Kathryn Cranston October, 2009

Fairies and the Wild Hunt

There are many versions of the Wild Hunt, most originating among the Germanic peoples.  While the Scandinavian traditions and medieval stories of Woden, Berchta, Odin or others leading the Wild Hunt are of inestimable worth, for the purposes of this article I am going to concentrate on legends and ballads in which the hunters are from the realm of fairy.

In both Germanic and Celtic pagan belief systems, the souls of the dead are gathered up by the Wild Hunt in November.  For the Celtic peoples, this coincided with the appearance of the Pleiades.  In modern times, we celebrate this time of year as All Hallow’s Eve, All Hallows, Hallow E’en, Halloween, Last Harvest, Blood Harvest, Ancestor Night, or Feast of the Dead.  In Welsh, the night is Nos Calan Gaeaf and in Gaelic, it is Samhain.

At Samhain, the veil between the realm of fairy and the human realm, between the land of the dead and the living, thins and travel between the two becomes much easier, which greatly facilitates rescue or recovery of those stolen by the fae.  Three Scottish magical ballads have survived from the 13th century to instruct us in the dangers and rewards of performing such actions:  Tam Lin, Sir Orfeo, and Thomas the Rhymer.

I first heard the ballad Tam Lin, as sung by the lovely Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span, in 1975.  Since then, I have discovered many versions of the ballad, some nearly identical and some just barely recognizable with many somewhere in between.  However, when you take the time to compile a few of the different versions of the ballad, a cohesive story emerges (I will use the Steeleye Span version for illustrative purposes because of its simplicity of language):

The opening stanza expressly forbids virgin females of noble birth to enter Carterhaugh, an ancient forest, because of the forest’s guardian, an elven knight named Tam Lin.  This guardian is known to demand a fee for intruding in the forest, particularly the young woman’s green cloak (green being the color of fairy, the color of the forest and camouflage, and also the color of fertility, and cloaks being the most highly prized article of clothing as well as an indicator of status).  Fail to pay the knight’s toll and he will take the young woman’s maidenhood instead.

Oh, I forbid you maidens all
That wear gold in your hair.
To come or go by Carterhaugh
For young Tam Lin is there.

If you go by Carterhaugh
You must leave him a wad.
Either your rings or green mantle
Or else your maidenhead.

Despite the clear warning, the hero of the ballad, young Janet, dresses seductively and hurries off into the wood.  As soon as she plucks a rose (an easily identified symbol of romantic love), Tam Lin appears, as if summoned by magic.  He lays claim to the forest and challenges her right to be there without his permission.  Janet immediately lays claim to the forest for herself or on behalf of her father, and refuses to request his permission.  Since Janet has not paid the fee nor gained permission, Tam Lin takes her maidenhood.  There is much debate over where or not the sex was consensual.  Given Janet’s seductive and aggressive attitude, and her outright defiance of the warning, along with her subsequent actions, I have to conclude she must have anticipated, perhaps even sought, the outcome.

She’s away o’er gravel green
And o’er the gravel brown.
She’s away to Carterhaugh
To flower herself a gown.

She had not pulled a rosy rose
A rose but barely one.
When by came this brisk young man
Says, Lady let alone.

How dare you pull my rose, madam?
How dare you break my tree?
How dare you come to Carterhaugh
Without the leave of me?

Well may I pull the rose, she said
Well may I break the tree.
For Carterhaugh is my father’s
I’ll ask no leave of thee.

He’s taken her by the milk-white hand
And there he’s laid her down.
And there he asked no leave of her
As she lay on the ground.

Janet’s next words kick off the magical elements of the ballad, for Janet asks Tam Lin to tell her the truth about his origins.  Not only does she gain personal information about Tam Lin (which is essential to working magic), this is a break in Tam Lin’s cycle as the forest guardian.  Janet is the first person to express concern and interest in him, and indeed Janet is not content to be a Leannain Sith, or fairy leman, for she is in love with Tam Lin (as evidenced by her seductive dress, her fearlessness, the pulling of the rose, her challenge, and her willing sexual participation).  As it turns out, however, Tam Lin is not an elven knight.  He is a human male enchanted by the Fairy Queen, living in the fairy realm and acting under her compulsion.

Oh tell me, tell me, then she said
Oh tell me who art thee.
My name it is Tam Lin, he said
And this is my story.

As it fell out upon a day
A-hunting I did ride.
There came a wind out of the north
And pulled at me betide.

And drowsy, drowsy as I was
The sleep upon me fell.
The Queen of Fairies she was there
And took me to herself.

He tells Janet he fears the Fairy Queen plans to sacrifice him to pay her “tithe to Hell,” which must be paid every seven years.  He then instructs Janet in the methods necessary to free him from his doom, which can only she can do at a crossroad on Samhain when the fairy host rides forth on the Wild Hunt.  In medieval ages, the number seven appears quite frequently as a length of servitude or penalty.  The number may have been an important blending of pagan and Christian values:  the four seasons, four directions, or four elements combined with the Christian trinity.  By the 12th century, the Church was firmly entrenched in Scotland, but at least the extensive collection of saints contained a great many Gaels.  Thus, while the pagan beliefs and superstitions persisted, Christian ideas crept in inevitably, such as hell.  One could argue that fairies, being either immortal or so long-lived as to seem to be immortal, maintain their status through the transformative enactment of the death portion of the Wheel of Life.  By sacrificing one life every seven years, which life will return to the beginning of the Wheel, the rest of the fairy realm continues untouched.  Combining this argument with the knowledge that fairies are underground inhabitants, or “underworld” creatures, but not of the Christian creed and thus not inhabitants of Hell itself, it is easy to see how Christianity could twist the Fairy Queen into a position of debt to Satan in this ballad.

At the end of every seven years
They pay a tithe to hell.
And I’m so fair and full of flesh
I’m feared ’twill be myself.

Tonight it is good Halloween
The fairy court will ride.
And if you would your true love win
At Miles Cross, you must bide.

There is much disagreement among the various versions as to timing, but nearly all of the other ballads have Janet confronted by her family about her pregnancy.  What is most interesting about these segments is Janet’s refusal to name the father as someone in her father’s court or household, hinting that the father is unearthly.  With one exception, the confrontations are mild and the family does not act very concerned; nor does Janet herself.  In the one exception, a female relative counsels her to abort the child, and she does indeed return to the wood to pull the necessary herb.  However, it appears she does this only to get Tam Lin’s attention (as she did when she pulled the rose), at which point she questions his origins and the tale continues from there.

Janet hides at the crossroads of Miles Cross to await the passing of the fairy host on Samhain.  I cannot stress the importance of the crossroads enough. Crossroads and stiles draw or call to the dead on Samhain.  Crossroads are thresholds where worlds meet and are symbols of choice.  They are also sacred to ancient gods and goddesses, such as the Goddess Hecate, and many crossroads had small shrines to which passing travelers could make propitiatory offerings.  Janet also consecrates the crossroads deosil (albeit with holy water, another instance of Christian influence), enhancing the protection of the sacred space.  She lets pass the higher levels of fairy society until she sees Tam Lin riding a white horse (for purity), marked with a gold star on his forehead (as the ritual sacrifice).  She pulls him down and wraps her arms tightly around him as he had instructed her previously.

Gloomy was the night
And eerie was the way.
This Lady in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did go.

With the holy water in her hand
She cast the compass round.
At twelve o’clock the fairy court
Came riding o’er the mound.

First came by the black steed
And then came by the brown.
Then Tam Lin on the milk-white steed
With a gold star in his crown.

She’s pulled him down into her arms
And let the bridle fall.
The Queen of Fairies she cried out
Young Tam Lin is awa’.

Janet defiantly holds onto Tam Lin as the fairies turn him into forms designed to either frighten Janet or physically harm her.  In the final transformation, he is “a naked man” (is reborn as naked as a baby back into the mortal realm) and Janet hides him away in her camouflaging and fertile green cloak.  The significance of the “green mantle” from the second stanza now takes on even greater meaning.  Through action and will, i.e., magic (not prayer or priests, i.e., religion), Janet has won Tam Lin away from the Queen of Fairies.

They’ve shaped him in her arms
An adder or a snake.
She’s held him fast and feared him not
To be her earthly mate.

They’ve shaped him in her arms again
Fire burning bold.
She’s held him fast and feared him not
Till he was iron cold.

They’ve shaped him in her arms
To a wood black dog so wild.
She’s held him fast and feared him not
The father of her child.

They’ve shaped him in her arms at last
Into a naked man.
She’s wrapped him in the green mantle
And knew that she had him won.

This turn of events is not at all to the Queen of Fairy’s’ liking and she flings a series of curses at Tam Lin as she departs.  The first is that she would have given him a heart of stone so that he could never have loved (or been loved in return).  The second is that she would have given him eyes of wood so he would no longer have fairy sight (once granted fairy sight, it must be revoked before leaving the realm, or else one can spy on the fairies).  The third and last is that she would have sacrificed him earlier…if only she had known what was going to happen.  Her curses, however, are ineffectual and she has been bested.

The Queen of Fairies she cried out
Young Tam Lin is awa’.

Had I known, had I known, Tam Lin
Long before, Long before you came from home.
Had I known, I would have taken out your heart
And put in a heart of stone.

Had I known, had I known, Tam Lin
That a Lady, a Lady would steal thee.
Had I known, I would have taken out your eyes
And put in two from a tree.

Had I known, had I known, Tam Lin
That I would lose, that I would lose the day.
Had I known, I would have paid my tithe to hell
Before you’d been won away.

This analysis is but a small sampling of the wonderful symbolism and lessons that await us within the magical fairy ballads of old.  I am not alone in my admiration of the creativity of our ancestors in preserving their beliefs and customs through oral tradition; http://tam-lin.org/ is one website dedicated to the collection and study of the ballad of Tam Lin.

Bibliography and Works Cited/Recommended Reading:

W. Macneil Dixon, Thomas the Rhymer, James MacLehose and Sons, Glasglow (1911)

R.J. Stewart, The Underworld Initiation:  A Journey Towards Psychic Transformation, Mercury Publishing (1998)

Tags: faery, fairy, tam lin, the hunt

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Administrator September, 2009

Your Own Faery Garden

Faeries aren’t as cute and innocent as authors like Shakespeare has made them
out to be. Granted, there are good faeries but with the good, you always have
to expect the dark side ) If you believe and love faeries, then you may
want to attract them into your home at times other than Midsummer.  A good
way to attract faeries to you is to give them their own little garden.  It
doesn’t have to be elaborate (keep in mind they don’t like metals, iron,
etc.). As a matter of fact, a small container garden would do just fine.
Here’s a list of flowers that are said to attract them and why.

Foxglove - Name is derived from “Little Folks’ Glove”. They use the blossoms
for hats and boots
Campanile-they use for drinking vessels
Bleeding Hearts – they use to store faerie dust and other treasures
Tulips – are used as cradles for their young
Monkshood-are worn as helmets by faerie guards and knights
Lily of the Valley – it said their little bells rings when faeries are
singing
Ferns-make excellent privacy screens
Moss and thyme are favorites for bedding material.
Primroses–make the invisible visible. Eating them lets you see faeries. If
one touches a faerie rock with the correct number of primroses in a posy, the
way to faerieland and faerie gifts is made clear. The wrong number means
certain doom.
Ragwort-used as makeshift horses by the faerie.

Wild Thyme-part of a recipe for a brew to make one see the faeries. The tops
of the Wild Thyme must be gathered near the side of a faerie hill.
Cowslips-these are loved and protected by the faeries. They help one to find
hidden faerie gold.
Pansies-the flower that was used as a love potion by Oberon, a faerie king
thought to have been invented by Shakespeare.
Bluebell-one who hears a bluebell ring will soon die. A field of bluebells
is especially dangerous, as it is intricately interwoven with faerie
enchantments.
Clover-a four-leafed one may be used to break a faerie spell.
Hazel-Celtic legend says it is the receptacle of knowledge; the hazelnut is
a symbol of fertility in England.
Rowan-protects against bad spirits. Used in butter churns so that the butter
would not be overlooked by faeries. Bewitched horses may be controlled by a
rowan whip. Druids used rowan wood for fires with which they called up
spirits whom could be forced to answer questions when rowan berries were
spread over the flayed hides of bulls.

Fairy Ring Mushroom-marks the boundaries of faerie rings.

Plants and the Fae who are attracted to it:

Basil- The Fae of the Basil help us awaken greater discipline and devotion
Buttercup- This flower and its Faerie bring healing energies, They help us
rediscover our self worth
Carnation- Their energy is healing to the body, contact with them strengthens
the aura
Clover- The clover Faeries assist in finding love and fidelity
Daisy- The daisy is a favorite of Dryads (wood nymphs) The Faeries help
awaken creativity
Gardenia- This special Faerie stimulates feelings of peace, The Fae of this
flower are VERY protective towards children
Heather-The Fae of this flower are drawn to humans who are shy
Jasmine- These Fae love to invoke pleasant dreams, They have also been known
to help develop mental clarity
Lily- These Faeries help in the development of purity and humility
Rose- The Faerie of the rose can help in all aspects of love and fertility
Sage- They awaken a sense of wisdom in your life
Snapdragon- These bring humans great protection
Thyme- Thyme draws the wee Folk into your sleeping chambers

Some more flowers that Fae are attracted to:

Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Aster novi-belgii (New York aster)
Chrysanthemum maximum (shasta daisy)
Coreopsis grandiflora/verticillata (coreopsis)
Agastache occidentalis (western giant hyssop or horsemint)
Lavendula dentata (French lavender)
Rosemarinus officinalis (rosemary)
Thymus (thyme)
Buddleia alternifolia (fountain butterfly bush)
Buddleia davidii (orange-eye butterfly bush, summer lilac)
Potentilla fruitiosa (shrubby cinquefoil)
Petunia hybrida (common garden petunia)
Verbena (verbenas, vervains)
Scabiosa caucasica (pincushion flowers)
Cosmos bipinnatus (cosmos)
Zinnia elegans (common zinnia)

Light

Faeries also love light so putting many bright white flowers would also
welcome them into your little garden.

If you want to attract water spirtes
Incorporating the sound of water somehow (like a little fountain statue)
would definitely make them happy. And also, pay attention ) Work with them,
make them your allies. . .learn about the elemental realms and learn to work
with energy

Here’s a little ritual to make faerie allies:

Air Fairy– Nature: Cloud, Storm  Elemental: Slyph

The power of the eagle
the power of the storm
And the hand of valor
Which a blade well becomes~
Come now breath of Dana

The air fairy is easiset to make contact with during sunset, or on a foggy or
misty day. To connect with this ally means allowing time for cloud watching.
The air fairy is the sculptor of the imaginary world and will
reveal itself through the a cloud formation, in a thunder cloud or a
glittering glimpse from the corner of the eye. To call this ally, you must go
outside in an open space, turn 3 times in a deosil circle, each time throwing
up a handful of glitter into the air. On the completion of the third round,
lay down and say the chant above while looking at the clouds. The use of a
flute or whistle will help call the slyph. They love music and vibrations.
The whistle or flute will help you attune yourself with the air fairy. Once
an Air ally has been found, theirs is the energy of inspiration. They will
help free the mind by drawing you into the imaginary realm, floating you into
unfettered territory so the mind disengages the ego, and your inner
child can dance freely. You will know you have made an ally if you return
from your day dream feeling refreshed and inspired. Don’t forget to ask the
air fairy to identify themselves, providing instructions on how to further
communicate with it. It is also important to present their realm with a gift
(the glitter won’t work).
I would encourage leaving a decorated feather which is to be tossed in the
air and left behind for your new Ally.

Tags: fae, faeries, faery, fairies, fairy, garden

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Administrator August, 2009

A Faery Myth

The Wonderful  Tune

Maurice Connor  was the king, and that’s no small word, of all the pipers in Munster. He could play jig and planxty without end, and Ollistrum’s March, and the Eagle’s Whistle, and the Hen’s Concert, and odd tunes of every sort and kind. But he knew one, far more surprising than the rest, which had in it the power to set every thing dead or alive dancing.

In what way he learned it is beyond my knowledge, for he was mighty cautious about telling how he came by so wonderful a tune. At the very first note of that tune, the brogues began shaking upon the feet of all who heard it – old or young it mattered not -just as if their brogues had the ague; then the feet began going – going – going from under them, and at last up and away with them, dancing like mad ! – whisking here, there, and everywhere, like a straw in a storm – there was no halting while the music lasted !

Not a fair, nor a wedding, nor a patron in the seven parishes round, was counted worth the speaking of with out “blind Maurice and his pipes.” His mother, poor woman, used to lead him about from one place to another, just like a dog.

Down through Iveragh – a place that ought to be proud of itself for ‘t is Daniel O’Connell’s country – Maurice Connor and his mother were taking their rounds. Beyond all other places Iveragh is the place for stormy coast and steep mountains : as proper a spot it is as an in Ireland to get yourself drowned, or your neck broken on the land, should you prefer that. But, notwithstanding, in Ballinskellig bay there is a neat bit of ground, well fitted for diversion, and down from it, towards the water, is a clean smooth piece of strand – the dead image of a calm summer’s sea on a moonlight night, with just the curl of the small waves upon it.

Here it was that Maurice’s music had brought from all parts a great gathering of the young men and the young women – O the darlints ! – for ’twas not every day the strand of Trafraska was stirred up by the voice of a bagpipe. The dance began; and as pretty a rinkafadda it was as ever was danced. “Brave music,” said every body, “and well done,” when Maurice stopped.

“More power to your elbow, Maurice, and a fair wind in the bellows,” cried Paddy Dorman, a hump-backed dancing-master, who was there to keep order. ” ‘Tis a pity,” said he, ” if we ‘d let the piper run dry after such music; ‘t would be a disgrace to Iveragh, that didn’t come on it since the week of the three Sundays.” So, as well became him, for he was always a decent man, says he: “Did you drink, piper ?”

” I will, sir,” says Maurice, answering the question on the safe side, for you never yet knew piper or schoolmaster who refused his drink.

“What will you drink, Maurice?” says Paddy.

” I’m no ways particular,” says Maurice; “I drink any thing, and give God thanks, barring raw water: but if ’tis all the same to you, mister Dorman, may be you wouldn’t lend me the loan of a glass of whiskey.”

“I’ve no glass, Maurice,” said Paddy; ” I’ve only the bottle.”

“Let that be no hindrance,” answered Maurice; my mouth just holds a glass to the drop; often I’ve tried it, sure.”

So Paddy Dorman trusted him with the bottle – more fool was he; and, to his cost, he found that though Maurice’s mouth might not hold more than the glass at one time, yet, owing to the hole in his throat, it took many a filling.

“That was no bad whiskey neither,” says Maurice, handing back the empty bottle.

“By the holy frost, then !” says Paddy, ” ’tis but could comfort there’s in that bottle now; and ’tis your word we must take for the strength of the whiskey, for you’ve left us no sample to judge by :” and to be sure Maurice had not.

Now I need not tell any gentleman or lady with common understanding, that if he or she was to drink an honest bottle of whiskey at one pull, it is not at all the same thing as drinking a bottle of water; and in the whole course of my life, I never knew more than five men who could do so without being overtaken by the liquor. Of these Maurice Connor was not one, though he had a stiff head enough of his own – he was fairly tipsy.

Don’t think I blame him for it; ’tis often a good man’s case; but true is the word that says, “when liquor’s in sense is out;” and puff, at a breath, before you could say ” Lord, save us!” out he blasted his wonderful tune.

‘Twas really then beyond all belief or telling the dancing. Maurice himself could not keep quiet; staggering now on one leg, now on the other, and rolling about like a ship in a cross sea, trying to humour the tune. There was his mother too, moving her old bones as light as the youngest girl of them all: but her dancing, no, nor the dancing of all the rest, is not worthy the speaking about to the work that was going on down upon the strand.

Every inch of it covered with all manner of fish jumping and plunging about to the music, and every moment more and more would tumble in out of the water, charmed by the wonderful tune. Crabs of monstrous size spun round and round on one claw with the nimbleness of a dancing-master, and twirled and tossed their other claws about like limbs that did not belong to them. It was a sight surprising to behold.

But perhaps you may have heard of father Florence Conry, a Franciscan friar, and a great Irish poet; bolg an dana, as they used to call him – a wallet of poems. If you have not, he was as pleasant a man as one would wish to drink with of a hot summer’s day; and he has rhymed out all about the dancing fishes so neatly, that it would be a thousand pities not to give you his verses ; so here’s my hand at an upset of them into English:

The big seals in motion,
Like waves of the ocean
Or gouty feet prancing,
Came heading the gay fish,
Crabs, lobsters, and cray fish,
Determined on dancing.

The sweet sounds they follow’d,
The gasping cod swallow’d;
‘T was wonderful, really !
And turbot and flounder,
‘Mid fish that were rounder,
Just caper’d as gaily.

John-dories came tripping;
Dull hake by their skipping
To frisk it seem’d given;
Bright mackrel went springing,
like small rainbows winging
Their flight up to heaven.

The whiting and haddock
Left salt water paddock
This dance to be put in:
Where skate with flat faces
Edged out some odd plaices;
But soles kept their footing.

Sprats and herrings in powers
Of silvery showers
All number out-number’d.
And great ling so lengthy
Were there in such plenty
The shore was encumber’d.

The scollop and oyster
Their two shells did roister,
Like castanets fitting;
While limpets moved clearly,
And rocks very nearly
With laughter were splitting.

Never was such an ullabulloo in this world, before or since; ’twas as if heaven and earth were coming together; and all out of Maurice Connor’s wonderful tune !

In the height of all these doings, what should there be dancing among the outlandish set of fishes but a beautiful young woman – as beautiful as the dawn of day.  She had a cocked hat upon her head; from under it her long green hair – just the colour of the sea – fell down behind, without hinderance to her dancing. Her teeth were like rows of pearl; her lips for all the world looked like red coral; and she had an elegant gown, as white as the foam of the wave, with little rows of purple and red sea weeds settled out upon it: for you never yet saw a lady, under the water or over the water, who had not a good notion of dressing herself out.

Up she danced at last to Maurice, who was flinging his feet from under him as fast as hops – for nothing in this world could keep still while that tune of his was going on – and says she to him, chaunting it out with a voice as sweet as honey -

” I’m a Iady of honour
Who live in the sea;
Come down, Maurice Connor,
And be married to me.

“Sliver plates and gold dishes
You shall have, and shall be
The king of the fishes,
When you ‘re married to me.”

Drink was strong in Maurice’s head, and out he chaunted in return for her great civility. It is not every lady, may be, that would be after making such an offer to a blind piper; therefore ’twas only right in him to give her as good as she gave herself – so says Maurice,

I’m obliged to you, madam :
Off a gold dish or plate,
If a king, and I had ‘em,
I could dine in great state.

With your own father’s daughter
I’d be sure to agree;
But to drink the salt water
Wouldn’t do so with me ! ”

The lady looked at him quite amazed, and swinging her head from side to side like a great scholar, “Well,” says she, ” Maurice, if you’re not a poet, where is poetry to be found?”

In this way they kept on at it, framing high compliments; one answering the other, and their feet going with the music as fast as their tongues. All the fish kept dancing too: Maurice heard the clatter, and was afraid to stop playing lest it might be displeasing to the fish, and not knowing what so many of them may take it into their heads to do to him if they got vexed.

Well, the lady with the green hair kept on coaxing of Maurice with soft speeches, till at last she overpersuaded him to promise to marry her, and be king over the fishes, great and small. Maurice was well fitted to be their king, if they wanted one that could make them dance; and he surely would drink, barring the salt water, with any fish of them all.

When Maurice’s mother saw him, with that unnatural thing in the form of a green-haired lady as his guide, and he and she dancing down together so lovingly: to the water’s edge, through the thick of the fishes, she called out after him to stop and come back. “Oh then,” says she, “as if I was not widow enough before, there he is going away from me to be married to that scaly woman. And who knows but ’tis grandmother I may be to a hake or a cod – Lord help and pity me, but ’tis a mighty unnatural thing! – and may be ’tis boiling and eating my own grandchild I’ll be, with a bit of salt butter, and I not knowing it ! – Oh Maurice, Maurice, if there’s any love or nature left in you, come back to your own ould mother, who reared you like a decent Christian ! ”

Then the poor woman began to cry and ullagoane so finely that it would do any one good to hear her.

Maurice was not long getting to the rim of the water; there he kept playing and dancing on as if nothing was the matter, and a great thundering wave coming in towards him’ ready to swallow him up alive; but as he could not see it, he did not fear it. His mother it was who saw it plainly through the big tears that were rolling down her cheeks; and though she saw it, and her heart was aching as much as ever mother’s heart ached for a son, she kept dancing, dancing, all the time for the bare life of her. Certain it was she could not help it, for Maurice never stopped playing that wonderful tune of his.

He only turned the bothered ear to the sound of his mother’s voice, fearing it might put him out in his steps, and all the answer be made back was – “Whisht with you, mother – sure I’m going to be king over the fishes down in the sea, and for a token of luck, and a sign that I’m alive and well, I’ll send you in, every twelvemonth on this day, a piece of burned wood to Trafraska.”

Maurice had not the power to say a word more, for the strange lady with the green hair seeing the wave just upon them, covered him up with herself in a thing like a cloak with a big hood to it, and the wave curling over twice as high as their heads, burst upon the strand, with a rush and a roar that might be heard as far as Cape Clear.

That day twelvemonth the piece of burned wood came ashore in Trafraska., It was a queer thing for Maurice to think of sending all the way from the bottom of the sea. A gown or a pair of shoes would have been something like a present for his poor mother; but he had said it, and he kept his word. The bit of burned wood regularly came ashore on the appointed day for as good, ay, and better than a hundred years. The day is now forgotten, and may be that is the reason why people say how Maurice Connor has stopped sending the luck-token to his mother.

Poor woman, she did not live to get as much as one of them; for what through the loss of Maurice, and the fear of eating her own grandchildren, she died in three weeks after the dance – some say it was the fatigue that killed her, but whichever it was, Mrs. Connor was decently buried with her own people.

Seafaring men have often heard, off the coast of Kerry, on a still night, the sound of music coming up from the water; and some, who have had good ears, could plainly distinguish Maurice Connor’s voice singing these words to his pipes: -

Beautiful shore, with thy spreading strand,
Thy crystal water, and diamond sand;
Never would I have parted from thee
But for the sake of my fair lady. [a]

[a] This is almost a literal translation of a Rann in the well-known song of Deardra.

Source: Thomas Crofton Croker – Fairy Legends and Traditions, first published 1825

republished by: Collins Press, Cork, 1998.

Tags: elves, faeries, faery, fairies, fairy, kin, myth, story, tale

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Michele Burke June, 2009

Faeries, Elves & Other kin: The Fae and their Origin.

The name fairy comes from the Old French word faerie. The word faerie as we commonly know it has been hackneyed by using it to describe paranormal beings and the like. Never the less, there is an enormous amount of differentiation in categorizing a faerie from today’s modern literature and those of literature from the middle ages, particularly those of the Celtic tradition as well as from other faerie traditions such as those from  Germany, England and many Slavic countries.

Oftentimes when one thinks about the Fae, they envision them as tiny winged creatures flittering around a glittering unearthly light in some children’s fairy tale or a Disney movie (Tinkerbelle and Thumbelina). These modern Fearies found their origins in the oral traditions, which began to be written down throughout the 18th and 20th centuries.

Faeries can be best described as spirits. They are not divine being because they are not goddess or gods (as some of them would like us to believe,) nonetheless, they are not corporeal (mortal); and for this reason, the Fae are oftentimes, classified as minor divinities or lesser gods.

Nevertheless, if one would for a moment consider the idea of faeries, then they would find that faery folk have been around far longer than most would have expected. According to Joe (1999),

Perhaps the earliest form of faeries can be found loosely in the mythical beings in Greek mythology, such as the nymphs, satyrs and sileni. The nymphs from ancient Greek myths can be considered as fairies and they existed as early as the time of Homer writing the Iliad and the Odyssey. Even the river gods in Greek myths can be classified as fairies. These are spirits or minor deities of nature or of the natural phenomena. (p.1)

Moreover, the Norse adaptations of the Fae can be seen in a vast array of dísir (“lesser female deities in the Norse religion”) (Joe, 1999) and elves that belong to the Teutonic traditions. Valkyries were also classified as faeries.

Who are the Fae? Where do they come from?

Many civilizations and cultures have their own adaptations of faeries. But for the sake of starting somewhere, we will begin with the Celtic tradition. In the Celtic belief there were deities in Britannia, Gaul (Belgium and France), and Hispania (Spain) throughout the time the Romans occupied these regions. However, once Christianity over took the region the situation changed. The deities that were once worshipped before the widespread adoption of Christian beliefs were condensed to the standing of faeries in Celtic folklore and mythology; The same stands true in Ireland and the gods of the Tuatha De Danann who were stripped of their titles as gods and goddess and given instead the roles of fairies or lesser gods (e.g. Lugh and Dagda).

The early Celtic tradition of fairies, the earlier Welsh or Irish deities were not fairies in the customary sense. Their appearance was much like that of mortal man, both in shape and size, with the exception that they have magical and mysterious powers and they appeared to be forever young, save for they do not  have wings contrary to popular belief. Conversely, the Dananns were typically seen as a “race of fair people. They can die just as mortals can, but their lives could last hundreds or even thousands of years” (Joe, 1999).

The major quandary with the way that these earlier Celtic traditions had their status lowered is in how the Christians have twisted them into beings in the service of the Devil; furthermore, Christian authors have written that faeries were in reality demons. Fortunately, this outlook is no longer shared, in our day.

Ending on a Poetic Note

Faery Queen of the Rainbow Realm

~ Michele Burke (Burke, 2008)

Bibliography and Works Cited:

Joe, J. (1999). Dísir. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from

Tags: faeries, faery, fairy

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Callie May, 2009

Fairy Cross Stone

There are two kinds of Fairy Cross Stones, Andalusite and Staurolite.  Andalusite has markings that resemble a cross; these stones are naturally long tubes with the cross on one or both ends.  Andalusite is oftentimes tumbled.  Staurolite resembles crosses themselves and is often found on a larger matrix.  Both stones have the same meaning and are often called Fairy Cross Stones.

The name Fairy Cross Stone gives hint to the stone’s power.  These stones are thought to attract fairies and therefore they represent the four elements and their power.  They help you balance these elements.  Fairy Cross Stones also help you see past illusion.  Using the power of the fairies they attract, these stones can be a gateway to mystery, helping you understand events and dissolve illusion.  By connecting different planes it can facilitate communication between these levels of existence.  It is even believed that these stones first formed as a result of the tears the fairies cried at the crucifixion of Jesus.

Fairy Cross Stones are also protective and healing.  They can dispel negative thoughts and feelings.  It is a very creative stone that can help transmute conflict into harmony.  With their problem solving properties, you are able to see the problem more rationally and se the various sides allowing us to remain strong.

If you have a tendency to over work or over commit yourself, Fairy Cross Stones combat these negative personality traits.  This property also makes the stone helpful if you are trying to quit smoking.  They aid in healing the affects of these bad habits and alleviate depression and stress, even helping us understand death.

As a good luck talisman they were used to war off ill wishes and curses, which helped overcome the feeling of going mad.  They represent devotion, change, and power.  Fairy Cross Stones tend to be a little more expensive, but their usefulness in ritual makes them an excellent addition to your collection.

Tags: andalusite, crystals, fairy, gems, staurolite, stones

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Michele Burke May, 2009

Copyright 2008 Howard David Johnson

Earth Faeries

Amidst the roots, mushrooms and stones

A gathering of undeniable elemental forces dwell

Governing the seasons and milieu

Presiding over the Faerie realm

Sylphs, Undines, Gnomes and Salamanders reign

Over the air, water, earth, and flame

Unseen but felt, permeating the being, absorbed like a sponge

Gathering their forces

Bringing forth the essence and color of the seasons

~Michele Burke, (2009)

Hymn of Pan

From the forests and the highlands

We come, We come;

From the river girt islands,

Where loud waves are dumb

Listening to my sweet piping’s

The wind in the reeds and the rushes

The bees on the bells of thyme,

The birds on the myrtle bushes,

The cicale above in the lime,

And lizards below in the grass,

Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was

Listening to my sweet piping’s

The Seleni, and Sylvans, and Fauns,

And the Nymphs of the woods and the waves,

To the edge of the moist river lawns.

And the brink of the dewy caves,

And all that did then attend and follow,

Were silent with love, as you now, Apollo,

With envy of my sweet piping’s.

I sang of the dancing stars,

I sang of the Daedal earth,

And of Heaven- and the giant wars,

And Love and Death, and Birth!

~ Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822)

Bibliography and Works Cited

Shelly, P. B. (1792-1822). Hymn of Pan. Retrieved April 22, 2009, from http://faerymists.tripod.com/fypoetry/Shelley/Shelley.htm

Tags: faery, fairy, magic, magick

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Monique Cooper May, 2009

Brigantia

You can view more artwork by Monique at: http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ID=20904

Tags: Art, faery, fairy, painting

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Beckah Boyd May, 2009

Animal Faeries

Spring is upon us, and May Day is almost here, the time of the Fey and a celebration of our Lord and Lady.

But what about the faeries, did they own animals? Yes they did and I am going to devote this article to talking about these wonderful, horrible and sometimes mischievous creatures. Horses that rose from the sea only to be caught in nets, cats as big as dogs that guard faery treasure, and more!

Cats

Faery-cats are wild creatures, not the domesticated cats we know today. They are said to be the size of a dog and all black except for a white patch of fur on their breast. They are known to guard faery treasure along with snakes, in folklore it is believed that cats were at one time snakes. This is why they are hard to kill and dangerous to mess around with.

Cows

The cows of the faery Underland are just as big as the ones here, there is tell that on Mayday if a cow rises from the sea (a point of entrance to the world of the fey) and walks across a farmers land that it will bring prosperity to the farm. If it turns out to be the Glas Glaiven which is a sacred cow to the faery people, milk white and studded with green spots, wherever she steps on the property the grass will grow and the potatoes will become larger. The other faery cows are speckled with red spots, and have no horns. They are known for leading other cattle into the land of the fey. When one enters a herd of our cattle, our cows will actually become frantic but follow the faery cow wherever it goes, usually into a rock or grassy area to disappear forever.

Deer

Red deer are believed to be faery owned. Some actually believe deer to be their only form of cattle while others insist they owned cows as well.  In the Highlands it is said that no deer ever dies of old age and when they shed their horns the bits are never found as the fey take them away. Skittish by nature it is believed that deer will not frighten in the presence of faeries. Elves in particular dislike the hunting of the deer and when a successful hunter brings a kill home it is believed that these mischievous creature all pile up on the hunters back so it feels like he is carrying a three ton deer.

Dogs

Cù Sith is the infamous faery-god of Gaelic Scotland he differs from other faery dogs throughout Celtic mythology as he is a green shaggy dog with paws the size of a man’s hand.  In Irish folklore they have their own dog which roams the area of Galway with white rings around its neck. Faeries are always testing the humans and in Welsh folklore there is one particular story that emphasizes the reward for doing a good deed for the faery folk it is simply entitles A Faery Dog:

“Going home from Pentre Voelas Church, the good wife of Hafod y Gareg found a little dog in an exhausted state on the ground. She took it up tenderly and carried it home in her apron. This she did partly from natural kindliness of heart and partly from fear, because she remembered what had happened to her cousin of Bryn Heilyn. She had come across a strange little dog and treated it cruelly. The fairies had come to her as she was taking glasdwr (which is butter-milk diluted with water) to the hayfield. They seized her and enquired whether she would travel above wind, mid wind or below wind. She ought to have selected the middle course, which would have meant a pleasant voyage through the air at a moderate height, equally removed from the clouds and the earth. Above wind is a giddy and terrible passage through the thin ether between the worlds, and it was well that she did not choose it. But the course she made choice of, below wind, was almost as bad, because she was snatched through miry bog and swampy lea, through brambles and briars, until all her clothes were torn off her body, and she was brought back to her home scratched and bleeding all over.

The good wife of Hafod y Gareg had no desire for any such excursions, and she made a nice soft bed for the fairy dog in the pantry, and fed it well. The following day a company of fairies came to the farmhouse to make enquiries about it. She told them it was safe and sound, and that they were welcome to take it away. In gratitude for her kindness, they asked her which she would prefer, a clean or a dirty cowyard. Reflecting that you cannot have a clean cowyard unless your cows are very few in number, she gave the right answer, a dirty cowyard. She found two cows for every one she had possessed before, and their milk made the best butter in the whole neighbourhood.”~The Welsh Fairy Book

Horses

The faery’s horses could be matched by none other known to man, they were majestic, speedy and beautiful. Within the Bristish Isles and Ireland they are known to be shapeshifters who can change between human and equine forms. Although as horses they still have full command of their speech and so will often be found talking to a human. They were also believed to be the ones used as a means of transportation between this world and the other world. It is believed that if one tried to ride on the back of these horses they would make a hasty dash for the water and send you to your death by drowning. One account of a faery horse encounter comes from Lady Wilde here is the full story:

“There was a widow woman with one son, who had a nice farm of her own close to a lake, and she took great pains in the cultivation of the land, and her corn was the best in the whole country. But when nearly ripe, and just fit for cutting, she found to her dismay that every night it was trampled down and cruelly damaged; yet no one could tell by what means it was done.

The phantom horses were never seen again, but the lake has an evil reputation even to this day amongst the people; and no one would venture a boat on it after sundown at Whitsuntide, or during the time of the ripening of the corn, or when the harvest is ready for the sickle, for strange sounds are heard at night, like the wild galloping of a horse across the meadow, along with the cries as of a man in his death agony.” ~Ancient Legends of Ireland By Lady Wilde

So remember, if you go out on May Day and see a green spotted cow you are in luck, your fields will be plentiful. If you encounter a large black cat with a white spot on its breast, then you are getting close to faery treasure and whatever you do, do not ride a faery horse!

Tags: animals, faery, fairy

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Michele Burke April, 2009

Selkies

The Selkies are placid creatures, seals by day women and men by night. Also known as Selchies, Sea People or Water Kelpies; In their mortal form the Selkies are described as having a characteristically unearthly magnificence with dark eyes and hair. Noiselessly they appear from the sea shedding their skins and frolicking along the sandy beaches. Like the merrows (the Irish and Scottish equivalent to the mermaid) their toes and fingers are webbed (When no signs of webbed fingers are present their palms are wider than their human counterparts’ showing hints of their watery beginning) however, if a mortal man or woman finds their skin, the Selkie is obliged to obey them until such a time as they find their skin. Selkie women have been said to make exceptional wives. Nevertheless, it is the Selkie women’s they nature to be quite and solitary. Frequently they will roam from their earthly homes back to the cliffs down by the sea to sing their mournful songs and reflect. When their husbands (fisherman) have been lost at sea, they sing their melancholy songs from high upon the cliffs in an attempt to lead them home.  If and when the she finds her seal skin again, she, too, will return home to the sea. However, dissimilar to the merrows, the Selkie never stops thinking about her mortal family and are oftentimes seen swimming near the seas shore watching over them for generations to come.
A Selkie Song
An earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And little ken I by bairn’s father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came one night to her bed feet,
And a grumbly guest, I’m sure was he,
Saying “Here am I, thy bairn’s father,
Although i be not comely.
I am a man upon the land,
I am a Selkie on the sea,
And when I’m far and far frae land,
My home it is in Sule Skerrie.”
And he had ta’en a purse of gold,
And he had placed it upon her knee,
Saying: “Give it to my little young son,
And take thee up they nurse’s fee.”
“And it shall come to pass on a summer’s day,
When the sun shines bright on every stane,
I’ll come and fetch my little son,
and teach him how to swim the faem.”
“And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I’m sure he’ll be,
And the very first shot that he e’er shoots,
Will kill both my young son and me.”
~Anonymous
Bibliography and Works Cited
A Selkie Song, (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2009, from
http://echoes.devin.com/selkie/selksong.html

Tags: faery, fairy, selkie

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Michele Burke March, 2009

Dryads/ Sidhe Draoi

Copyright 2008 Howard David Johnson

Druidesses, Tree Ladies, Hamadryads, Tree Spirits, or in Gaelic Dryads are known as the Sidhe Draoi translated Faerie Druids. The element of the Dryads is the Air however; it is their temperament that best describes them. The Sidhe Draoi or Dryads are spirits that make their dwelling in the trees. Playful creatures are they, androgynous wisps of brilliant uncontaminated natural light flittering through the tree tops playfully acknowledging all human contact, but most commonly seen during the full moon of the Sabbats.

Sidhe Draoi Lore

Handed down by the Sidhe Draoi were the magical secrets of the trees and the means to learn the arts of astral travel and divination to the Druids. It has been said that while there is no harm in following the Sidhe Draoi’s music it may be wise to not stay to long for one may be tempted to stay in their astral realm.

Dryads were also native to many other lands such as Greece, where they are known as Drayades. One infamous Greek Drayades was Daphne, Daphne pursued by Apollo and once she caught him she turned him into a laurel. The Greeks also have the Drus tree spirits, and tree bound faeries Known as Hamadryads. Distinctively different than Celtic Sidhe Draoi, Hamadryads are unable to move from their tree of residence and as such spend their whole lives in one tree, where they were born, live and die.

Contacting the Sidhe Draoi

To contact the Sidhe Draoi you will need to invite them in to your earthly realm. The best way to do this is to find yourself a willow grove or another stand of sacred Druid trees and ask them to come and join in on your ritual, chance are they will be glad to join in but if they are feeling shy they will if they feel you are worthy and your request is fair they will present you a gift of their effervescent energies. However, sometimes you will not even have to invite them if you have wandered unknowingly into the land of the Fae they will oftentimes just appear while you are calling the guardians and spirits of the east.

Magical Help
Thought to be useful; the Sidhe Draoi can be of assistance when one is attempting to connect with deities but only if approached properly they mayhap be swayed into teaching you the secrets of tree magick, astral travel, and divination. It is essential to form a good rapport with these the Sidhe Draoi by frequently working with them, but be patient they love to play games.

Tags: draoi, dryads, faeries, faery, fairies, fairy, sidhe

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