Litha/Faerie Interaction Masterpost!
Since I’m a witch who focusses a lot of fae magick, i figured i’d make a huge post about Litha, since it’s a really great time for interacting with faeries (and when I say faeries i mean fae/the fair folk/the others/aos si/sìth whatever names you may refer to them as!)
Midsummer has long been associated strongly with faeries, which can be seen in things like Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Lots of the folklore about the Litha in Europe involves faeries (most of it on protection from them or ways to see them–i’ll get to that in a bit)
Midsummer was also strongly associated with witches, which can be seen in macbeth and the tempest
obviously since it’s the summer solstice it’s associated with the sun so bonfires are traditional, (jumping over a bonfire is good luck!) but it also has links to water, and is a good time for working specifically fire and water spells, bathing, and doing any kind of magick water work
Litha is also a great time to do love spells and marriages/handfastings as it is the time of the union of the Goddess and the God in Wicca, and also the time that many flowers associated with love grow. June is always the most popular month for weddings in modern society, so love is constantly in the air!
Many different folklore traditions about midsummer involve love e.g women would place flowers under their pillow or drop some silver into a well to the faerie to live their to has dreams or see the reflection or their future husband
Girls would also throw garlands of flowers/flower crowns into rivers or the sea and foretell their future from them.
Ok now on to the faerie part
There are tons of ways you can interact with faeries on litha!
u can share a meal with them
u can make a faerie herbal pouch
u can ask for a blessing of your home
u can invite them to dwell in your garden (they’ll help ur plants flourish!)
u can even become friends with them! (but be careful, they’re tricksters and can be dangerous)
u can ask for protection for ur home and garden
The basics of making a faerie herbal pouch
it can be used for anything pretty much, including attracting faeries, getting dreams of faeries, to seek faerie help or comfort, to receive faerie magick to help with divination or spells, to travel to the land of the faeries etc
use any of the following herbs, which are all associated with faeries: lavender, hazel, alder, hawthorn, marigold, nettle, rosemary (for elves specifically) straw, trefoil, primrose (really any sweet smelling flowers like rose, lily, etc) cowslip, thyme, raspberry leaves, strawberry, or anything that has a strong association with faeries for you (i really like using violets because in msnd puck uses a little purple flower!)
if you want to use stones, fluorite is associated with faeries and great for fae magick
for material: pale lavender, grey, green for faeries, or yellow for otherworld, use cotton
sew closed with white thread
charge it! (i use the four elements e.g blessed spring water, the flame of a lavender or grey candle, salt, and lavender or sandalwood incense for air)
say an incantation if u want while u’re doing this, whatever ur comfortable with/do normally
if u want some more energy in it, place it in the moonlight for an hour or two (I always do because i want it to be additionally charged with magick that has that ~otherworldly~ feel
hang it in a tree in the yard or a fencepost or wherever u want!
To share a meal with faeries
make faerie biscuits! theyre really yummy (i use the recipe by ann moura with a few modifications)
share some milk (if the moon is out)
share some fruit juice made with summer fruits
share some wine or mead with them
make faerie tea! (some good herbs to use are dandelion root, rose hips, elder flower, irish moss, raspberry leaf, ann moura also has a great recipe)
To see faeries (u don’t have to do all of these at once!)
soak some thyme and lavender in olive oil and rub it on your eyelids in the evening
carry a four-leaf clover in your pocket or shoe or in a little pouch round ur neck
put some thyme in your pocket and sprinkle it across your thresholds to allow faeries to enter your home
look under hawthorn, elder, and apple trees
there are tons of spells to see faeries, chose one that feels best for you and your goals
small tinkling silver or glass bells can attract faeries! just be super sure theyre not steel or iron!
Things to NOT do!!!!!!!!! Don’t do any of these to the faeries!!!!
Do not thank them!! saying thank you reduces them to human servants in their eyes and is highly insulting!!
Do not use or wear any steel or iron (unless your only goal is protection) and NEVER offer anything to faeries that is made of those substances
Do NOT assume faeries are not dangerous! Protect yourself and your pets! i draw sigils on my dogs collars, make sure theyre wearing their steel dog tags etc (those bells on cat collars could also work.) A little bit of rue in your pocket can work as protection for you, and if they try to take you away turn your jacket inside out and put it on to confuse them
Do not eat their food! According to tradition it means you will stay with them for seven years. However, this does not mean you cannot share a meal with them, just eat and drink things you provide yourself
Other fun litha activities
make a solar cross out of the faerie triad (ash-oak-hawthorn)
burn old amulets and yule wreaths in ur bonfire
make white protection pouches out of litha herbs and hang them around ur yard and house!
make a pouch (or use any other kind of receptacle) fill it with your negativity and self-doubt, and then burn it
reaffirm ur beliefs to ur Gods (or if u’re secular just commitments to ur beautiful self) and the craft
reaffirm other commitments u have made (like wedding vows, promises etc)
2087
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