According to the fairy lore provenient from several European cultures, fairies – by whatever name they go- are best when left alone. To this day, people in Ireland caution against disturbing fairy mounds and fairy trees. Actively seeking fairies is not only discouraged, but regarded as very unwise. In Romania, as well as other countries in the Central and Eastern Europe, fairies are presented with offerings on different occasions outside of which people do not seek to engage with them in any form. From culture to culture, fairies show various degrees of hostility and friendliness toward humans, all of which is context bound.
Fairy witches, fairy doctors, fairy seers, known by different names and whose attributions vary slightly according to the culture they belong to, share one common denominator: they all work in partnership with fairies. This seems to contradict everything the cultures themselves recommend, namely, leaving fairies alone. It seems though that certain individuals are somehow called to develop working partnership with fairies. The tradition of fairy witches/doctors[1], once wide spread, has currently declined and it has been driven nearly to extinction. However, isolated cases of practitioners working in partnership with fairies are still to be found. For example, a Romanian community settled in Eastern Serbia, has active fairy seers[2]. In Ireland, Pat Noone[3], at Green Hills Farm in Co. Longford, talks about the fairy activity on his farm which has acquired a world wide reputation.
In modern times, barriers around spiritual beliefs have thinned, and people are more comfortable talking about various experiences they’ve had, including encounters and interactions with fairies[4],[5]. It seems that fairies themselves have began to show a vested interest in humans, to an extent previously unknown. This goes hand in hand with modern spiritual seekers’ desire to develop partnerships with fairies. For short, fairies associated with different pantheons and bodies of lore seek to connect with humans, while people from the most varied spiritual paths are actively seeking to connect with fairies both local and from pantheons outside one’s native culture.
While many express positive feelings and impressions following fairy interactions, others follow along the norms’ presented in the source material describing fairies as mainly dangerous, and – as previously mentioned- best left alone.
Positive or less so, sought after or steamrolling into one’s life regardless the human’s intent or desire, fairy interaction happens today as it always did, maybe nowadays being marked by a more pronounced willingness from people to encourage or actively seek such connection. In the modern world, similarly to the ages past, humans and fairy relationships take a wide variety of expressions. Regardless of form, degree of closeness, degree of casualness or structure, entertaining these relationships brings up one important question to consider: how does someone invite fairy partnership while still protecting against fairy beings who are less then fond of humans? Warding and shielding using materials which repel fairy presence will keep out all fairies, most likely including those that one wishes to partner up with. On the other hand, not warding against anything at all allows all kinds of energies and beings to gather around, including fairies or beings of other nature who are not necessarily friendly or goodly inclined.
Selective, filter-like protection measures seem to be the answer to this dilemma. I cannot speak for everyone, but I would like to share what is my own approach to selective protection. By selective protection I mean what I do not to allow and actively invite near me some among the fairies, while respectfully keeping away some other. I’ll emphasize that respectfully is a key word, and it applies to everything I do regarding fairies; this is how Grandma taught me to approach anything connected to them.
So, in practical terms:
-It was Grandma[6] who taught me to keep mugwort and basil under my pillow, and when doing so to intend for the energy of those plants to keep away anyone and anything inimical to me. In retrospect, I discern several layers to this kind of protection. Firstly, in Romanian lore, some fairies are averse to basil and mugwort while other are not. The ones known to be verse, are the unfriendly ones, while the ones who are not deterred by these herbs are know in the lore as friendly and goodly inclined toward people. With this in mind, I would suggest to anyone who seeks to use herbs for protection, to check out in the specific body of lore what is the relationship between fairies in that culture and the herbs intended to be used to protect. Second, I was not to simply dump a bunch of mugwort and basil on my bed and slam the pillow on top; the intention regarding whom to allow and who to keep away had to be clearly expressed. Also, I was told to give thanks to the plants themselves. These details made me realize that clearly stated intention is not only a powerful and very important component in setting up protections, but more like the crux of it.
-My main line of defense has always been my allies. I will compere here my personal allies to really close and trusted friends that I feel not only comfortable but outright happy to have around at any given time. Since very young, I developed such a relationship with a fairy woman whose true identity and power I only came to know much later in life. Back then, at some point, I did something really disrespectful toward her, and it came at a price. Years later, our relationship healed, and she is with me now as much as, if not even more than when I was a child. Our relationship is rather complicated, but she was, is, and will always be around to protect me. This has nothing to do with the anthropocentric view of fairies being guardians-on-duty to silly humans doing silly stuff: I have been tasked with work to carry on, by her and other members of the Other Crowd to whom I have various degrees of connections and closeness. In Fairy nothing is really for free, and I am not to take for granted the protection and friendship they offer.
To her and to the fairy king to whom I am connected, I make offerings regularly. Offerings consist of food and drinks presented weekly, and on special occasions I am adding poetry, music, or dance.
-While I leave offerings for the closest allies on the indoor altar, there is an outdoor space where I leave offerings for various Other whom I do acknowledge and respect, but do not have such close, intimate connection. Whenever I present their offerings, I explicitly welcome only those among the Other Crowd who are friendly and goodly inclined toward me and mine, and express gratitude for the protection they provide.
-I also strengthen my personal defenses by cultivating the connection to, and living in alignment with, the cycles of the seasons, solar and lunar cycles, and the Powers associated with these, the Fairy Gods.
- I am aware that different bodies of lore recommend iron as a protection against fairies in general, so, if someone does not want any fairy in their proximity, they are advised to use iron in various forms: knives, scissors, horseshoes – etc. But, if someone seeks to connect with fairies, then iron may undermine the purpose. Most of the fairies around my household and the close fairy allies that I and my family have, do not mind iron at all. However, I still prefer to use wood, ceramic, copper, and glass bowls to place food and drink offerings out of respect and caring for the Other Crowd, if nothing else. There may be places around one’s house or yard that demand special warding, and iron implements could be used on that isolated patch. As always, being specific is very important, so state clearly what is the extent of the warding and who is guarding against.
- Leaving offerings and setting up spaces especially for the fairies to enjoy are ways to invite them near. There are fairy flowers that make a space more appealing to the fairy people. In choosing how to render a space fairy-friendly, check the lore. Whenever possible go to the source material first, and see what flowers, herbs, trees, crystals, rocks have been recorded as ‘fairy-friendly’ within specific cultural frameworks. Then proceed from there.
I shall conclude that selective protections act as filters that allow some things to pass through, while retaining others. In forming fairy partnerships, the challenge to invite the fairies that one would like to partner with while staying safe from the intrusion of less then friendly entities. Combining defensive and propitiating elements into a synergistic approach, clearly expressed intent about who shall join and who shall not, being courteous, smart, and and cautious shall help.
Thank you for reading, and until the next time, the blessing of the Shiny Ones be with you.
Daniela
[1] An excellent article that details the functions of fairy witches, fairy doctors is Morgan Daimler’s paper “The Witch, the Bean Feasa, and the Fairy Doctor in Irish Culture”, available at https://www.academia.edu/17823067/The_Witch_the_Bean_Feasa_and_the_Fairy_Doctor_in_Irish_Culture
[2] Maria Vivod, “Fairy Seers from Eastern Serbia”, available at https://www.academia.edu/36940629/The_Fairy_Seers_of_Eastern_Serbia_Seeing_Fairies_Speaking_through_Trance?email_work_card=title
[3] Pat Noone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yci8WOlo7T0
[5] Sabina Magliocco, “The Taming of the Fae” available at https://www.academia.edu/40416801/The_Taming_of_the_Fae_Literary_and_Folkloric_Fairies_in_Modern_Paganisms_prepublication_copy
[6] My Grandmother was a fairy seer and, when I was a child, I apprenticed with her. The full story is in the book “A Fairy Path: The Memoirs of A Young Fairy Seer”, that will be released most likely toward the end of 2023.
