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Mythic origins
One myth states that pixies were a race of people who were not good enough for Heaven or bad enough for Hell and were therefore forced to remain on Earth forever. Another legend claims that they were Druids who resisted Christianity and were subsequently sentenced by God to grow smaller and smaller until they accepted Christianity.
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Characteristics
Pixies are said to enjoy playing tricks on people, for example by stealing their belongings or throwing things at them. At night, they steal horses and bring them back before dawn, leaving only tangled manes as evidence of the prank. Some pixies are said to exude pixie dust, which is left in their footprints or floating behind them as they fly.
On Dartmoor, in Devon, travellers who became lost on the moor were sometimes said to have been "pixie led," in other words, deliberately led astray by the little people. It is said that if travellers feel the onset of the pixie spell, they can turn their coats inside out to confuse them and escape, a technique normally used for all fairies.
Pixies can also be repelled by objects made from iron or iron ore as contact with the metal is said to harm them, another trait they share in common with other fairies of the British Isles.
Those who deliberately follow pixies often vanish without a trace. For example, a farmhand at Rowbrook, situated on the steep, wooded flanks of the River Dart valley, is said to have been lured down towards the river by mysterious voices, calling his name: ‘Jan Coo.’ He was never seen again.
Even within living memory, some rural families left small gifts, such as bowls of food or saucers of milk, for the pixies in order to placate them. When shown this respect and attention, pixies would sometimes even help the family by tidying up the household during the night.
Modern medicine
It has been speculated by some medical professionals that the legends of pixies and elves, was inspired by a genetic disorder known as Williams syndrome. Some of these afflicted have pointed ears and sloe eyes and elongated faces that make them look like "real" pixies and the syndrome is often called "Pixieism". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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