The fairy whisperers who say they speak to the magical beings through rhymes and songs – and where the UK’s pixie-viewing hotspots are
EVER since she was a young girl, Karen Kay says she has been able to speak with fairies.
The magazine editor, who lives in Cornwall with her partner, says she was first visited by the magical creatures aged six - but it was only in later years that they began to communicate with her telepathically, usually speaking in rhymes or songs.
The fairy whisperer, who has two grown-up children, told Sun Online: "My gran had a massive garden and one day, I had the urge to make some perfume for the flower fairies, so crushed some rose petals, mixed them with water and left them outside as an offering to them.
"This was an innocent child's thing that I didn't give much thought to, but I then started seeing little yellow and pink pin-pricks of light darting around me.
";I had my eyes tested and there was nothing wrong with them."
Karen says these tiny flashing lights are fairies - and she's far from being the only one to believe in their existence.
A nation of fairy lovers
People have long been fascinated by fairies. They first appeared in Celtic folklore, before reaching the heights of popularity in the Victorian era - a time that saw a major spiritualist revival - when they appeared in art and children's stories.
It may sound bizarre but according to recent research by two academics, a staggering 44 per cent of Brits surveyed believed they had seen fairies.
For their new book Magical Folk: British and Irish Fairies 500 AD to the Present, researchers Dr Simon Young and Dr Ceri Houlbrook interviewed 1,602 Brits - and 20 per cent of them said they see fairies on a regular basis. Sixty-eight per cent of these routine fairy-spotters are female.
They used this research to create a map of sightings in the UK.
Cornwall, a place known for being a hotbed of magic and mythology, is unsurprisingly one of the top places in the UK for regular fairy sightings - but Lincolnshire, Lancashire and Essex are also fairy hotspots.
The exact reason why is unknown, but these counties have a lot of woodland, hills and forests - areas associated with the magical creatures, who are believed to favour these types of natural environments.
The countryside especially is thought to be where fairies choose to make their homes - sometimes in so-called "fairy forts", ancient mud and stone structures left preserved for centuries due to the fact they were believed to be portals to other worlds.
They have, however also been seen in cities including London - which may be due to the fact that it statistically has the highest population
Bossy fairies
When the fairies talk to Karen, she says they will sometimes advise her to do certain things - from simple tasks like looking after the plants in her garden to major projects setting up a festival for fairy enthusiasts.
The fairies will often take a ride on the backs of birds if they feel tired
Karen Kay
Sure enough, when the fairies made that wacky suggestion 12 years ago, Karen set up a pixie version of Glasto called the .
Over a thousand revellers, some coming from as far as Australia and the US, rock up every year for the three-day event to talk about fairies, dress up in costumes and listen to new age music - and many of them claim to have seen or talked to fairies too.
And, if you're interested, the next one is just around the corner - taking place next weekend in Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall.
Fairy festival-goer Gemma Freeman says: "Three Wishes is pure freedom! I get to spend time with like-minded people who share the same loves and interest as I do. No matter who you are, or your background, you're free to express yourself and be happy!"
Away from the festival, even Karen's day job is fairy-themed: she's the editor of magazine - a publication dedicated to fairies which comes out four times a year - and has 10,000 readers from all over the world.
Through Fae, Karen hears reports of fairy sightings from all over the country - with several readers calling in every week to share their experiences.
"People get worried that they sound bonkers," she admits.
"But fairies do show themselves to a lot of people, especially those who are in tune with the natural world, such as being environmentally-focused, or who operate on a different spiritual level."
Creatures from a parallel universe
Karen believes that fairies are beings who live in a "parallel dimension" to ours, but are able to tune into our world.
She says they are a type of guardian angel, who look after the natural world around them.
Karen herself respects them by running her festival - a "celebration" of them, but also will ensure she keeps the birds in her garden well-fed as a way to please her magical visitors.
"The fairies will often take a ride on the backs of birds if they feel tired," she explains. "There's a big connection between them, birds and insects."
Although Karen says a lot of the sightings she heard about describe the fairies as glowing orbs, they can take many forms - from the winged, gossamer-dressed tiny women of popular culture, to even beings that are the size of a tree, something she once witnessed herself while driving down a country lane.
Dr Young and Dr Houlbrook also write that somebody in Scotland reported seeing a fifteen-foot fairy standing next to a sycamore tree.
Other sightings include women that were "dazzling" and surrounded by what was described as a "red flame aura", two fairies - one with long blonde hair, and one with long black hair who laughed "like a babbling brook".
There have even been reports of randy sprites who got involved when two people had a saucy encounter against an oak tree in a forest.
Fairies in the 21st century
But why are we still so fascinated by fairies in 2018?
Karen, who is currently working on a book about the beings and how to communicate with them, thinks there is a link between the current craze for mindfulness, eating a plant-based vegan diet and caring about the environment.
Read more in real life
"I definitely think there is a connection with these things - I'd be interested to see if anybody ever did research into fairy sightings and whether the people who saw them were vegan, love animals or look after the environment," she says.
"I do believe the fairies are in favour of appearing to those who have a harmonious life, who take only what is necessary for them to live from the world, due to the fact that they are earth beings who are pro-active in defending the natural world."
"These people have different auras, which make them more open to fairy sightings and being able to communicate with them."
The most famous fairy hoax of all time
Arguably the most iconic fairy story in the UK is that of the Cottingley fairies.
In 1917, 16-year-old Elsie Wright took a remarkable photograph of cousin Frances, 10, playing with fairies on the banks of a stream behind Elsie's garden in Cottingley, a small village near Bradford.
The girls had been reprimanded by Frances's mother a few days earlier for playing in the stream and ruining their clothes, something they blamed on the fairies.
They hatched a childish prank that would capture the world - and ruin the careers of distinguished men such as Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The girls drew some fairies, cut them out and pasted them on to cardboard, using hatpins to mount them, then took five photos with them.
After the girls' parents took the snaps to a spiritualist society meeting, word spread.
In 1920, Conan Doyle used the photos to illustrate an article he was writing about the existence of fairies - something that later caused him embarrassment.
A psychic also visited the family home, claiming to see the sprites everywhere.
Elsie and Frances stuck to their story for years, telling newspaper reporters and radio and TV interviewers that they were real.
It wasn't until 1983, when she was 76 years old, that Frances finally confessed to them being a hoax, something Elsie agreed with.
Interestingly, Frances then changed her mind, saying that she had seen fairies and that the fifth photograph, which showed a fairy on its own, was authentic.
Magical Folk: British and Irish Fairies 500 AD to the Present by Dr Simon Young and Dr Ceri Houlbrook is published by Gibson Square.