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Tag: fair folk

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Samhain Season Reflections

I had vague plans for Oíche Shamhna — beyond the usual handing out candy as my husband took the kiddo trick or treating — but after an October where I was sick and then my husband got sick and stayed sick, and then I finally got the new covid vaccine (which, predictably, tanked me for a week), plans did not solidify and materialize beyond brief prayers.

Normally, that would have upset me, and I would have felt guilty for not being a better descendant to my ancestors and devotee to my deities, but instead I woke up on the first of November having had a profound dream, and very shortly after waking I was visited by a messenger from the High Court associated with the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  I hadn't done work, but work had come to me.  The dream featured Angrboda — a jotun goddess(1) who is perhaps best known as the other parent of Loki's most famous children: Hela, Fenris, and Jormungandr — teaching me to spin seidr with flax.  I will need to go see her again to get the rest of it cemented in my mind, but the flax I bought online that day is coming in the mail.  The messenger had news of a more personal nature for me (which is still something I haven't quite gotten used to), acknowledging the fulfillment of a contract.

If you had told me ten years ago that in ten years' time I would be up to my neck in Otherworldly conflict and politics, I wouldn't have believed you.  Sure, I interacted with my Local Fair Folk then, but primarily the less powerful ones that wander about a bit, not the Gentry.  But here I am and here I'll stay for good or ill.  As John Beckett said recently: "sharpen the swords you have".  This work is the sword I have, and I'll do it to the best of my ability, though I'll caution anyone else considering following this path that this is not a job you can just quit.(2)

In the intervening decade, I've interacted more and more with the Gentry — first those closest to my house wherever I was living, and then as time went on and I became more involved with the Court and Queen I serve in the Otherworlds, I was finding that I needed to "check in at the embassy" in every new territory before I did more than the smallest instinctive magics, which meant needing offerings for the local Gentry every time I went to any kind of pagan event, from a major conference like Mystic South or Sacred Space, to a small backyard holiday gathering at a friend's house.

And as I've done these check-ins, I've met more and more courts(3) who seem to be embroiled in the Otherworldly conflict that is part of The Great War, The Storm, Tower Time — whatever you'd like to call it.  (I've taken to calling it the "Strife-Storm", recently, because it does seem to shift and build and release like weather. Although I was one of those who talked about it back in March under the term "Great War", that didn't fit as well once I took it out of Irene Glasse's metaphor and applied it to the Otherworldly conflicts I was seeing, but I didn't have better words back then!  We'll see if "Strife-Storm" sticks, because I do really want a term to talk about the conflict itself, within the sort of larger context of Tower Time.)  Part of my work for my Court is connecting with some of these courts I'm encountering, and doing some work to establish something like diplomatic ties that are grounded in this world, as well.

I've been tasked with keeping up these connections with semi-regular contact and offerings, and the picture on this blog is of my recently reorganized shrine, with most of the main courts I interact with all brought together.  There are candles, and a few "tokens" (the pins and ring, all symbols of pledges made) and one little statuette of a husband and wife gnome kissing... That was a very specific request from the King and Queen of the High Court associated with the. I had asked how they wanted to be represented on my shrine; let it never be said that the fae don't have a sense of humor!  The candle I used (and will continue using) for the Pleiades Cycle is on top of a box of trinkets and jewelry which has been the center point of my fairy shrine for most of the past decade.  The rose candle is for the Queen of my immediate local area, and the two large candles are for the Monarchs of Spring and Autumn of the High Court associated with the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

In my last blog about the Strife-Storm, I mentioned battles, and those are ongoing but either less frequent, or I am less frequently aware of my part in them, which is more of a relief than anything else.  Waking up feeling drained, tired, and sore with bruises I don't remember having is one thing; getting flashbacks of battlefield carnage I never saw with my physical eyes is quite another, and I'd very much prefer the first.  But in general things seem to be more at an uneasy standstill by me.  I heard reports of weirdness elsewhere during the last solar eclipse, which I suppose makes a certain amount of sense, as the forces my allies are fighting against seem to be held at bay by solar energy. I do not know what to expect in the coming dark season, but it's always best to be prepared.  And that's really what this week ended up being, for me: a time to contemplate the work of the summer, and to prepare for the work of the winter.

 

  1. Look, we can debate terminology and theology later in the comments if you like.  But people pray to her and she answers, and that's goddess enough for me.
  2. You quit the Gentry just about the same way you quit the Mafia, which is to say: you're in for life (and in the case of the Gentry, potentially after death too: word to the wise).  
  3. Here using the loose meaning of the word "court": just a group of some vague cohesion.

Ritual for the Way Opening – My Experience

This past week, I did one of the rituals from Morgan Daimler's fairy faith Pleiades Cycle - and I did the whole thing outside for the first time.  It wasn't intense (though some other people have had intense experiences with this same ritual), but it felt right in a way that's a little hard to explain.

In preparation, I baked two loaves of spiced honey apple bread (which is basically a gf muffin mix with honey and buttermilk in it, and then previously prepared-and-frozen apple slices dredged in those same spices and honey put on top to bake; simple, but tasty); one for offering and one for my family.  I made silvered water for my compass casting, and picked up a candle a friend made that has been sitting unused on a shelf, poured the last of my homemade violet liqueur into a smaller bottle, and got out my last stick of poppy-scented incense.

I set up my ritual space at my fire pit, including such mundane necessities as a chair, a lighter, and a bucket of water (fire safety, y'all!).  I used a round log slice as my altar for the first part of the ritual, and then burned it during the second.  The first part pretty much followed what is in Daimler's book, though I used the song I wrote last year instead of those prayers as written:

  1. Anti-sunwise compass casting, beginning and ending in the East (where the Pleiades were to rise)
  2. Lighting the candle and inviting the Gentry to join me (singing the first two stanzas of the song)
  3. Singing the next three stanzas, which narrate the mythology of the holiday
  4. Uncovering/pouring offerings and lighting the incense, moving these to the eastern side of the fire pit
  5. Singing the last two stanzas, which invite the Fairy Rade to take refreshment and bless us in return

And then I lit the log and meditated on the flame and smoke as dusk became full dark.  I did not stay until I saw the Pleiades, because between the clouds, the close treeline, and the light pollution in that direction it would have needed to be close to midnight before I would have seen them. But I did pull a card from my personal oracle deck to ask if the ritual had accomplished what it needed to, a little after the Pleiades could have been seen over a clear horizon, and got "The Sun", which is a resounding "yes", so at that point I took my omen for the night, then undid my circle and went inside.

Like I said at the beginning, it wasn't an intense experience, though at one point when the smoke blew an anticlockwise spiral in my face and parted around me I could briefly feel the reverberation of thundering hoofbeats going by at a fast pace. (I'm not a horse girl so I don't know canter or gallop or what, just fast.)  Mostly it just felt... right. I sat out there, in my suburban backyard, and watched the light fade, heard the birdsong die out, the songs of the crickets and katydids rise and then settle.  I watched the flames turn into strange striped flags of red and orange and blue, I watched the smoke continually spiral anticlockwise, and I leaned back and looked up at the few stars I could see.  And it was peaceful.  And I felt aligned in both myself and my spirituality.  And I'm definitely going to do the next one outside, too.

I do have a couple of thoughts for next time, though - I think I'll start a little later than I did, which was only a few minutes after sunset, when there was still a lot of traffic and human noise.  I also think I'll write a compass casting and uncasting charm also to the tune of the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, to match.  And I think I may want a set water-silvering prayer, and not do it extemporaneously like I did.  But mostly I just want to do it again in November!

Mystic South 2023

This year I was presenting a workshop on four Irish Fairy Queens I titled “Into the Hollow Hills”. Like last year, this year my workshop was in the first block on Friday, and also like last year I did not expect very many people… and was proven wrong! I ran out of handouts, which is always a good position to be in! I think it went pretty well, though this was the first time I’d run through the entire thing with an actual audience, and it ended up taking a bit longer than I expected, so I skimmed some of the additional material after I covered the four main fairy queens. I basically only included information on other fairy monarchs if they had a connection to one of my main four: Úna, Áine, Clíodhna, and Fand. Fand is not necessarily known as a folkloric fairy queen, but she has shown up in that role in my own life for a long time, and she is the wife of a very well known fairy king (Manannan Mac Lir), and I thought it would be best to include her with those caveats. (Aoibheall I approached to see if she would like to be included but she demurred, so I only mentioned her briefly. I would not have chosen to exclude a fairy queen known as Clíodhna’s sister and rival, otherwise! I wouldn’t want to have my firstborn cursed to prick their finger on a spindle.) Then I covered some basic safety rules for the journey, and led a guided journey to a liminal place between our world and the world of Fairy, and brought everyone back right as the block ended, though I stuck around a little to chat with folks for a bit!

Meeting people finally in person is really one of the highlights of Pagan events for me, and I got to meet a couple of people I’d only known online again this year, and got to spend more time with the ever-amazing Daniela Simina (who has two books coming out next year, and I am finally the proud owner of a signed copy of her first book)! I also went to a bunch of really great workshops, both by people I hadn’t heard of before, and people whose work I’ve admired for a long time.

In that second category, Llevin and Gwen Ithon were back and teaching several workshops, and I went to most of them! The class on “Raising Bairns” was taught by Gwen and their (adult) daughter Aurelie, and was a really good look at how to raise kids within a pagan/magical culture without indoctrinating them into a specific tradition. Instead, Gwen and Llevin emphasized the philosophy and core values of their culture and traditions, taught their children some basic skills (grounding, centering, cleansing, etc) and involved them in the home practice (rituals to the household gods, prayers said when lighting a fire, etc). Gwen and Aurelie both emphasized that their culture believes that if one family continues only in one magical society or tradition, it stagnates; having generations each find their own preferred way to practice keeps things fresh and invigorated and breathes life into the practices. They also talked a bit about rites of passage. Then Llevin and Gwen together taught “Soul Burden”, about releasing illness and negativity from the spirit body. It included an esoteric discussion of how souls and reincarnation are viewed in their tradition, and a few examples of healing modalities, including one using a bowl of silvered water that I’m going to have to try for myself! I also took their class on fairies, called “Conjured by Candlelight” and though it took a more ceremonial bent than my practice, there was a lot of valuable information, and some streams of continuity for me that I’m going to be chewing on for a while.

I also went to Daniela’s paper presentation on fairies, specifically on “Apotropaic and Propitiatory Elements in Home Design”, which was full of great information, and even better pictures! I love hearing Daniela present, because our paths are so similar, and while I did already know a lot of the information, I also learned some new things! And in any case I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it; I always try to go to my friends’ workshops! I went to Debra Burris’s workshop “An Eclipse is Coming!” for the same reason, but by about ten minutes in I had caught the hype bug. That workshop was a fun mix of science, mythology, and folk practice, and I’m really glad I went. The only other person I really knew who was teaching was John Beckett, and alas the class I most wanted to take was scheduled in the same block as mine, so I’ll have to grab notes from someone!

Of the people I had never taken a class from before, I think Nathan Hall’s workshop “Hedgeriding: Experiencing the Liminal between Animism and Witchcraft” aligned the most with my own philosophies (if not quite with the specifics of my practice). He talked about how it’s not re-enchantment of the world around us, it’s ourselves that we need to reenchant, and I could not agree more. And as for rewilding, that, too, is necessary to internalize: “What can you do today,” he asked, “to make yourself 10% more feral?” The last part of the workshop was a guided meditation to meet local land spirits, and it went a little sideways for me (I got the Fair Folk first instead, which shocks no one), but I did end up having a powerful experience with the local river. I liked the workshop so much I bought his book!

I went to three classes about plants, two by Anastasha Verde and one by Ivy Laine. Anastasha’s first one was “Sacred Botany, Sacred Grief” and it focused on ecological grief and presented an overview of pagan rituals she’d found that were meant to address that. It definitely got my ritualist brain wheels turning! Her second one was on “Rewilding Your Practice with Bioregional Animism” which I am ALL ABOUT, and it was great to have an open discussion about the Appalachian and Piedmont regions. She also emphasized knowing your local watershed, which is particularly important to me. I came away from that one with a lot of good ideas. Ivy’s workshop was “Beautiful but Dangerous”, on poison plant allies of Appalachia, and it had a lot of good information. I learned a lot, and got to finally ask someone what I might use Carolina Horsenettle for. I’ve been wondering about it since that plant popped up in my yard two years ago, and while I’ve been trying to get to know the plant spirit, I’ve not found much folklore on it, but Ivy (and others) agreed that generally you’d use it the same way you might use bittersweet nightshade — that is to say, as a a slightly less malefic substitute for belladonna.

All in all, it was an amazing conference (as always), and I can’t wait until next year!

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Song for the Returning

Last fall, I shared two poems/songs/prayers I called “Song for the Way Opening” and “Song for the Winter Rade” after getting a message from some of my allies that I should be celebrating the movements of the Pleiades more intentionally. Last month, I shared one more, the “Song for the Darkening”. And now, like the others, I’ve reworked Morgan Daimler’s prayer for the Returning of the Queens into a song to the tune of the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer.

The first two stanzas of the song are the same, and the last two stanzas are as well, except for the two seasonal words in the last line, and the end of the third line changed to rhyme properly.

Song for the Returning

I call to all you goodly wights,
My kin and friends whoe’er shall be.
All you who’d be my allies true,
And come and walk this path with me.

I call to all the Queens and Kings,
Monarchs and Sov’reigns, all gentry near —
If you would celebrate with me
’Tis time to come and join me here.

Today the Queens have their return,
Their constellation back in the sky,
As their stars move from day to night,
We look above us with raptured eye

The Seven Queens they rise up first,
And then behind them the Hunter’s light —
For he is their great Guardian,
And he’ll defend them with his might.

The bright blue fire of Seven Queens,
A blazing beacon ere morning dawn,
It shows us they are with us still,
And thus the cycle goes on and on.

As they ride past, may we be blessed,
With token or with smile or nod,
And may they take our offerings,
As their refreshment while they’re abroad.

A good word to the Fairy Rade,
And may you never do us harm!
Ride out along the fairy roads,
Bringing with you Summer’s warmth.

I’ve also pulled another omen to share: one rune and one ogham fid, to symbolize the two groups of fairy folk with whom I work most closely. I pulled Jera, and Quert. Jera is a rune of time and cycles, and sometimes a year completed. A fitting omen, I think, for the last song in the cycle; a reminder that the cycle goes on and ever on. Quert is an ogham fid traditionally associated with the apple tree, and my kenning for it is “Queer Wit”. This is the fid I most associate with the phrase “dead, mad, or a poet” — a calling to go deeper with our own practices in this next cycle, or perhaps a prediction that we will end up in deeper, whether we will it or no.

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Fairy Witching in Connecticut

My packing list for the Morrigan’s Call Retreat, among the usual camping and witching bits and bobs, also included a completely metal-free drinking vessel that could lock shut and stay shut tossed around in a bag. So I brought that I bought shortly before the trip, because I was gently reminded by some of my allies that all of my usual travel mugs were stainless steel! I was not about to spend a whole weekend without tea, and I needed the ability to share it in case that was requested – a lot of spirits appreciate a small pour of your beverage, the Fair Folk included. It’s also better for me – if I’m in too close contact with Otherworldly beings averse to iron, touching it can cause sudden painful grounding. Which is why I also tend to travel with some titanium-coated tableware! It’s a thin layer but it seems to be enough to blunt the effect, at least for me. Though at this retreat, the tableware was mostly plastic so that was a non-issue.

In addition, I made sure to pack a variety of offerings so that I’d have something suitable for the local Fair Folk when I arrived and did my check in. I brought mead and whiskey and honey candies this time, as I didn’t really have a way to keep any dairy products cool, nor did I have the time to make baked goods. I usually have to “check in at customs & immigration” whenever I’m in a new area, especially if I’m spending the night or planning to do any magic or ritual, and that check-in always requires at least a gift and a formal introduction, including an explanation of my relationship to the fairy court I serve. But in order to introduce myself, first I have to find a suitable place!

My general approach to finding the Fair Folk in a new place is to send out a sort of notice of intent, and then to wander about with no particular destination in mind, just letting myself move where I feel drawn to, and trying to observe the area around me very deeply. Often I find myself feeling like I’m being led by a bird or insect, and then as I follow, I find a place that feels otherworldly. I stop, and open my subtle senses, and reach out, to see if this is what I sought. If it is, I then inquire about preferred offerings, and give those and do my introduction. Usually I also ask for a name for their group that I can use to identify them, and ask what type of being they are (or are closest to) so that I have a general idea of their likes, dislikes, and expectations. After that I’m free to do what magic I see fit, so long as it doesn’t interfere with or harm the Locals in any way – I strive for peace between their Folk and mine.

In these wanderings, I’ve been building a sort of network of friendly-inclined groups, with my understanding of (or best guess about) their territorial boundaries. In my home region, I’ve been finding that a lot of the territories seem to be tied to watersheds: the Chesapeake Bay watershed being something like a High Court, with the smaller streams being smaller territories, and the rivers being a sort of in-between space, belonging to the river deities themselves and home to all the indigenous spirit beings of that river’s watershed. This kind of overlap confused me at first, but then again – the Otherworlds and Spirit Worlds are plural, so maybe it makes sense that they’d be enmeshed and yet distinct.

This network-building, particularly within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, is a huge part of my personal practice, but it’s hard to talk about openly. Both because it’s Very Woo and unsubstantiated UPG, and because there’s a lot of stuff I’m just plain forbidden to share! But I’ve been trying to share more of what isn’t explicitly forbidden, in what will hopefully become a semi regular blog series!

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The Morrigan’s Call Retreat 2023

This past weekend, I attended the Morrigan’s Call Retreat in person for the first time. (Blog followers with a keen memory may remember that I had a presentation slated for the 2020 retreat, but that one ended up being virtual, for good reason!) It was also the first time I’d ever really been to New England (at least I assume Manhattan doesn’t count?), and the first time I ever met Morgan Daimler in person, so it was a weekend of firsts in a lot of ways, for me.

I had two presentations, and I’ll be uploading the notes from those to my Patreon for supporters as soon as I manage to find the time to finish editing them (but my time is a bit constrained now that my child is out of school for the summer, so patience is appreciated!) Anyone who was at the retreat but didn’t make my workshop is also welcome to email me to ask for the handouts or notes for either “Working with Deities of Battle” or “When the Morrigan Goes Quiet”.

I hadn’t been sure how I was going to get to the retreat itself as I don’t drive, but I trusted in Na Morrigna and it worked out — one of my sorta-local friends was also going and we rode up together, which was a really nice way to start the weekend. (Getting stuck on the train between DC and Baltimore was less nice, but all’s well that ends well.) We arrived on Friday during orientation, but the nice folks at registration and the regulars we ran into at lunch all helped us get oriented properly. I also first ran into Morgan at lunch, and met the whole crew in one pass! I got unpacked and prepped for my first workshop, “Deities of Battle”, made my introductions to the local Fair Folk, and then wandered over to the pavilion.

Way more people showed up than I expected, and it turned out that I hadn’t brought enough handouts. Whoops! People were pretty accommodating, though, sharing with neighbors and taking pictures on their phones, and I handed out a lot of business cards for folks to email me afterwards. It seemed to go over pretty well – even when I took a Deep Dive into UPG with a side dish of Extreme Woo, including the discussion of the Otherworldly War I mentioned here previously. I was really nervous about its reception, but when I later walked in on a conversation on how to use some of the types of battle sorcery I’d mentioned against A Certain Florida Man currently playing at Governator, I knew I’d found my people. Na Morrigna might not pick political parties, but They do stand for sovereignty, and right relationship, and I find most devotees take a stand against oppression and bigotry. After dinner I went to the first ritual, despite feeling a bit like my energies were tapped out. (Shout out to a tylwyth teg ally of mine for helping me actually stay upright through that!) It was pretty good, but I was focused a little too much on staying upright to get much of anything out of it. And, to my extreme disgrace, my attempt to turn off my phone earlier had apparently not taken — it was still on the “shut down or restart?” screen when the alarm went off at the very end of the ritual. Not the best omen! At least it was a pretty tinkly musical alarm and not blaring beeps…

On Saturday, I went to Morgan Daimler’s workshop “Offerings 101” and then Sionnain McLean’s workshop on “Spiritual Self-Care” and thoroughly enjoyed both. Morgan’s was a little oriented towards beginners but also had some fun anecdotes and a few things I hadn’t thought of. I think Sionnain’s flowed nicely into mine, on the topic of fallow times, and there were certainly some common themes. That workshop I’ve done a couple times before, and it opened up nicely into a discussion and sharing session where attendees were addressing each other and it really felt like we were building community. After lunch I went to “Pagan Priest/ess Work” also by Morgan, and got some great advice and also a little bit of validation for my own path, which is more spirit-focused than human-community-focused, though I still do work for the human community around me. Then my friend Katie and I just… stayed. We talked to Morgan and Mel for probably the next two hours, missing the ritual and instead going in deeply into some personal practice stuff and also veering into the weeds on a fair few other topics! It was probably more what I needed — sitting still, for one, as my spoons still weren’t quite full.

There had been a Kindred Crow concert planned for that night, but with Caine in the hospital and Irene deep in grief, that was not to be. (I share the grief, but our friend was not so central to my life, nor I so central to hers, though I miss her sorely and will be at the memorial service tomorrow.) I did attend the bonfire circle that night, though, and so was there to witness and take part in a raising of energy for the members of Kindred Crow, and managed to capture a small clip of it to send on. I also managed to finally connect with the land deeply that evening, and received a profoundly personal message — including the awareness that I was about an hour too far west to be on the land of my indigenous ancestors.

The next day, partly because of my intense experience leading to not-great sleep (and the suddenly chilly weather didn’t help) and partly just due to my energy expenditure, I spent most of the day just chatting with folks in the dining hall. I was a little disappointed at not feeling up to the ritual and workshops, but I wanted to be able to make it back to my friend’s house without fainting and that was already a tall ask. It was nice to connect with folks, though, and I managed to bond with people over my chronic illness, and over butterfly raising!

When we left, my friend graciously agreed to take me an hour east for me to greet the land my ancestors lived on when the first colonists arrived, and that was a complicated and powerful experience — one that I will probably be processing for a while. It is enough to say here: I was recognized, even as diluted and as distanced as I am. In so many ways, the Morrigan’s Call Retreat was a homecoming for me.

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Fairy Witching Update!

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.

 

 

Close up of the young tree with a few large white blossoms

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.

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Song for the Darkening

Last fall, I shared two poems/songs/prayers I called “Song for the Way Opening” and “Song for the Winter Rade” after getting a message from some of my allies that I should be celebrating the movements of the Pleiades more intentionally. So one thing led to another and the prayer Daimler gave for the Way Opening sort of spontaneously transposed itself into a ballad to the tune of Thomas the Rhymer, and then I reworked the prayer for the Winter Rade more intentionally, and now here’s the Song for the Darkening, which I’ll be celebrating during the day tomorrow.

The first two stanzas of the song are the same, and the last two stanzas are as well, except for the two seasonal words in the last line, and the end of the third line changed to rhyme properly.

Song for the Darkening

I call to all you goodly wights,
My kin and friends whoe’er shall be.
All you who’d be my allies true,
And come and walk this path with me.

I call to all the Queens and Kings,
Monarchs and Sov’reigns, all gentry near —
If you would celebrate with me
Tis time to come and join me here.

Today the Queens leave the night sky,
To trade the dark for the light of day;
Now Seven Queens their own paths tread
As each will travel her own way.

Their powers burn as bright as fire —
So bright together as apart —
But in our world, the sun’s hot rays
Outshine their stars and they depart.

The Queens ride out for weal and woe;
The gates are open, holding wide.
Each Queen has errands to complete
Before the stars again are spied.

As they ride past, may we be blessed,
With token or with smile or nod,
And may they take our offerings,
As their refreshment while they’re abroad.

A good word to the Fairy Rade,
And may you never do us harm!
Ride out along the fairy roads,
Bringing with you Summer’s warmth.

I’ve also pulled another omen to share: one rune and one ogham fid, to symbolize the two groups of fairy folk with whom I work most closely. I pulled Algiz, which is a rune of protection and defensive actions, and Straif, associated with the Blackthorn, and for which my kenning is “Strengthening Changes”. I also associate Straif with magical workings of an active defense type, such as banishing, cord cutting, and return-to-sender workings. Taken together, it’s a warning to be careful, and to stay vigilant – don’t hesitate to protect yourselves! It seems like we might be seeing an upswing in activity that continues rising, instead of ebbing as we round the corner on this Bealtaine season.

Open post

The Less Mystical Side of Fairy Witching

The last couple of posts I’ve made about my work with the Fair Folk have been pretty woo, so I thought I’d share another anecdote that’s decidedly more… mundane.

It’s spring now by most people’s reckoning (though I personally tend to see the equinoxes as the midpoints of their respective seasons), and as I write this it certainly feels like it, too – 65 and sunny and breezy. Which means I now need to fulfill a promise I made last year to my local Fairy Queen.

When we moved to our current house at the very beginning of the pandemic (no joke, our closing was three days before the governor shut the state down), there was a flowering cherry tree in the front yard that was clearly on the wane. Some of the branches were dead and there was a hole in the trunk that revealed rotten wood inside. Still, that spring, it flowered. And again, in 2021. And again, in 2022. We trimmed away some of the dead branches, and tried to prune it gently each year, but when it failed to put out a full crown of leaves last spring, we got a notice from the HOA – dead trees weren’t allowed, particularly not in front yards, and it would need to be cut down asap. I had hoped we’d be able to let the tree die gracefully over a winter, but despite the few leaves it did have, there was no convincing the HOA it was still “alive enough” so we conceded.

The poor little stump, all that is left of the tree we had to take down

As I usually do when I have to make major changes to my yard, I explained what had transpired to both the land spirits and our local fae — and was met with disapproval. I understood — I didn’t really like it, either — but caught between the two powers, I attempted to negotiate a fine price for the tree, instead. I was told I would need to replace the tree the following spring, before a year and a day had gone by, and that it would need to be a tree that bore both flowers and fruits, and should be in the Rose family, as wild roses are the symbol of my Local Queen.

So this week’s fairy witching task was calling several local tree nurseries and garden centers to find one that has something like a crabapple or wild cherry or upright serviceberry, that will plant it for us, and has some kind of guarantee to replace the tree if it dies… that fits my somewhat small budget. And once I do, I’ll need to schedule the tree to be planted before the beginning of June.

I think I’ve decided which nursery, I just want to go in to select the tree (likely a crabapple), and then I think they should be able to schedule the planting sometime before Bealtaine, which would be ideal! And then the lonesome stump in the front yard will have a friend, and hopefully the Fair Folk won’t blight my vegetable garden.

But yeah, word to the wise… these connections and agreements do have measurable effects on my personal mundane life as well. So keep that in mind, if you’re interested in doing this work.

Open post

Suggestions for Protection During Otherworldly High Tides

This blog is a sort of sequel to my last one, because while Irene Glasse covered how to fight for Hope in the human world better than I could, when Morgan Daimler wrote about their own experiences with the Otherworldly War, they included some advice their Folk had given them regarding protection, and I realized I hadn’t touched on that at all! Oops!

Morgan wrote:

For my own part my Other have strongly emphasized the power of solar symbols and things like gold, amber, red stones, for protection. They have repeatedly encouraged heavy duty cleansing of a spiritual nature and to stay on guard against unseen spirit dangers.

And while I can’t now recall if I first heard the solar advice from them or from Seo Helrune, it’s definitely something I’ve since incorporated into my protection work, particularly last summer after I got elf-shot and ended up with Covid. But I’ll come back to that. First, let’s talk about generally recommended apotropaic items and substances (the word “apotropaic” means “able to avert evil influence and bad luck”) and how spirit relationships can help protect you. Ha, people who read my series on home protection are not surprised to see that second part, I’m sure! This blog is also sort of a sequel to that, but focused on personal protection, instead.

First the big three: Iron, Salt, and Fire. These are traditional, they’re fairly cross-cultural though fire is by far more universal as it’s been used around the globe. Iron is considered the best protection against fairies in Irish lore, and you’ll see the term “cold iron” sometimes with a variety of explanations as to what that means, but really it’s just an old way of saying “cold steel” which is nowadays a gun but really just means “a weapon made of steel”. So “cold iron” is just any sharp thing made of iron or steel. I do find that stainless steel blades work just fine, but in my personal experience there seems to be something a bit more potent in something made by hand. I have a collection of hand-forged nails — which are pointy enough to be a deterrent but not obviously-a-weapon enough to be offensive to my Locals if they’re kept in my bag — that I can use to set up a circle or barrier if needed, and my spouse has a ritual knife we bought from an artisan blacksmith made out of a railroad tie. My favorite example of fire as a purification and protection is probably the traditions of driving cattle through a fire or between two fires to protect from disease and enchantment, but most people are familiar with the uses of salt and fire, and there’s a ton of information out there on them, so I’m sort of going to just leave it there and move on instead of repeating what other people have explained more in depth.

Other common materials include: silver, certain crystals, hagstones, and protective and purifying plants. Silver is of course well known from pop-culture, being effective against werewolves, some vampires, and a host of other movie and video game monsters. Depending on whom you ask, it is associated with either moonlight or starlight as well, and on a scientific level, silver has some antimicrobial properties. Personally, silver is one of the materials I used to always reach for first, because I also find that it works well with my personal magic style. Again depending on whom you ask, there are dozens of protective crystals and semi-precious gemstones, and I don’t have space to really talk about all of them in depth here, but a few of my favorites are: obsidian, black tourmaline, tiger’s eye/tiger iron, and hematite (although that’s easier to find if you look for lab-grown, and I don’t find there to be much of a difference magically, as most of the stones I find are a little disoriented from being dug up and transported around the world anyhow). Hagstones (also called “holey stones”) are any type of stone with a natural hole formation going all the way through — these are commonly found on beaches and riverbanks (though you shouldn’t take them from anywhere it’s not permitted, like a national park), but they can also be purchased online. They’ve got a long history of lore in Ireland and Britain, and again I’m going to suggest you go read about that elsewhere as I’m trying to be brief! There is again a huge possible list of plants, but I tend to use plants that are known for being both protective and purifying, like mugwort and juniper. Generally I burn them and use the smoke, but I’ve also made oil infusions and tinctures and water-based sprays, depending on what I’m doing. When I’m settling into a new house, I like to clean the windows with a water and vinegar based spray that has a little sea salt and an herb sprig in it, just to cover my bases. Some plants are said to be both used by witches/fairies and also to protect against baneful magic when they’re prepared a certain way, like rowan twig crosses made with red thread, which are said to ward off the Fair Folk.

Similar to the rowan crosses, there are also apotropaic items that get their power from their form and not the material they are made from. Some examples of these are the nazar (also known as the “evil eye”, which is commonly seen as jewelry), Pennsylvania Dutch barn hex signs, and blessed religious jewelry (such as Catholic saint medallions). We pagans can of course make our own amulets and blessed jewelry with the imagery of our own faith(s).

However — and here’s the point at which we move back into the Otherworldly Tides discussion and UPG-land — some of these seem not to work well against the unhael newcomers. Which is where the solar suggestions come in. Instead of iron or silver, think gold (especially yellow gold). Use solar-aligned gemstones and minerals like rutile quartz, amber, carnelian, and pyrite. For solar-aligned plants, think yellow or orange flowers or anything heliotropic, or look for solar plants in Culpeper’s Herbal (Project Gutenberg version available here) or other magical herb books. I suggest starting with angelica, St John’s wort, bay laurel, rue, sunflowers, or marigolds. I’ve acquired a few gold-plated sun charms, like might be used as pendants for necklaces, or on charm bracelets, and that’s an inexpensive way to acquire a little gold jewelry to bless or enchant into an amulet. I think it might work even better on a gold-plated chain, and if a charm of the sun isn’t really your aesthetic, consider sunflowers or bees instead.

Alas, I have a lot of metal sensitivities, and I can’t usually wear gold unless it’s very low carat white gold because that’s usually blended with one of the metals I can tolerate: rhodium. But that’s not solar-aligned, and neither is copper, so I went off to look for more solar help and ended up reading notes on some old alchemical correspondences, and as it turns out Platinum was thought to be a combination of gold and silver back then and was therefore associated with both the sun and the moon! So I went looking for a (relatively) inexpensive platinum plated chain, and I found one, bought it, enchanted it into a shield, and started doing experiments. I wore it while wandering around in the Otherworlds and when I was called on to do some guardian work and when I ran into some unhael beings, and while I can’t say if it’ll work well for anyone else, it worked really well for me! Gold doesn’t work well with my magic, either (which may or may not be related to my metal sensitivity) but platinum worked just as well for me as silver does, which was very exciting. And while I was doing the guardian work one of the times I got elf-shot at again and that time — instead of piercing all my shielding, making me nearly faint and have convulsions, and leaving me vulnerable to Covid — the arrow itself got lodged in the platinum necklace where it was easy for me to remove and repair the enchantment. It seemed like it was drawn there almost magnetically, and I was pretty amazed!

And then the last part — if you find yourself getting drawn into the Otherworldly part of this Great War, I really think the best way to protect yourself is to throw your lot in with allies who are also fighting and who are willing to protect you. (If you can stay out of it, though, do that!) I mentioned in the first blog that I’ve been drawn in through relationships with my Local Fair Folk, and despite that I still think I’d prefer to have those relationships rather than not. It’s no walk in the park, but trucking with the Fair Folk rarely is. There are sublime moments, but there’s also a lot of difficulty. I tend to give the same warning about this kind of work as I gave above: if you’re not being drawn in, stay out! That’s easier and safer, if you have a choice. I didn’t really have a choice (or rather, the choice was to look into paganism and witchcraft in the first place, and then I believe all roads would have inevitably led here) so I’m making the best of the hand I was dealt.

Hopefully some of the above suggestions will work for ya’ll, and I hope everyone manages to stay safe out there, even when the tides of the Otherworldly War are rising to new levels and spilling over the bulwarks and into our neighborhoods and daily lives.

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