Walking Into the World of Fairy Festivals

My son and I went to our first fairy festival this weekend right outside of Chicago. We are hooked!

I love fairies and sprites and elves and trolls and goblins and all the little people of the worlds. In a world where most everything is taken much too seriously, it was refreshing to go to a place where whimsy, light, and love abounds.

The name of the festival I went to this weekend is "World of Fairies: Pirates in the Glenn". At first I thought, "pirates and fairies"? Then after a little thought, it wasn't as hard to make the connection. After all, Peter Pan and TinkerBell are probably the most famous of all the fairies in popular culture, and each of them has an intimate connection to the world of the pirates.

I took my camera with me, and it was easy to get photos of the fae. Everyone was so cooperative and eager to be photographed. I hope they find their way to this lens and are happy with what they find here. 

___________________________________________________

Check out
Field Guide to Spirits, Goblins, Elements, and Fairies: The Best Fairy Lore Ever

Vendors are everywhere. People selling , you guessed it, fairies and anything related to fairies. All things fantasy - amazing wares for both the believer as well as the myth lover's pleasure. Not surprisingly, there were wands and fairy catchers, fairy wings, jewelry, boho and gypsy clothing, horns, face painting, dragons, dragons and more dragons. Fantasy freak heaven!

In addition to selling mythical eye-candy, there are always a number of events taking place. From walking through the Glenn to Pirates fighting, this particular fairy festival ran the gamut of related activities.

For a mere $1.00 per day, your children can play with the Swords of Valor pirates. Children play with foam swords. This seemed to be the favorite for my own pixie warrior.

Going to fairy festival involves many magical things in addition to fairies. The first thing we encountered when walking into the wooded park was the striking Harry Potter gypsy caravan. Unfortunately, we didn't go in right away, and when we later returned to check it out, it had gone. Or had it? According to my 10 year old son, it was probably still there - it just wasn't visible to muggles.

Apparently you can buy one of these caravans for a mere $11,000.

Fairy Invitation Ritual

Color of the day: Blue

Incense of the day: Lavender

To invite fairy creatures into your yard, try showing them the way. Choose a smooth surface, like a patch of bare earth or a patio, and lay out a circle of fairy footprints, that is,make a stencil by cutting tiny footprint shapes in a piece of paper. Lay the paper on the ground, and sprinkle it with sugar or some powdered milk. Then move the paper along, and keep repeating until you have a full circle. Put a few flower petals in the center. As you work be sure to sing appropriate words, such as:

Little folk of flashing wing,

little folk of dancing feet,

hear my words to you and bring

blessings with you when we meet.

Fairies love music and flowers. They especially enjoy dancing in circles. Give them this simple hint, and see what happens.

By: Elizabeth Barrette

This little spell is inspired by the Romanian ritual of Snziene which occurs on June 24th of each year by women only, as a means of celebrating the gentle fairy spirits of old. In Romanian folklore, Snziene are supposed to be sweet gentle fairies that live in the forests where they dance and bestow magical powers to the plants. Snziene is believed to be the most powerful day for magic because it is a time when the veil between worlds is the thinnest. Thus, it is also considered the best day to gather healing and magical plants to be used at a future time for magical purposes.

While it is a celebration of the fairies, Snziene is also a time when rituals for love, fertility, protection and healing are practiced. The young women of the village will dress in white and spend the day gathering the necessary plants with which to make their wreath offerings. Some place a blue candle in the middle of their wreaths and gently set them into a body of water and watch them float away as an offering to the spirits. Others take their wreaths home and place them under their pillow to hopefully inspire a dream of their future spouse.

To make your own wreath offering to the fairies, gather yellow flowers (also called Snziene), young willow branches and wheat ears. Braid these together to form a circle and set outside on the eve of Snziene. Set a blue candle in the middle of the wreath and make your wish. It is said the fairies come out on 23rd and 24th to accept their gifts.

Gypsy Lore

A sprite trap is a magical device used to capture troublesome or harmful spirits and ghosts. These devices refer to a sprite as a preternatural creature.

The sprite trap is created from a blackthorn stave and copper wire that has never carried electricity. During a ritual process, the copper wire is bound to the stave with red thread and the stave is marked with a Dag (or D) rune.

Sprite traps are used at night, when the trap is set at the entrance to a home, church, graveyard, or other location where disturbances are taking place. To attract the troublesome entity, a cleft blackthorn stave with a lighted candle is placed in front of the trap.

After the sprite trap has captured a spirit, it is removed from the location and the red thread is cut with a consecrated knife; the thread is then placed into a prepared witch bottle. If the bottle has been prepared to imprison the spirit, a spell is recited while the thread is placed in it. Finally, the bottle is corked and sealed with red wax before being buried. A thorn bush will be planted on the site.

It is said that if a witch's bottle containing a spirit is opened, a very angry spirit will escape.

Fairy music is more melodious than human music and there are many songs and tunes which are said to have originated from the fairies. Many pipers and fiddlers of Europe learned their songs from the fairies.

Turn Words into cold, hard cash!

Make Your Own Page Like This and Earn $$$

You cannot re-publish this content elsewhere without crediting me (Voodoomama aka Denise Alvarado) as the owner and originator. Except where otherwise noted, the content is mine, written by me, and I own it.

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.