A web-definition of “Fairy” yields this: Faerie : from the Latin term for “fate” (fata), faeries (or fairies) are a “host of supernatural beings and spirits who occupy a limbo between earth and heaven” (Guiley). This is in recognition of the skill faeries had in predicting and even controlling human destiny. Faeries could be either good or evil creatures, and at various points in history have been confused with witches and demons

Fay or fey is the archaic term for faerie meaning bewitched or enchanted. This word derives from ‘Fays’ meaning Fates, and thought to be a broken form of Fatae. ‘Fay-erie’ was first a state of enchantment or glamour, and was only later used for the fays who wielded those powers of illusion. The state of enchantment is fayerie, which became fairy and faerie.

The link of the word “fairy” with the word “fate” tells a lot. Fairies are thought to operate quite independent of humankind, and are thought to be responsible for all manner of things, from the good, to the monstrous.

Here is the only Urantia Book reference to fairies that I found: (bolding is mine)

As man advances in culture, the lesser gods are subordinated to a supreme deity; the great Jove persists only as an exclamation. The monotheists keep their subordinate gods as spirits, demons, fates, Nereids, fairies, brownies, dwarfs, banshees, and the evil eye. (96:1.14)

As for fairy stories, this reference is illuminating also:

[Human] minds delight in fairy stories, and they are continually spinning … beautiful myths about the lives of their religious leaders and political heroes. In the absence of printing, when most human knowledge was passed by word of mouth from one generation to another, it was very easy for myths to become traditions and for traditions eventually to become accepted as facts.

(122:8.7) In some respects, modern man is still quite attached to his primitive origins. In the minds of our ancient ancestors, life was very hard, and they had to grapple with all the facts of their hard lives in ways that could be understandable to them. Since there was such a scarcity of real information, beliefs in the spirit world became quite important as a way to explain cruel fate.

Of course, we know that there is indeed, a real spirit world, but, as revealed in The Urantia Book, that spirit world has its origins in God, and the vast majority of spirit beings are dedicated to the advancement of human beings in the Father’s plan of ascension.

Still, the legends of the ancients—the Greeks, the Romans, the Scandinavians, and the Celts have seeped into humankind’s consciousness, and persist to this day. We tell our children fairy stories still, and we may even secretly wonder sometimes if there really are little beings like us who dwell in the nooks and crannies of the world, playing tricks on us. I wonder if some of these legends may even have their origins from the days of the Garden of Eden, when celestial beings did walk among us in the form of Adam and Eve, and even further back, from the days of the Prince’s reign, when heavenly beings first brought the truths of celestial government to the primitive peoples of the Earth. To the primitive mind, these beings were as close as they had ever come to accessing the unseen worlds of their imaginations.

The fact that both of these divine visitations largely failed, and all of these beings were removed from the planet, may also have contributed to the creation and persistence of these erroneous beliefs. We humans WANT to believe, and when a planet develops normally, our desires for belief in heavenly watchcare are fully satisfied. We have not been so lucky in this respect, and so, absent the actual reality, we try to fill in the gaps as best we can. Although these visitations were real, the stories ABOUT them grew to be quite unreal.

But, when reason prevails, when the hard light of reality is shined into these musings, we can see them for what they really are—charming tales, appealing myths, but not real.

What IS real is the vast celestial network of personalities and beings who inhabit the universe—beings who exist for mankind’s good, and who perform their ministries by authority of God. Angels, for example, are real beings who surround human activity, and who work tirelessly for our spiritual advancement. These beings are indeed, immortal. And, there is a class of beings, as revealed by The Urantia revelation, beings called Midwayers, who DO occupy a “limbo between earth and heaven.” These beings are unseen by humans, but only just outside of our perceptions. These are truly loving, benign personalities who have existed on Earth for millenia, and who are of immeasurable assistance to us in many ways. Here is a quote regarding Midwayers:

The Midway Creatures. In the early days of most inhabited worlds, certain superhuman but materialized beings are of assignment, but they usually retire upon the arrival of the Planetary Adams. The transactions of such beings and the efforts of the Material Sons to improve the evolutionary races often result in the appearance of a limited number of creatures who are difficult to classify. These unique beings are often midway between the Material Sons and the evolutionary creatures; hence their designation, midway creatures. In a comparative sense these midwayers are the permanent citizens of the evolutionary worlds. From the early days of the arrival of a Planetary Prince to the far-distant time of the settling of the planet in light and life, they are the only group of intelligent beings to remain continuously on the sphere. On Urantia the midway ministers are in reality the actual custodians of the planet; they are, practically speaking, the citizens of Urantia. Mortals are indeed the physical and material inhabitants of an evolutionary world, but you are all so short-lived; you tarry on your nativity planet such a short time. You are born, live, die, and pass on to other worlds of evolutionary progression. Even the superhuman beings who serve on the planets as celestial ministers are of transient assignment; few of them are long attached to a given sphere. The midway creatures, however, provide continuity of planetary administration in the face of ever-changing celestial ministries and constantly shifting mortal inhabitants. Throughout all of this never-ceasing changing and shifting, the midway creatures remain on the planet uninterruptedly carrying on their work. (37:9.11)

There was a time when some of these Midwayers were in rebellion with Lucifer, and even in Jesus’ time, they were known to play tricks, or negatively influence the minds of unwitting mortals; but those activities ceased once and for all when Jesus regained sovereignty of our planet. No more do these beings have any influence whatsoever. Again, belief in fairies and witches could have sprung from those long-ago days as well, but that is just a guess on my part.

You can read more about the Midwayers here

The Urantia Book is a revelation of truth that we can rely on, and helps us to use our truth-seeking minds to discover real truth about the workings of the spirit world. We don’t need myths about fairies when we know the facts about celestial realities, and the ways in which humanity is fostered, cared-for and loved by our unseen, but very real, spirit friends.

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