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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Inviting Fairies to Your Garden

Inviting Fairies to Your Garden

Fairies. How has it taken me this long to cover these amazing magical beings? As a hedgewitch, working with the spirits of the land is just one of the many things I do, and fairies are a pretty important one. I'm not going to go into too much detail about fairies in this post, but if you are interested in learning more about fairies, please refer to W. Y. Evans-Wentz's book The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. This amazing piece of literature is just one of several texts on which Traditional Witchcraft, including hedgewitchery, is based and is a must read if you wish to work with fairies or even understand the history of witchcraft and folk magic. But I digress! Today we are going to look at how you can invite fairies into your garden to help it grow and add a bit more magic to it.

Grow Specific Flowers

There are several ways you can attract fairies to your garden. They are pretty picky creatures, so making them happy is the key to keeping them in your garden once you have invited them. First, make sure you have the flowers they love. Anything bell-shaped will attract fairies to your garden, as well as hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Not sure what to include? Try adding these plants to your garden:
  • Lamb's ear
  • Yarrow
  • Coneflower
  • Rosemary
  • Lavender
  • Rose
  • Lilac
  • Morning Glory
  • Foxglove
  • Thyme
I planted almost all of these in my garden. I'm only missing coneflower (which I will plant next year) and lilac (which I will likely plant next year too). The best part of these particular plants is they are also ones you will often use in magical workings, recipes, and herbal remedies. Foxglove and morning glory are toxic, so don't use those, but the others are safe!

Set up a Fairy Altar

Have all the flowers but want something more? Try setting up an altar specifically for fairies and make regular offerings. You can include a fairy statue, tea lights, electric fairy lights, and crystals such as quartz, rose quartz, or moonstone on a flat rock or surface in your garden. Once your altar is set up, be sure to leave offerings on the altar or in small walnut shells. Offerings include:
  • cream or milk
  • beer
  • wine
  • cider
  • honey
  • nuts
  • chocolate
  • flowers (see above)
  • shiny objects like coins and jewelry


Fairy Invitation Ritual

If you want to specifically invite fairies into your garden, try the following ritual.

What You'll Need
  • flowers (see above)
  • white candle
  • the offering of quartz and cream/whole milk

What to Do
This ritual is best performed around Beltane or Midsummer but can be performed any time of the year your garden is blooming. Begin by setting your flowers, candle, and offerings on your garden or fairy altar. Light the candle and say,

"Fair fairies from near and far,
I invite you to dance in my yard.
Please stay awhile,
And brighten my garden with your smiles.
Bless these herbs and flowers,
And fill them with magical powers.
Use your magic to help them grow,
By the light of the moon's glow.
Accept these giftes I give to thee,
By my will, so mote it be."
Once you are finished, spend time with your altar until the candle burns low. Try and sense the fairies you have invited. You may feel the hair on your arms stand up or as if something is playing with your hair or ear. Leave the offerings on the altar overnight. Do not consume any of the food offerings you leave for the fairies. It is considered rude and disrespectful. Also, don't expect the offering to disappear. Fairies consume the astral or spiritual essence of the offering. Leave the quartz on the altar indefinitely.

Remember to record the ritual in your BOS or on your ritual log worksheet.

Why You Did It
This spell, as mentioned, is best performed on or around Beltane or Midsummer. The reason for this is because these are two times when the veil for fairies is thin and therefore they are most likely to come out and be willing to take up residence in your garden. However, fairies can be called upon any time of the year, so feel free to use it whenever you get the change.

The candle helps to focus your spell and gives the fairies a light to use to guide them to your garden. Your candle will burn in this realm and the Otherworld, acting as a beacon to draw the fairies to you.

Fairies don't like to be thanked, but they love to be shown respect in the form of food and shiny objects. Milk, cream, beer, or any of the other food offerings mentioned above are fairy favorites. Including such an offering in our ritual will likely attract fairies to your garden and act as a thank you without you verbally thanking them. You want to make sure the fairies are happy, otherwise, they are prone to cause mischief. The flowers are used for the same reason.

Word of Caution

Fairies are fickle and mischievous. Upsetting them can result in problems for you and anyone who steps foot on your property. Do not use pesticides in your garden. This will scare them off and keep them from coming back. Be good to the environment and animals. Fairies are creatures of the Earth; if you disrespect Her, fairies won't come to your garden, no matter how much milk and honey you offer them.

If the fairies become unruly or you wish them to leave, tell them to. Cleanse your garden and home and tell the fairies you no longer need their assistance. If they still will not leave, try placing iron in your garden and around your home. Iron burns fairies so it's a great deterrent.


12 comments :

  1. Thank you for such a wonderful guide! I don't have a garden at the moment, but now I know exactly what I need to do once I have one (rather than just planting healing herbs!) Thank you xx

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading.

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  2. Enjoyed reading your article. thanks for it.

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  3. Thank you for share your knowledge. I now know what else I need to attract the faires to my garden. We already have rose,lavender and licic so will plant some of the others you have mentioned and will be getting some crystals and other shiny objects. We have a wildlife area with a small pond which is fenced of from my dogs.so the wildlife can feel safe and already have plenty of birds, 2 squirrels and a field mouse who visit us. This year we have started a wildflower area in there to to attract more insects.

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    1. That sounds so lovely! I really want to put a pond in my yard and add some more flowers. Georgia is just so stinking hot and humid! I got outside for 10 minutes and I'm like nope, don't like that. Haha!

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  4. Does the quartz have to be pure, or could I get it straight out of the wild? Because I live near a shore where I'm pretty sure I could get quartz, and it would would be helpful.

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    1. Of course it can be wild! In fact, it will be more powerful and attuned to your magical workings if you find it naturally.

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  5. I have often noticed that so many garden items are made of iron such as baskets, planters and yard furniture. Is this a holdover of our ancestors warding off fairies? If I want them, would I need to remove such items from the area (or the whole property)?

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    1. I have some iron in my yard as well, particularly my garden's guardian. It is a hold-over from our ancestors as iron is believed to be a potent protector. While faeries are wonderful, they are also very dangerous and not to be trifled with. I suggest setting aside a part of your garden specifically for them if you wish to attract them, but don't remove all the iron from your garden. You need clear boundaries with the fae and make it clear they are not welcome inside your own without an invitation.

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  6. Hello! I dont have any room for a garden outside my home and I dont know how to properly care for plants. Could I still decorate my altar with fake plants? Or could I leave flower petals and nubs on my altar?

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    1. Of course you can use fake plants or use flower petals. Try to get higher quality fake plants if you can, but if you can only afford those from the Dollar Tree, then add a little extra to them by cleansing and blessing them for the Fae. Add shiny objects around them, such as crystals, glass beads, non-iron coins, and something sweet such as honey or cake. They recognize effort and appreciate the thought.

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