What are the Dark Elfae? Why are the Unseelie Elves and Dark Elves often confused?

“. . . the Dark Elfae and the Unseelie are often confused with each other and while it is surely possible for Dark Elfae to be Unseelie, they are not always or even mostly so. . . The Dark Elfae also generally have a love for the wild, the unruly, and they would generally agree that while they are crazy, they are crazy in a good, fun and loving way, thus eccentric rather than being insane. These elfae often associate these traits with being Unseelie, but that is not always the case, in fact, these are more Dark Elfae traits than Unseelie ones. . . . Other folk see the Dark Elfae as being goth-like, loving the dark . . . and generally being vampiric but not necessarily in a predatory or parasitic fashion but in a more symbiotic way. “

     There is actually quite a bit of confusion we’ve noticed among the Elfae about the difference in being Unseelie and being Dark Elven or Dark Fae. Our Elf, Faerie and Otherkin Tribe Survey brought that out frequently as we noticed that a number of individuals declared that they were Unseelie, but when you actually saw their answers to questions that would indicate that they were indeed Unseelie, they clearly were not in any traditional sense of the word. So, why would they say they were Unseelie when they clearly were not? It is due to the confusion that is common among the Elfae between being Unseelie and being Dark Elfae.

Note: “Elfae” is a word that we Silver Elves first created in the early 80s in writing and circulating The Magical Elven Love Letters to hundreds of elfin kindred, and then also we used the term elfae in writing on elven listservs in the 90s. We still use this term today to refer to the Elfin and Faerie folk in general, which is to say elves, pixies, faeries, brownies and so on. We use the term elfae in our books (first published in 2001) as a word to mean people who are elven or fae and covers all elven fairy people.

     In the common mind, and here we mean the normal folk and society, dark is often associated with being evil or wicked. Many Elfae like to point out that the dark is not always wicked and that they have a love of the dark, in this sense meaning that they love the night, the macabre, Halloween, goth style, emo style and various other things that are dark but certainly not necessarily evil. The Dark Elfae also generally have a love for the wild, the unruly, and they would generally agree that while they are crazy, they are crazy in a good, fun and loving way, thus eccentric rather than being insane. These elfae often associate these traits with being Unseelie, but that is not always the case, in fact, these are more Dark Elfae traits than Unseelie ones.

     It is important to note that many modern elves identify as Unseelie and do so simply because they would not make it their purpose to help mankind as do the Seelie and tend to stay clear of normal humans as much as possible. They are not predatory to either mankind or their own kind as is known in the traditional Scottish Lore view of the Unseelie. We Silver Elves respect the wishes to be called Unseelie of the modern “Unseelie” who are identifying with it for these reasons but we in our minds see them more as Dark Elves who may or may not be Unseelie.

     The Unseelie are often a predatory mob according to Scottish lore. This is not to say that the Unseelie never do good things, or act kindly, or love their family, or kiss babies (just like politicians) but that their basic mode of interacting with others, outside their particular group, is often predatory and based upon principles of power over and dominance. And this is sometimes true among themselves as well. They are ever jockeying for position and backstabbing is not only an art for them, it is an accepted and established practice.

     The Unseelie are known according to old Scottish lore to sometimes to prey/pray upon the elfae as well as Mankind, and they nearly always have an excuse for doing so. Certainly, when it comes to Man and the normal folk (many of whom are actually Unseelie in disguise, especially some politicians) they have just cause. They seek revenge upon those who have harmed them through the ages, who, in turn, seek revenge upon them for the harm that the Unseelie have done in an endless circle of vengeance and violence and one-up-man-ship and dog-eat-dog philosophy.

     Unseelie folk nearly always have Kings or Queens, and a strict social structure. Their society demands wealth and poverty living in contrast to each other. While the Seelie folk tend to have free societies with elected officials, or more often than not, artistic societies in which no one is officially in charge but aura and charisma do have great influence and enchantment rules.

     While a Dark Elfae may be Unseelie, they are not necessarily so, and if our survey is representative at all (and although we have only had a little over 350 elfae fill out our survey and that is a very small percentage of the elfae folk manifesting upon the Earth at this time) most Dark Elfae are not Unseelie. They are not parasitic, as the Unseelie often are, they are Seelie Elfae who, like nearly all Elfae, have been made to feel weird and outcast most of their lives, who have felt alienated from normal society and who, again, like nearly all of the awakened Elfae, have come to embrace that fact with fervor. The Seelie Elfae, including the Dark Elfae, celebrate our diversity, individuality and the uniqueness of our natures.

     Out of the 350+ elfae (including fae of all sorts), otherworldlies, Therians and assorted otherkin who filled out our questionnaire, only two or three even came close to being Unseelie in the sense of traditional lore. Most Elfae, by our natures, are evolved and spiritually evolving beings, which is to say, we have tread the Elfin path for a while now and continue to do so with a devotion. Not devotion to a god or guru but devotion to the path itself, to the Elven Way and the attainment of illuminated and enlightened being and understanding.

     Many of the Seelie Elfae are also Dark Elfae and nearly all of us, light or dark, are imperfect beings, still struggling soulfully and spiritually to advance as spirits and thus, while we may not be Unseelie overall, there are times when we may be tempted toward wrongdoing and times when we slip over to the Dark, no, the Unseelie side of things. Just as an alcoholic who has been sober for years may slip and have a drink or two or a dozen and then have to begin their sobriety again.

     We Seelie Elfae are not entirely perfected beings, we probably wouldn’t be manifesting upon the Earth if we were, but on the other hand, we are not dedicated to taking advantage of others as a lifestyle and while we do stray from the path now and again, we know that we have strayed, we don’t rationalize our wickedness with hollow justifications as the Unseelie often tend to do. What truly defines the difference in Seelie and Unseelie is that the Seelie have the intent to be loving rather than predatory. This does not mean that we as Seelie Elfae will not defend our selves and loved ones, but that we wish for the world to be a place where all beings, including humans, are respected and in symbiotic relationship.

     If you really wish to see the Unseelie in their natural habitat and lifestyle, look to the normal world, they often abide there camouflaged as regular folk acting normal and awaiting their prey.

“The Path to Elfin begins in one’s soul,
one’s urge to be loving, find kin and be whole,
it moves through one’s mind, one’s imagination awakes,
magic then swirling as the first step one takes.”
—The Silver Elves

What are the Dark Elfae?

     As we pointed out, the Dark Elfae and the Unseelie are often confused for each other and while it is surely possible for Dark Elfae to be Unseelie, they are not always or even mostly so. It is important to remember that we Silver Elves view reality mostly from a spiritual, by which we mean an energetic, point of view. Many folks, taking the common perspective of the materialistic orientation of this Kali Yuga or Dark Age, might think that being Unseelie or Seelie is a matter of blood or birth or genetics (see our past blog post about the Seelie and Unseelie courts titled: What Say The Silver Elves About the Difference Between Seelie and Unseelie Fae?), and they see it somewhat like caste systems where one is born into a caste and can never change that fact. But we Silver Elves and other Elfae who view the world from an energetic standpoint see being Unseelie or Seelie, not primarily a matter of birth but of the actions/magic one does though one’s life. Our actions/our magics are a reflection of our choices and we choose to be Unseelie or Seelie through the spells and enchantments we create and in that sense the world we help create for ours’elves.

     This is also true of the Dark Elfae, but what is meant by Dark Elfae can vary rather significantly from person-to-person and in legend, tale and lore. Some people when they hear of Dark Elves or Dark Fae, thus Dark Elfae, associate the Dark Elven with being evil in some way, and thus generally think of them as being rather like the Unseelie (we are not saying that all Unseelie are evil). And, as we said, Dark Elfae can be Unseelie folk but most, in our experience are not.

     Other folk see the Dark Elfae as being goth-like, loving the dark, the Satanic, having skulls around, and generally being vampiric but not necessarily in a predatory or parasitic fashion but in a more symbiotic way. They love the Dark Elfae for the wild natures and in contrast to most of Tolkien’s elves who appear often to be quite serene and ethereal, the Dark Elfae are pixie-like and party lovers and really downhome earthy types, enjoying life to its fullest. Less meditative, we might say, and more dance-y.

     We noted a discussion in one of our Facebook groups in which a number of different people were discussing the Dark Elfae and one group saw the Dark Elfae from the first point of view and warned the other group, who saw things from the second perspective, about the dangers of getting involved in the dark. When we suggested that they might be seeing the Dark Elfae from two different points of view and that perhaps it might be beneficial for them to each define what they actually meant by Dark Elfae, we were ignored and they went right on arguing from two divergent perspectives as though they were talking about the same thing. It was like listening to two sets of people argue about whether apples are red or green with one declaring they are always red and the other forever green. Well, apples can also be yellow and we should note that the term Dark Elfae can also indicate those fae who have dark eyes, dark hair, and darker skin tones rather than the tall, blond, blue or green-eyed image of the elven.

     The ancient Norse looked at the Dark Elfae as being the svartálfar, which means black elves or swarthy elves. They also referred to them as the myrkálfar dark elves or dusky elves and even murky elves and related these Elfae to the dwarven folk. Note the fact that the character Drizzt Do’Urden created by R. A. Salvatore is described as a drow or dark elf, whose people are essentially Unseelie folk living in caves (like dwarves) in the Underdark. While Drizzt’s people are clearly Unseelie and Dark Elfae, he has renounced their Unseelie ways and is clearly striving as a Seelie Elf and yet, he is still a Dark Elf or svartálfar or myrkálfar as well. Perhaps because of their similarity to dwarves in as much as they tend to live in caverns beneath the Earth we could, as well, call them Chthonic Elfae.

     Our point here really is that Unseelie, Dark Elfae, and Seelie are not all the same even among thems’elves and note that while we Silver Elves are Seelie (for the most part) and some of us are clearly Dark Elves, we know that the Unseelie are our kin and while we think that they might be treading a path that will ultimately bring about their ruin, as well as a great deal of suffering and pain, we love them still. They are our kindred and while they may sometimes say outrageous, prejudiced, hateful and many times out and out crazy things at Thanksgiving supper, we still invite them, at least, those of them who closely relate to us by blood. For though we look at evolution from an energetic and spiritual perspective, we are not unaware of nor heedless of the ties of kinship and upbringing.

     Another point is that we suggest that it may be beneficial if we made some attempt, as a people, to define what we mean when we use certain terms. When we speak of Dark Elfae, what sort of folk are we actually speaking about? Here we have simply offered our own point of view and suggestions, but those individuals who are ever wishing us to define things exactly as though we are espousing some truth, will be disappointed. What we offer here and elsewhere are our own observations and, like the elven scientists we are, we are ever observing and continually updating our opinions as new and pertinent information comes to us. Do you have a better or different, hopefully improved, opinion about what defines the Unseelie or the Dark Elfae? We’d love to hear it.

La tae lun u Eldat te vari elsorin (By the light of Elfin be ever blessed),

The Silver Elves
http://silverelves.angelfire.com

And please dear Kindred, when you come to our Silver Elves website do enjoy reading sample pages , tables of contents, and reader’s reviews of our 40+ books on magic and enchantment and the elven way at: http://silverelves.angelfire.com/HAelfbooks.html

And you may find all our The Silver Elves books on The Elven Way on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/The-Silver-Elves/e/B0070R8ER2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

“Nearly every ancient culture spoke of the elven as the ones who came before, and while we can be hard to see at times, we never left.”
—The Silver Elves

And if you enjoyed the article above, we think you may very much enjoy reading our most popularly read book on the wisdom teachings of the ancient Elven titled Through the Mists of Faerie:

Through The Mists of Faerie:
A Magical Guide to the Wisdom Teachings of the Ancient Elven

—Excerpt from page 26 of Through The Mists of Faerie by The Silver Elves.
“Elfin, Faerie, Elfland or the Sacred Realm or Dimension of Magic that lives at the heart of the Universe, is an incredibly attractive power. It draws all true souls to it. It calls to the Elfin nature in each and every soul. This is the power that arouses the imagination of those who see or read the Lord of the Rings and say, I’m an Elf or I’m a Dwarf, or even I’m an Orc. The power calls to us through Urban Fantasy stories and the fantasy novels of old, as well as, faery tales and movies of magic and enchantment. But it also calls to us from the trees, the wild places of Nature, and sometimes most of all from magic memories of our childhood, which is really our ancient past, our past incarnations, calling to us. It can also be aroused, and quite strongly, perhaps most strongly, by others of our kind manifesting in the world. There is something magical about these beings and they arouse our own hunger for magic in our own lives and souls. These Elfae radiate starlight. They glimmer with love, kindness and compassion; and they reach out and touch our souls. Some might suppose this to be a glamor, a magic they have wrapped thems’elves within to enchant us; but while they are truly enchanting, the magic arises from the fact that they are genuine and real. They don’t need to glamor us. They just need to be their very own s’elves, for that is the most impressive magic of all. They are not trying, they are simply being: being thems’elves, being elves.”

    Also, if you would like to read more on elven community government, we invite you to read our book The United States of Elfin: Imaging a More Elven Style of Government. It is based on the Thirteen Treasures of the Ancient Britons, but with an elven twist that gives us a unique and delightful perspective. These treasures are explained in the book to be very similar to the four treasures of Tuatha De Danaan, the faerie folk of Ireland, and when followed give us a clear path to a government that serves the needs of all its people. The United States of Elfin is a must read for all students of history and government, as well as for all fae folk who are endeavoring to participate and develop an elven community and would like some guidance in the governance of a truly elven community. It is a comprehensive and unique book in that it combines political science and philosophy into both a historical and spiritual perspective of better governments throughout the world.
The United States of Elfin is the book to read if you are wondering what would an Elven government and society actually look like in our modern world and how may we, in seeking to go about creating such realms, do so.

The United States of Elfin: Imaging a More Elven Style of Government

The Silver Elves invite you to come join us in some of our elven and magical otherkin Facebook groups where you will find our elven-faerie-fae otherkin community interacting and sharing the Elven Way:

Elf Witches of the Mystic Moon — https://www.facebook.com/groups/806583242768352

The Magical Books of the Silver Elves — https://www.facebook.com/groups/539205916250397 — And if you would like to find out more about our Silver Elves books on The Elven Way, please do join us! We have discussions about our Silver Elves books as well as about Elven and Otherkin philosophy, elven lifestyle and the Elven Way. If you have read our books and would like to discuss them with us, this is the place to come join in the discussions and ask questions. 

Elven Life and Magic — https://www.facebook.com/groups/629491797123886

Elvish Magical Chat — https://www.facebook.com/groups/307775362744491

The Faerie Circle — https://www.facebook.com/groups/1025483294180077

Faerie Craft — https://www.facebook.com/groups/395403367195312 — This is a group to share your elven and fae creations.

I Heart Elven Magic — https://www.facebook.com/groups/2215672296

Feasting With the Elves (sharing elven recipes) — https://www.facebook.com/groups/597948240617006

United Otherkin Alliance — https://www.facebook.com/groups/328253710566869 This is an alliance for Otherkin/ Therians, where elves, faeries, dragons, kitsune, gnomes, hobbits, merkin, pixies, brownies, nymphs, driads, niaids, valkyrie, vampires, devas, fauns, unicorns, animal kin and all manner of Faerie Folk gather and come together! This group is open to anyone who wishes to be part of a congenial group of Otherkin. 

The Elven Way and Friends — https://www.facebook.com/groups/165938637423212

Devayana: Buddhism, Vedic, & Asian Spirituality for Elves and Fae https://www.facebook.com/groups/devayana

Nature & the Unseen Realms with the Elves & otherkin. A spiritual journey — https://www.facebook.com/groups/196916350335537

 

“And dreams of olde awaken us,
slumbering down the ages,
of Elfin’s dawn arising,
foretold by elven sages.” 
The Silver Elves

For further reading:

THE MAGICAL REALMS OF ELFIN: Answers to Questions About Being an Elf and Following the Elven Path by The Silver Elves contains questions and answers about being elven that many people who are exploring the Elven Way have posed to The Silver Elves throughout the 40 + years that they have been living and sharing the Elven Way. The Silver Elves have put them all in this one book for all those who need a convenient, yet thorough and easy-to-read, resource to explore their questions about who the modern elves are and about the Elven Way or elven spiritual path — past, present and future. If you are curious about elves and want to learn more about modern elves and the Elven Path, then you will surely find this book to contain many of your questions answered and it will be a great comfort and help in finding your way home to the Magical Realms of Elfin.

THE MAGICAL REALMS OF ELFIN:
Answers to Questions About Being an Elf and Following the Elven Path

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Tags: dark elf, dark elfae, magick, seelie elves, unseelie elves