top

Seek out a sequestered spot, wild and lovely, where all the herbs and trees
of the summer flourish around you. Build a little fire in a ring of stones
and smolder nine pine cones and a little incense, for these do honor the
goddess of fortune.

You will have brought with you a crown twisted from oak leaves, rosemary and
wild roses, pink and white. Take only what you need from each tree or bush
and bless each one for its providence. You must wait till the twilight comes
on and the stars begin to twinkle, and then dance around the fire.

The fairies will show you how; listen in your heart to their inspiration, and
you will dance the magical dance of the woods and the stars and the
fire-bewitched night, for what was done in days of old will be done again.
When you have grown weary, sit down in a comfortable spot and dwell with deep
thoughts upon the fire, which you must feed so that it springs up into life
once more. Look into its flames, and ask the King of the Elves and the Queen
of the Woods to be with you in your meditations.

Think of the goddess and the god and you will feel the mystical forces in
nature, which are the angels and the fairies. If you keep a faithful
stillness of heart, soul and frame, you will see them dancing among the trees
and the fire will bring you visions of the spirit. As the fire burns down,
lay your crown aside and intone clearly:

"This is for the fairies".

Then wash yourself, in your imagination, in a great shaft of light which you
must see as rays coming down from the highest heavens. Put out your fire and
walk home to bed. Keep a pen and paper by your bedside, for your dreams will
be touched with the magic of the night and the fairies.

GardenSpells by Claire Nahmad.

   Midsummer Night's Eve

It's the longest day of the year, called the Summer Solstice, and it has
traditionally been a time of great feasting and merriment.  These festivities
arose from a fear that the waning light would disappear altogether, so
ancient peoples built huge bonfires to warm the heavens and help keep the Sun
going.  As the years passed, magical rituals replaced the original rites and
included many spells for romance and marriage.

Some girls set sedum plants in their bedroom windows on this night.  The
direction the plants pointed in the morning would tell the girl from which
way her future husband would arrive.

Ferns have been said to bloom only at midnight on Midsummer's Eve, and can be
used in a wide variety of ways.  By gathering three grains of fernseed, it is
believed that the gatherer can magically summon any living creature who
walked, swam, or was able to fly.  Worn in the shoe, these seeds can make one
invisible.  If carried in the hand, they can help one to find hidden
treasures, especially gold.  Gathering this seed is a risky proposition and
must be done with the utmost of skill.  Midsummer Night's Eve is the only
time you can gather the seeds, between the hours of eleven and midnight.  In
silence, you must approach the fern and lay a white cloth under it.  It is
very dangerous to touch the fern with your bare hands, and the seeds must be
allowed to fall of their own accord, although it has been deemed permissible
to use a forked hazel rod to bend the plant so that the seeds may fall onto
the cloth.  The danger lies with the spirits who will try to prevent your
collection of the fernseed.  Many stories have been reported of past
gatherers and their run-ins with mischievous spirits or demons who fly all
about, bumping into one to cause one to touch the fern or drop the seeds    
(I couldn't find out what exactly can happen to you if you do touch the
plant, but it seems ominous).  They can also frighten the gatherer to illness
or death if not properly prepared or protected, and in some cases, the seeds
have been stolen before the gatherer got home.  If you can avoid the spirits
and are prepared to follow collection methods to the letter, fernseed
collecting would make a wonderful magical activity to top off the night for
those who dare.  Invite your closest friends and plan a party celebration to
outshine all others.  Of course, you will have your own ways to celebrate the
feast, but I offer some suggestions here to get ideas flowing:

It's best to make it an intimate night with only a few close friends.  A
larger gathering can be expensive and hard to control.  Send invitations with
a sprig of thyme.  Thyme has always been said to enable one to see the
fairies dancing!

Bonfires are traditional and common to all the countries of Western Europe. 
In Sweden, Midsummer is still celebrated but it coincides with their midnight
Sun and their celebrations consist of feasting, dancing, and tales of the
supernatural.  Their belief was that on this night, the Witches flew to see
the Great Witch of the mountains.  If a bonfire isn't practical, you can
still have a small fire or use your barbecue pit to stand in for the symbolic
fires.  Have bundles of herbs for guests to throw on the dying embers while
they chant:

         May ill luck depart, as this is so burned.

Herbs good for this are thyme (helps one see into the other dimension), sage
(cleansing and protecting), rosemary (for good luck and preventing others'
negativity from affecting you), or lavender (for purification, enabling one
to see ghosts, and is traditionally thrown on midsummer fires as a sacrifice
to ancient gods).

Use lots of beeswax candles for atmosphere (especially on your table). 
Torches also help light up the area, because you want to hold your party from
dusk until the wee hours.

Hold the party in your garden.  Pretty it up with planters, streamers, and
plenty of white lace on tables, chairs, etc.  Be sure to get some music going
for dancers too: soft melodies of flute and Celtic harp or invite someone who
knows classical guitar.

The food can be as simple or complicated as you wish.  Just make sure you
have delectable eats so guests can enjoy themselves properly.  Here are a few
favorites I've enjoyed over the years.  Now celebrate!
>   RECIPES

MIDSUMMER BREW

• fennel
• cinnamon
• chammomile
• black tea

Heat to taste. Serve hot or cold.

     Nutmeg-Thyme Bread

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup minced thyme sprigs, plus extra for garnish
1 egg, beaten
1 cup applesauce
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together the dry ingredients except thyme
and walnuts.  Combine the thyme, egg, applesauce and oil.  Add to the dry
mixture.  Mix in walnuts.  Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. 
Sprinkle top with dried thyme.  Bake forty-five minutes.  Cool, remove from
pans.  Make a sweet sauce to pour over slices when served (make an herb tea,
add honey, thicken with cornstarch).  It freezes well, as the flavor is
enhanced as it ages.  Make 2 loaves.

    Chilled Lemony Cucumber Soup

1 cup lemon juice
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (10 ounce) package tofu
1 cup white wine
1 cup chopped seedless white grapes
1 cup diced melon
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard

Puree in a food processor or blender (you'll have to do it in two batches). 
Chill several hours.  Garnish with a slice of cucumber and sprinkle with a
dash of nutmeg and some chopped lemon basil.  Serves 4.

 Borage Punch

Borage is said to make the heart glad and passions roar!

1 gallon dry red wine
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 borage stalk

In a large nonmetal container, pour the red wine, lemon juice and sugar.  Add
a stalk of borage, cover and refrigerate overnight.  To serve, remove the
borage, pour into a punch bowl and decorate with borage flowers and lemon
slices, and set the punch bowl in ice. 
30 servings (enough to last all evening)

by Carly Wall,
copyright 1998

Midsummer Fairy Contact

Midsummer Eve is, along with Halloween and May Eve, one of the three great
fairy festivals. All sorts of enchantments are in the air on this day.
Spirits and fairies, who are abroad until St. Peter's Day on June 29,
suddenly find themselves moving among humankind again, frolicking around the
Midsummer bonfires and playing all sorts of tricks--ranging from small pranks
to horrible curses and even death for those that offend them. It is also at
this time that male fairies most often steal away human women to become their
brides.

Traditionally, therefore, the best time to see fairies is on Midsummer Eve.
Wreaths of eerie mist often surround fairy mounds, fairy rings, stone
circles, and other magical places. Should you find a gap in the mist you
will be able to pass through into the otherworld. In fact, on this night the
fairy mounds open, and numerous fairy denizens may be seen feasting inside.
To find the entrance to a fairy hill you should walk nine times around it.
Sometimes a procession of lights can be seen moving from one hill to another,
and this is the fairies moving house or visiting their neighbors. They use
well-trodden paths running in straight lines between the mounds. Any
building on one of these fairy ways will meet with disturbances.

It was on Midsummer Eve that St. Levan saw the fairy gardens near Logan Rock
in Cornwall, as he wrote long ago:

When I have been to sea close under the cliffs, of a fine summer's night, I
have heard the sweetest music, and seen hundreds of little lights moving
about amongst what looked like flowers. Ay! And they are flowers, too, for
you may smell the sweet scent far out at sea. Indeed, I have heard many of
the old men say that they have smelt the sweet perfume and heard the fairy
music from the fairy gardens of the castle when ore then a mile from the
shore.

Those who have seen the gardens in the Midsummer moonlight say they are
covered with flowers of every color, all more brilliant than any mortal
flower.

Fairy kingdoms exist in another dimension from that of humankind. Still,
there is a square of turf in Wales where, if you trip over it, you will get a
single glimpse of fairies, though the spot can never be found twice.

Fairies can become visible or invisible at will, or be visible to one person
while being invisible to another, though sometimes they can be spied at their
revels unawares. You must gaze steadily to see fairies, for if you blink
they will disappear. They are most often seen at noon, midnight, or twil
ight.

If you want to see fairies then you will need the aid of certain magical
herbs such as thyme and primrose. The sight can also be opened by a
four-leaf clover, as the milkmaid discovered when she accidentally picked a
four-leaf clover with the grass she used to soften the weight of the pail on
her head. Imagine her surprise when she looked at her cow and she saw dozens
of fairies milking it. An old recipe for a potion to enable you to see
fairies ran thus:

Take a pint of Sallet oil and put it in a glasse, first washing it with rose
water. then put thereto the budds of hollyhocke, of marygolde, of young
hazle and the topps of wild thyme. Take the grasse of a fairy throne, then
all these put into the glasse--dissolve three dayes in the sunne, and keep it
for thy use.

You may note that the recipe includes wild thyme. If you can find a bed of
wild thyme, know that the King of the Fairies will dance there with his
followers at midnight on Midsummer Eve. Wild thyme is an ingredient of many
magical potions, dating from around 1600, which allow those who take them to
see fairies. One simple charm is to make a brew of wild thyme tops gathered
near the side of a fairy hill and take grass from a fairy throne, and anoint
your eyes with it. Take care, though, wild thyme is unlucky if brought
indoors.

A simpler spell involves gathering fern seeds at midnight on Midsummer Eve
and rubbing them on your eyelids The fairy folk are also particularly fond of
rosemary. The incense attracts them. Pour a libation of rosemary infusion
on a fairy-haunted spot to please them.

The Good Folk often inhabit woody dells, concealing themselves among the
flowers of the foxglove. Growing foxgloves in your garden will attract
fairies, so if you want to keep fairies away, you should weed these plants
out. Like other fairy flowers, it is unlucky to take them indoors.

In Brittany the rite off sounding the basins, or senin ar cihirinou, is taken
at Midsummer to conjure up the wildfolk. For this, pebbles and coins were
placed into a copper basin and shaken.

Faery Blessings,
Lady Nightshayde

Fairy Queens
Source Unknown

ARGANTE
(British) Elf; the Queen of Avalon.

 According to some legends, King Arthur went to Queen Argante in Avalon
 after he was mortally wounded in his final battle. Some authorities
connect Argante with Morgan le Fay, but others associate her with the
 goddess Arianrhod. Evoke Argante for healing, fairy magic, and working
 with elves.

 CAELIA
 (Celtic: British) Fairy queen.
>>
 Caelia is a fairy queen of British legend and literature. She enchanted
 Tom o' Lincoln, an illegitimate son of King Arthur, and
 took him for her lover despite the fact that he was married. They had a
 son, a fairy knight called Red Rose Knight. Eventually, Caelia
 drowned herself. Christian legend has it that she dwells in the House of
 Holiness with her three daughters: Fidelia (faith), Speranza
 (hope), and Charissa (charity).
>>
 Evoke Caelia for motherhood, enchantment, kindness, fairy magic, and
 learning the lessons that a relationship begun by magical means may not
 end happily, and that imposing your will upon someone, or taking something
 which you have no right to, will cause you negative consequences.
>>
 FUAMNACH: (pronounced foo-am-nach)
 (Celtic: Irish) Fairy queen.
>>
 Fuamnach was a powerful fairy queen. Midir the Proud, son of the Dagda,
 was her fairy king. After many years of marriage, Midir enraged her by
 taking the younger, more beautiful Etain as a second wife. Fuamnach used
 her druid rod to change Etain first into a pool of water, and then into a
 purple butterfly, but Midir was still madly in love with Etain.

 Etain spent seven years as a butterfly, blown across Ireland by the winds
 and storms that Fuamnach kept sending in order to keep her away from
 Midir.  One day she landed in the palace of Angus, the god of love. He
 changed Etain back into a woman from dusk until dawn every night, and they
 became lovers. When Fuamnach heard this, she again became enraged. This
 time she changed Etain into a fly, and sent a tempest to blow her away.
 Angus was so angered by Etain's loss that he killed Fuamnach and took her
 head as a trophy.
>>
 A thousand years passed. Etain was reborn as a human baby, grew again into
 a beautiful woman, and married the high king of Ireland. Midir, who was
 still besotted with Etain, was able to win her from her husband in a game
 of chess. He was not able to keep her for long though, because she chose
 her husband over Midir when he came to get her back.

 Evoke Fuamnach for transformation, raising magical storms, and learning
 the lesson that spells cast in anger seldom work the way you want them to.

 MAB
 Venus (British) A night sprite.
Mab was probably derived from the Welsh goddess Mabd, who corresponds to
 the Irish goddess Maeve. Queen Mab is known from British fairy lore. Mab
 brings nightmares to humans when she visits, driving her hazelnut-shell
 wagon across their sleeping faces. Shakespeare called her the fairies'
midwife, and described her as being "no bigger than an agate stone on the
 forefinger of an alderman". Evoke Mab for night magic and faery magic.

 SUMMER

 (Native American: Algonquin Indian) Queen of the Elves of Light. Summer is
 a tiny, beautiful woman who dances in the forest and hibernates durin the winter.

Winter, a giant, melts away when Summer appears. Evoke Summer fort fairy
 magic and seasonal magic.


>Fairy Goddesses
-source unknown

 AEVAL/Aibell/Aebhel: (beautiful)
 Earth (Celtic: Irish) Goddess of love and sexuality.
 The love goddess Aeval devolved into the Fairy Queen of Munster.
 Queen Aeval held a midnight court, where once a debate was held to
 determine whether the men of her kingdom were sexually satisfying the
 women. She judged the men to be remiss, and ordered them to overcome
 their prudishness and give the women what they wanted.

 Aeval possessed a magical harp which would play whatever she told it
 to play. Its music was deadly to humans though, for any mortal who
 heard it playing would soon die. Young men were the most likely
 victims of beautiful Aeval's deadly harp.
>>
 Aeval was associated with Craig Laity (gray rock), near Killalow,
 Ireland. Leaves, stones, and harp music can be used to invoke her.
 Call upon Aeval for music, ecology, love spells, fairy magic,
 protection, lust, temptation, sex magic, wise judgment, earth magic,
 and sexual satisfaction.

 AINE: (pronounced 'aw-ne')
 Moon/Sun/Air/Fire/southwest/Summer
 (Celtic: Irish) Moon goddess; fairy queen.
>>
 Aine is one of the Great Goddesses of Ireland. She is a Moon
 goddess, a love goddess who encourages human love, and the fairy
 queen of Munster. Aine rules agriculture, fertility, crops, and
 cattle. She was originally a sun goddess who could take the form of
 Lair Derg, a red mare that no one could outrun. It is possible that
 Aine and Grainne alternated as goddesses of the waning and waxing
 solar year, changing places at the solstices.

 Aine's father, King Egobagal, is one of the Tuatha de Danann.
 Also called Aine Marina and Aine of Knockaine, she is associated with
 Cnoc Aine/Knockainy (Aineís Hill) in County Kerry, and with Dun Aine
 (Dunany Point) in County Louth. People with the surname O'Corra are
 said to be her descendants.

 There are several myths about Aine, who some say was a mortal
 woman who was taken and enchanted by the fae. She possesses a magical
 ring that can reveal fairies. Aine liked humans and often mated with> men, producing fairy children. She once made a magical vow to never
 sleep with a gray-haired man. Aine kept this vow even after her jealous sister Miluchrach used enchantment to turn her beloved
 Fionnís hair that color. She used magic to kill Aillil Olom, the King
 of Munster, when he tried to rape her.

 There are several stories about how Aine came to marry Gerald,
 the Earl of Desmond. Gerald came across her bathing in a river and
 fell in love with her at first sight. He stole her cloak and refused
>> to return it until she agreed to marry him. In another version he
>> found Aine combing her hair beside the river, and used her own cloak
>> to capture her. There is even a version where it was Aine who
>> enchanted the Earl, who then married her.
>>
>> In any case they had a son, Geroid Iarla, Earl Fitzgerald, who
>> was called The Magician. Gerald was under a taboo to never show that
>> he was surpised by anything their son did, but he broke this taboo by
>> exclaiming aloud when Geroid jumped in and out of a bottle. The
>> Magician then turned into a wild goose, and flew away. Disgusted with
>> her human husband, Aine disappeared
>> into Knock Aine. She is said to dwell there still, in a fairy castle.
>> Geroid is said to live beneath a lake, but will return one day to
>> expel all foreigners from Ireland. Others say that Geroid rides forth
>> every seven years, as a phantom upon a spectral white horse that is
>> shod with silver shoes.
>>
>> Invoke Aine for love spells, fertility, fairy magic, abundance,
>> prosperity, punishing sex crimes, keeping magical vows, revealing
>> fairies, bearing magical children, and leaving unsuitable mates. The
>> red mare, rabbit, and swan are her sacred animals. Midsummer Eve
>> (Summer Solstice) is Aine's main feast day, when she is traditionally
>> worshiped with torchlit processions through the fields at night. The
>> first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Lughnasadh (August 1) are
>> also her sacred days. Some say that Aine claims a life at that time.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> AIRMED/Airmid:
>> Earth
>> (Celtic: Irish) Fairy goddess; goddess of herbalism.
>>
>> Airmed is a goddess of witchcraft, medicine, herbal lore, and the
>> healing arts. She mourned so keenly when her brother Miach died, that
>> all the herbs of the world sprung from his grave while she tended it,
>> and taught her their uses.
>>
>> Airmed is Dian Cecht's daughter, one of the Tuatha de Danann. She
>> helps him to protect his sacred healing spring (or well), and keep
>> its location secret. Airmed is also a craftsperson who helped create
>> Nuadha's silver hand. Invoke Airmed for healing, craftsmanship, fairy
>> magic, magical herbalism, medicine, witchcraft, and to inspire
>> craftspeople.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> CAER (yew berry)/Caer Ibormeith:
>> Moon/Air/Water
>> (Celtic: Irish) Goddess of sleep and dreams; fairy maiden.
>>
>> Caer is a beautiful fairy maiden of Connacht, Ireland. She lived in
>> the guise of a swan, adorned with necklaces of golden chains and
>> tinkling golden bells. Angus, the handsome god of love, saw Caer in a
>> dream and fell so in love with her that he became seriously ill.
>>
>> According to one myth, when Angus finally learned who she was, he
>> asked her father Ethal, one of the Tuatha de Danann, if he could
>> marry her. Ethal replied that it was her decision, but that Angus
>> could propose to her if he could pick her out of a flock of swans.
>> Angus went to the Lake of the Dragonís Mouth on Samhain, knew Caer
>> immediately, and called out her name. He
>> was instantly transformed into a swan, and they flew away together.
>> The song they sang together was so beautiful that it put everyone in
>> Ireland into an enchanted sleep for three days and nights.
>>
>> An alternative version of the myth has it that Angus had to get
>> his own father, the Dagda, to imprison Ethal in order to persuade him
>> to give Caer to him in marriage. There is even a version in which it
>> was Caer who enticed Angus to the lake, in order to change him into a
>> swan. Caer and Angus are said to dwell happily as swans in the
>> megalith of Brugh na Boinne, where
>> they sing beautifully together.
>>
>> The swan is Caer's sacred animal, but she is also associated with
>> the horse. Invoke Caer for dream magic, transformation, fairy magic,
>> psychic dreams, and happy endings after difficult beginnings.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> CLIODNA/Cliodhna/Clidna/Cleena/Cliona: (shapely one)
>> (pronounced 'kleenah')
>> Water
>> (Celtic: Irish, Scottish) Goddess of beauty; sea goddess; death
>> goddess.
>>
>> Beautiful, lusty, Cliodna of the Fair Hair is one of the Tuatha De
>> Dannan, daughter of the sea god Mannan. She is the goddess of beauty,
>> the sea, and the afterlife. She is also the matron of waves,
>> especially large waves and the ninth wave of every series of waves
>> that break on shore.
>>
>> Cliodna (pronounced kleena) rules the Land of Promise, an otherworld
>> where there is no violence or death. She is associated with the
>> coastline of Ireland near Cork. Carrig Cliodna, in County Cork, is
>> her sacred hill. With time, Cliodna devolved from goddess into a
>> fairy queen of Munster. She was then said to be the daughter of
>> Geban, the last druid in Ireland. Cliodna is the protectress of the
>> O'Keefe family, who some say are her descendants.
>>
>> When she assumes human form, Cliodna is the most beautiful woman on
>> earth. She often takes mortal men for lovers, but being loved by
>> Cliodna can mean being loved to death. When Cliodna takes a man to
>> the otherworld, he is never seen again.
>>
>> Cliodna once fell in love with a young human, Ciabhan of the Curling
>> Lock, and she escaped from the otherworld to be with him. They
>> reached the shore of Ireland together. Ciabhan (pronounced keevan)
>> went hunting, and Mannan put Cliodna into an enchanted sleep. He then
>> sent a wave that drew her back into the Land of Promise. There is
>> another version of this legend where it is Cailleach, the crone
>> goddess, who sent her fairies to lull Cliodna into the enchanted
>> sleep, and then sent the wave that drowned her.
>>
>> It was an Irish belief that every ninth wave that breaks ashore has
>> magical properties. Tonn Cliodna, the great wave of Cliodna, is
>> mentioned in Irish mythology as being off the coast at Glandore, in
>> County Cork. Cliodna can be viewed as incarnate in every ninth wave.
>>
>> Songbirds and sea birds are sacred to Cliodna. She often takes
>> the form of a sea bird, and she has three magical birds that heal the
>> sick by singing them to sleep. Nine is her sacred number. Invoke
>> Cliodna for beauty, healing, fairy magic, love spells, life after
>> death, water magic, and contact with the Otherworld. A beach is the
>> best place to call upon her, since she may take the form of a sea
>> bird or a large wave.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> CYHIRAETH
>> Water
>> (Celtic: Welsh) Goddess of streams. (Compare to BANSHEE)
>>
>> Originally a goddess, Cyhiraeth later devolved into a water fairy
>> who portended death. Cyhiraeth can be invoked for fairy magic, water
>> spells, death divinations, and personal transformation.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> DONAGH/Onagh/Onaugh/Una/Oona/Oonagy: (white summit)
>> (Celtic: Irish) Queen of the fairies; goddess of the Tuatha de
>> Dannan.
>>
>> Donagh is the beautiful queen of the Daoine Sidhe fairies in
>> western Ireland. Knockshegouna, in County Tipperary, is her fairy
>> hill. Donagh is more beautiful than any mortal woman. She has long
>> blonde hair, and wears robes of silver gossamer that sparkle with
>> drops of dew like diamonds, yet her husband, the fairy king Finvarra
>> (Fionnbharr), is a cad who ceaselessly pursues human women.
>> Evoke Donagh for beauty, fairy magic, and for learning the lesson
>> that beauty isn't everything.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ERI
>> Moon
>> (Celtic: Irish) Fairy goddess.
>>
>> Eri of the Golden Hair is one of the Tuatha de Danaan. Her son
>> Bres, the god of agriculture, is Brigid's consort. Cethor of the
>> Tuatha de Danann is Eri's husband but Elatha, a handsome Fomorian
>> king, is the father of Bres. Eri and Elatha met at the beach and were
>> so struck by each other's beauty that they immediately made love,
>> despite the fact that their people were enemies. According to some
>> myths, Eri was a virgin when they met, but other myths say that she
>> allowed her fairy husband to assume that he was the father of Bres.
>>
>> According to another version of the myth, Eri became pregnant with
>> Bres when she made love in a silver boat with a beautiful man who
>> descended to earth on a sunbeam, into the boat. He left her a gold
>> ring as a token of their encounter.
>>
>> Invoke Eri for fairy magic, chance encounters, and mating outside
>> your faith or clan.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> FINNINE/Fennel:
>> (Celtic: Irish) Fairy goddess.
>>
>> Finnine is Aine's sister. She is associated with Cnoc Finnine
>> (Finnine's Hill) in Munster, Ireland. Invoke Finnne for fairy magic.
>>
>>
>>
>> GREINE/Grian/Grainne/Grania/Dia Greine/Deorgreine: (sunny)
>> Sun/Earth/Fire
>> (Celtic: Irish, Scottish, Manx) Sun goddess; goddess of herbalism.
>>
>> Greine, House of the Sun, is a master herbalist. She is also a crone
>> goddess who awakens the fertility of the earth every Spring. Her
>> priestesses dwelt in griannon, sun houses. Also called Daughter of
>> the Sun, Tear of the Sun, and Greine of the Bright Cheeks, she
>> devolved into the fairy queen of Leinster, Ireland. Cnoc Greine, in
>> Leinster, is her sacred hill. Some say that Greine alternates with
>> Aine, ruling the waxing year while Aine rules the waning year.
>>
>> There are several legends about Greine. When Conall's sons
>> attacked the stronghold of her father, King Cormac Mac Art, she ran
>> them down and turned them into badgers. Most of Geine's legends
>> center on her elopement with Diarmuid of the Love Spot. Cormac had
>> promised Greine in marriage to Finn MacCool, the head of his
>> bodyguard. But the willful Greine had her own
>> ideas about marrying the aged Finn, and things went awry at the
>> wedding.
>>
>> Heroes gathered to celebrate the wedding feast. Greine offered
>> herself to each man in turn, until Diarmuid accepted her advances.
>> There are versions of the tale in which the handsome Diarmuid is the
>> only one Greine wants, but he is too afraid of Finn's wrath to
>> respond. The usual version of the story is that Greine fell in love
>> with Diarmuid after she glimpsed the magical spot on his forehead
>> that rendered any woman who saw it hopelessly in love with him.
>>
>> Defying her father, Greine used magic to escape from Tara and
>> elope with Diarmuid. They slept in separate tents at first, and it
>> took several nights before she was able to have her way with him.
>> Relentlessly pursued by Finn MacCool, they wandered the length and
>> breadth of Ireland for sixteen years, camping outdoors. Piles of
>> stones called 'the bed of Diarmuid and Grania' were once a common
>> sight in Ireland. A cloak of invisibility helped Greine to escape
>> capture. After many adventures, the intercession of the love god
>> Angus with Finn enabled the couple to finally rejoin the community
>> and live together in peace. They had four sons together.
>>
>> Diarmuid was killed by a boar while hunting. Grian blamed Finn
>> MacCool for this and swore vengeance upon him, but he was able to
>> seduce her into accepting him and they were finally married. There is
>> another myth wherein Cailleach and Brian freed her from captivity in
>> the Land of Big Women.
>>
>> Invoke Greine for herbalism, sorcery, fairy magic, wisdom,
>> battle, escape, fire spells, transformation, herbal charms and
>> spells, solar magic, invisibility, fertility, evading capture, making
>> your own choices, being responsible for the consequences of your
>> actions, and for the fertility of the earth.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> MORGAN LE FAY/Morgan lá Fée/Morgause: (Morgan the fairy)
>> Moon/Water/Winter
>> (Celtic: British, Welsh) Death goddess; sovereignty goddess.
>>
>> Morgan le Fay, Queen of Avalon, is a mysterious, complicated figure
>> who takes several forms in Celtic mythology, British legends, and
>> Anglo-French literature. In legend, she is the half-sister of King
>> Arthur and the mother of Sir Mordred by him. To Celts she was the
>> Winter goddess of death and darkness, and a sovereignty goddess. Some
>> see her as a Celtic queen, and/or a pagan priestess. Morgan le Fay is
>> said to dwell with her eight sisters in Avalon, the fairy otherworld
>> where they brought Arthur after his final battle.
>>
>> Morgan le Fay is also a literary figure, a Christianized version
>> of the Celtic goddess MORGEN. The "evil" things she did to Arthur
>> were actually tests of his suitability for kingship, misinterpreted
>> by Christian re-tellers of the ancient tales. This explains her
>> conflicting roles as both black witch and Arthur's healer and
>> protector. It is also why there is no tale of Morgan and Merlin
>> battling it out magically, as representatives of the opposing forces
>> of good and evil.
>>
>> King Accolon of Gaul is Morgan's lover in some the myths. She is
>> the mother of Yvain (Owein), as well as of Mordred (Modred). She is
>> usually depicted with dark hair or with red hair, and is described as
>> an old woman who is ever young and beautiful. Morgan le Fay is
>> associated with the legendary Isle of Avalon and with the Orkney
>> Islands, in Scotland. Drinking water blessed by her is said to
>> provide instant healing.
>>
>> Invoke Morgan le Fay for magic, enchantment, shape-shifting,
>> healing, witchcraft, sorcery, glamoury, art, healing, protection,
>> female power, sex magic, lunar magic, enchanting weapons, and
>> creating magical weapons.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> PERCHTA/Percha/Perchte:
>> Sun
>> (Germanic) White Goddess; elf goddess.
>>
>> Perchta, the Elf Woman, is a sun goddess whose titles include
>> Shining One and Bride of the Sun. She has long white hair, and wears
>> a white cloak. Perchta can be seen moving through fields, like mist.
>> She is the t matron of spinning, and cannot tolerate laziness or
>> wastefulness. Perchta punishes lazy and the wasteful people by
>> scratching their faces, or by scratching their stomachs open.
>> The last day of Yule is sacred to Perchta. Pancakes are
 traditionally made in her honor then, and the remains of the meal
 left as an offering to her. It is said that anyone who tries to spy
 on Perchta when she comes for her offering will go blind that year.
 Invoke Perchta for fertility, spinning, knot magic, and the fertility
>> of cattle and sheep.

 RODENICA/Rozhenica: (creatrix)
 (Slavic) The Goddess.

 Rodenica, The Lady, created the universe with her consort Rod, the
 Lord. Ceremonial meals of mead, bread, porridge and cottage cheese
 were eaten in their honor. In Christian times, Rodenica evolved into
 a glowing white fairy who appeared with her daughter at the birth of
>> a baby to determine its fate. Invoke Rodenica for creation,
>> divination, fairy magic, and casting natal charts
>
>





Midsummer Fairy Contact--Part 2

Protection From Mischievous Fairies

While you might like to meet some happy and friendly fairies, there are
others who like to play cruel and evil tricks on humans at Midsummer. Their
favorite prank is to lead travelers away from their path; this is called
being pixie-led. Other fairies try to frighten people, steal away young
girls for brides, or shoot harmful elf-bolts at those who intrude on fairy
territory. It may be necessary to take precautions against the attentions of
such creatures.

According to Irish lore these fairies try to pass around the baal fires in a
whirlwind in order to extinguish them, but may be kept off by throwing fire
at them.

Humans can protect themselves from fairies by leaping through the fire.
Cattle too are protected from the attentions of evil spirits by driving them
through the embers of the baal fire.

Other charms against fairies: Cross a stream of running water. Carry a bit
of rue in your pocket. If fairies are troubling you, confuse them long
enough to allow you to make your escape. If a friend has been dragged into a
fairy ring, toss one of your gloves inside and the revelers will disperse.
To keep fairies out of your bedroom, scatter flax on the floor.

Fairies are terrified of iron and they will vanish immediately on being shown
any form of the metal. Keep a knife or a nail in your pocket and under your
pillow at night. A hag stone, or naturally holed stone, hung up by the door
or in the byre will keep bad fairies away. A rowan cross-tied with red
thread will offer protection when hung in a high place in the house or byre.
The besom placed beside the hearth will prevent fairies coming down the
chimney. A witch bottle, or bottle containing sharp objects such as nails
and pins, ashes, salt and rowan wood, can be buried before the doorstep for
protection.

If oatmeal is sprinkled on clothes or carried in the pockets no bad fairy
will approach. St. John's Wort prevents fairies from carrying off people
while they sleep. A mulberry tree in your garden will keep away evil
fairies. At the dangerous time of Midsummer, you should dance around the
mulberry tree counterclockwise for protection. This is likely the origin of
the rhyme "Here we go round the mulberry bush."

Good fairies start to come out around the Vernal Equinox, and are very
animated by Beltane, or May Day, and at the peak of their activities by
Midsummer. By Samhain, most of the good fairies have disappeared from sight.
Bad fairies, such as goblins, rule the winter period.
by Anna Franklin
copyright 2001

Blessed Be,
Lady Nightshayde