Elemental beings such as gnomes and fairies exist in many folk and spiritual traditions, and Rudolf Steiner also discussed their significance to our world. Some people are able to engage and even communicate with elementals.

Ursula Burkhard was one such person. Blind from birth, she experienced gnomes and other elementals from early childhood. When, as she grew older, her parents tried to dissuade her, she was puzzled: why should she believe in the 'real' things she was unable to see, and ignore what she knew to be true?

In this readable little book, she describes her remarkable experiences and in particular her relationship with a special gnome, Karlik. The book was a bestseller in Germany in the 1980s, bringing the world of the elementals into the mainstream.