#fairy faith

[blackthornwren]

You can build an entire cosmology from the wreckage left by storms; from earthquakes and volcanoes, from falling stars, from the scarring of frost and fire. The stories of gods are buried within our own natural histories.

[kung-fu-grandma]

TIL the word "Seelie" (as in i.e. members of the Aés Síde who show no malice toward humans) comes from the Old English "sǣl", and Proto-Germanic "sālīg" (“blissful, happy”). The English word "silly" also comes from that root.

So the Aés Síde are really divided into the silly court and the unsilly court

[elmfae]

To the lovely Baby Witches✨into Sigil/ Rune Magic…

Sigils and runes don’t have to be complicated or strategic! They can be as quick and simple as a doodle on your lunch napkin or strategic shapes and symbols your intuition has shown you.

Charging Sigils/Runes

Meditation

Chanting

Placing them in powerful places, I.e., tattoos, food, entrances&exits

Using them in your rituals/ day to day

Sleeping with them under your pillow

Don’t burn or ignite your sigils unless your intent is to banish!

If anyone has questions or wants to chat about witchy things don’t hesitate to hmu! :)

I hope you find endless sweet water and warm winds my friend

~Fae

[samwisethewitch]

Misconceptions About Fairies

Lately I've been seeing a lot of buzz around the Good People on social media, as well as in my local witchy community. I've also seen a lot of misinformation being passed along and people being encouraged to dive in the deep end without knowing what they're getting into, so I want to address some common misconceptions and spotlight some resources I know are legit.

I've said it before and I've said it again: with the Good People, perhaps more than any other type of spirit, it's very important to know what you're doing before you start reaching out to them. They operate on rules and ethics that are very different from ours, and even the most benevolent of them may be offended or angered by ignorance or bad manners. You cannot skip the reading when it comes to working with these beings. If you're not willing to do the research and make an effort to follow the rules, this is not a crowd you should be messing with. I don't say this to scare people or to discourage people who genuinely feel called to establish a relationship with the Good People. I just want to be clear that with this crowd there are risks, and most of those risks can be addressed by making sure you're prepared.

In this post, you'll see me refer to this class or grouping of magical beings as the Good People, the Other Crowd, the Good Neighbors, or similar euphemisms. This is because the word "fairy" is widely considered offensive, and using it may anger the Good People. My advice is to use your own euphemisms in order to be polite, even in casual conversation -- avoid "the f-word" as much as possible. However, I will be using Fairy (with a capital F) as the name of the realm or plane where the Other Crowd lives.

Now, let's start by addressing those misconceptions, shall we?

1. The Good People are nature spirits.

This is one that I've been guilty of spreading in the past. This one is tricky, because some of the Other Crowd could be considered nature spirits, but not all of them. It's important to remember that "fairy" (and more polite euphemisms) is an umbrella term for many different types of beings. It's about as specific as "animal." And just like some but not all animals are mammals, some but not all of the Good People are nature spirits.

As a whole, the Good People don't seem particularly attached to nature, although some of them tend to avoid humans and end up in wild natural settings as a result. However, true nature spirits are connected to a place or natural feature the same way human spirits are attached to our bodies, and this doesn't seem to be true for the Good People.

2. The Good People are angels and/or spirit guides.

This one usually shows up in the context of New Age spirituality, but the association between angels and the Good People is actually much, much older. When the people of the British Isles converted to Christianity, they tried to reconcile their belief in the Other Crowd with Christian cosmology. Usually, this meant identifying the Good People with devils, but some people identified them as fallen angels. One version of the Christianization of the Good People describes them as angels who refused to pick sides in the war between God and Satan and are exiled from both Heaven and Hell.

I've seen New Age authors like Doreen Virtue describe the Good People as "earth angels" or say that, like angels, they are "high vibrational" beings of pure love and light. This directly contradicts folklore, which describes the Good People as beings with physical bodies with a wide range of attitudes towards humans. The Good People could be helpful allies, mischievous pranksters, or cruel predators. Even the ones who seem to like humans aren't especially pious or virtuous, and they definitely aren't interested in our spiritual development.

The idea of the Good People are spirit guides reduces these beings, who are their own people with their own personalities, goals, and agendas, to servant spirits whose only purpose is to help us grow and learn. That's a pretty self-centered approach to spirituality, and it's honestly one that I don't think many of the Good People would put up with.

3. The Good People are tiny and have wings.

I mean, some of them sort of look like this? There are folkloric accounts of beings that are between 6 and 18 inches tall, but as far as I can tell the wings are a modern development. Descriptions of tiny winged people who are small enough to take a nap inside a flower are a Victorian English invention, as popularized by the Cottingley Fairies hoax, a series of faked photographs that supposedly showed a real Otherwordly encounter:

Most older descriptions from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Britain describe the Good People as looking similar to humans or animals. They might look like normal people except for being totally green, like the Green Children of Woolpit or the Green Knight that appears in Arthurian legend. They might be dressed in green and/or red. In folklore the Good People typically wear contemporary clothing, so if you saw one today they might very well be in jeans and a T-shirt. Sometimes in folklore, the Good People are indistinguishable from humans.

Some of the Other Crowd appear as animals, but there's often some sort of tell that indicates an Otherworldly animal, like a kelpie appearing as a horse whose mane is always dripping or the púca appearing as a black horse with glowing golden eyes. Some of them don't look like humans or like animals and are clearly Otherwordly in appearance, like trows, trolls, and goblins.

4. The Good People are All Friendly to Humans

Again, some of them are. Some of the Good People, like brownies, choose to live in humans' homes and communities and actively help out around the house. Then there are others, like the Baobhan Síth, hags, and red caps that prey on humans, sometimes literally. Many of the Good People seem indifferent to humans.

The problem with this is that when you invite the Other Crowd into your home, you're inviting all of them into your home. This is why I personally prefer to work with the Good Neighbors outside my home -- we have an elder tree (a species associated with the Good Neighbors) growing on the edge of our property, and I use this as a place to leave offerings for them. This way I'm showing respect for them and offering gifts in good faith, but I'm not opening up my home.

Another option is to invite specific individuals or types of the Good People in by name. For example, there are things you can do to attract a brownie. I do want to note that even beings that are usually friendly, like brownies, can be dangerous if you piss them off, so you should only invite them into your home if you're willing and able to commit to keeping them happy.

5. You have to be psychic or have the Second Sight to interact with the Good People.

First of all, I firmly believe that all people have the potential for psychic abilities and that anyone can develop these gifts through practice. In folklore there are ways of developing the Second Sight, if that's something that is really important to you. (Just be aware that some of the Good People prefer to be unseen and can take offense to humans trying to look into Fairy.)

But you don't need the Second Sight or experience with psychic practice to interact with the Good People. Most of the people who historically worked with these beings did not have the Sight. You can still leave offerings and see evidence of their presence, and if you really want to communicate with them directly you can use a divination tool.

Further Reading/Viewing:

Fairies: A Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk by Morgan Daimler

Fairy Witchcraft by Morgan Daimler 

Faery: A Guide to the Lore, Magic, & World of the Good Folk by John T. Kruse 

"Faery Magick Misconceptions | Working with the Fae | Witchcraft" by HearthWitch on YouTube

"What Do We Call the Fairies in Ireland?" by Lora O'Brien on YouTube 

"5 Common Misconceptions About Fairies" by Morgan Daimler on YouTube

(I've made a playlist of videos on the Good People I find helpful, which you can watch here!)

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS NEW BOOKS BOOKS NEW BOOKS

[kizillcadi]

[thecorpselight]

Communication with the dead visiting the earth, i.e., communication with an earthly otherworld, appears in the beliefs concerning seers with mora traits and in the beliefs and even visions experienced by many active seers of the dead. The notion of initiation by the dead visiting the earth appears in many cultural forms. One of the most frequent variants occurs when the dead, returning in troops such as a gang of ghosts visiting around Christmas time or unbaptized souls, snatch a living person for a short period of time to show her or him who will be the dead of the coming year. These data fit into the traditional framework of communication with the "living dead" that were traditional all over Europe in the system of places and times related to the dead. Ever since the Christian Middle Ages, the returning dead have been known to visit the living periodically, at start-of-the-year or start-of-season festivals. The phenomenon of initiation by St. Lucy's chair occurs in this sphere at Christmas. Female initiating spirits from the world of the dead, sometimes with traits of the underworld, have also appeared from time to time as leaders of soul troops in a number of local variants in accordance with the local mythological legacy (such as the Austrian-German Perchta, Holda, the Swiss Frau Saelde, the Slovenian Pehtra baba, the Hungarian and Czech-Moravian Lucia, Luca, etc.), often displaying attributes to do with spinning and other womanly tasks, as well as with cows or milk.

Éva Pócs

[raven-runes]

the woods watch

wicked

wary

wrathful

as wanton men

wage war

on willow weed and wren

[lailoken]

is it fun or glamorous at all to be a fairy doctor? or is a faerie physicker different?

Those terms are essentially synonymous. I use the name Faerie Physicker because the term Fairy Doctor has always felt distinclty Irish to me, and while I have a decent amount of Irish ancestry, I have never been quite as connected to my Gaelic ancestry as I am to my Brythonic ancestry.

To answer your main question, though: no. It can be exciting in its own way, but it has never been fun in my experience, and it's certainly never been glamorous. It is fulfilling work that I feel extremely honored to facilitate, but it takes a lot out of me.

The work itself can be complex, and is always rather delicate, but what's more, it takes a lot of time and energy. It can be frightening at times, too. I have been actively endangered and harmed by this work in a number of ways, and even my loved ones have been affected. As one especially nasty example, my hair fell out because of a particularly intensive and dangerous working I undertook over a year ago, and it still hasn't fully grown back (I only just managed to get rid of the last of the linerging taint quite recently, so if I'm lucky, maybe it will be back to normal by next year.) And that was still a rather controlled and successful example of the costs that can be incurred.

On top of that, you would be surprised how many patients don't take it seriously when I set specific parameters or requirements in our work, only to worsen things for themselves and then be angry with me that they're suffering as a result of not listening to me.

And, of course, there is the fact that I am not allowed to charge for this work. I have strict taboos imposed upon me, which will undermine and corrupt the work I do if I set a price on it. As such, not only can I not use this piece of the work I do to support myself financially, but I often end up losing money overall, due to the time and materials I contribute. During periods of slow business, this can be pretty hard on me financially, but I do it anyway because it's what I'm called to do. Plus, I am fortunate that Magic manages to keep me from actually being at risk due to any financial dips; things might get tight, but our needs always get met in the end.

So is it work that matters to me? Yes, absolutely. But is it "fun and glamorous "? Absolutely not.

[blackthornwren]

Begin by understanding that things are never so flat as you perceive them. Depth and layer come not from correspondences and elemental associations but from understanding that the wild places you uncover are both spirits and realms unto themselves: contradictory and strange, and all the more beautiful for it.

[witchcraftinred]

A new article for a new blog, about the colours associated with the Fair Folk in folklore and their implications.

[elmfae]

🌺🧚‍♀️🌿 Welcome, Fairy Lovers, Enthusiasts and Believers to Fae Friday! 🌿🧚‍♀️🌺

˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊

I came up with the idea of Fae Fridays to share with you the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the enchanting energy of the fae realm and connect to the magic that fairies bring into our lives through art, poems, literature and anything else I find captivating and wish to share with you.

˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊

Here are some ideas to infuse your Fridays with the Shining Folks whimsy and charm:

Fae Garden Magic: Set aside some time on Fae Fridays to tend to your fae garden. If you don't have one yet, this is the perfect opportunity to create a miniature garden filled with tiny plants, fairy houses, and whimsical decorations.

Fae Crafts and Creations: Engage in creative activities inspired by fairies. Faery wings, create fae-inspired art, or craft your own faery house using natural materials. Let your imagination run wild and allow your inner child to play and create.

Fae Oracle or Tarot Readings: Pull out your favorite fae-themed oracle or tarot deck and do a reading specifically focused on connecting with the energy of the fae. Allow the cards to guide you and offer insights into the otherworld.

Fae Storytelling: Spend some time reading or writing fairy tales and folklore. Immerse yourself in the magical stories of fairies, gnomes, and other mythical creatures. You could also gather with friends or family and take turns sharing your own fae inspired tales.

Fae-inspired Treats: Whip up some fairy-themed treats to indulge in on Fae Fridays. Decorate cupcakes with edible flowers, create fairy-shaped cookies, or brew a cup of floral-infused tea to enjoy as you.

Remember, Fairy Fridays are a time to celebrate and honor the otherworld/fairyland. I hope I’ve inspired you to let your creativity and imagination guide you to infuse your Fridays with faery magic. Embrace the whimsy, playfulness, and joy that the fairies bring into your life.

Feel free to share your Fae Friday experiences and ideas. 🌺🧚‍♀️✨

~Fae

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

It’s very crude but I’m pleased with it nonetheless; it doesn’t have to be a thing of beauty. Amber eyes and an antique jet bead in the mouth. Handle is beech wood; stained with a pigment of my making.

Now to do it all over again with the sickle; only took a few months to sharpen this blade, the sickle should be ready for spring hahahaha.

Got both the sickle and the blade from Bronze Age Foundry- they came dull and unpolished

[stellar-witchcraft]

“In its own person the Swan hides a god and the voice belonging to it; it is more than a bird and mutters to itself within." - Manilius

[thecorpselight]

A spell to conjure up a fairy, written about 1600, is found in the Ashmole MS. (No. 1406). "For myselfe," says the writer, "I call Margaret Barrance, but this will obteine any one that is not already bownd." This is interesting, as being among the few recorded instances where a fairy, or perhaps a person kidnapped by the fairies, is called by his or her personal name. "First," continues the communication, "Gett a broad square cristall or Venus (Venice?) glasse, in length and breadth three inches. Then lay that glasse or cristall in the bloud of a white henne three Wednesdayes, or three Fridayes; then take it out and wash it with holy aqua and fumigate it. Then take three hazel sticks or wands of an yeare groth, pill them fayre and white, and make soe longe as you write the spiritts name, or fayries name, which you call three times, on every sticke being made flatt on one side. Then bury them under some hill, whereas you suppose fayries haunt, the Wednesday before you call her, and the Friday followinge take them uppe, and call her at eight or three or ten of the clocke, which be good plannetts and howrs for that turne. But when you call, be in cleane life, and turn thy face towards the East; and when you have her, bind her to that stone ore glasse". -The Fairy Tradition in Britain. Lewis Spence. Pg. 167.

[thewitchofwhitfield]

Hi witches! I’ve been reading up on traditional witchcraft and am very interested in the Faerie King aspect/guise of the Witch Father (and I suppose by extension the faerie faith). I was wondering if anyone had any resources or information they would be okay with sharing to point me in the right direction 人(_ _*)