fairy project information
Fairy Information “The Lore of the Fae”
This section contains information about the origin of fairies, Fairy food, Fairy festivals, plants to attract fairies.
If you are doing a School Project on Fairies you are most welcome to use any of the pictures in the Galleries and you can also use my contact page on the menu to email me your project as I would love to read it.
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The Origin of Fairies:
Faeries also known as ‘The Little People’ are said to be the dispossessed early tribes of the British Isles.They faded away into uninhabited places, growing smaller and smaller with time as they were forgotten and passed into legend.
The Tuatha de Danann, People of the Goddess Dana, are believed to have ruled Ireland before the Milesian invasion. They were driven underground where they became theDaoine Sidhe fairies.
The word Fairy is sometimes believed to be derived from the ancient “faunoe o fatuoe” which, in the pagan mythology, indicated the faun’s (deer) companions, creatures endowed with power of foretelling the future and ruling the human events.
The word Fairy is also said to come from “fatigue”, which in Middle Ages was synonymous with “wild woman”, that is woman of woods, waters and, in general, of the natural world.
Fairies are supernatural creatures endowed with magic power, thanks to which they can change their appearance and make it change to the others.
They frequent caves, rocks, hills, woods and sources; they are ready to help innocents and victims of persecution; they make up for a wrong, they avenge an offense, but they also can be malicious and revengeful.
According to tradition, they are present at men’s birth in order to give them special gifts and influence their existence in a benevolent or malevolent way.
Fairies are naturally complicated and their behavior is ruled by a moral code which is very different from ours. Most of these little creatures, apart from their size, appearance and nature, have hidden powers and are able to give, as much as they please, good and bad luck. Therefore, the more you know about Fairies, the best chances you have to come out of an encounter unscathed.
When you have dealings with Fairies it is of primary importance that you treat them with kindness and all respect. It is too easy to offend them and Heaven help you if you take liberties with them …
Fairies are constantly attracted by every form of creativeness and, most of all, by instants of deep feeling, which they want to share.
Lovers, poets, artists, writers, sculptors, weavers, musicians and all arts have to admit they are in debt to a unidentifiable force, which is invisible, capricious, sensible, delicate, incomprehensible and powerful, called “inspiration” or “Muse” which, when it is present, is generally irresistible. Fairy’s world is full of dark enchantment, of charming beauty, of incredible ugliness, of hard superficiality, of spirit, malice, joy and inspiration, of terror, laughter, love and tragedy. Their world is richer than fairy-tales make believe.
Fairy Festivals
A Special Dates for Fairies Midsummer’s Eve (June 24). On Midsummer’s Eve the fairies are at their merriest. but every day is special to a fairy.
Fairy Food
When it comes to fairy food, we read stories to discover that mallow fruits are fairy cheeses, and dogwood fruits are pixie pears.
Little cakes are another favorite fairy food, and if they are made with saffron, they are especially cherished since saffron is highly valued by fairies.
Fairy Plants
Bluebells: Fairies are summoned to their midnight revels and dances by the ringing of these tiny flowers.
Primroses: Primroses are one key into fairyland. There is a German legend about a little girl who found a doorway covered in flowers, and when she touched it with a primrose, the door opened up, leading into an enchanted fairy castle.
Fern: Pixie fairies are especially fond of ferns. One story tells of a young woman who accidentally sat on a fern, and instantly a fairy man appeared and forced her to promise to watch over his fairy son and remain in fairyland for a year and a day.
Foxglove: The name “foxglove” came from the words “folk’s glove.” Folks referred to little people, or fairies. One legend says that fairies gave the blossoms to foxes to wear as gloves so they would not get caught raiding the chicken coop. According to another legend, if you picked foxglove, you would offend the fairies.
And if the fairies stole your baby, the juice of the foxglove would help to get it back. In some stories, foxglove appears as a fairy’s hat. Foxglove can sometimes heal and sometimes hurt. It is a poisonous plant, but it is also used as medicine to treat heart disease.
Mushrooms: Used by fairies as tables and stools. The species Amanita is the red and white mushrooms very poisonous….
Ragwort, cabbage stalks, grass and straw: all of these were used by fairies for transportation in the same manner as a witch uses a broom.
Saffron Crocus: The stamens from this fall flowering crocus constitute the herb saffron. Any food prepared with saffron is a favorite fairy food. Saffron used as a dye will turn cloth a royal gold. Such cloth is very valuable to fairies.
PLANTS TO BREAK FAIRY SPELLS:
Four-leaf clover: It has the power to break fairy spells and, if carried in one’s hat, allows one to see invisible fairies.
Thyme: Drinking a potion of thyme is supposed to enable a person to see fairies, while at the same time protecting them from fairy mischief.
Calendula: This is another plant that, when eaten, was supposed to enable a person to see fairies.
St. John’s Wort: This healing herb can be used to break fairy spells and cure illness caused by fairy darts. In some stories, however, the plant is sacred to fairies and should never be stepped on.
English Daisy: A chain made of English daisies and worn around the neck will protect children from fairy mischief.
What do Fairies Love?
Fairies love beauty and splendor, grace of movement, music and pleasure, everything in fact that is artistic. They do not like any sort of violent, brutal enjoyment.
They hate greedy people who gather the last bit of grain, or drain the last bit of milk from the glass, or pluck the trees bare of fruit leaving nothing for the spirits who wander by in the moonlight.
Always leave a bit of milk or drink in your glass at a feast and never pick the last fruit from the tree.
Don’t stay up too late either, for fairies like to gather round after the family is in bed and drink and eat. If treated well, the fairies will bestow good fortune and reveal the mysteries of plant herbs. For acts of kindness bestowed upon the spirits, fairy blessings will come in the form of unexpected good luck.
Fairies could bestow good fortune on people, but if they felt offended they could cast spells and cause mischievous trouble. Therefore be kind to a vagabond, for he may be a fairy prince in disguise, who has come to test the depth of your charity, and of the generous nature that can give liberally out of pure love and kindliness to those who are in need, and not in hope of a reward.
Fairy Music and Dancing
The most popular pastimes of fairies are music and dancing. At night the fairies would rise from their homes and come out to dance away the hours of darkness.
They especially love to dance in the evening of the full moon. When the morning sun begins to rise, the fairies vanish.
Many mortals were enticed by the beauty of dancing fairies and sought to watch them dance at night. But this was very dangerous, because if the fairies lured and trapped a mortal, the mortal could be forced to dance all night until they collapsed from exhaustion.
Fairy music is more melodious than human music and there are many songs and tunes which are said to have originated from the fairies. Many pipers and fiddlers of Europe learned their songs from the fairies.
The End…..
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