Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance

Loreena McKennitt - Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance
Love this music!

It's May Eve!

Princess Edane... heard a voice singing on a May Eve like this, and followed half awake and half asleep, until she came into the Land of Faery, where nobody gets old and godly and grave, where nobody gets old and crafty and wise, where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue.

~William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894

Your Fairy Name

Get your free fairy name here!

Here's mine:

Your fairy is called Feather Hailglitter

She is a protector of the lonely.

She lives in high places where the clouds meet the earth.

She is only seen in the light of a shooting star.

She wears pale blue like the sky. She has cheery turquoise wings like a butterfly.

Elderflower Fritters for Beltane

Fritters are a nice variation on pancakes, and the bonus for this particular recipe is that they are sweet without any additions, requiring no syrup, sugar or jam. Many people have had fritters of various types, especially the popular apple variety. But . . . "elder flower" fritters? Yes, these actually contain elder flowers!

Flowers were a common ingredient in cooking during medieval times, which is where this recipe comes from (England, specifically). In this recipe's case, the flowers mixed into the batter help add a kick and a minty taste.

Because of the elder flowers, these sweeties have been associated with faeries in folk myths. Because of that, they have been used at Pagan celebrations of Beltane, Litha, and Lughnasadh to help as a protection against the malevolent and mischievous fair folk, and sometimes these are even made at Samhain season as a symbol of keeping away bad spirits.

If you've never made a recipe incorporating flowers before, you might start with this one--you'll be pleasantly surprised! (Read on after the directions for variations and notes.)

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups elder flowers, freshly picked and cleaned

Directions:
Mix egg, rose water, honey, and brandy in a bowl, then stir in flour and cinnamon. Should be thick like pancake batter. (Add flour if it's too thin, and add more brandy if it's too thick.) Fold in the flowers. Fry like pancakes, OR drop by the teaspoonful into a deep-fat fryer until golden brown. Serve with orange water sprinkle and fresh lemon, or dip in sweet cream.

Yield: Fried like pancakes: About 10. Deep fat fryer: About 2 dozen.
Use for: Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Samhain
Source: A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook
Cookbook

Note: In many areas it may be tough to find fresh elder flowers. If you order from somewhere or pick them yourself, make sure they are the Nigra variety because there is a kind you shouldn't use due to high toxicity.

IF YOU CANNOT FIND ELDER FLOWERS or you are squeamish about eating flowers, there is a variation:

You can make this recipe by substituting very finely diced apples--about a cup's worth--for the flowers, and adding a little fresh mint. If you do do this substitution I urge you to not neglect the mint, because with either elder flowers or with apple-and-mint, the minty taste is really what makes it so good.

Farls

Oats and oat cakes are still used today in Beltane celebrations, especially in Scotland where the tradition originated. Therefore, oats have been widely accepted as a very appropriate Beltane food, good for fertility and luck. This recipe, Farls, was popular in northern Ireland and Scotland, incorporating the ever-popular potatoes as well (with the oats!).

Ingredients:

• 3 cups real mashed potatoes
• 2 cups dry oats
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of pepper
• Pinch of rosemary (optional)

Directions:

Soak the oats in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes. (Use the amount of water your oats package tells you to use as if for cooking.) Drain the oats if there is extra water at the end of their soaking, then mix the potatoes and other ingredients into the bowl. Knead it together until a dough forms. If it's still too moist, add flour until it can be picked up and shaped. Form into round patties. Fry in hot vegetable oil until lightly browned and serve immediately.

NOTE: They seem to cook best if you put them in the pan and don't smush them down with the spatula on their first side. When you flip them over, that's when you can smush them down a little, because they've got a cooked surface that won't get stuck to your spatula.

Yield: 8 servings
Source: Sabbats
Use for: Beltane

May Day Maple Hearth Bread

This is a very crusty and somewhat dry bread that is incredibly delicious and almost pastry-like in its sweetness. It is ideal for May Day/Beltane celebrations.

Ingredients:

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup real maple syrup
• ¼ cup warm water (105ºF-115ºF)
• 3 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup shortening

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in the water. Mix 1 ½ cups of the flour with the brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening. Dissolve the syrup into the yeast mix too. Add yeast mix to the flour mix; stir. Add flour until dough is easy to handle. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Form into round, place on cookie sheet. Let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Slice pleasing image into bread top. Bake for 30 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Loaf can be brushed with syrup or butter during last 5 minutes of baking.

NOTE: Your bread will have trouble rising if the syrup is too cold! Warm up the syrup if it has been in the refrigerator, it should be room temperature or warmer.

Yield: 1 loaf
Source: A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook

Vareneky

This is a good spring dish--dumpling-like yummies. Make this with a dinner for several people to sit down to--it's too much for one person! Best to use for celebrations up to the summer solstice, but not after.

Ingredients for the Dough:

• 2 cups flour or more as needed
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon oil

Ingredients for the Filling:

• ½ pound sharp cheese, shredded
• 2 cups mashed potatoes

Directions:
Heat 3 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of salt in large pan. Mix flour, egg, salt, milk, and oil until sticky dough emerges, add more flour if needed until you get a dough you can conceivably wrap around a blob of cheesy potatoes. Roll out dough on floured board ¼ inch thick. Cut into circles. Combine cheese, mashed potatoes. Fill centers of dough circles with filling, 1-2 tablespoons. Wet edges of dough, fold in half. Pinch together to seal. Drop into simmering water; cook for 10 minutes. Remove and drain, then fry in butter until brown.

Yield: 6-8 servings
Source: A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook
Use for: Ostara, Beltane

May Serpent Cake

The serpent or snake is a symbol of May because of its ancient association with fertility. This association dates back to the earliest Pagan religions, and though later religions cropped up casting the serpent in a deceitful role, the Earth religions still honor the snake as a blessed creature this time of year. Its way of slithering along the body of the Earth made it an obvious phallic symbol, and May Day is full of such symbols (the maypole being the most well-known one).

The holiday of Beltane comes on the first of May and encourages those who celebrate life to greet spring's bounty with festivities, and that of course always involves food. This snake-shaped cake, incorporating appropriate seasonal ingredients, is a wonderful addition to a party table.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• The zest of one orange
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons honey, boiling
• 1/2 cup strong espresso coffee
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup amaretto or rum
• 1/3 cup wild cherry or raspberry jam
• Garnish: 4 coffee beans and some candied orange peel, in slices

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400º F. Mix the sugar, spices, zest, soda, and salt into the flour in a bowl. Cut in the butter until little pebbles form. Pour in the honey, coffee, and liqueur, and mix in the egg. Mix the batter until everything is evenly distributed and you have a nice soft dough. Let it cool. Turn it out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Roll one half into an 18-inch rope. Make a deep trough down the center and fill it with jam. Seal it by bringing the edges up over the jam and pressing the seam together. Then flip it seam-side-down onto a parchment-paper-covered baking sheet. Arrange the snake in a circle, but don't press the ends together. Make one end tapered like the end of a snake's tail, and make the other end triangular like a snake's head. Press in coffee beans for eyes and orange rind for scales if desired. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough and bake them for 30 minutes.

Yield: 2 snake cakes.
Source: Beltane, by Grimassi
Use for: Beltane

Be Sweet Honey Cakes

These are a little like thin, chewy pancakes, very good with the honey and nutmeg mix suggested, and is one of the few dishes made with wine that actually does not taste like it. It is an easy-but-slightly-messy recipe that is a nice spring equivalent to pancakes.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Riesling wine
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Directions:

Beat the wine and egg in a bowl. In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Add flour to the mixture in other bowl. Mix until well-blended. Let stand for 30 minutes. Combine the honey and nutmeg in a small bowl for dipping.

Heat ½ inch of oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking. Drop batter into oil 1 tablespoon at a time; fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Dip in honey/nutmeg mix.

Yield: 6 cakes
Source: The Wicca Cookbook

Use for: Ostara, Beltane

Her Kind

I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.

by Anne Sexton

Beltane Fire Festival

Here's how they celebrate Beltane in Edinburgh!
Enjoy!

Members of the Beltane Fire Society celebrate the coming of summer by participating in the Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill April 30, 2008 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The procession which celebrates the ending of winter is a revival of the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, the Gaelic name for the month of May. First organized in the mid 1980s the Beltane Fire Festival has become a popular feature of Edinburgh







source

Celebrate the Wind Moon

In April, the thunderstorms of March are beginning to subside, and the wind picks up. Seeds are being blown about on the breezes, spreading life all around from one place to the next. In fact, this month's full moon is the aptly named Wind Moon, although in some traditions this lunar cycle is often known as the Seed Moon. Trees have buds on them, spring daffodils and tulips abound, and the birds are nesting once more. Spring is well underway now that the soggy chill of March is past, and while it's still soggy in a lot of places, there's hope yet, because as the saying goes, those April showers will bring us flowers in May.

Now that April's here, It's a time to welcome new beginnings, and do magic related to conceiving new ideas and projects. Much like March, this is a time of conception and fertility and new growth. What do you want to see taking root and growing in your life?

Correspondences:

• Colors: Bright primary colors -- red, yellow, blue -- and their combinations
• Gemstones: Quartz, selenite, angelite
• Trees: Hazel, forsythia, lilac, willow
• Gods: Ishtar, Tawaret, Venus, Herne, Cernunnos
• Herbs: Dandelion, milkweed, dogwood, fennel, dill
• Element: Air

It's the time to stop planning, and start doing. Take all those ideas you've had brewing for the past couple of months, and make them come to fruition. This is an excellent time to work on magic related to new beginnings. Looking to bring new love into your life, or conceive or adopt a child? This is the time to do those workings.

source:Paganwiccan

Spring Full Moon Ritual

Spring is finally arriving, and there's a different sort of feeling in the air. The frigid cold of winter has been replaced by the promise of new life and growth, and a spring full moon is a magical time. It's a season that offers a chance at fertility and abundance, rebirth and regrowth. Whether you're celebrating March's Crow Moon, the Wind Moon of April, or May's Flower Moon, the focus in Spring's lunar cycles is that of the element Water.



Here's How:

Along with the sun, water helps bring life back to the earth. It is the source of much of our existence, and helps to cleanse and purify us. It can both destroy us and heal us. In ancient times, the well or spring was often seen as a sacred and holy place -- a place in which we could truly bathe in the touch of the Divine. To celebrate the arrival of Spring's full moons, we acknowledge and honor the many aspects of Water.

For this ritual, you'll want to go ahead and set up your altar in a manner appropriate to the season -- spring flowers, fresh cuttings from the garden, packets of seeds. You'll also need a small bowl of water and a large empty bowl. Ask each participant to bring a cup or jar of water of their own, representing a place that is special to them. Finally, you'll need a freshly cut flower (if you can't find one, or if your flowers haven't bloomed yet, a sprig of grass or a clipping from a newly blossomed shrub is a perfectly good substitute).

Although this rite is designed for a small group, it can easily be adapted for a solitary practitioner, or a larger group. It is best performed at night after the moon has risen.

When the moon is up, everyone has gathered, and you have assembled your supplies, take a moment to get centered, and then hold the small bowl of water to the sky, facing the moon, and say:

The moon is high above us, giving us light in the dark.
She illuminates our world, our souls, our minds.
Like the ever-moving tides, she is constant yet changing.
She moves the water with her cycles, and it nourishes us
and brings us life.
With the divine energy of this sacred element,
we create this sacred space.

Dip the cut flower in the water and walk clockwise around everyone, making a wide circle, sprinkling water on the ground with the petals of the flower. Once the circle is created, return to the altar and say:

Spring is here, and the earth is bursting with new life.
Mornings begin bright and sunny, and afternoon gives way
to blustery showers of wind and rain.
We welcome the water when it comes,
because it nourishes that which has yet to bloom.
We welcome the water from all around,
from places far and near.

Take the large empty bowl, and walk around the circle. As you approach each participant, pause so that they can pour their water into the bowl. As they do, invite them to share where the water has come from, and why it is special. For example:

• This water is from the ocean, from my last trip to the beach
• This is water from the creek behind my grandmother's farm

When everyone has poured their water into the bowl, use the cut flower once more, stirring and blending the water with the stem of the flower. As you mix the water together, say:

Listen to the water, coming together,
the voice of the moon from up above.
Listen to the voices, growing with power,
feel the energy and light and love.

Now the entire group joins in, chanting the words over and over as the water is stirred. Keep the chant going until you feel a change in the energy, or for at least 12 times.

When the water is fully charged, take the blended bowl of water, and invite each participant to step forward. As they do, anoints the individual's forehead with the blended water by drawing the symbol of the triple moon:

)O(

May the light and wisdom of the moon
guide you through the coming cycle.

Once each person has been anointed, invite each person to refill their cup or jar with the blended water.

Take a few moments to meditate on the magical power of water. Think about how it flows and ebbs, changing all in its path. Water can destroy, and it can bring life. Consider how our bodies and spirits ebb with the tide, and how we connect to the cycles of water and of the moon. Remind everyone that we are all traveling in the river of life itself, and while we may have different backgrounds and beliefs and goals and dreams, we are all seeking the divine in ourselves and in those around us. By embracing the power and energy of water, we are able to welcome a pool of sacred space -- ever constant, yet ever changing.

When everyone is ready, end the ritual, and release the circle. A nice chant to sing at the ending of any ritual is this:

May the circle be open but unbroken
May the peace of the Goddess be ever in your heart.
Merry meet and merry part.
And merry meet again.

source:Paganwiccan

May The Circle Be Open

This beautiful little chant can be used when closing a circle.

A Treasure Trove of Fairy Quotes

Once upon a time, I thought faeries lived only in books, old folktales, and the past. That was before they burst upon my life as vibrant, luminous beings, permeating my art and my everyday existence, causing glorious havoc.
~Brian Froud

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.
~William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894

There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies.
~Richard Dawkins

Of moonbeam, silver white;
His ink is dew from daisies sweet,
His pen a point of light.
~Joyce Kilmer

Fairies are invisible and inaudible like angels. But their magic sparkles in nature.
~Lynn Holland

They hold their great balls in the open air, in what is called a fairy-ring. For weeks afterward you can see the ring on the grass. It is not there when they begin, but they make it by waltzing round and round. Sometimes you will find mushrooms inside the ring, and these are fairy chairs that the servants have forgotten to clear away. The chairs and the rings are the only tell-tale marks these little people leave behind them, and they would remove even these were they not so fond of dancing that they toe it till the very moment of the opening of the gates.
~James Matthew Barrie

The fairy poet takes a sheet
Of moonbeam, silver white;
His ink is dew from daisies sweet,
His pen a point of light.
~Joyce Kilmer

And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing.
~ Author Unknown

If we open our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.
~ Samuel Smiles

Spread your wings and let the fairy in you fly!
~Author Unknown

If you choose to provide shelter for the fae, you will be amply rewarded for your kindness to them, for the world today does not often honor their olde world way and quite often they are shunned as mere pretend. The faeries will never forget your kind thoughts and gestures. They will stay and stay and grow strong from it.
~Cindy

Through the years I have grown very fond of the subject matter that I paint., It is as real to me as life itself. Even now, as I sit here and write, the studio elves and faeries are cleaning my brushes and leaving fairy footprints all over my palette. Yes, faeries are as real as you and me, you only have to open your mind and use your imagination.
~James Browne, Artist

To open your heart to the fairies, you must nurture these feelings of wonder, reverence and love for every detail of your garden, for the airs which blow about it, the musical rain which falls gently upon it, the moon and the stars which silently look down on it, the great sun which is the source of its being and for the clouds and changing skies which provide it with a canopy. When you truly feel the sweetness of this magic, you will begin to discover the fairies, for they will make themselves know to you.
~ Claire Nahmad

Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom. It is as true as sunbeams.
~Douglas Jerrold

Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us the dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
~F. K. Chesterton

If you want your children to be brilliant, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be geniuses, read them more fairy tales.
~Albert Einstein

The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.
~W. H. Auden

"Just living is not enough" said the butterfly fairy, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
~ Hans Christian Anderson

Where there is Joy, Laughter and Color, Fairies will be found!
~Author Unknown

The longing of my heart is a fairy portrait of myself: I want to be pretty; I want to eliminate facts and fill up the gap with charms.
~Mark Twain

The fairies break their dances
And leave the printed lawn.
~A.E. Housman

Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary, and dungeons for the overbold.
~J.R.R. Tolkein

The myths and legends about Faerie are many and diverse, and often contradictory. Only one thing is certain - that nothing is certain. All things are possible in the land of Faerie.
~Brian Froud

When the winds of March are wakening the crocuses and crickets,
Did you ever find a fairy near some budding little thickets,...
And when she sees you creeping up to get a closer peek
She tumbles through the daffodils, a playing hide and seek.
~Marjorie Barrows

Know you what it is to be a child?...It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear, it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul.
~Francis Thompson

Every time a child says, "I don't believe in fairies," there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.
~James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden.
~Rose Fyleman

Fairy roses, fairy rings, turn out sometimes troublesome things.
~W.M.Thackeray

This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof.
~Neil Gaiman

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
~William Butler Yeats, "The Stolen Child"

A lady, with whom I was riding in the forest, said to me, that the woods always seemed to her to wait, as if the genii who inhabit them suspended their deeds until the wayfarer has passed onward: a thought which poetry has celebrated in the dance of the fairies, which breaks off on the approach of human feet.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "

We the Fairies, blithe and antic,
Of dimensions not gigantic,
Though the moonshine mostly keep us,
Oft in orchards frisk and peep us.
~Thomas Randolph

Each fairy breath of summer, as it blows with loveliness, inspires the blushing rose.
~Author Unknown

No child but must remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies.
~Robert Louis Stevenson, Essays in The Art of Writing

The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,
Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,
And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled
Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.
~Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

We call them faerie. We don't believe in them. Our loss.
~Charles de Lint


And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing.
~Author Unknown

The Realm of Fairy is a strange shadow land, lying just beyond the fields we know.
~Author Unknown

Blind folk see the fairies.
Oh, better far than we,
Who miss the shining of their wings
Because our eyes are filled with things
We do not wish to see.
~Rose Fyleman

A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near.
~Author Unknown

I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?
~John Lennon

Soft moss a downy pillow makes, and green leaves spread a tent,
Where Faerie fold may rest and sleep until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby, the firefly gives a light,
The twinkling stars are candles bright, Sleep, Faeries all, Good Night.
~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, "A Faery Song"

Wind chimes in your yard will serenade garden creatures - squirrels, fairies and angels.
~Author Unknown

There never was a merry world since the fairies left off dancing, and the Parson left conjuring.
~John Selden, "Parson," Table Talk, 1689

Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind.
~Irish Saying

Garden fairies come at dawn,
Bless the flowers then they're gone.
~Author Unknown

If we opened our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.
~Samuel Smiles

When I sound the fairy call,
Gather here in silent meeting,
Chin to knee on the orchard wall,
Cooled with dew and cherries eating.
Merry, merry, Take a cherry
Mine are sounder, Mine are rounder
Mine are sweeter, For the eater
When the dews fall. And you'll be fairies all.
~Robert Graves, "Cherry-Time," Fairies and Fusiliers, 1918

Oh! where do fairies hide their heads,
When snow lies on the hills,
When frost has spoiled their mossy beds,
And crystallized their rills?
~Thomas Haynes Bayly

I think that people who can't believe in fairies aren't worth knowing.
~Tori Amos

And though you should live in a palace of gold, or sleep in a dried up ditch,
You could never be as poor as the fairies are, and never as rich.
~Rose Fyleman

Angels, pixies, faerie dust
Treading love and living lust.
~Jaesse Tyler

Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.

Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops that they hold.
~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, "A Faery Song"

Raindrops are like fairy whispers.
~Author Unknown

The little Plumpuppets are fairies of beds;
They have nothing to do but watch sleepyheads;
They turn down the sheets and they tuck you in tight,
And dance on your pillow to wish you good night!
~Christopher Morley

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve; lovers to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
~William Shakespeare

Deaf folk hear the fairies
However soft their song;
'Tis we who lose the honey sound
Amid the clamor all around
That beats the whole day long.
~Rose Fyleman

I'll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all thy fairy dells,
And if I find the charmed leaves, oh, how I'll weave my spells!
~Samuel Lover

Come cuddle close in daddy's coat
Beside the fire so bright,
And hear about the fairy folk
That wander in the night.
~Robert Bird

Are those the magic fairy wands
glistening on the tree
or only winter icicles that I see?
~Author Unknown

When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl. ~James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Deep within the winter forest among the snowdrift wide
You can find a magic place where all the fairies hide....
~Author Unknown

It's easy to believe in magic when you're young. Anything you couldn't explain was magic then. It didn't matter if it was science or a fairy tale. Electricity and elves were both infinitely mysterious and equally possible - elves probably more so.
~Charles de Lint

The fairies went from the world, dear,
Because men's hearts grew cold:
And only the eyes of children see
What is hidden from the old...
~Kathleen Foyle

Faery Summoning Spell

Here's a great spell for May Eve, Beltane, or anytime you wish to summon faery folk.

~You will need powdered ginger and a small spoon. Set out candles at the compass directions: yellow in the east, red in the south, blue in the west, green in the north. Place a crystal or other stone beside each candle. Stand in the center of the room and send out thoughts of welcome. Chant the following:

"O spirits of plants and earth and trees, O little ones of every form, show yourselves to me, I ask, if you please. I mean no harm. Gaurdian spirits, watchers fair, our lives are joined. All things we share. Join me in friendship now, and kindness, and love."

~ Go to the east. Light the candle. Sprinkle a little ginger by the candle, and say: "Nature spirits, faeries, dryads, and sylphs. Please hear my call. Good spirits enter this circle I made. Good spirits only, and kindness to all."

~ Go to the south. Light the candle. Sprinkle ginger, and say: " Star beings and devas, little beings of light, Please hear my call. Good spirits enter this circle I made. Good spirits only, and kindness to all."

~ Go to the west. Light the candle. Sprinkle ginger, and say: "Water sprites,nymphs, naiads and undines. Please hear my call. Good spirits enter this circle I made. Good spirits only, and kindness to to all."

~ Finish by going to the north. Light the candle. Sprinkle ginger and say: " Little ones of the moonbeams, Please hear my call. Good spirits enter this circle I made. Good spirits only, and kindness to all."

Sit quietly for a time, thinking about the fairy folk, be aware of their featherlight touches your body. Listen for their musical voices in your mind. Talk to them if you wish. When communication is finished, stand in the center of the circle. Raise your arms high, saying: " All thanks and blessings be, To those of air, earth, sky, and sea. Go in peace. And all shall be well."

Blow out the candles starting in the south and go counterclock-wise.

~Madame Fortuna

Fancy Fairy Houses

The wild fairy houses are pretty cool, and something simple to do when out walking in the woods. Fairy houses for your garden or yard can be much more elaborate.

Here is a variety of whimsical and wonderful fairy houses collected from a variety of sources. I'm thinking this would be a great project for Beltane, don't you?

I also found this Fairy House Tour of Homes slide show with some really wonderful little houses. This is one of them:

But wait... there's more!

Here's an article on "how-to make a fairy house" and another cool one on "how to make a doll house into a fairy house". So, if you're not sure how to begin, you might want to take a look at that. After the construction is complete, you can check daily to see if fairies have been in the house. This will be apparent when objects had been moved or added to the décor.

"... every child can remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies ..."

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Fairy Houses In The Wild

"Do you believe in fairies?
Say quick that you believe. If you believe, clap your hands!"

- James M. Barrie

There is a book called Fairy Houses, written and illustrated by Tracy Kane about the Fairy Houses of Monhegan Island. I thought it might be fun to go out into the woods and build small houses for wild fairies our of natural materials. You could also create one or two wonderful little structures in your own back yard  for the sprites who might take refuge there overnight. or even your own back yard, and create some of these wonderful little structures for the amusement of the butterflies, birds, lizards, and, yes, any fairies that may be lingering about.

Here are some photos of the Monhegan Island houses for wild fairies:

Oh, and by the way, if you do happen upon a fairy house in disrepair, please take the time to rebuild it.