If You Call Them, They Will Come (Faerie Magick)

The topic of faerie magick is a popular one with Witches. Typically the individuals who work most often with the elemental realms and the Fae are earth Witches, but anyone who practices garden magick, herbalism, or who grows a garden learns to develop an appreciation for the nature spirits. Faeries are wildly popular with children, and often folks mistakenly assume that faerie magick is safe to teach to their kids. I have found from personal experience that this is actually the exact opposite. Back in the day when my children were small I taught my youngest, my daughter, faerie magick. Wow. We had some crazy goings-on until I realized my mistake, sat down with my daughter, and explained to her why faerie magick has to be respected. Then it took time and effort to encourage the Fae out into the garden and not to run amok inside of our home. (After all, I had called them in, so I had to be the one to encourage them to go back outside.)

Over the past thirty years I have heard similar stories, typically when Witches sit down and start trading war stories of spells gone awry or magickal lessons learned. I once had someone approach me who was absolutely convinced that she had malevolent spirits in her home. As she described the problems, I worked hard to keep a straight face. It wasn’t that I thought she was joking, but because what she described was similar to what I had encountered myself as a young Witch when I had invited faeries inside of my own home. Long story short, those little buggers wreaked havoc, and it was a hell of a learning experience for me. Twenty years later, the story is very amusing; at the time we experienced all of the trouble, it definitely was not!

So I finally asked her if she had taught her little ones faerie magick; she admitted that she had. I asked her if she had considered the possibility that a faerie infestation, not angry ghosts, was causing a ruckus in the home. I gently pointed out that if she was working with the elemental forces and had taught the kids how to call on the faeries, maybe she needed to think about this from a whole different angle. After all, if you keep calling the faeries and elementals in during rituals, eventually somebody will take you up on the invite.

Article by Ellen Dugan
From the Book: Every Witch Way: Spells and Advice from Two Very Different Witches
Authors: Ellen Dugan and Tess Whitehurst