BUTTERFLY FAERIES: They are also known as the moss people for they are experts at hiding in mossy, dark areas. Butterfly Faeries come from Switzerland, Germany, Africa, and from the Islands. These delicate, slender spirits have beautifully colored butterfly wings emanating from their bodies. They are very shy and human sightings of them are very rare indeed. They avoid human contact as much possible for they do not trust mankind, who has been destroying their forest homes. They are often confused for real butterflies because they often play with their best friends: monarch butterflies. They usually do not trust humans, but if a butterfly Faery befriends you, she or he will prove to be a true friend to you for life by always bringing you good luck. If you should see a butterfly Faery, do not make any sudden movements. Let her know you want to be friends, and you mean her no harm. Remember, it is very important for us to protect the disappearing forest, the favorite home of these very special creatures.
CLOUD FAERIES: Cloud Faeries emerge as large formations in masses of clouds. They look like long humans. The cloud Faeries help you with your imagination and creation of the arts. They themselves are master sculptors making wonderful images out of air and water. To call a cloud Faery to you, it is best to summon one around sunset or sunrise, for they use the elements of both in order to create beauty. Call to them when you are about to make any form of art. If your mind and heart are open to hearing them, they will help you.
DRYADS (a.k.a. Tree spirits, Tree Ladies, Druidesses, Hamadryads, Sidhe Draoi): These Faeries live all over the world, but originate from the Celtic countries. Even though they live in and protect the trees, their element is air. Their favorite time of the month is at the full moon. They are excellent musicians and will often play their strange magical, musical instruments while they dance, sing, and laugh under the light of the moon. They will not harm you if you follow their music, but it may cause you to spend too much time in Faeryland. These spirits are only female. They are usual seen as wisps of light. The dryads are very playful and do like to tease, but if they befriend you, they will help you get in touch with your magical abilities and to contact your divine energy. To find them it is best to go to a grove of sacred trees. You may find this beautiful spirit in a willow, oak, ash, thorn, rowan, birch, or elder tree.
EARTH FAERIES: Earth Faeries are very small, standing about a foot to eighteen inches tall. They are often a golden brown or dark green color. Sometimes they come into view as bear-type creatures. Earth Faeries live in communities and are very friendly. These spirits work very hard dealing with the well being of all creatures, humans and Faeries alike. Even though the Earth Faeries love mortals very much, they often lose their patience with the humans for their foolishness and careless treatment of Mother Earth. Earth Faeries love colorful rocks in their natural state, but will also cut the stones to show off the inner beauty. When we call them into our circle, they can help you plant your feet firmly on the ground, and like the stones, help you to find the inner beauty that you hold inside of you.
FLOWER FAERIES: These are the peaceful spirits of the earth. These wee folk are a very passionate people. They are in love with natural beauty and luxury, and love nothing more than to array themselves with beautiful flowers and things of nature. They are whimsical, willful, and beautiful. They befriend the kind-of-heart but will stay away from those who are greedy and selfish. They love wine and sweets. Leave some at a place where wild flowers grow. Any gentle acts of kindness help encourage the Faeries to make a blessing. So if you are kind, you will be a blessing on the Earth.
This powder is made with things that the fae are said to love. If you believe in fairies and want to invite them into your garden, make this powder and sprinkle it all around (even if that garden is just a window box).
Fairy Garden Powder can be made any time that you are in a good mood, or feel charged with positive energy, but Midsummer Eve is an especially powerful time for its making or its sprinkling. It is only meant for outdoor use.
Ingredients: 4 parts base powder, composed of any mixture of plants from this list, dried and powdered: (apple bark or peel, blackberry leaves, bluebells, clover, cowslips, daffodils, elecampane root, ferns, foxgloves; hawthorn berries, bark, or blossoms; heather, holly berries, hollyhocks, pansies, primrose blossoms, rose petals, strawberry leaves, thyme, yarrow) 2 parts powdered milk 2 parts honey powder (sold by gourmet spice vendors) The fae are said to be attracted to bright shiny things, so also add: 1/2 part rock crystal chips 1/2 part multi-color pastel glitter 1/2 part gold glitter
The smell of thyme and lilac are said to attract fairies, so essential oil of thyme, or lilac fragrance oil, could also be added to your powder, if that would blend well with the scent of your other botanical ingredients.
Mix all the ingredients together by stirring them deosil (clockwise) with an athame, until they are thoroughly blended.
Fairy houses are small constructions made from natural things, such as moss, bark, twigs, and thatch. A fairy house looks like a suitable habitation for the fae. Making and installing a fairy house or two in your garden is another way to invite fairies to take up residence there. Fairy Garden Powder can be sprinkled around such tiny houses, to enhance their attraction to the fae.
Today we stand at the threshold of Beltane, the Celtic festival of summer, when the entire green world is charged with new life beneath the growing sun. In Ireland, Beltane (celebrated May 1st) was known as one of the three "spirit nights" of the year—along with Midsummer's Eve and Halloween—a time when the faeries rode out of their dwellings in the Hollow Hills within the Earth into the human world.
Until the 20th century, many people had encounters with faeries and lived side by side with them in quite a natural way. Some of these faery-seers descended from generations of country-dwellers who kept the old beliefs intact; others were visionaries, poets, and artists who refused to be influenced by the modern, materialistic worldview that, in William Blake's words, can only "see with, not thru, the eye."
But what are faeries and do they still exist today? Many people still think of them as the delightful, gauzy-winged creatures of children’s books—but this was not always so. Those faeries were a product of Victorian literature. Before that, there was a strong recognition throughout Europe of a host of sentient beings who are mostly non-physical entities, although they can be seen with the inner eye.What’s more, they knew that faeries do not dwell in a far-off realm, but live within the subtle dimension of our world, co-existing with us in the cracks of our everyday reality.
The Hawthorn tree, a common faery dwelling. Photo by Susa Morgan-Black
Faeries range from tall, beautiful, noble creatures to diminutive imps called "little people,"with many shapes and sizes in between.There are solitary faeries, like the household brownie who looks like a small stocky man with a gray beard; leathery gnomes who dwell in forests and caves; "trooping faeries" who dance, sing, and feast together in the faery hills; and tribes of Cornish piskies, with red hair, pointed ears, and turned-up noses. One of the best explanations of what faeries are comes from an unlikely source, a 17th-century minister of the Church of Scotland: The Reverend Robert Kirk called them "a middle nature betwixt man and angel." They are creatures of light and energy, of "force" rather than "form," who can shift their shape as they please, unbound by laws of the physical world.
All faeries are deeply connected to the living Earth. The Faery Queen spoken of in so many ballads and stories is a Celtic aspect of Gaia, the Earth Goddess. The faeries sometimes called "nature spirits" are involved with the processes of nature—birth, growth, decay, and the changing of the seasons—while "elementals" are responsible for cycles of water, earth, air, and fire. Other faery tribes interact more with the human world, bestowing gifts such as healing, music, and seership upon their favorite mortals.
Today, a new awareness of faeries is returning as people are awakening to the reality of worlds not normally apparent. It seems that, with the current crises on Earth, we are being called to reconnect with those beings of light with whom we once consciously shared our planet home. When we pollute, degrade, and destroy the land, sea, and skies, we are destroying their world, too; we tear apart the exquisitely woven tapestry of all creation. And so faeries are bringing messages from the Earth, urging us to change our ways from living in separateness to an awareness of our interconnectedness with all beings, visible and invisible.
How to Meditate With Faeries
Connecting with faeries is not as difficult as you may think—you don't need special psychic powers to do so, just a willingness to open your mind and, especially, your heart, as a child might. "You have to be content to know that you love that tree, and you want to love it more," said Ella Young, a poet and storyteller who communed with faeries in western Ireland, "and you know it's alive and you want to come closer to it."
Here is a simple way to connect with the faery kingdom:
This Beltane season, take a faery walk in nature, preferably where there are trees and plants. Find a place to sit and begin taking some deep breaths:
Mara Freeman sitting in a faery fort in Ireland. Photo by Susa Morgan-Black.
1) Inhale and imagine a wave of green light rising from the land beneath you, rising up your body to connect you with the earth below. Exhale and sense a wave of golden light flowing down from the heavens through your body, connecting you with the sun and stars. Do this several times until you feel relaxed and charged with the energy of earth and sky.
2) Notice three natural things around you and send a line of light from your heart to connect with each one.
3) Now extend this connection to everything around you.Rest and be at peace in this feeling of oneness.
4) Ask for a message from the faery realm and open to receive impressions that may come to you. The response may come through feeling a light, sparkling, joyful energy, or it may come as words or images in your mind’s eye. Watch out also for signs of animal or bird movements or calls that may carry a message for you--one that brings you home to your true self. Don’t forget to send a blessing to the faeries before you leave.
Choose a comfortable chair in. an area where you are least likely to be disturbed by pets, the phone, or other people. If you want to mask background noise, you can play soft instrumental music.
Take several deep breaths and feel your body relax from your head to your toes. Visualize a brilliant white light surrounding you and entering your entire body with each breath. You can exit the meditation at any time you wish by simply thinking of your body. You will be fully protected and never in any danger.
Visualize an old-fashioned white picket fence with a gate surrounding a wild, overgrown flower garden and a quaint old house. Huge trees shade little tables and chairs throughout the garden.
You open the gate and walk up a path of stepping stones to the house. When you knock on the door, it is opened by a plump little lady in a long dress and an apron. She smiles up at you and invites you inside. At the kitchen table sits a little man, just as plump, smoking a long-stemmed clay pipe. The pipe odor is not tobacco, but the scent of roses and lavender. Notice carefully what their clothing looks as this will give a clue to their cultural origins.
The faery woman brings a teapot to the table. "Sit down," she says. "We will share a pot of tea while we talk."
You see delicate flower teacups with wooden spoons beside them. A pitcher of milk and a bowl of nectar syrup mixed with honey are nearby. When the faery pours tea into your cup, you smell the delicious odor of jasmine.
As she pours tea for her husband and herself, you glance around the room, noticing the different cultural decorations that adorns it, the quaint furniture, the embroidered wall hangings, the carved wooden cupboard filled with a variety of dishes, cups, and goblets. Braided rugs cover the floors; the little stove is enameled with flowers painted on it. Pots of herbs hang at the little windows. A little winged cat is sleeping on one of the windowsills.
"We have been waiting for you to visit us," the faery says with a grin. "One should always know one’s houseguests well.”
"Please, ask us any questions you want." The faery woman smiles at you as she sips her tea. "We will answer any question we can.”
(Pause for a minute or two on the tape for your conversation with the faeries.)
When you are finished, thank the House Faeries for their hospitality. Go back down the stepping-stone path and through the gate of the white picket fence.
When the gate closes behind you, you will find yourself back in your body, feeling refreshed and at ease.
This is an excellent time for you to write down all you remember of the visit with your House Faeries.
Other Names: Merpeople, Fish-Folk, Mermen, Water Dancers, Blue Men. In Ireland, they are called Merrows.
Element: Water
Appearance and Temperament: Mermaids or Mermen have the lower bodies of fish and the upper bodies and heads of humans. They appear as adult males and females of great beauty, but no children have ever been sighted. They are usually friendly and are slow to anger, but their ire can be aroused by persons who desecrate and pollute their home.
Time Most Active: All year.
Lore: Sailors have recorded many tales of mermaids and mermen who have saved drowning people or who have steered their ships clear of disaster. Around areas of known faery islands sailors would report seeing entire colonies of them frolicking in the water. Breton sailors even believed dolphins to be friendly Merpeople playing in the wakes of their ships. Ghost ships and sunken wrecks, all well known to the world's sailors, are thought to be their homes.
Occasionally Mermaids wish to take human mates, such as in the popular faery tale "the Little Mermaid." Mermen rarely take human brides. They seem to have trouble reproducing themselves and may need human males to further their race. Merpeople are excellent parents who cherish and protect their young.
One malevolent race Merpeople are the very strong Blue Men of Muir from Scotland, who have been accused of causing storms in the North Sea and throwing boulders at ships. The best way to dispatch them is by reciting rhymes, which is said to confuse them.
Where to find them: At sea or at the seashore.
How to Contact: Call out to them with your mind and ask for their aid. Feed fish and care for marine life to win their trust. Seek them in the waters of Faeryland for best results.
Magickal and Ritual Help: They may offer help in finding things or persons lost at sea or in discovering faery islands. They may be called upon to help save someone who is drowning or to help navigate your boat through storm or fog. They can be counted upon to help care for marine life and in spells aiding water environmentalism. Begin forming a relationship with them now if you think you may ever want to work with them. They give their trust slowly, but fully.
