A couple of months ago, I wrote a post titled “The Less Mystical Side of Fairy Witching” , and I thought today I’d offer an update!
I did, in fact, find a tree and get it planted — well ahead of schedule. I went with a variety of crabapple that is considered “edible” (technically most crabapples are “edible”, they’re just not very tasty or nutritious) and should grow crabapples the approximate size of a golf ball. I’m told they make good jelly! And I’m sure the critters will love them. It had a couple of flowers on it the day it got planted, and then bloomed vigorously for about a week, and is now setting fruit! So, mission complete.
I think my local Fairy Queen is satisfied, too, because her rosebush is blooming up a storm! I call her the Rosegay Queen, and when we first moved in and I was examining the property, it became apparent very quickly that the strange little rosebush (which was barely more than a forked stick then) had an Otherworldly quality to it. I have put offerings near it since then, and that seems to be her preferred location for omens, as well — I once found a strange little antique watch face nearby. Once the crabapple started setting fruit, the rosebush started blooming, which in itself is not very significant because the timing is following the weather, but I have never seen it bloom this much before, and we’ve been here three years now, and this spring we were under drought conditions. I have not watered, fertilized, pruned, or done anything to encourage this rose to bloom, and I’ve watched my grandfather take care of roses my whole life, and they seem to take a lot of particular care, much of the time. I’ve never seen this one have more than two or maybe three blooms at a time, before. But this rosebush is currently blooming in abundance, and there’s a sense of satisfaction permeating it that I believe is coming from the Rosegay Queen.
I started calling her that after I first spoke to her and she suggested it. I tend to ask for a name I can use and share freely when I begin relationships with the Fair Folk I encounter, and those names are very often drawn from the landmarks or flora of their territory. When I had earlier explored her territory, which follows a nearby stream, I had found that the streambanks are overgrown in many places with wild roses, which seem to be her particular emblem. She claims to be Daoine Sidhe, which hail from Ireland, though she did not explain how or how long ago she came to be here — and I have not asked. I do tend to ask those I encounter what kind of fairy they are, with the intention of better understanding how to interact with them. I cannot be sure that the folkloric understanding of types of fairies actually matches their own experiences of themselves at all, but I try to communicate my reasons, and most of the beings I’ve encountered can at least take a couple of the terms in my head and mash them together or give me qualifiers for a sort of ballpark framework. The Rosegay Queen was very clear on being Daoine Sidhe, though, and claims a connection to Una and Finvarra, whom I have since begun to get to know better.