WB Yeats (1911)
Take a look at this video of R.F. Foster talking about William Butler Yeats, fairies, and the Irish Occult tradition.
Foster has written a new book about the mystic poet called, Words Alone: Yeats and His Inheritances.
Words Alone
In it he argues that Yeats’ interest in the occult grew naturally from an Irish culture rich in fairy-lore, folktales and the supernatural.
And from Foster’s telling, the fairies in this tradition have little in common with Disney’s Tinkerbell. They’re pretty hardcore, downright scary even.
Did you know fairies can operate fire-arms?