Also called gremlins, RAF gremlins, spirits of the workshop, knockers
Gremlins were the mischievous little beings British airmen blamed for unexplained faults in their aircraft from the 1920s through the Second World War. This page tells the real history of that folklore and gives a light-hearted, practical ward against gremlins for any machine.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Keep food and drink well away from the machine. Use compressed air in short bursts with the device off, and never vacuum the inside of a computer, which can build static.
Pilots and ground crews said gremlins drilled holes, tangled controls, drank fuel and made instruments lie. Blaming them gave crews a way to talk about faults without blaming each other, and some pilots thanked or bargained with them before flights.
Dahl, then an RAF officer posted to Washington, wrote a children's book about gremlins taking revenge on the aircraft industry for cutting down their forest. It was his first book and spread the word far beyond the air force.
Tin miners believed small spirits called knockers lived underground. They tapped to warn of collapse or to show rich lodes, and miners left them the crust of their pasty so as not to offend them. It is a good older model of keeping peace with the spirits of a workplace.
The gremlin is a genuine piece of twentieth-century occupational folklore. The earliest printed use usually cited is a poem in the journal Aeroplane, dated 10 April 1929 and written in Malta, and the word was RAF slang in Malta, the Middle East and India through the 1920s. By the Second World War gremlins were blamed across the air forces for every unexplained fault, and Roald Dahl's 1943 book made them famous. The origin of the word itself is still uncertain.
Workplace spirits are much older than aircraft. Cornish tin miners left food for the knockers, and German miners spoke of kobolds in the shafts. Our gremlin ward is a modern adaptation for computers and cars. It keeps the joking courtesy of the airmen and the miners' small offering, and pairs them with real maintenance, which is what most gremlins are actually afraid of.
Knocking on wood, or touching wood in Britain, is a quick ritual done after praising your own luck or mentioning something you hope will continue, to keep from 'tempting fate'. Its origin is disputed: tree spirits and the Christian cross are popular theories, but folklorists find the custom recorded only from the 1800s.
A brownie is a small, shaggy household spirit of Scottish and northern English folklore who does chores at night in return for a bowl of cream or milk and a bit of bread. Insult him, show off his work, or hand him a gift of clothes, and he leaves for good.
Fairy rings are natural circles of mushrooms that European folklore blamed on dancing fairies or witches, and stepping inside one was said to be dangerous. Across Britain and Ireland, households left milk, bread or butter for the fairies to keep on good terms with them.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
