I recently experienced a disembodied voice phenomenon, which correlated closely to a previous experience in 1994. Whether or not either of these incidents should be described within the remit of faerie encounters may be questionable, but I thought them interesting enough to recount here. There are a few similar occurrences in traditional folklore and modern encounters, which may be considered as faerie motifs, but I have been unable to find anything that fits as a close equivalent. This post is therefore as much a request for readers to respond with similar experiences (their own or from the literature) as it is a description of my own encounters.
Glastonbury Tor, October 2023
I recently attended the Faery Fayre at Glastonbury, which is organised by Karen Kay. Along with my colleagues, Kate Ray and Jo Hickey-Hall, I was giving a presentation on the Saturday about the famous Wollaton Gnomes incident. In the evening, they both attended the Faerie Ball at the Town Hall, and I decided to walk up Glastonbury Tor. It was a clear night at about 10 o’clock, and on my way up the path (from the town side), as well as when I reached the top, there were no other people. For those who know the Tor, this is very unusual, especially on a Saturday night. I have been on the Tor hundreds of times, day and night, and I have never been totally alone there. This was preying on my mind somewhat as I sat down by the SW-facing elevation of St Michael’s Tower, but I decided to relax into the luxury of having the place to myself. After about twenty minutes the solitude was broken by voices, which appeared to be on the other side of the tower. I thought there were three (adult) people, two male and a female, but my main thought was that my isolation was over and that I had best make my way around the other side of the tower, so as not to shock them when they found me lurking on the Tor. The voices continued. They were in no language I recognised and appeared to be talking quickly. I gave it about thirty seconds then got up and walked around the tower. The voices abruptly ceased completely and there was nobody on the Tor. I circumnavigated the whole of the top (c.50ft x 30ft) and investigated the two pathways – there was nobody on the Tor. I walked around on the Tor for another ten minutes, then made my way down the NE path, encountering no other people until I made it down to the edge of the town.
The incident was not frightening or creepy, as it could have been, but it left me in puzzlement as to what could have happened. I immediately went through all the most rational explanations, such as the voices travelling on the breeze from the bottom of the Tor, or some people hanging out below the top, on the terraces that form a labyrinth around the natural hill. Nothing seemed to explain the exact circumstances of the experience, which had definitely involved voices in an unknown language passing close by me but unseen, without any evidence of actual people being present. It was only hours later as I continued to ponder the incident that I remembered I had had a remarkably similar experience almost thirty years previous.
Langdon Hill, Dorset, April 1994
Langdon Hill is located just to the north of the Dorset coastal path, near to the famous landmark of Golden Cap, about five miles west of Bridport. It is a wooded hill, and for that reason I chose it to wild camp during a three-day backpacking trip through the hinterlands of Dorset in 1994. I chose an obscure spot in the woods well away from the path, set my tent up at dusk, cooked, ate and read, before settling down for the night. I’m a light sleeper when in a tent, and always wake up at regular intervals. After waking up several times I checked the time, which showed it was 3am. Shortly after I heard the voices of what I thought were two women. These voices continued as they came closer to the (unlit) tent and passed by it at close vicinity. They continued to chatter, did not seem to slow down as they passed, and continued away to the SW until I could no longer hear them. When the voices had completely disappeared, I extracted myself from my sleeping bag, got out of the tent and wandered about, but there was only silence. As with the Glastonbury experience I could not make out the language they were speaking, and neither was I particularly perturbed by the experience. I was definitely awake and did not fall back asleep before the dawn, when I packed up my tent and moved on.
This incident at Langdon Hill was a long time ago, but I was able to consult the journal I kept of all my backpacking trips at this time to confirm the details. And anyway, the experience is one of those that hardwires itself into memory in a visceral manner. What were the chances of two women being in the woods (well away from the path) at 3am, walking quickly past my tent without apparently noticing it, and speaking an obscure language? It was only years later that I read Louise Hodgson’s Secret Places of West Dorset, where she suggests a coven operates within the woods, and has done so for at least two centuries. She also mentions the folk tradition of the hill being a place to ‘whistle up the faeries’ – where a whistling sound will be repeated back. This does not explain my experience there, but it does give some folkloric layers to a place I had spent the night without any knowledge of the potential specialness of the location. While different from the recent incident on Glastonbury Tor (for which the specialness of the location is a given), the intrinsic components are the same – I was alone, it was night, disembodied voices passed close to me for a short time, they were talking in a language I did not recognise, and I could not account for them being there.
Faerie Voices?
Whatever phenomenon I experienced on these two occasions, it might be a stretch to suggest they were (audial) faerie encounters. Fortean audio experiences are most often associated with ghosts, sometimes recorded in the form of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs), but as the boundaries between various parapsychological experiences blur, it may not be unreasonable to allow them to be classified as a faerie-type encounter. The folklore does not yield much in the way of audial-only experiences or testimonies related to faeries, apart from the hearing of faerie music/singing (Stith Thompson Motif Index F262), which is relatively common. There are several accounts of disembodied faerie voices in the new Fairy Investigation Society Census (2017-23), compiled by Simon Young, but they are of a different narrative quality to my own experiences described above. And Claire Casely has recorded several incidents of disembodied voices that may relate to faerie activity at Emsworthy Barn in Devon in her podcast series The Faery Whisperer. But I have not found direct correlates to my two encounters in traditional or modern folkloric records.
Of course, coming from a Fortean or esoteric perspective allows a variety of interpretations as to the possible cause and source of such a phenomenon. A materialist/reductionist overview, however, will simply label the experience as an audial hallucination, likely related to increased hippocampal activity in the brain. While such interpretations based on fMRI studies of brain activity are interesting, and may indeed explain some types of disembodied audio phenomena, they are locked within an Overton Window of materialism, where voices of unseen beings simply cannot exist, and must therefore be epiphenomena of the brain. The word hallucination has become a reductionist get-out clause to explain any visual or audial phenomenon that does not fit within the parameters of mainstream understanding of physical reality. But direct experience of this type of phenomenon will often bypass the rationalistic explanations, because there is simply a more elemental component to the encounter that is clearly not being generated by some malfunction in the brain. There is a gnosticism in these types of experiences that transcends normative, materialist explanations, even if the end interpretation remains indeterminate, subjective and unresolved. This does not mean my experiences were necessarily faerie encounters, but they were paranormal in the true sense of the word, and were, at the very least, intriguing and mysterious.
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I would very much like to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience to those described in this article. Please leave a comment below, or if you would rather send me a private message, my email is on the landing page.
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I am a Spiritualist medium and psychic etc. and regularly hear voices which seem to use the ambient environment as ingredients from which to produce objectively audible sounds like voices, music, etc. In the most mundane indoor settings it happens repeatedly with the presence of cooling fans or white-noise machines on (and then rapidly off, as I check that it is not people nearby actually speaking, singing, shouting, playing radio or tv, etc.).
The most specific outdoor situatioon in which I clearly heard voices was at an odd confluence of the ocean in Maine, where the ocean seemed to meet itself in a sort of ..oh, corner of geography, so the shore had ocean coming at it from two directions that were 90 degrees-ish to each other. It was not a cove or structure of rocks creating any sort of corner but seemed an unusual natural stopping place, combining place, something like that, where the water acted in ways that oceans do not seem to traditionally do. The voices of the beings there were very very loud, not the mere crashing of wakes and waves, and seemed explicitly ‘personified’ in some group chorus. I did not understand the language, but it was as clear to me as standing near someone speaking a language that I do not personally speak but completely *know* to be a langauge.
I hope this makes sense and is of some help to you. It’s hwat I do all the time, hear and embody and perceive unusual things, soi it is interesting to hear of others who do so too–
thanks and best wishes
Donnalee
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This is so interesting – thank you. I’m intrigued this happens to you often. The two examples I talk about were so similar and both in potentially magical locations, that I just wanted to hear from anyone (psychically gifted or not) who may have had similar experiences. I don’t pretend to know what they mean, or if they are truly faerie related, but they did have a ‘faerie ambience’ about them. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
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The water one could certainly have been what might be called undines or other water beings–I seldom know quite what to call anything. I have seen with second sight ‘gnomes’, earth nature beings maybe three-eight inches high, that looked so much in shape like the plastic ones that I snickered. It could be them humouring me by taking familiar form–I was ill enough to be lying on the ground in a mostly-wild place that had a small building on it, and they bustled up and seemed to find me curious, like I was a bug or injured animal on their turf. There were a couple of humans who were supposed to be keeping an eye on me, but didn’t and just wittered together, and the gnomes ignored them utterly. I was possibly so sick and in such a spontaneously altered state that the gnomes and I matched up in ways the other humans did not at that moment–and to be fair, I have been briefly dead three times in the last twenty or so years, so am not nailed down into any partocular realm fulltime seemingly!
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I had a similar experience in a small private cove on the south Devon Coast. It was enclosed in high rocks and backed by high cliffs. One arm of the cove extended in a point of rock into the sea. I was staying in the cove in an old fishing cottage so I was used to the sounds of the sea after a couple of days. The day that I walked round to the small cove, accessible at low tide, I decided to meditate and then intuitively began to sing. I am clairaudient also, and as I sang voices sang back to me, they were angelic sounding, and they built into a choir serenading back to me. It was a beautiful experience that I will never forget. Although the acoustics were wonderful in the cove – it wasn’t an echo – these were other voices, not my own.
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This is lovely – thank you for sharing.
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My only somewhat similar audial experience did not occur in a remote area but right outside our bedroom window. It was very late at night (actual time unknown), but a loud and high whistling woke up both myself and my husband. It was definitely not the sound of wind, as there was no breeze. As we peered out, the whistling stopped, revealing a large white neighborhood cat sitting and glowering in the moonlight. Surely cats don’t whistle, but 2 days later Jim read about a whistling ghost here in the Pacific Northwest. Neither of us believe in ghosts, although 2 instances of soured milk happened upon a death in our family.
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Thank you Victoria – it’s interesting you mention a whistling, as this also seems to be a folkloric tradition linked to Langdon Hill (as mentioned in the article). I know there are voice phenomena in the ghost-hunting literature, but not much seems to be linked to faeries… perhaps they usually like to show themselves before doing the talking!
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My experience happened when I was sitting in the yard and weeding the flower bed. There were clouds overhead but we seemed to be just on the edge of it. I became aware of voices, sing-song chanting. “Mother bring the rain that we might drink”… The voices were very high. Like someone sounds when they inhale helium. It was a chorus. I just sat there. Amazed. I couldn’t see anything and they were so close. The clouds moved and we had a few sprinkles. It was such a surprise to know that could happen in the city.
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Very interesting Wendy – as you say, especially within an urban environment…
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Interesting encounters, Neil.
I don’t see why this could not have been a legitimate trans-dimensional phenomena. It seems to fit with the old idea of “thin places” where the membrane between our dimension and an other one are somewhat permeable. Perhaps, in these known zones, our dimensions are close enough that one could encounter beings on the other side that are going about their normal routine, just as we are here. The passing by of some of them, speaking to one another and, it would seem, not aware of you or of the thinness of the membrane there, is just a happenstance. If you had spoken, perhaps they would have heard you and again, perhaps, the membrane would close, or they would close it to avoid contact.
My work with ayahuasca and DMT has convinced me that such trans-dimensions and the inhabitants thereof are very real, for I’ve been through that portal and have met some of them under various circumstances. Even receiving a heart-gift from one of the more powerful beings. It and they are as real as we are in our own matrix.
Labeling them as faerie or something else is, I think, an attempt at taxonomy on our side to try to categorize our perceptions of them.
David
David P. Crews CrewsCreative Broadcast & Corporate Video Production
Filmmaker: “A Circle in the Desert”–41 National & International awards including Best Inspirational Film, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and more. ACircleInTheDesert.com
512.663.9669 david@CrewsCreative.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I think you are spot on David. Faerie/inter-dimensional entity… I have come to see all this as the same phenomenon, which can be partially understood by using traditional and modern folkloric examples. They just appear in many forms, and this is in part reliant on the predisposition of the experiencer. The ‘membrane’ separates us from them… therefore, I am most interested in what this membrane is and how we can break through it. You know more than most that DMT is one way to do this, but, of course, there are many other ways, some of which will be totally spontaneous. Thanks for reading and your comment – I always appreciate your input. Incidentally – for some reason, during both these experiences I never even considered attempting to speak to whatever was there… I was kind of muted, and I’m not sure why.
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I find this all so incredibly fascinating. A bit off topic, but I see people when I am in bed at night. Wide awake. Actually, faces, not full bodies. They smile, they wave, they interact. This has been occurring since 1987 when it first, spontaneously, happened. I have seen actual scenes. Once of two women having deep conversation at a bistro table. All of a sudden, one of them turned her head to GLARE at me as if I were eavesdropping. Startled the hell out of me. I have seen Jesus while I was wide awake during an acupuncture session. That was interesting. We were on the shore, standing in the water as the waves lapped our feet. He was maybe 30-40 feet away and he raised his arms as if to say, “I am here for you”. Actually, I, sure that’s what was implied. I have loved seeing the faces these many years. I have no idea who they are. Male, female and of different ethnicities. Someone said maybe they are past lives coming to call. Who knows? I just know that they are definitely real and I love them all. I have never seen the same face twice. On another different note, a friend of mine from Iran told me when she was about six years old, she and her sister were outside playing and my friend discovered a hole of sorts in the ground. She looked into the hole and saw MANY little people. She said it was like looking at an entire city of wee ones. She was in her forties when she told me her story. We don’t talk much of faeries in America, but I definitely believe all of this. There is a great big world out there for us to enjoy. And on ANOTHER note (my last note…), please do watch Richard Willet’s interview with Neil on Ickonic. It was how I was introduced to him and his amazing research and experiences. It was fascinating. Wishing everyone a most healthy and enjoyable 2024. Thank you, Neil. Carol Castro, La Quinta, California USA
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David, your film looks so lovely! Thank you for that free gift. Watching now. Carol Castro
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Thank you! I actually wasn’t intending for my sig to show up there, but I’m glad if it leads someone to my film which explores some shamanic themes.
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“The word hallucination has become a reductionist get-out clause to explain any visual or audial phenomenon that does not fit within the parameters of mainstream understanding of physical reality.” This is so true. It’s all too easy to pooh-pooh paranormal experiences, and unfortunately this still seems to be the dominant attitude, at least in the Western world. The power of pooh-pooh has a black magic all of its own; it closes people’s minds to anything beyond the most basic material ‘reality’, and this world is much the poorer for it.
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I may of had two disembodied voice experinces both around barrows, in Cambridge where I live. The first was around five years ago at Wormwood hill, part of the Gog Magog Hills (Wandelbury Park). I basically heard someone whistle at me right behind me, over my shoulder, right up close, I turned around and no one was there. It was also Winter and there were no hiding places and I could see clearly through the woods that covered the barrow. At the time I was changing a memory card on the camera I was using to record some sketching I was doing at the time. The whistle was more the kind that you would do to attract someones attention, or call a dog.
Second, which was around 2021, was at another barrow on Fleam Dyke, known as Mutlow Hill. It was summer and most of the time I was on my own. I did some meditation there and I heard voice coming towards me, a male voice, gruff and like it was talking to someone. There’s fences and gates on either side of this area. I got up as I didn’t want to be embarrased at the thought of being caught doing new age like stuff. I waited a little while, minutes, for the people to come through… nothing. I got up and took a look down both sides of the ridge, no one was there.
It was interesting to hear your experiances and also about the ‘whistle up the faeries’, which I’d not heard of before.
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Very interesting – your second experience certainly sounds like my own. I do wonder if audio encounters like this are threshold experiences that haven’t quite become visual experiences. Just a thought. Thank you for sharing your Cambs. experiences.
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I was in bed the other night about to settle down to read a bit. As I picked up my book, I heard the distinct tinkling of a bell. It made me smile. Life is fascinating. Carol Castro USA
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In January 2016, after spending some time in some Old Growth forests in the West Coast. I was reflecting on the trees, and fell asleep and then I was awoken by a voice. When I opened my eyes I saw a small bright white light being. It could have been a “hallucination” but there was something peculiar and faerie like about it. I felt wide awake.
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Interesting – did you feel as if the light was directly connected to the voice? A lot of reality can shift in these hypnagogic stages between sleep and waking. Thanks for commenting.
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Thank you for your response. I do feel they were connected. The voice said “wake up” and it repeated itself a couple of times. When I opened my eyes I saw the light being. Since that experience, I have had many surreal experiences in the hypnagogic phases of waking and sleeping but that was the only one with a perceived other “being.” And I don’t recall being aware of the transition – I was immediately awake and got out of bed whereas with other experiences I wake up “again” and it is clear the experience happened during a “false awakening.”
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A story I personally experienced on July 29, 2025, at 6:34 PM, in the town of Mała in the Podkarpacie region of Poland. Just the day before, I had been intensely focused on writing and searching for information about the disappearances and connections of mysterious music, which was often associated with the presence of fairies and other beings in ancient folklore. That day, I went for a walk with my two dogs, walking along a dirt road and admiring the charms of the nearby area and the wildflowers, which are particularly beautiful here. As I was walking down the road, I heard a rather loud sound from a small forest about 100 meters ahead, resembling a pipe or flute. The sound lasted about 5 seconds and was rather low-pitched, very similar to the sound of a flute or pipe. The nearest two houses are relatively far away, about 600 meters from this location, although the sound clearly came from the forest, if I were to judge based on my own impressions. One rational explanation comes to mind: someone was in the forest, although I heard the sound clearly before the forest. A year earlier, three “devil’s circles” were visible next to a dirt road, in the form of dark rings in the grass. I admit, it’s difficult to rationally explain the sound, which in a completely isolated area truly evokes respect, because I didn’t feel any anxiety. I shared the incident with my friends interested in living folklore, who, like me, said: “It was a signal to you that they knew about you and what you were doing.”
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Very interesting indeed. The pipe/flute theme seems very prevalent in both traditional folkloric stories about faeries and also modern encounters. I also think audio-only encounters are just as important as visual encounters, but probably less often reported, and more likely to be rationalised. I like the suggestion that whatever was making the music, they were doing it for you in that moment. Thanks again for sharing this.
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