Column: Stones

Columnist Luke Babb goes looking for the Hidden Folk in Iceland and has an encounter at the Icelandic Museum of Prophecies.

University of Exeter looks at the best way to summon fairies

EXETER, UK – The University of Exeter is currently sponsoring a postgraduate research project on how to summon fairies and demons. Researchers will be examining the role of fairies in grimoires dating from the 15th to the 17th centuries, old magical texts which contain instructions for performing spells and necromancy. Fairies have obviously played a major part in British folklore for generations, appearing in the works of Shakespeare as well as local stories and legends. The West Country, where Exeter is situated, is full of such tales, from the uplands of Dartmoor to the coasts of Cornwall. Not always benign, these supernatural entities both fear and fascinate, but the aim of some of the spells in the study is to obtain the help of fairies in achieving the goals of the magician.