Inviting Magickal Fey Into Your Garden
by Jimbo
Fairies, Gnomes, Nymphs, Sprites… Creatures of the Earth, Air, Fire and Water… those who live in the veil between this plane and the next… mischievous, lucky, magickal, beautiful and grotesque, large and small… All fey friends welcome! Welcome! We invite you to inspire us! We invite you to invigorate us! Infuse us with mirth and laughter! Excite us with your magick and mischief – in a good way. Come! Play with us! We welcome you.
Many a tale has been spun throughout the ages involving some sort of mysterious creature. Fairy Tales, Fables, Folk Tales – often with a trickster, prankster, or magical creature that grants wishes!
I believe that these creatures exist all around us – often unseen in the nooks and crannies of our lives. Where many often banish the fey, I invite them into my rituals – to aid me in my magick.
What do the fey represent?
Every person has their own relationship with the archetypes represented by different fey creatures. I like to think of the fey as a “personification of nature”.
The apple tree in the back yard has a true personality – it’s an old, chatty wise woman, with her sweet apples and knobby branches. She is great for climbing, and if you sit in a particular spot, she tells you stories about the orchard that used to live there, and all sorts of things that have happened. She loves to cradle you as she sings you the song of the sunset, and whispers as the breeze flows through her leaves. She is a tree nymph _ and she is wonderful. Also in the yard are lots of little fey – a family of gnomes under the shed, and a whole clan of fairies in the back fence overgrown with prickly blackberries. (They like to steal a tool or two and bury them somewhere in the lawn)
You, too, can bring the fun and frolic of the fey alive in your personal space as well. You can create a special garden or shrine devoted to the fey.
Be creative! There are so many ways to invite these wonderful creatures into your life! From simply hanging a sparkly wind chime outside, to placing a sweet cookie on a pretty plate on your altar, gestures to the fey really make a difference.
Here are some ideas on how to create a garden for your yard or a smaller one for indoors. But this is by no means a limit to the different ways you can connect with that special inspiration we can only attribute to our beloved fey friends.
Indoors
Bring some of that ethereal inspirational spirit into your apartment with an indoor fey shrine.
Start with a miniature arboretum. It can be planted in any size or shape of container – many of which are available at home and garden stores.
Fill the planter with soil and plant herbs, moss and even mushrooms. Smaller leaved herbs work well, like thyme and oregano. If well clipped, rosemary and dill are great too. Think about the type of fey that may live with you in your space, and allow them to inspire the selection of plants. Add some rocks, crystals, and a pretty ceramic bowl to use as a reflecting pool.
You can also create a hidden garden in a large houseplant you already have. Beneath the broad leaves of a Peace Lilly or the branches of a Fichus tree, arrange some small sparkly stones, and tie some colorful ribbon to the stalks. With two different colors of fish-tank pebbles, create a pattern on the soil.
The fey (and cats) that live in your house will enjoy discovering these elusive hideaways!
Outdoors
Outdoors, the possibilities are endless. Use rocks or bricks to build some sort of altar to the fey. Landscape a small area of your yard with pebbles, crystals and a variety of plants. Transplant that bothersome moss in your lawn to your fey garden – it will really grow! In the spring, plant Lobelia, Forget-me-nots, Baby’s Breath, and even Cosmos. I enjoy planting purple flowers in the spring that bloom all summer. In the winter there are all sorts of perennials that can be planted: herbs, grasses, ferns and succulents are good ideas.
Using found materials that are attractive to the fey is a good approach, especially in residential areas. Tiles, which can often be obtained inexpensively, are a nice touch to a garden. You can also place special crystals here and there. I like to work small, and create little wee places for my fey friends to play.
If you see mushrooms in your yard, dig up a small patch around them, and transplant to your garden. They will spore there and more will grow next season.
You can add a fairy mound – a small hill covered in moss, with a small door (from a doll house, or hand crafted) on the side. A variation is a small round mirror or reflecting pool on the top.
Even branches tied together with an old window, arranged rocks, a shiny pinwheel, and ribbon streaming from the fixture is sure to keep the fey as well as your human guests enchanted.
There are so many little things to do in the mundane world that attract the fey. Perhaps the best idea of all is to allow these magickal creatures to speak to you in meditation – they will let you know what they want (believe me!).
Witches Of The Craft® 