Midsummer Eve
June 27th, 2007
I have always loved Midsummer (the Summer Solstice). This year I was especially looking forward to it because this was the first summer in many years where my Mom and I would take our Midsummer Eve Faerie Walk in a place so overwhelming with natural beauty.
In my backyard I know there are many wood sprites in among the trees. The yard is bordered by Hemlock and there is a towering Oak by the back fence. I love my overgrown trees and when I do spells on the back patio I feel that the trees bear witness to the magick I weave. There are eyes watching from the woods and I welcome them!
For the Faerie Walk we used to go through our old neighborhood in the middle of the night and bring a flower offering to a giant tree in the park that abutted our development. It was serene and beautiful with a lake and other trees. It was a spot that I visited often on my walks. I buried many things by that tree for it to watch over.
This Midsummer I had to find a new sacred spot and a new tree to be Guardian to my magick leavings. Along the way I was hopeful that we might see some fae folk as there were a number of gardens in other yards (where the flower fae gather on Midsummer.).
We wear white on Midsummer Eve and weave flowers into chaplets and bracelets and bring an offering of flowers and milk and honey for the faeries. We went late here so not to worry the neighbors when they saw two women in white with flowers in their hair wandering around after midnight.
There are few street lights out here in the country and we had to make sure we were doused with mosquito repellant. We each brought 7 day candles in jars to light the way. It was darker than I expected it to be and yet that made the candles glow that much more otherworldly. We began our walk and right away I noticed there seemed to be a few fireflies following us - our first faeries! Fireflies are not usually out that late yet here they were joining us on our walk.
The first garden we came to was a neighbors that had beautiful tropical flowers and night blooming jasmine. The fireflies were drawn to it and we left them there as we continued on our way.
Gardens look so different in the candlelight. They are a dusky blue gray and look like something out of a gothic faerie tale. We passed by more colorless manicured lawns with the occasional abandoned children’s toys littering the driveways. Finally we made our turn toward the forest preserve where I knew we would find the kind of trees we needed for the offering.
The thicket was right outside of the fence, just a few hundred feet away. We climbed over the fence (no mean feat in a white cotton gown!) and passed lightly along the dark path into the woods.
Immediately we were surrounded by the deep sounds of the forest, the sounds that said - there are no humans here. I knew the right tree would call to us and we went in deeper on the path, our gowns dragging along the black baked earth.
There were more faeries here we could hear them rustling in the leaves of the trees but they weren’t flower faeries; they were wild and didn’t trust us.
I almost walked right into the roots of the giant Oak that had been calling to me since we entered the woods. My mother agreed that this majestic tree would be a perfect place to leave the offering and to find again in the daylight to get to know better.
We said our prayers to the Goddess, left our flowers and I poured the dish of milk and honey and left it for the fae. As we turned away I could see flickering lights out of the corner of my eye. We did not address the fae directly, just let them enjoy the flowers and our offering. We heard high pitched laughter and the tinkling of tiny bells. Or maybe it was just the wind in the tops of the trees?
We walked home and enjoyed a cup of tea amid a dozen candles on the patio. The air was heady with the rich scent from the candles and incense. I knew that the casting I was doing would be blessed by the fae. And as if to affirm this our firefly friends flitted from the side yard right past us!
HINTS ON HOW TO MEET FAERIES
Faeries like gifts! They adore milk, sugar and honey. In my experience a dish of milk and honey works best. This works well for all faeries. Other gifts they like are tiny blossoms, little gems, tiny toys (dollhouse sized) and pretty little ribbons. Never use anything iron or leave anything made from iron - Faeries detest it. They always appreciate silver.
There are many kinds of faeries, probably some living in your house right now! A garden is one of the best ways to attract faeries. Make sure it has plenty of flowers.
Faeries love dusk. That is the best time to see them but wood sprites and deep forest faeries like the middle of the night. They especially like to avoid humans.
Faeries take on many different guises most notably butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies, moths and small birds. They can also turn into geckos and iguanas. Be mindful of such creatures as they may be a faerie in disguise.
All children under the age of five can see faeries. If you want to be sure to find real faeries take a small child with you to go faerie-hunting.
Most faeries are a bit naughty. They will pull your hair if they get the opportunity or bite you. That is why you never approach them without gifts. You can speak to them, they understand their local languages. Say something nice and tell them you have gifts for them and they will treat you with respect.