Fairies and Flowers

Jeanne from The Candy Corn Chronicles is back to share a bit more of her knowledge of the fae. This time she's sharing information on the correlation of faeries and flowers.

"Three Spirits Filled With Joy" by Warwick Goble

Faery Plant Spell

"I ask a Faery from the wild,
To come and tend this wee (insert plant name)-child.
A babe of air she thrives today,
Root her soul in the Goddesses' good clay.
Faeries make this twig your bower,
By your magic shall time see her flower!"

*** Bluebells represent kindness and are the most potent of all Faery flowers. They are also called "warning bells" because they can often be found planted near Faery Homes and will warn the Fae of a Human's approach. The beckoning of Bluebells bring Faeries to their midnight dances. To travel into a bluebell glade is to find yourself in a place of concentrated Faery magick and enchantment.

*** Clover of any kind attracts Faeries to your garden. Lay seven single heads of grain on a four-leaf clover to see the Fae.

*** The Daisy is a favorite flower of the Wood Nymphs. Relax among these flowers to make contact with them.

*** Forget-me-nots are a symbol of love and devotion. If you place these flowers on the side of a mountain where Faery treasure is hidden, secret cavern walls will open up for you.

*** Foxglove flowers are worn by Faeries as gloves and hats and the little flecks found on the flowers are surely Faery fingerprints. Poor luck will follow those who pick these flowers and bring them into their home.

*** Gardenias help to increase your telepathic abilities with all the Nature Spirits. As well as to help bring peace within yourself.

*** Heather Faeries are attracted to shy humans. Faeries that live among the heather undisturbed are said to feast on the heather stalks. Heather flowers represent peace and solitude. Heather is also said to open portals between the worlds.

*** The sweet scent of Jasmine attracts Faeries to a garden.

*** Make Marigold blossoms into a jam. Eat the jam in the morning and you should be seeing Faeries by noon. ***Before consuming any plant, MAKE SURE you know what you are eating. When in doubt contact an expert!***

*** Milkweed is another Fae favorite. If milkweed is planted in a garden, then Faeries won't be far away.

*** Primrose has the power to reveal the invisible. The pathway to the Faery Realm can be opened by touching a Faery rock with the right number of primroses. BEWARE! if the number is wrong you may open the door to where you don't want to be. To attract the Fae, plant primroses in the garden or hang dried bouquets over the doors.

*** Roses always attract the Fae to a garden. Their sweet scent and velvety petals attract all Elemental Spirits. When asking the Fae for their assistance with a spell (especially a love spell), sprinkle petals on the ground and softly dance upon them.

*** Thyme will bring Faeries into your garden. And hanging dried sprigs in your window will bring them into your home.

*** Violets are sacred to all Faeries. Gathering Violets in the spring will bring good luck and a wish come true courtesy of the Faery Realm.

*** White Lotus is believed to be Nymphs in disguise by many people.

"Fairy Song" by Arthur Rackham

Pagan Art Journaling

After a bit of thumb twiddling when the idea was first announced, I decided to join the 52 Weeks of Pagan Art Journaling at Aradia's Cauldron. If you haven't heard about it, click the link on my sidebar to see what it's all about.

For lack of a better terminology, I am a shameless journal whore. Be it art journals, sketch journals or written journals; I love each and every type and have at least one that I'm working on at any given point. It just so happens that this was the reason why I wasn't going to join this journal fun originally. I've been slacking enough in my massive art journal (which I've hit the official halfway mark of 250 pages in) but as serendipity would have it I found the perfect old book from the 1940's that I got for free at a book sale while cleaning up my shelves. It's small at 4"x6" and only has 141 pages.

Some folks hate that I work in old books, but I'd much rather give them a new life then see them end up in the landfill or the fireplace! So, with no further rambling, here are my first two pages based on Aradia's prompts:

Intention: What are my intentions, what do I hope to get out of this experience?


Heart: What fills my heart? How do I feel about love and how does it relate to my pagan path?

(Why yes, that is indeed an anatomical heart merged with an acorn.)

I've decided to go all art with no collage in this book for two reasons. The first being that I want to keep from stretching and destroying the binding like I did in my other art journal and the second is so that the only things that are put into this book flow freely and entirely from within myself. I'm tackling each of these pages with no preconceived ideas of what I might like to put on them; I lay down a layer of thick acrylic to cover the text (I seem to be out of Gesso) then grab my pencil and just sketch. Once done, I make a sloppy watercolor mess (as watercolor does not absorb into acrylic at all).

So far, I'm really enjoying the project and I fully intend to journal if anything pops into my mind outside of the prompts as well.

Will you be joining in as well?

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is Joe's Valentine, you all get to see it before he does! 4x4 watercolor gnomey caricature.

Valentine's day is a stressful day for a lot of folks due to a number of reasons. It used to be for me, way back when, but now our day is traditionally low key.

We don't go out and wait for hours to get into the fancy restaurants (which are always only serving 4 items, all of which I'm never fond of!), we don't exchange heaps of gifts, I don't fuss if there aren't flowers and chocolate delivered to my place of work (home, at the moment). Instead, Joe and I use today as a day to just kick back and be together.

This isn't to say that we don't love each other each and every day, because oh - we very much do! But with how busy things can get, especially right now between answering a bajillion and one questions for underwriters and waiting to hear we will definitely be moving into our first home, my job hunting, his job schedule and the fact that tomorrow evening my brother and his girlfriend are moving in to stay with us for a few months due to a new job he's taken, it's nice to have a day set aside to just veg out and be.

We'll be celebrating with a home cooked meal and a bit of cheekiness. Perhaps with extra cheekiness for good measure, as tonight is our last night officially alone for a bit!

Have a wonderful evening, no matter if or how you may celebrate, lovelies!

On Goblins

It's no secret that I have a soft spot for a particular race of wee, mischievous fae; the goblins. Oft depicted as small, with Earth toned skins of green, brown or a mixture thereof, the goblins have a fairly bad reputation as evil fae.

Let me ask you, do these look like creatures of pure evil?

Goblins from the movie 'Labyrinth'.

If your answer is 'no', then we're in agreement on the matter! So, why the bad reputation? For starters, often times goblins get lumped in with their larger more violent cousins, the Orcs. While it is true that goblins can come in sizes varying from the itty bitty to that of a small child, it is rare for them to grow to the same size or larger then the average human! Goblins are typically much smaller ad less malicious then their cousins and are often incredibly clever. If they are in the company of orcs it is most likely because the goblin doesn't wish to be eaten!

Goblins are known to have a fondness for ale, bread and the warmth of a fire, but what goblins seem to be the most fond of is causing mischief! A goblin in your home may 'misplace' your keys or one of your earrings, cause your milk to sour, or tease your cats so they seemingly meow angrily at nothing but thin air. While this can be very tiresome, a goblin in your home, if feeling benevolent and having been treated well can help snap you out of a lazy slump with a pinch to the rear! If you've made a particularly kindly connection with a Goblin, he is a creature with strong associations with Earth and can be helpful in magic involving this element.

As is the case with a lot of races, including we humans, a few bad apples can ruin things for everyone! While not all goblins are malicious, one should be wary of them as they would any stranger as one never quite knows if the goblin's mischief will be harmless or harmful.

P.S. Goblins in popular fantasy tend to be a lot larger and vile then their faery lore counterparts. If you're familiar with The Lord of the Rings trilogy or the movie "Legend" you'll have run across larger goblins with a penchant for evil and sometimes a taste for human flesh. In my experiences, while I adore Blix, I've yet to come across a goblin who is anything like him.

Blix from the movie 'Legend'.

P.P.S. Expect to be visited by a few wee goblins here very soon!

Chocolate Cake and Absent Mind

You all are just the loveliest circle of blog friends a girl could ask for, I hope you all know that. I received so many birthday wishes, lovely notes and a few sneaky gifts that I couldn't help but be a victim of the warm fuzzies. Thank you all for taking the time to leave me lots of loving, even though I'm closer to the big 3-0 (I'm 28 now and honestly? I doubt I'll mind 30 one bit) I still plan to continue being as mischievous, spontaneous and the best faery friend I can be for in the words of Peter Pan "If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"

My birthday was wonderful, if not exactly the day of self pampering I had originally planned. It began with a few extra winks in my cozy warm bed, some coffee and a fresh muffin. The middle was spent getting paperwork that the mortgage underwriters just realized they needed together and heading to a job interview which while I believe it went well am unsure of the day-job fruit it will bear as it was with a temp agency. I made a pit stop by my former coffeebucks place of employment and saw two of the girls I used to work with, one of whom I've become friends with but rarely see due to her ludicrously hectic work/school schedule. I received the gift of free coffee and a bit of chatter before heading home to relax as planned.

But, as are the way of plans, they like to turn tail and run! I ended up being too fidgety to relax and instead opted to pack boxes, eat a delicious avocado and tomato sandwich and work on a goblin art doll whose poor arm had broken when I was clothing him! During of all this, my lovely husband arrived home with a chocolatey, chocolate cake for me and swept me off for dinner.

In the midst of all of this, the fact that I am today's February Fairies blogger completely slipped my mind! I will be back with a post a bit later, that I was reminded of several times by my wee green skinned friend yesterday. Oh, absent mindedness.

P.S. If you have never or haven't in a long while, read 'Peter Pan' by J.M. Barrie. It is so rich with fairy lore, nostalgia and reasons to not turn into a stuffy old grown-up that you'll be the better for it. <3 Conversely, if you've no time to read, I highly, highly recommend the 2003 live action movie of the same name, it was so beautifully done that I won't even pretend I didn't shed a few tears.

New Beginnings is Right!

I'm taking a quick break from the fairy fun for a moment. A little while ago, I had posted about our putting an offer in on a home. That offer fell through due to the sellers being unwilling to budge even a hair on anything and in fact changing the conditions of their listing! We were disappointed, but continued to look at other places in search of 'home'.

On February 1st we went to look at a house that had hit the market a few hours before we saw it. As soon as we stepped inside it hit me, this was home. I wanted to curl up and take a nap in these strangers bed, it felt familiar despite having never been there before. To sweeten the deal, it's situated on over an acre of land with a few fruit trees and a horse next door who I wished I had a treat for!

We put in our offer on the 2nd and are officially under contract today. Pending any surprises in the underwriting of the loan or the home inspection we'll be leaving apartment living behind us very soon.

Could it have come at a more perfect time? With the combination of Imbolc and the New Moon, both times of change and new beginnings I'd say it's divine, though I'd hate to jinx us.

If you would all be so lovely, keep your fingers and toes crossed for us!