Is There A Fairy In Your Garden

Is There A Fairy In Your Garden
written by Joanne Lovering
As the sun sets on your summer garden and you
climb into the hammock hoping to doze awhile,
let your eyes drift toward the brightest blooming
flowers, murmur sweetly to the cat and then wait
for the mysterious apparitions to appear.
You will see wee translucent figures hovering
over the freesias, darting back and forth
between the marigolds and then playfully hiding
in the long grasses. They might even snatch the
ketchup bottle.
These are the fairies, known in ancient folklore
as the guardians of the flowers. Granted, there
is no guarantee that a few minutes of repose
at twilight will render you a glimpse, but try
squinting a little. A glass of wine might help.
Or prompt an encounter by leaving a few
biodegradable gifts such as acorn caps on a
flat rock the night before. The internet is full of
www.arabelladesign.com
above & left, Fairies by Pamela Meacher, www.pamelameacher.com or [email protected].
such advice on attracting fairies, as are new-age
spirituality books.
For example: “There are some really simple
things you can do to attract fairies into your life,”
says Laura Daligan, a British media personality
and self-declared fairy witch. You can see her
video at lauradaligan.com. “You need to show
fairies you are honest in your intentions to work
with them. Which means, when you go out for a
walk in nature …pick up the litter.”
Herbie Brennan, author of the Faerie Wars
novels, suggests in his ‘Belief in Fairies’ YouTube
video that to see one of these dragonfly-like
energy forms you need to look above and slightly
to the side of a bell-shaped blossom. His serious
posting even features a convincing photograph
of what looks to be winged light floating above
his garden gate.
But talk to other wee folk experts and they will
speak of spirits with a darker nature.
Is There A Fairy In Your Garden • page 111
Brian Froud, the highly successful British artist
behind the creatures in the feature films The Dark
Crystal and The Labyrinth, is a true believer in oldfashioned scary fairies.
“I have no doubt they exist,” he says. “There
is something essentially truthful about fairies that
we have rather lost over the years. They have
been relegated to the nursery and they used to
be part of the grown-up tradition. And they were
left, The "Ground fairy", most of the time she is sleeping under the ground in the
forest or gardens...She comes up once per day or night when she gets hungry.
Sophia Kolokouri, [email protected].
tricky things and dangerous things.”
Eddie Lenihan, one of modern day’s most
fascinating magical imp experts, firmly agrees.
This wildly moustachioed schoolteacher and
respected author believes so strongly in
the vengeful spirit of sprites that in 1999 he
challenged county authorities when they planned
a roadway in the path of what locals knew to be a
fairy bush. The 15-foot hawthorn tree was known
as the stopping place for the Connacht fairies on
the way back from their great battles with the
Munster fairies.
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He cautioned planners and politicians that if
this favourite meeting place of unseen powers
was destroyed, the mystical entities might seek
retribution. His warnings actually landed on the
pages of the New York Times.
“This fellow living close by knew the place inside
out,” Eddie told Arabella in a recent interview. “He
told me about the fairy bush. Previously, a road
had been built over a sacred fairy site and since
above, The "Lucky red hair fairy”, hidden all the time. She is a kind of
lucky charm and brings good fortune to the one who discovers her.
Sophia Kolokouri, [email protected].
then three or four people had been killed on the
road in that location. Now, it could have happened
at that place on the road anyway, but why did it
happen at that particular spot? It happens there
more than is normal. Why risk it?”
County Clare agreed with Eddie and re-routed
the road.
The scrubby thorn bush with its white blossoms
blooms to this day. Eddie says although some
people whispered that he was a bit crazy for
his protestations, many of them also discreetly
supported his cause – just in case.
Is There A Fairy In Your Garden • page 111
left, The mother of all fairies herself. She is praying for our sake, hoping one day
we will succeed in living in harmony with our environment before it is too late,
because benefit kills. Fairy by Sophia Kolokouri, [email protected].
above, All Hallows Eve by Howard David Johnson,
www.howarddavidjohnson.com or [email protected].
right, Queen Mab, the Bringer of Dreams, by Howard David Johnson,
www.howarddavidjohnson.com or [email protected].
Faerie Guardians, by Howard David Johnson, www.howarddavidjohnson.com or [email protected].
Eddie takes issue with the fluffy, fun and fanciful
pixies that are reputed to do nothing worse than
relocate your garden shears, then giggle as you
curse your bad memory. “These are “rubbish”
fairies of today’s new age spiritualists,” he says.
“The fey of Irish folklore messes with people’s lives.
“I got a phone call from a man. He had damaged
a known fairy fort when ploughing for a friend. His
cattle then started getting sick. He wanted some
help. I do not know what happened there, but I
mysterious music emanating from moss-covered
dells, of townsfolk strangely vanishing then
reappearing days later, little folk ducking under
the roots of trees and of spontaneous afflictions
harming those who offend the mysterious spirits.
For the record, it is said that the gossamer
nymphs become incensed when you stare at
them, when you destroy nature and also do not
like it when you say “thank you” to them.
Eddie reasons that gremlin and goblin
Canadian filmmaker John Walker wrote and
directed a 2001 documentary entitled Fairy
Faith, co-produced with the National Film Board
of Canada, during which he visited several
reputed fairy gathering sites in Canada, England,
Ireland and Scotland and interviewed locals who
recounted seeing the fantastic little creatures.
One of them was Scottish construction worker
Stephen Oldale. He told of a strange experience
one afternoon at about 5 p.m. on a hill in
that is a good thing. Dead or insane, I do not
think people should close their minds to it (the
existence of fairies).”
While interviewing Peter Aziz, a young man
from Devon, England who says his Shaman
grandmother taught him to see the spritely
beings, John’s camera scanned the hills of heather
looking to film some of the fantastic beings.
“There is one down there by the waterfall, “says
Peter, leading the camera crew by a babbling
experiences have been lost in modern-day life
because today’s child no longer walks the land
and feels the breath of nature, opting instead to
talk on the cell phone and ride in a vehicle. So,
they do not have the opportunity to see or feel
the wee folk.
He reasons that if you absolutely cannot believe
in fairies simply because you cannot see them,
then you cannot believe in God. He says he leaves
a little bit of his mind open to the possibility that
there are leprechauns in his garden.
Glasgow. He says that a light mist rolled in, a
rainbow formed and then at the edge of his vision
he saw a “wee fella.” A female figure beside the
pint-sized lad had shears and began cutting
Stephen’s shadow. When in surprise he uttered
“oy” they looked at each other and disappeared.
He describes them as “cheeky wee bastards” with
tan skin, some facial hair, bad fingernails and clad
in small hats and shammy leather clothes.
“I don’t think they were doing me any favours,
taking my shadow away,” he says. “I do not think
brook. The film does not capture the small fairy
young Peter says he sees. However, John declares
he does sense a presence.
“I trusted the people in the film, I trusted their
experiences – nobody was making anything up,”
the Gemini award-winner told Arabella recently.
John describes researching Fairy Faith as his
own quest to rekindle the belief he had as a child
in the little spirits. His research reinforced in him
the truth that genius lies in a brilliant imagination,
and our educational system hammers imagination
above & right, Fairies by Jody Bergsma, www.bergsma.com or [email protected].
suggested he go back and apologize to the fairies.
I would do that. I would not care who laughed at
me. I would not care if they thought I should go to
a lunatic asylum. I would do it.”
Much of Eddie’s knowledge of the world of
intangible creatures comes from 37 years of
interviewing Ireland’s rural old folk about their
enchanted experiences and about the lore they
were taught. He has earned the title of Seanchai,
an expert folklorist, and is now a high-demand
speaker. The old villagers tell him tales of
page 110 • Is There A Fairy In Your Garden
Arabella Summer Dreams 2012
www.arabelladesign.com
Is There A Fairy In Your Garden • page 111
left & below, Fairies by Pamela Meacher,
www.pamelameacher.com or [email protected].
out of children, choosing instead to force-feed
them interpretations.
The remarkable achievements of playwright
William Shakespeare and Apple co-founder
Steve Jobs were rooted in their ability to imagine
the possibilities of things they had never seen,
according to John, who is now working on a
documentary about Arctic sovereignty. “The
film was inspiring to the imagination. I started
looking for fairies. Maybe I can see into this other
dimension … There are definitely places you feel
very strong energies, places you feel very dark
and other places you feel positive energies, and
these places are the haunts of fairies.”
When asked directly if he believes that fairies
exist, he waxed philosophical.
“The fairy faith is not a religion but it is a belief
system rooted in the imagination and in the
ability of imagination to transform the daily life
that we lead. And where does the imagination
come from? If you can answer the question of
where the imagination comes from, you can know
if fairies are real.”
Dr. Mark Fox, of Lampeter University’s Religious
Experience Research Centre and a scholar on the
subject of seeing the paranormal, suggests that
as you relax in your garden looking for fabulous
genies, you should bear in mind you will not see
them in traditional ways.
“It depends on what you mean by see,” he says
in Fairy Faith. “I do not think you can photograph
them. But I think you can see them in other ways.”
He speculates that they live in an intermediate
realm – neither completely in one’s head, nor
completely in the world, but somehow crossing
over, transcending, belonging to both and yet
belonging to neither. Perhaps there is a third
place where they dwell, the place where poets,
artists and composers also dwell.”
So, can you plant certain flowers and offer gifts
to entice these elusive brownies into your life and
garden? Is there a way to see them yourself?
According to Laura Daligan, she has brought
the exquisite sylphs to her own small balcony
garden and you can too. Some basic principles
she cites in her web site video include:
1. The fairies are guardians of the natural
world so demonstrate your love of
animals. This is an important move.
2. Leave the fairies gifts. If it is food,
they will take only the energy as they
do not eat and drink as humans do.
3. Plant lavender and pine as they are
fairy favourites.
4. Ask them to join you by writing a
letter.
5. Bring lots of laughter into your
garden, as fairies are full of mischief
and do not take seriously the things
that we do.
6. Keep your garden pretty and tidy.
More suggestions for enticing them are available
at a host of sources. Here are some taken from
gardenfairy.com:
7. Feed the birds.
8. Keep edges of the lawn long for the
fairies to hide in.
9. Tidy the garden and keep it free of
slugs.
10. Grow organically.
Fairies by Jody Bergsma, www.bergsma.com or [email protected].
11. Protect the old oak tree as these all
have fairies.
12. Plant a hawthorn bush.
13. Add a small fountain or birdbath.
Fairies really like running water.
14. Plant a habitat for butterflies as
fairies love the same plants:
sunflower, honeysuckle, fern leak
yarrow, summer lilac, red valerian,
daisies, cosmos, rosemary, thyme,
purple coneflower and French
lavender.
15. Add some shiny wind chimes and
gazing globes.
16. Leave cake.
Fairies by Pamela Meacher, www.pamelameacher.com
or [email protected].
“You can get a very valuable and beautiful soul
connection with fairies,” says Laura. “It really is
worth the energy.”
Eddie has two responses to these suggestions.
The first one is that planting a fairy garden is for
three-year-olds. The second one is that you might
want to steer clear of animated garden gnomes.
“I have never seen a fairy and I do not want to.
I think I could be scared.”
However, if you still want to arrange a mystical
encounter in your garden, remember the advice
of Brian the artist. They live in in-between worlds,
somewhere between light and dark, somewhere
between waking and sleeping. Most importantly,
you do not see them with your eyes; you see
them “through your heart.”
So forget about spotting an ethereal nymph
in the grassy hillocks, on the windswept moors,
in the mossy forests or amidst the wildflowers.
A fragrant and colourful backyard garden, some
treats for the cat, an open mind and a glass of
wine at sunset should do the trick.
Make that two glasses.
above & right, Fairies by Pamela Meacher,
www.pamelameacher.com or [email protected].
Fairies by Jody Bergsma, www.bergsma.com or [email protected].