Fairies

by Morgan Daimler

  The best laid plans still go sideways so always have a worst-case scenario plan in mind. Know what protections work against which fairies because there is no one-size-fits-all and know when to bluff and when to run. Have an escape plan behind your backup plan. And know exactly how far you are willing to go and what you are willing to do. I mean when it comes down to it would you kill something? Would you maim something? Remember tip #6? Well I mentioned don’t be a jerk unless you have to, but understand if you have to go there you have to go all the way there. You can’t half-ass your jerk attitude with the fairies when that attitude is required by a situation. Which, by the way, is exactly why you don’t want to lead off with it, because firstly it doesn’t leave you a way to up the ante and it also means if your bad attitude backfires then you’ll be wearing iron jewelry and lighting up St. John’s wort and sulfur every day for a very long time. You don’t want to end up in that situation unless there is no alternative, and certainly not because of your own poor choices.

  This is also why tip #1 is to start small and build up relationships, because if things do go badly you’ll need those allies.

  Offerings

  Making offerings is a key aspect to building a good relationship with the fairies. There are different modern viewpoints on why we give to the Fey Folk, usually based in how exactly a person related to them. Some people see giving to them as a requirement, fulfilling an agreement that was made long ago when the Tuatha De Danann went into the sí. Some people see it as a form of appeasement, giving to ensure that they are pleased and don’t cause any mischief or damage. Some people see it as a gesture of welcome or kindness. To others offerings might be done in gratitude or as a gesture of friendship. And, of course, any or all of these reasons could apply in different situations for the same person. I suppose ultimately in this case it doesn’t really matter why you believe it is done, just that you do it.

  There are some key things about offerings that I think are important to understand, and that are not often discussed. Firstly, why do we make offerings from a traditional perspective? The main reason historically was twofold: to propitiate the spirits for blessing or to prevent harm, or to maintain an agreed upon exchange. In the first case, when applied to the Good Neighbors, the idea was that if we offered to them willingly they would not take from us forcibly so we see practices like milk being offered at fairy trees or cows being bled in fairy forts on holy days such as Bealtaine. This ties in to some degree with the second idea, which is that there was once an agreement between the Tuatha De Danann and/or Aos Sí and humans that a portion of our milk and grain would be given to them so that they would allow the land to prosper. Basically we give back some of our harvest in acknowledgement that it ultimately comes through their good will. There are also those who traditionally would offer, especially milk or cream, once a week to the fey in their home or immediate area in appreciation for their effort around the area and to ensure no ill luck about the place. Another aspect of this is that if we are taking something from one of their places, visiting where we don’t usually go, or feel we have been given a gift by them or – in my opinion – feel we owe them in some way, we should be sure we give something back. As I mentioned in the quick guide to dealing with the fey, you do not want to be in their debt so it is always better to err on the side of caution and offer something if you think you might be in a situation where you possibly owe them anything. Giving is also foundational to creating a relationship with any spirit. Reciprocity is built piece by piece on giving when things are received and offerings are important to that.

  Any offering should always be the best of something that you have to give, even if it’s a daily offering you are making. The idea here isn’t to do something as a throw away action, but to do it with intention and even if it is small and casual it should be meaningful. It should have value, both intrinsically and to you as something that actually costs to give. The cost doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary, but it should be something that really matters to you, something that you have an investment in. I burn incense every day to the Gods and it is always either something I’ve made myself or the best quality one I could find to buy. Offering to spirits is not a matter of giving second-rate things or whatever you have on hand5, although I will say that in some situations I have literally given the jewelry I was wearing. In my house we often share our own food with the various spirits we offer to, both in the belief that we are giving what is good enough for us, and because the practice of sharing food with spirits is a long one in many cultures, seen in things like the Dumb Supper and in ancient ritual sites where evidence shows feasting and faunal deposits (people sacrificing animals, eating them and giving them to the Gods and Aos Sí).

  When choosing what to give I do look at what would have been a traditional offering, which for the Good Neighbors includes: milk, cream, butter, water, bread, cakes, fresh fruit, vegetables, portions of meals shared by the family, alcohol, and honey. I also trust my intuition though, so there have been occasions where I have given non-traditional things because I strongly felt it was desired. Sometimes I give things like poetry or songs, or my own effort or energy with something, if it seems like that is an appropriate thing to give. And I find that sometimes when something needs to be given I’ll just get an idea for what it needs to be – and understand it isn’t always something I want to give. For whatever reason I end up offering a lot of silver in the form of jewelry, usually jewelry I have a sentimental attachment to. These aren’t things I necessarily want to get rid of, in the sense of I’m not seeking to give them away or eager to give them up. I’d rather keep them, but I’ve found that when I get that feeling that I need to give something the more I resist it the stronger the feeling gets and the more little omens and indications I’ll get that I need to make the offering. Recently, for example, I had a feeling before going somewhere that I was going to need to give one of my favorite necklaces, a larger stone that was a cabochon of an amethyst naturally growing within clear quartz set in silver (my friend had called it a fairy stone when she’d seen it). I did not want to give up this necklace, but nonetheless I wore it when I went where I was going, and while I was there I kept getting that nagging feeling as well an assortment of different things going on indicating that an offering was needed. I tried other things first of course, because I’m stubborn, but finally I gave the fairies what they wanted and after that things shifted in a more positive sense. I’ve had the same thing happen before over the years, and I try to be philosophical about it. You may sometimes feel called to offer something with metaphysical significance such as your own blood or an oath and in that case you need to really seriously think about all the implications before you do it, especially if you have no familiarity with blood magic or with the power of oaths. When in doubt don’t do it is always a good way to go, and try to find a substitute. If you really feel you must, try to talk to someone more experienced first if you can.

  So, we’ve looked at why we offer and what, and in this context we know to whom means the fairies primarily. When we offer is another question we might want to discuss. I mentioned daily offerings, and those are an option for something like a house fairy, although I wouldn’t personally recommend it. I sometimes make daily offerings along with divination about the day to come in the morning as part of my morning routine, but these are more random than consistent. These offerings are also fairly small and basic – usually incense and lighting a candle – and are a way to both ask for success and guidance in the divination and offer gratitude for their presence. I also make a weekly offering to the Good People, of cream, because it is traditional and to maintain a right relationship with them. And on the holy days, the holidays I celebrate, I make offerings as well, which I see as part of a long tradition of offering to the fairies on sacred days. If I am traveling I will make offerings when I come to a new place, sort of a peace or friendship offering to the spirits of that place. I don’t think there’s really any right or wrong for when to make offeri
ngs, but I do think if you are pagan/polytheist seeking to establish a relationship with the Fair Folk that making offerings at least on the holy days is a good idea.

  I will add this though on the subject of regular offerings to the Other Crowd: it’s a commitment that you shouldn’t start unless you’re willing to follow through with it. There are weeks were I am literally spending the last of my grocery money – or dipping into my gas money – to get the cream to give the Good Neighbors, but they always get theirs, sure enough. I learned my lesson on that one years ago when finances made me decide to stop giving them milk and I had an entire gallon pulled from my hand; as my grandfather would say, if you don’t give them their due they’ll take it. And in my experience they really will. There is also a story from Irish folklore of a young Catholic woman in the 19th century who always made sure to pour out a little milk for the fairies when she milked her cow, but after converting to Protestantism quit the practice, which was frowned on by her new religion. She then found that every time she milked her cow the milk would be spilled or the pail knocked over, so after a short time returned to pouring a bit out herself; the accidental spilling then stopped. If you have any hesitation about starting a committed schedule of offering then simply don’t offer regularly.

  Where you leave offerings is really going to depend on your own circumstances and preferences. I follow the school of thought that the fairies consume the essence of the item, the toradh as Campbell would have it, if it’s food or drink within the first 24 hours of it being offered and after that the physical item itself can be disposed of. Therefore I leave offerings on my altar for a day then throw them out, or put them outside. In some cases I put them directly outside, but if you choose to do this consider whether the item is safe for any animal that might eat it. Milk, cream, honey, or alcohol are either kept on the altar for a day or poured directly outside. Flammable items like paper, butter, ghee, or herbs, I burn, because of the old Celtic belief (recorded by the Romans) that what is burned with intent in our world appears in the Otherworld. Solid items like silver, jewelry, or weapons, I give to earth or water, again because of archaeological evidence that this is how historic offerings were made in the pagan period.

  This should be common sense, but we all know the saying about that… Most of this has been discussing offerings in the context of home or private ritual sites. If you are visiting a historical, archaeological, famous, or natural site please do not leave a tangible, lasting offering there unless there is a policy in place allowing it. It’s bad form to leave items, even what you might consider small things like crystals or coins, at sites that might be excavated for study at some point, and it’s extremely bad form to leave any sort of trash or litter anywhere. Candle wax, food wrappers, bottles and such are trash and they shouldn’t be left at public sacred sites for other people to clean up. If you feel you want to participate in the tradition of the rag trees in Ireland, which involves tying a piece of cloth to a tree by a healing well, then please be aware that the cloth should be natural and one that will decay quickly or it can and will harm the tree. Also understand that the practice was applied specifically to certain trees for a very specific reason and if you aren’t 100 per cent sure you understand the reason and which trees, then just don’t do it. And never, ever – please! – tie anything except organic cloth to a sacred tree (or any other for that matter). Plastic, synthetic material, and such damages the tree and may kill it over time. When in doubt about what to offer at a sacred/famous/public location pouring out a bit of water is usually a respectful and safe option. You can save the bigger offerings for other private settings later, or ask someone local (if you are traveling) how best to handle what you need to do.

  So, I think we’ve covered every aspect of offerings I can think of, excluding how, which is really a personal detail that I think is up to the individual to decide and also probably depends on your specific path – although it’s been touched on throughout in bits and pieces. Offerings should never be taken lightly, and even when they are part of the daily round of our spirituality should never become routine, but should be done mindfully. Whatever we offer should always be understood as important and valuable, or quite frankly it’s not worth doing, because if it’s being done without the proper intent or without any meaning – offering something with no real value to the person – then it will have no meaning or value to the spirits receiving it either, and in the case of the fairies may even anger them.

  Protections

  A key aspect to dealing with Otherworldly beings is an awareness that while the goal may be to create positive relationships and build allies, there is always risk involved. Because of this it is important to know how to protect yourself, those you are about and your property if necessary. I know many people prefer to believe that protections against fairies are not generally needed, and ideally they wouldn’t be, but it should say something about the potential need for them that folk tradition offers us so very many options in this area.

  This section is going to look at a variety of options for protecting against the Good People, should they decide they have a problem with you. I would normally add a bit here about how to tell if that’s an issue, but it is usually fairly obvious as the fairies are rarely subtle with their anger. Generally speaking I will say that if you find that all of your luck has turned bad, your health has suddenly and inexplicably taken a turn for the worse, your possessions are being lost or broken, you are losing things that are precious to you, and you are being physically injured then you may very well have an enemy among the Folk. It is also possible that you might find yourself needing to use some of these things to help someone else who is either in trouble with the fairies or who has drawn their attention in a way that could endanger that person.

  You may also need to resort to some of these protections for less extreme reasons. Sometimes you may not have angered one of the fairies, but may simply find that you have drawn the attention of one that is too mischievous or troublesome and you’d rather not be stuck dealing with it. You might be in a situation at particular location where you cross paths with something hostile and you need to protect yourself. Or you may be someone who generally works well with the Fey Folk, but you have children in your home and you want to have protections around them to be sure they are safe, given the fairies’ interest in taking human children. Sometimes you just need to have particular areas that are protected against their presence. I ran into an issue with my second child who is able to see spirits where she, at the age of three or four, was frightened seeing things in her room that she felt were dangerous. Putting protections on her room with her help made her feel safe and established a ‘fairy-free zone’ that she could go to when she needed.

  Whatever the reason, it is important to be aware of what you can do to protect yourself and others. Always keep in mind though that there is no one thing that works on all fairies, which is perhaps part of why we see such a wide array of protection options.

  Iron is the most common thing recommended as protection against faeries, and can take the form of a horseshoe hung up over the door, a knife or pair of scissors under the mattress, or an iron nail in the pocket. In my experience the majority of fairies can’t bear the touch of iron, probably in the range of two-thirds of them. The others though have no problem with it, and those would include any being that naturally exists in proximity to iron ore or by its nature deals with iron. For example mine faeries, forge spirits, and most house spirits, as well as some of the Aos Sí who are connected to smithing.

  Why iron? No one agrees and there is certainly no definitive answer, but many people have theories. One common one is that the Tuatha De used bronze and part of why the Gaels drove them out was the Gaels’ use of iron, and that this in turn developed into the fairies’ aversion to iron, either as a genuine aversion or as a psychological abhorrence. It does seem unlikely that smith Gods would be averse to any metal, but iron is a newer material to be worked by humans. Some also argue in the same vein t
hat as humans developed iron we drove the fairy beings out of our world because they could not handle the refined metal. Some also argue that it was the process of forging itself that endowed iron with a magical quality and granted it the ability to protect from fairy enchantments; it is true that blacksmiths have a reputation in folk tradition and mythology as magic workers. In the end of course no one really knows why, but it is a ubiquitously recommended protection in Celtic folklore and elsewhere.

  My own theory is that it is because of the strong grounding nature of iron versus the inherently magical nature of fairies. Iron draws and grounds magical energy. Fairies by their nature not only use this same energy, but also often seem to be made up of it, particularly if you go by how Robert Kirk describes them in The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies: ‘…said to be of a middle Nature betwixt Man and Angel, as were Daemons thought to be of old; intelligent fluidious Spirits, and light changable Bodies, (lyke those called Astral) somewhat of the Nature of a condensed Cloud.’ I don’t believe all fairies are ‘astral’ as he describes them because some are clearly capable of physical interaction with us and our world, but certainly they all rely heavily on magic, which iron interferes with and dispels, and that may be enough reason for them to avoid it.

  True forged iron is hard to come by these days and, although it is the best protection, steel will also work. Generally the type of item isn’t as important as the material in this case so anything made of iron or steel that you can procure can be used for protective purposes although in folklore the most common items recommended are black handled knives, knives more generally, scissors, nails, horse shoes, and fire tongs (Campbell, 1900,

  Briggs, 1976; Danaher, 1972).

  There seems to be a lot of confusion about the apotropaic qualities of iron. So, I want to quickly clear some points up. Iron is said in folklore to protect against a wide range of spirits and negative magics including (most of) the Good Neighbors as well as, ghosts, demons, and witches. Iron objects deter the majority of the Other Crowd who are averse to its presence and things like knives, scissors, nails, and horseshoes were recommended as protective objects because even the presence of such an item is enough to keep the fairies away from a person or area. It is said that cemeteries had iron fences to contain any ghosts inside. Similarly older folklore said that demons were also repelled by iron, and it was believed to break the magic of witches. A horseshoe hung up above a doorway kept out a wide range of spirits as well as protecting from baneful magic.