Before you actually invite fairies to become your magickal coworkers, consider what you hope to gain from a collaboration with them—just as you would if you were forming a cooperative venture with human beings. What assets do certain fairies have that can benefit you? What can you learn from them? What do you hope to accomplish through this partnership? You might want to make a list of your objectives and review it periodically, as your intentions may change over time.
In this chapter we’ll consider the advantages of partnering with the fae in your magickal practice. You’ll also learn ways to attract fairies and convince them to assist you. I’ll share tips and techniques for working with fairies; suggestions for winning their favor; and ways you can incorporate crystals, herbs, and other tools you use regularly in spells and rituals into your work with fairies.
Fairies possess many abilities and talents that most humans lack, as we discussed in Chapter 1. If they agree to assist you, they can teach you some of their skills, including the following:
Bringing fairy energy into your spells and rituals can also add octane. Because many of the fae serve as guardians and caretakers of the natural world, they know the best ways to work with the energies of plants and stones. They understand the elements, solar and lunar cycles, and weather patterns. If you win their favor, they’ll share their secrets with you.
If you’re like many witches, you probably keep a very special type of journal known as a book of shadows or grimoire. This journal is more than a diary of what’s going on in your daily life—it’s an intimate account of your spiritual journey, the steps you take on the road to self-discovery, and what you learn along the way about the Craft of the Wise.
Here you pen information about your practice as a witch, the spells and rituals you perform, and your ongoing exploration of the mysteries that lie beyond the ordinary mundane world. Between your book’s covers you also reveal your soul’s secrets, as well as your expressions in the outer world—particularly those of a magickal and spiritual nature.
You may want to create a separate book of shadows in which to record your experiences with the fae. Which fairies did you collaborate with? Where did you meet them? What transpired during your relations with the fae? What challenges did you encounter and how did you handle them? What successes or failures did you have? In addition to writing down the spells you perform, discuss your feelings, insights, visions, dreams, meditations, and musings.
Be sure to note the dates and times of your interactions with the fairies. You may also want to include data about moon phases, astrological information, weather conditions, and situations in your everyday life that might have influenced your experiences.
Now that you’ve decided to bring the fae into your magickal practice, you’re ready to take the first steps to establishing a good working relationship with them. In Chapter 2, we discussed some of the fairies and how they can assist you. Determine which ones have the skills, proclivities, and temperaments to partner with you. If none of these fae folk seems to fit the bill, do some additional research. For instance, if you’re looking for an edge in an athletic competition, you might petition the Norse Valkyries, who decide which warriors will win a battle. My book Fairies: The Myths, Legends, & Lore discusses fairies from many cultures around the world.
You may seek a single interaction with a fairy for a specific purpose. Or, you may choose to establish an ongoing relationship with one or more of the fae. Either way, it’s wise to proceed slowly and cautiously. For the most part, fairies are wary of humans and don’t really like us very much. That’s not surprising, given all the damage we’ve wreaked on Planet Earth and its animal inhabitants, and the way our pop culture has demeaned the fairies. Plus, they consider themselves a superior race—in some cases, the perfect prototypes from which we evolved—so you’ll have to make it worth their while to associate with you.
Let’s say you’ve decided to invite a household fairy, such as a brownie or kobold, into your home to help out with domestic chores. Start by setting offerings of food and drink outside your home, on the porch or patio. Gradually move the gifts inside, leaving them by the doorway, and finally into the area of your home where you’d like the fairies to pitch in.
Consider writing a letter to the fairies with whom you’d like to work. If you’re interested in interacting with a Celtic fairy, write in Ogham. If you think the Norse fairies might be better partners for you, write in Norse runes. (Naturally, they’ll understand your native tongue too—they communicate telepathically anyway.) Explain your intentions as simply as possible—you might only need to use a single glyph to get your point across. For example, if your objective is to enhance your strength, endurance, or personal power, draw the Ogham glyph duir (the Irish word for “oak”) on a piece of paper. Fold the paper around a piece of honey cake (or another treat) and place it in an oak tree for the fairies to find.
If you’ve ever gone on a shamanic journey, you may be familiar with the practice of mentally entering a narrow opening into a secret cave or burrowing into the roots of an ancient tree whose trunk connects this world to one beyond. (Chapter 11 provides information about how to do this.) Like these portals, fairy doors serve as passageways between earth and the magickal land of the fae. A knot in a gnarled old oak or a uniquely shaped gap in a stone wall could be a fairy door—if you peek through it, you just might glimpse a world you never realized existed.
If you want fairies to visit you, you may want to install a modern-day “fairy door” in your home or yard to grant access to the fae. Usually, these entryways are small—about the size of a cat door—based on the misconception that all fairies are diminutive. Of course, fairies can change shape at will, so if they decide to enter your environment they can shrink to whatever size they need to be to get in.
Position the door in a remote spot, away from traffic and human activity—and where your dog won’t chase them. Decorate it with colorful ribbons, shiny beads, feathers, shells, coins, and other trinkets to attract the fairies. Leave offerings of food and drink there too.
Before you install a fairy door, however, give some thought to why you want to invite the fae into your home. Remember, not all fairies are benevolent—some can be real nuisances. You probably don’t want to put the welcome mat out to all these spirits. Think of yourself as a landlord—what sort of tenants are you seeking? Which fairies do you want to associate with? How do you plan to work with them? What are your objectives and expectations? Before you put out a “vacancy” sign, learn all you can about the fairies you think will get along best with you and the other occupants of your home.
Nature fairies, as you might expect, enjoy hanging out in gardens. Your fairy garden can be as lavish or as simple as you want it to be. If you have a large yard, you might want to plant flowers, shrubs, maybe a vegetable or herb garden—you can use the flowers and herbs in your spells too. This is the ideal spot for a fairy altar, which I discuss in the following section. Here are a few other suggestions:
Those of you who live in city apartments can plant fairy gardens on a smaller scale, using containers, window boxes, or a few house plants. Some cities have community gardens where you might establish a small plot, thereby inviting fairies to come to an urban area they might ordinarily avoid. Even a city park can serve as a fairy garden. By visiting it regularly, leaving offerings for the fae, and sending them messages—intuitively or otherwise—that convey your intentions, you let the fairies know you seek to form a closer relationship with them. The more you think about them and demonstrate your interest in meeting them, the more often you’ll get a peek at the fae folk.
An altar is a witch’s “workbench,” a place to cast spells, display ritual tools, interact with spirits, meditate—whatever you do in your magickal practice. You may already have an altar in your home or in an outdoor spot that’s sacred to you. Some witches erect altars or shrines to favorite deities they honor. Some position four altars at the four directions. Others set up temporary altars for specific reasons.
A fairy altar serves two purposes: to attract one or more fairies, and to establish a place to work with the fae. Ideally, the altar should be located outdoors, in a safe and secluded spot away from human activity, vehicular traffic, and buildings. Craft it of materials you’ve found in nature; for example, lay a flat stone atop two other stones. An interesting tree stump or a fallen log might make a good fairy altar too.
In a yard or garden, you could repurpose a birdbath, a stone garden bench, or a wooden picnic table into a fairy altar. If you must create the altar inside your home, or if you’ve decided you want to attract household fairies, you can use a table or a shelf. Depending on your living arrangements, you may choose to make a temporary altar from a box that your housemates won’t identify as anything out of the ordinary, and in which you can store items you’ll use in your work with the fae.
Place offerings for the fairies on the altar. Although most fairies enjoy milk, honey, sweets, and bread, they have their individual tastes, just like we do. Leprechauns prefer ale and tobacco. Undines are fond of perfume and essential oils. Fire spirits are drawn to candles. Incense is a good gift for sylphs. Curious creatures, fairies are intrigued by things they wouldn’t ordinarily find in their native environments. For instance, seashells might fascinate forest fairies. Lava rocks might captivate Cornish fairies. Here are some other suggestions:
Choose organic food and beverages as offerings for the fairies—they’ll recoil from pesticides and genetically modified edibles. If your fairy altar is located outdoors, decorate it with natural, biodegradable materials—avoid plastics and synthetic fabrics. By showing respect for nature, you also show respect for the fairies who protect it.
No fairy gathering would be complete without music and dancing. The folklore and fairy tales of myriad cultures describe the fae engaged in this favorite form of entertainment, whether they’re celebrating a special holiday or just spinning about in a sunlit meadow for the sheer joy of it. Many people who claim to have seen fairies describe watching them dance in a circle. It’s said that the fairies meet in the woods at midnight, where they dance and sing as they perform their magick—leaving behind the fairy rings we discussed in Chapter 4. According to Irish legend, people who’ve spent time in fairyland and heard fairy music, known as Ceol-Sidhe, are never the same again—a wistful, distant look glazes their eyes, and the sound of a fairy harp fills their ears.
The noted Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet The Sleeping Beauty based on the fairy tale. It was first performed in 1890 and is considered one of his finest works. Shakespeare made fairy music and dancing a prominent part of his delightful play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
What instruments and tunes do fairies favor? Leprechauns reportedly play tin whistles, fiddles, and harps. Disney’s fairies blow shell horns and flower trumpets. Human musicians today play fairy music on zithers, Aeolian flutes, piccolos, bagpipes, celestas, bells, and drums such as the bodhran, as well as fiddles and harps.
If you’re a musician, bring your instrument(s) to the altar and play. Invite the fae to join you for a jam. Otherwise, play music on your phone or another device. Celtic tunes, peaceful instrumental pieces, and classical music are good choices. Loud, harsh, or percussive synthesized music will probably scare away the fairies—their sensitive hearing can’t bear the noise of heavy metal or rap. Legends say the fae don’t like the sound of church bells, so skip the religious songs too.
Witches and magick workers of other traditions generally use a variety of tools in their practice. Although technically you don’t need any physical equipment, the tools improve your focus and help shift your thinking from mundane to magickal. You may already own the four principal tools: wand, pentagram, chalice, and athame. Quite likely, you also use crystals and gemstones, candles, incense, and herbs. Perhaps you work with a cauldron, besom, bells, essential oils, cords, oracles, a scrying mirror, and other implements as well.
Fairy tales and folklore tell us the fae also use magick tools. As mentioned in Chapter 2, the Tuatha dé Danann possessed four powerful tools that bear similarities to the major ones witches prize—perhaps they inspired the tools we use today.
The Danann’s spear of the god Lugh, which always struck its mark, corresponds to the witch’s wand. In some tarot decks, the suit of Wands is depicted as the suit of Spears. Both tools symbolize the fire element. Today, of course, we don’t wield a spear, stave, or wand as a weapon; its purpose is to direct energy. Stories frequently describe fairies waving magick wands—think of the fairy godmother in “Cinderella,” who used hers to transform a pumpkin into a coach and mice into horses. The leprechaun’s shillelagh also resembles a wand. If you join forces with the fairies, they may teach you new ways to use your own wand.
The Danann’s cauldron of the god Dagda, which was never empty and always provided food for all, symbolizes the element of water, as does the chalice. Legends and lore depict fairies and witches with both tools. Perhaps the best-known example appears in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which three witches stir a magick brew in a cauldron while chanting “Double, double, toil and trouble.” The Irish goddess Brigid, whose sabbat Wiccans celebrate on Imbolc, is usually shown with a cauldron (see Chapter 12). And of course, the most famous chalice of all is the Holy Grail, which some people say now lies at the bottom of the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England. In Part Two you’ll find suggestions for using both cauldrons and chalices in spellcraft.
The Danann’s sword of Nuada, god of the hunt, brought victory in battle. It corresponds to the witch’s athame or ritual dagger and symbolizes the element of air. Modern-day witches don’t fight battles with swords or athames, however. In fact, we now believe an athame should never have drawn blood. We use these tools to disperse energy, cut through psychic obstacles, and sever bonds. You can also use either tool to cast a circle. The most famous sword in mythology is King Arthur’s Excalibur, immortalized in Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century version of the legend, Le Morte d’Arthur. Upon Arthur’s death, the great sword was returned to its source, the Lady of the Lake, who may have been a Celtic lake fairy like the Welsh gwragged annwn.
The Danann’s stone of destiny, called Lia Fail, connected them to the land and enabled them to choose Ireland’s human kings and queens. It symbolizes the element of earth, as does the witch’s pentagram. Magick stones show up frequently in mythology, one of the best-known being the Philosopher’s Stone, which had the power to transform lead into gold. Crystals and gemstones, too, embody the earth element. Fairy lore tells us the fae imbued crystals and gemstones with ancient wisdom, giving them the power to work healing magick.
Most witches do some type of plant magick—that may be true for you too. Herbs and other botanicals give us their physical substance for healing, food, scent, and other practical purposes, as well as their energetic properties for spellcraft. These versatile life-forms are probably the most frequently used ingredients in magick. As we’ve already discussed, the nature fairies care for flowers, trees, herbs, and other plants on earth, so anytime you work with botanicals you’re working with the fae.
Each plant has its unique characteristics and powers. Roses, for instance, are favorites for love spells. Basil is a popular herb for protection spells. Mint attracts prosperity. For your convenience, the Appendix at the back of this book lists some herbs and their characteristics, but other authors have written more comprehensive texts devoted solely to the practice of botanical magick and green witchcraft.
Yes, there is such a thing as plant etiquette. Plants are sensitive, living things with feelings and souls. In The Secret Life of Plants, authors Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird write about the experiments of polygraph expert Cleve Backster, which demonstrated that plants are sentient beings with memory, communication abilities, and ESP—they even have preferences in music. Consider these guidelines when you’re working with plants and the nature spirits that guard them.
Learn as much as you can about the plants you’ll be working with, magickally or medicinally. Your health, well-being, and the success of your spells depend on your knowledge of the forces with which you’re dealing.
Different people will tell you different things about which fairies like which plants best, and which botanicals should be used in fairy magick or planted in fairy gardens. Nature fairies, whose job it is to nurture and tend the plants on our planet, treasure all of them. Having said that, here are some theories espoused by other fairy enthusiasts.
Now it’s time to begin doing magick with the fairies. In Part Two, you’ll find a variety of spells, rituals, blessings, potions, talismans, meditations, and activities for a wide range of purposes. There’s also a chapter of practices to perform on the Wiccan/pagan sabbats. Design your own spells too—the more personal and heartfelt a spell, the more powerful it is.
Always protect yourself before you begin a spell with the fairies. Chapter 8 includes some suggestions you may want to use for this purpose. And remember to record your experiences in your book of shadows.