Fairy folk are unable to cross 612 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:50,000 streams and rivers, though in any pursuit leaping from bank to bank will be a sure escape for a 613 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:55,600 hunted human. Water courses running south are said to be especially efficacious. Oddly, nevertheless, 614 00:37:55,600 --> 00:38:00,320 fairies seem to have no objections to still water. They actively seek it out for washing themselves, 615 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,400 and they are from time to time associated with these wells that we talked about earlier. 616 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:10,880 Some believe that faith in Christianity has some sort of play in these interactions. So if 617 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:16,080 everything is going wrong, maybe you should rethink your relationship with Jesus. Maybe not, 618 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:22,320 depending on how that has worked for you. This one I find weird touching grass in Celtic folklore, 619 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,720 John Rees records a couple of Welsh traditions that a person may save themselves from fairy 620 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:31,920 abductions by seizing a hold of grass, apparently because the elves in that area are prevented from 621 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:37,040 severing blades of grass. Lastly, in these interactions, if there's anything to do with 622 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:42,320 food, it's very important to know where you are. If you happen to find yourself in a strange 623 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:48,000 environment when you encounter the fae or the elf, do not eat or drink anything. Accept them 624 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:53,920 happily because you are a nice guest, but do not eat or drink anything. Or say thank you. Yes, 625 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:59,360 don't say thank you. Say, wow, that is so kind of you. Here is my inside out clothes for you, 626 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:04,240 because that is the style in the human realm this time of year. Something along those lines. However, 627 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:10,240 if you have no reason to believe that you're in some weird Elfy dimension, what you need to do is 628 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:17,760 accept and eat any food given to you from the elves or fae. Because if you do not, yes, if you are in 629 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:22,240 your own dimension or realm or whatever we call it, I don't frigging know because we're not doing 630 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:26,960 that part in this episode. You need to eat it because if you don't, they will be offended 631 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:32,000 and it doesn't actually do anything bad in our realm. So if you're someplace weird, strange, 632 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:38,320 there's pan flutes playing, bells, it's dark outside, lots of dancing going on, and it's not 633 00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:44,640 a rave. You have not ingested MDMA and you have glow sticks everywhere, then do not eat the food. 634 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:50,320 However, if it's someplace normal that you expect to be, you should eat the food. And lastly, this 635 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:56,080 is a weird one, but after an interaction, you've survived it. You should probably not tell anyone 636 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:00,240 about it lest you incur further fae wrath. Of course, you can always tell us, we're not going 637 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:05,280 to tell anybody except through podcasting. Oh shit. Yeah. Okay. Oh, don't tell anyone. That's why 638 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:10,160 your clothes are on inside out. Yeah. But please send us an email, journeytothefringeatgmail.com. 639 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:14,960 Please. Yeah. Because we want to talk about it. Anyhow, I think we've left the world or at least 640 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:20,640 our listeners in a better position to handle themselves out in the wild of the folklorish ways. 641 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:24,880 We've done a good deed for the year. Yeah. Which really makes up for everything else. And now we're 642 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:31,040 on Santa's good list. Oh, thank God. Yeah. And his elvish slurs. I finally hit the mark. Anyhow, 643 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:37,360 Chelsea, anything to add before we end this? No, I think that was a fairly thorough how-to 644 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:43,120 of how to identify any situation you've possibly been in with an elf and didn't know it or did 645 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:53,280 know it or otherwise and how to avoid, fix and- How to yourself. Eradicate elf from your life. 646 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:58,080 Be required. Yeah. And like we've said, this has been our good deed for the year. Peace, 647 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:02,160 honours and everything, at least with the elvish people. However, if none of that stuff works that 648 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:07,360 we just said, go ahead and try the opposite, exact opposite of what we said or give what we were 649 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:11,520 talking about as a gift. Yeah. And don't tell Santa. And don't tell Santa. Although he's already 650 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:17,840 working with the elf, we probably heard about it. Anyhow, I have Fidd Taylor here with Chelsea. We 651 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:22,000 have been Journey to the Fringe. Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next week. And that's 652 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:27,920 not my real name. Thank you for listening to Journey to the Fringe. If you have liked what 653 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:35,120 you have listened to, please like, share, subscribe or follow, depending on what venue you are listening 654 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:41,280 to us through. Also, please, if possible, leave a five-star review as that really helps us in the 655 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:47,200 algorithms. Should you wish to interact with us, please check us out on your social media of choice. 656 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:52,320 I bet you we are there. And if you really want to communicate with us and give us ideas for new 657 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:57,920 episodes or tell us that we're wrong and terrible, either way, please send us an email at Journey 658 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:17,760 to the Fringe at gmail.com. For now, I'll see you in the next episode.