In England, a hob is a type of faery who protects the kitchen. Leave a little offering
of sweet milk and bread on your stove for the hobs to encourage their presence. In
Ireland, the Tuatha de Danann are active just before Samhain and will bless your
home for a small portion of the harvest. But any crop left unharvested after
sundown on October 31st is taken by the Phookas, baneful faeries who will render
the crop unfit to eat. These baneful faeries will remain active until spring. In
Scandinavian countries, faeries are most active at Ostara, The Spring Equinox, when
they come to collect a portion of the Sabbat feast. If they are denied this they will
cause much havoc until Midsummer when the payment of food can be doubled or
again ignored, in which case you best pack up and move to another country because
their reign of havoc will ensue until next Ostara. To ensure Faery good will especially
if you see them out it is an excellent idea to leave the last fruit of any harvest out for
the Faeries. and also a small portion of any of your Sabbat feast. It is traditional in
many Pagan sects to leave left over from the Esbat {full moon} feasts to the faeries.
Other Pagan traditions go even further and decree any food left out at night cannot
be eaten by humans or animals and should be regarded as a gift to the Fae. In
Cornwall and Russia it is a folk custom never to scold a child who has spilled milk,
for this is seen as a gift to the Faeries and scolding would make it seem as if it were
given grudgingly. This is probably the origin of the popular dofferel, "don't cry over
spilled milk"
Faery Folklore
Bluebells: Fairies are summoned to their midnight revels and dances by the ringing of these tiny flowers.
Fern: In Cornwall, the pixies
are especially fond of the fern. One tale recounts how a young woman accidentally
sat on a fern, and instantly a fairy man appeared and forced her to promise
to watch over his fairy son, by having her kiss the fern
and recite: "For a year and a day I promise to stay." For that
time period she was an inhabitant of fairyland.
Foxgloves: The foxglove
has much to do with fairies. It has several other names including fairy caps,
fairy petticoats, and fairy thimbles. According to legend fairies used to
give the blossoms of the flower to foxes to wear as gloves so they would
not get caught raiding the chicken coop. It is very likely that the name
foxglove came from this legend
The Faery Dance
Faeries often dance in circles in the grass which are called faerie rings. The wild
enchantment of the faerie music can lead passersby inexorably towards the ring
which like a faerie or a kiss or faerie food and drink, can lead to captivity forever in
the world of Faerie. If a human steps into the ring he is compelled to join forces
with the faeries in their wild prancing. The dance might seem to last only minutes, or
an hour or two, or even a whole night but in fact the normal duration would be seven
years by our time and sometimes longer. The captive can be rescued by a friend
who, with others holding hid coat tails, follows the faerie music, reaches into the ring
{keeping one foot firmly outside} and pulls the dancer out.