Faerie Offerings

The other day, a faerie came to me in a dream. When I wasn’t sure where they were (I couldn’t see them) they pulled the sheet off the bottom of my bed, and draped it on them to make them visible. Which was simultaneously sweet and cheeky of them at the same time since they were hovering in mid-air with a sheet on like a ghost. I was terrified and started shouting and clapping my hands at them, but when I woke up in the morning, I had this terrible feeling they hadn’t meant to be frightening at all. They were just powerful and strange, and trying to reach me. So I wanted to leave them an offering to apologize, to say “let’s start again.” But since they came to me inside my home, I wanted to leave the offering there. My normal routine of taking a bowl of milk or some honey out to the hawthorn tree in the back yard wouldn’t work. (My cats are food obsessed, and will jump anywhere in the house if they smell something edible.) I finally settled on the first love-in-a-mist bloom that had just blossomed in my garden, set on the table right where I saw them in the room in my dream. In the morning, I took the bloom and pressed it to preserve my apology to them.

But all of this got me thinking: there are so many ways to approach Faerie, and likely just as many ways to give offerings to the fey. I asked my Facebook friends list what sort of things they leave for the faeries, as I thought it might be fun to have a sort of “master list” of sorts of offering ideas. I’ll just collect them here for all of us, as a reference for later when maybe we can’t think of anything. Thank you to my friends for helping me with this list!!

·         Milk

·         Honey (these first two are the most “traditional” offerings)

·         Bread (homemade is best, but any will do)

·         Oatmeal (especially for the Tomte, with a pat of butter)

·         Dried flower petals from the garden crushed or broken into a confetti. (I carry this in a jar with me to the woods, to leave offerings if I take something or if I borrow magical space there)

·         A song, whistled, sung, played on an instrument.

·         Small crafts made of natural materials. Faerie houses, faerie tools, accessories. I once made a pixie ladder out of moss and twigs and hot glue. My friend Valerie makes polished acorn dish sets and leaves them for the faeries.

·         Shinies and crystals

·         Plants, bouquets of first, last, special flowers from the garden, plants actually planted in the earth on behalf of the fey.

·         Whiskey and other alcohol

·         Cakes (“Every summer I make a special cake – dense black chocolate cake smeared with elderberry jelly, topped with whipped cream and rose syrup (the syrups from Forbes Wild Foods) – Its been a hit with the local fae and forest spirits since I started making it, probably twelve years now.” – Cat Lane)

·         Cookies

·         Homemade syrups or jellies

·         The first serving of a meal

·         Candy. Jelly beans.

·         Money/coins.

·         Bits of soft fabric and lace, (biodegradable fabrics please) for nests or clothes.

·         Any creative work dedicated in their honor and shared with or left for them.

·         Buttons

·         Pieces of ribbon

·         Hairpins

·         Glass and stone beads

·         Cheese crackers

·         Herbs

·         Poetry

·         Incense

·         Anything shiny

·         The first of a harvest, fruit or vegetable or other.

·         Tea

·         Dolls made of plants, corn husks, seashells, etc.   

I think one important theme of note in the replies I got was that my friends and fellow faerie faith practitioners did not just wait for the days of special importance or for moments when they experienced special magic to show gratitude. It becomes a habit repeated often, even every day for some folk. Bake a delicious cake? Leave a slice for the fey. Blackberries just started ripening? Pick the first and leave it for the fey. Simply share. Bedtime each night might mean time to leave a fresh offering. Don’t forget if you find your gift untouched in the morning, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t used or appreciated. Fey folk will sometimes take the essence of a thing…its “foyson” it is called…and leave the husk or shell seemingly untouched. Mind you don’t reuse or eat any of this left offering. Not only is it disrespectful, but it can drive a human mad.

If you find yourself unprepared when you go for walks in the woods and have a wondrous experience, or find something you want to keep and feel the need to leave something in gratitude, then why not plan ahead for it? Buy or find a jar with a lid, small enough to tuck into your pocket, and make it a habit to put tiny treasures in there for the fey to have on hand when needed.

I suspect the habit is the most important aspect of the ritual. Making it something you automatically do, an unconscious thought to make a conscious gesture whenever possible. The faeries give us so much joy. It’s worth a little bit of thought and attention to figure out what to give them in return.  

Many thanks for your help in compiling this list to Jen Lund, Polly Chapman, Peter Vansklyke, Valerie Ashley, Magpie Maidasdottir, Silvatiicus Riddle, Elizabeth Lambert, Rhiannon WillowFae, Connie Krabach Lasorso, Iris Compiet, Desiree Soland, Lexi Taylor, Dan’a Maudelynn Reese, Victoria Chapman, Greene Edelwood, Lisa Culpepper, Alexander Nightshade, Moze Howard, Katie Saunders, Cat Lane, Heather Freyja Rose Lofthouse, Petaeel Heerma van Voss, Lisa Vlsek, Jules Styles, Madolyn Locke, Angela Brenneman, Morgen Wildea, Stanger Moore, Amelia Harper.