Wiccans and other pagan sects are known to equate faeries with nature spirits; they hold nature in high regard, and have strong ties to traditional knowledge. It's never been unusual to associate faeries with a particular natural object or location—interesting rock formations, hills, and bodies of water, for instance—but this belief places faeries even further into the realm of nature by defining some of them as expressions of the natural objects themselves. Gnomes, an amalgamation of Nisse, Tomte, and Dwarfs, were said by Paracelsus to be earth elementals, and Pixies are often associated with certain plants, like foxglove, or rings of mushrooms.

There's no denying the association between faeries and the natural world, which is well-established, but one must consider the origin of the stories that show these connections. In the agrarian societies so prevalent until little over a century ago, the natural world played a prominent role in people's lives and the average person lived much closer to nature. Nature itself was dangerous and untamed; it was given a significance and authority that few in developed parts of the world feel today. And given the reverence paid to nature, it would make sense to feel as though any unexplained event one encountered in the wild must be in some way tied to the power of the natural world. A chance encounter with a strange creature in the woods would certainly take on a special significance under these circumstances, and a correlation between the creature and its location might be formed.

Similarly, animal husbandry and growing crops were necessary for survival, and these important aspects of our ancestors' lives were closely tied to their interactions with faeries. There could be fewer more helpful acts than aiding in a harvest or feeding livestock, nor could there be many more harmful than destroying the same. But the behavior of Nisse and Brownies wasn't due to their affinity for farm work so much as their adherence to the particular rules through which they interacted with humanity, and the actions of faeries on farmsteads always had more to do with people than plants and animals.