Wotcha,

Having finally plucked up the courage to join a pagan board, (something I haven't done in a few years), I've realised how woefully behind the times I am in terms of basic knowledge. I grew up in a swamp in the middle of nowhere with a basic craft tradition which consisted of solitary work.

As such, what magic I do practise is very basic, of the 'visualise, poke it with the stick, cover yourself in moss' variety, and I don't know what certain terms I hear mean.

There are few things I would really like to clarify to stop me feeling like the thickest shaman in the room, if you would?

What is a Wight? Is it like some kind of localised spirit? Or one that is bound to a particular person/place? (googling turns up fantasy gaming stuff)

What is a Fetch? Is this a spiritual manifestation of yourself for otherwyrdly bimbling, or like a familiar spirit that accompanies you or can seek out information on your behalf?

Thank you!

Hedgepig - the Bobbing for Apples regional finalist.

Actually, just to edit that, the definitions I'm giving for both of those are just as simple as I can make them to gain better understanding, and don't mean to imply that the actual things are simple at all.

H.

I have no idea about fetches, but I believe Esk, for one, knows a fair bit about them, so I'll prod her in this direction.

My grasp on wights is fairly elementary, but to me they are usually spirits or entities attached to a an area, yes. How big that area is is open for debate- some wights are attached to a particular house or even a particular room, but you might also encounter wights linked to a fairly large bit of the countryside.

I think people have talked in other threads about the possibility of wights or similar attached to a person rather than a geographical location. I appear to have collected something while living in France that has clung quite tenaciously to my writing room through two countries, four house moves and several computer upgrades, and still persists in hiding my USB leads. Whether this counts as a wight or not, I don;t know.

Yep, that counts as a wight.

The word is Anglo Saxon and was originally used pretty much as we do 'creature' - and used to cover humans, elves, gods and animals. modern Heathens tend to restrict the usage to the fayfolk and especially land or house spirits.

Land spirits come in all shapes and sizes (IME), and, as Val says, can be attached to a person, a house, a small area - or be whopping huge frightening buggers whose territory covers valleys or moors (or whatever). One of the most impressive I ever met 'owned' Durrington Walls and the surrounding area.

A fetch? Hmm, try this. Fylgja is the Old Norse word, and fetch (fæcce in Anglo Saxon, which is pronounced pretty much the same)the English one.

if it does i must have one too,stuff gets moved in my house or disappears then sudennly returns,no one admits to it sooooo
i do give offering to the spirit of the land that my garden grows on,i have trees all around my garden and i give offerings to the spirit of the tree,im not sure if the spirit is pleased with my offerings buti have to sya i got some cracking strawberrie in the summer,its the first time ive got anything to grow

oops sorry about all the typo's i must have been typing too fast for my brain

I am in a similar situation, I grew up learning all the rituals, how to do this, that and the...well, not the other, but you get the drift! I am now forty-two and still learning the correct names for things that every other Pagan I know seems to take for granted. I have noticed that there are regional variations in the names for spirits, feyfolk, familiars, etc. So each time I visit friends I have to re-set my brain for the local dialogue, which isn't easy when your brain doesn't work properly at the best of times!

How does one "meet" a wight - especially if it is a great hulking thing with a huge territory? Do you see them with your physical eyes or something more internal or perceived?

While looking for a missing dog recently, I was walking some very lonely fields by an estuary to check whether our (humane) trap had been used. It was pitch dark and I felt a kind of atmosphere enveloping me but nothing visual.

As a pagan traveller I didn't feel the panic as I would have before looking at the spiritual, but a kind of familiarity and being comfortable being enveloped by the night, though I knew if my torch failed I would possibly not find my way back to my van from where I was as the clouds overcast any moonlight. I always carry a reserve torch, so wasn't afraid of this.

So back to my question - how does one meet a wight? How do you know?

(edited for spelling)

Well you could either do something to piss them off (dump oil or wee on their territory while saying something like 'Have that in yer eye yer dirty grubby wight') or you could try laying out small offerings and seeing if they come to you.

The offerings route is preferable to the pissing them off route because they can become very scary.

As to how you know that you have come across one? Well wight is a rather generic term as MH said, so anything you encounter either through seeing physically or sense that isnt human/insect/animal/natural occuring(as opposed to supernaturally occuring) thing is a wight.

It is probably best to start with somewhere reasonably local that you can visit often. This will give you an idea of how it changes naturally over the seasons and will help you gauge the presence of a wight. It will also help them get a sense of who you are and your intentions.

A respectful attitude is helpful as some can be hostile. Offerings are definitely preferable to pissing them off

I can only tell you how I do it. A few others I know do the same, or something that looks the same.

I stand still in a place and open myself up. Um, this begs a lot of questions. Well, first, I stand on the edge of places which have an obvious locus point (say a circle, barrow etc). In Durrington Walls near Salisbury, which is probably half a mile across, I walked halfway up the old road, to be as close to the centre as I could get - but that's land surrounded by earth banks. I did not climb one of the banks.

Then I still myself and, er, open up. Flick a switch. Turn on the receiver. At the same time I expose myself. It's not exactly a broadcast, more a removal and a barrier, while waving a flag (metaphorically) to announce my presence.

Now that can be really dangerous, but, to me, it seems only polite to let something know about me if I want to know about it.

Either I feel something, or I don't. More usually I do, and it hasn't always been good. One thing laid a trap for me, which was very nasty indeed.

If I feel something, the next problem is working out what. By that, I mean that I rarely seem to sense exactly the same thing twice running. Sometimes I get the 'feel' of weight and/or shape, and sometimes all I get is a feel for 'presence'. Some are really big - like the one at Durrington Walls, and distant. Some are BIG and far too close. Some are friendly, some not. Some can be engaged with, and may change from hostile or indifferent to friendly, and some can't be engaged with.

If I can, I go prepared - with beer, or cake. Something that will easily rot or disperse or be eaten, and won't damage anything. I always take my rubbish (beer bottle, for example) away with me.

Oh, and I always ask if they want anything from me. If there is a locus, may I approach it? Is there a particular thing they want, or a direction I have to approach from (that seems to matter to many of them). What may I do, and what must I not do?

Of course, I could be making it all up - it could all be in my imagination. Which is why I try to touch base afterwards (or at the time) with others who know the place. It's amazing how many of us will experience the same, or similar, things about a particular place.