The Aos Sí

A Light in the Darkness: 'In Irish mythology, the aos sí are a magical people of immense power, who commanded abilities that rivalled the gods. These creatures were said to live in an alternate existence on the same dimension as humans, only their world was an invisible one. They were also said to live underneath the ground and/or in the western oceans.In the Irish language, aos sí means "people of the mounds". In Irish literature they are also referred to as the daoine sídhe ("deena shee"), and in Scottish Gaelic literature as the daoine sìth or daoine sìdh. They are variously believed to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or the goddesses and gods themselves. In many Gaelic tales, the aos sí are later, literary versions of the Tuatha Dé Danann ("people of the Goddess Danu" - the deities and deified ancestors of Irish mythology). Some sources describe them as the remaining survivors of the Tuatha Dé Danann who retreated into the Otherworld after they were defeated by the Milesians. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions) the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated in battle by the Milesians - the mortal Sons of Míl Espáine who, like many other early invaders of Ireland, came from Spain.Geoffrey Keating, an Irish historian from the late 17th century, equates Spain with the Land of the Dead. Many scholars alive today agree with Keating’s opinion. In folk belief and practice, the aos sí are often propitiated with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. Often they are not named directly, but rather spoken of with euphemisms such as "The Good Neighbors," "The Gentry," "The Fair Folk," or simply "The Folk", in the hope that if humans describe them as kind, they are more likely to be so. In this vein, the most common names for them, aos sí, aes sídhe, daoine sídhe (singular duine sídhe) and daoine sìth mean, literally, "people of peace".