theosophical vision at it's finest
I first read this book many years ago. I owned the copy I read, and eventually it fell apart from overuse and travel. This is the stuff my dreams are made of! To read about fairies from a man who clearly has complete faith that what he is experiencing is real...very liberating.
The book is arranged by type, meaning the "lesser" nature spirits are discussed first. From the tiniest little sparks of light that help a flower to bloom, to comical little gnomes, Geoffrey Hodson describes these beings as part of a collective rather than having an individual consciousness. In the course of the book he moves through descriptions of undines and water spirits, fairies and sylphs, before describing the Devas and Elementaries. For anyone who knows the world of the nature spirits this book will corroborate your experiences. For those who do not but wish to, I highly recommend this little book for the delight of meeting beings you always wished were real. Be warned, however, that not all of these beings are of the light--some of Mr. Hodson's descriptions are downright frightening, especially in the Elementaries section. But, like all things in this creation, if we wish to know the light we must accept that the dark exists as well.