The socioreligious organization of the fairy culture
was matriarchal and probably polyandrous. The fairy
culture was still extant in England as late as the 17th
century when even the pagan beliefs of the early witches
had degenerated into the Christian parody which we
associate with Satanism. The Christians rightly recognized
the fairies as ancient, original sorcerers, but
the Witches wrongly saw their whole culture as an expression o f the
demonic. There was communication between the fairies
and the pagan women, and any evidence that a woman
had visited the fairies was considered sure proof that
she was a witch.