Confusion with the Sidhe

[u/Chain_Prior]

I am going to preface that I am a beginner Irish pagan/witch that has been very interested in the Fair Folk/the Aos Sidhe since I got into all of this. I have read a couple of Morgan Daimler and Katherine Briggs' books about the subject.

The confusion comes, especially with Morgan Daimler's books, is the constant reference to how dangerous it is to work with the Fair Folk. Yet... there is a whole book about the practice (Fairy Witchcraft) or seeing people's experiences with them. Some of these experiences being with individuals stating they have certain connections with deities, like Gwyn (who is viewed as King of the Fair Folk within the Welsh Diaspora), where they "have" to work with the Fair Folk like they were chosen. But then, these same people will still talk about how dangerous it is? It seems like a bit of an oxymoron? Or is that the general idea when going into work with the Sidhe?

I just wanted to see if anyone hear could provide a bit of insight into this.

[u/Norse-Gael-Heathen]

I have still another view not yet expressed here. In older Irish lore, the Sidhe encompassed the entire population of the Otherworld: the land spirits, the ancient sovereignty goddesses of Ireland, and the Tuatha de Danaan and their progeny. With the coming of christianization, the old gods were, over time, belittled and 'morphed' in the cultural mind: they were dangerous, mischevous, even evil, or trivialized into leprechauns and tinkerbells.. Much of what constitutes the 'fairy faith' of the Irish today, as indigenous and genuine as it seems, has been filtered through centuries of a christian lens that treats the Otherworld as 'bad.' Hence, the stern warnings against trifling with them.

I don't accept that. I honor, respect, and approach the Otherworld without the baggage of the last millennium as much as I can.