Ivy Faerie: available as cards or prints, ideal for the festive season!

www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk

Apart from being one of the plants brought in for the Christmas decorations the ivy has some interesting folklore surrounding it.

This is taken from my book Faerie Flora;

"This plant brings good luck, fun and happiness, and growing some over the outside wall of your house will deter misfortune.

If you have a house plant of ivy and it dies this might signify that financial problems may be looming.

Ivy is the symbol of fidelity and it used to be customary to hand a wreath of ivy leaves to newly weds. The bridesmaids would also carry some mixed in with their bouquets as it was believed to aid fertility and bring good luck. Wands entwined with ivy are still used in nature fertility rites and in spells for love magic.

For a woman to dream of her future husband she must collect some leaves and recite the following:

Ivy Ivy I love you

In my bosom I put you 

The first young man who speaks to me

My future husband he shall be"

We decorate our houses with greenery at Christmas as did our Roman and Teutonic predecessors as part of their winter festivals.

In some areas it is believed to unlucky to bring Holly and Ivy in before Christmas Eve and all the boughs must be taken down before Twelfth Night.

Faeries and goblins come in with the greenery to shelter against the winter cold; in return for this they would behave and cause no mischief. This is why the boughs must be removed otherwise the more malicious kinds of faeries will be encouraged to stay.

New Faerie Dolls, perfect for Christmas!

Perfect for Christmas Pressies,
 yes, it is that time of year again!
Handmade in Somerset and available from my website
 www. magic-myth-legend.co.uk
please contact for overseas shipping costs

 Beatrice the Faerie Bookworm

 Zelda

 The Green Man

Granny

Seeing the new moon through glass...!

It is supposed to very bad luck to see a new moon through glass. One old lady that I have heard of became very ill after after seeing it through a window, ever since then to avoid a re occurance of this illness she has her sister lead her out blindfold into the garden where her eyes are uncovered and she can view the moon safely. To guard against ill luck turn over any silver that you may have in your pocket.
If you look closely, with one eye shut and looking the other way there is supposed to be the image of a rabbit on the moons surface. The Moon Rabbit lives on the moon and spends his time pounding with a pestle and mortar to create the elixir of life.
In a  Buddhist   tale a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit resolved to practice charity on the day of the full moon, believing a demonstration of great virtue would bring them great rewards.
When an old man begged for food, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. The rabbit, who knew only how to gather grass, instead offered its own body, throwing itself into a fire the man had built. The rabbit, however, was not burnt. The old man revealed himself to be Sakra and, touched by the rabbit's virtue, drew the likeness of the rabbit on the moon for all to see. It is said the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire.
your pockets or handbag, and thus ensure prosperity for a month.
Bad Luck: To see the new moon for the first time through glass. Upon seeing the new moon you should turn whatever silver you have in your pockets or handbag, and thus ensure prosperity for a month.

your pockets or handbag, and thus ensure prosperity for a month.

Bad Luck: To see the new moon for the first time through glass. Upon seeing the new moon you should turn whatever silver you have in your pockets or handbag, and thus ensure prosperity for a month.

Great review from Fae Nation

 Had a lovely review from Bryony Whistlecraft at Fae Nation, a big thank you to you!

Fae Nation

Your Virtual Portal to Faerie…

• ABOUT

Faerie Flora by Elizabeth Andrews

August 16th, 2013

Faerie Flora is the newest book created by illustrator and author Elizabeth Andrews. A delightful follow up to Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles, Faerie Flora collects a wealth of lore, legend and traditional herbal uses of numerous native plants. Organised season by season Faerie Flora also contains recipes for food and remedies and some spells for those who’d like to include these magical plants in their work. Each plant is lovingly rendered with detailed botanical illustrations and accented with charming faerie paintings which bring the tales to life.
Faerie Flora (paperback, 162 pages)  is £9.99 and available to buy direct from Elizabeth’s website, A World of Myth, Magic & Legend.

Summer and roses...

Now the summer is well and truly here, hurrah!, my roses are in full bloom and the faeries in my garden are absolutely delighted for they adore roses.

As I have mentioned before if you wish to attract faeries o your garden 

grow loads of roses!

 And if you need a love spell sprinkle rose petals under your feet and dance 

on them while asking the faeries for their help in winning the one you love, 

and they will give their blessings on your magic.

Roses are also extremely useful in medicine; rose hips are a good source of 

vitamin C and according to Culpepper a decotation made with red rose petals

 and wine is a good remedy for headaches. 

Is that the hair of the dog remedy I wonder?

While the faeries use the roses themselves...

a faerie can make her self invisible by eating a rosehip and spinning 

anti clockwise on the same spot three times. To become visible again the faerie 

must eat another rosehip and spin again, but this time clockwise, three times.

I also have another love charm if anybody needs one...

Take three roses, white, pink and red.

wear them next to your heart

for three days

Steep them in wine

For three days more

Then give them to your lover

When he drinks, he will

Be yours forever.

Faerie Flora 2013

Delivery..

My delivery waiting to be put on a boat in Hong Kong!

Faerie Flora has landed!

At last my package has arrived from China!

I was in the garden planting some lettuce seedlings when the DHL driver rang the doorbell so I scampered to the door covered in dirt, wearing wellies and brandishing a trowel. 

And it looks great.. I am so relieved, I was imagining all sorts of horrors.

The only thing that I am going to have to change is the thickness of the cover, it's too thin at the moment and the corners have started to curl already on the sample they sent to me.

  The order has to come by boat from China and will take about a month so I am hoping it will arrive in time for me to start selling it at the Witches Market, Glastonbury in June

The Lavender Witch cont...

The lights were still on in the village shop as the couple walked past.
'It looks open,' said Kitty suprised. 'Shall I try the door?'
An elderly woman stood behind the counter reading a newspaper, she looked up sensing she was being watched and smiled when she saw Kitty peering in through the window.
Kitty opened the door, making the bell tinkle madly. 'Are you still open?'
'Yes dear,' the woman looked at her wristwatch. 'Oh goodness is that the time? I didn't realise it was so late.' She shook her her head and folded the newspaper.
'We've run out of milk and coffee, are you usually open this late?'
'No I just lost track of time, I don't usually work on Friday night but my nephew had an appointment so I volunteered.' The woman watched as Kitty wandered around the shop picking up the milk and the coffee, she also picked up a crusty loaf of bread.
'Freshly baked this morning, dear.'
'It smells lovely; I'll have one of these as well.' Kitty placed it all on the counter. 'Do you have any eggs?' she asked looking around the shelves.
'Over there by the newspapers. They're free range; they come from Mr Squires's farm.'
Kitty placed a half dozen next to her other purchases on the counter. 'I'm afraid I didn't bring a bag, we weren't expecting the shop to be open.'
The woman pulled a carrier out from under the counter and started packing Kitty's groceries.
'How's the move going?' she asked suddenly. 'William's a good friend, he's been keeping me informed,' she smiled at Kitty's surprised face. 'It's a small village dear, you'll get used to it.'
Kitty smiled back at her. 'It's lovely here, it feels like home already.'
' I'm sure it does,' the woman said quietly. She passed Kitty's shopping over. 'That will be six pounds fifty please.'
Kitty opened Gordon's wallet and handed over a ten pound note. The woman's hand closed over the money and Kitty's hand.
'Sybil,' she said.
'Sorry?'
'Sybil Leavenham, my name, she explained. 'I know you're going to be happy here Kitty, and if you need any help with anything,' she shook Kitty's as if to emphasis the point. 'Anything at all just ask.'
Kitty smile hesitantly. 'Thank you, that's very kind of you.'
Sybil smiled and released her hand, she nodded towards Gordon standing outside, 'He's getting impatient and he wants his beer.'
Kitty glanced around; her husband was gently tapping on the window and gesturing at her to hurry up.
'I'd better go, she gathered up the bag and her change. 'Thanks, see you again.'
'Oh you will, goodnight.'
Kitty smiled and pulled the shop door closed behind her. Gordon looked at the carrier bag and smiled ruefully.
'I thought it was just milk and coffee you needed?'
'Well I thought I would pick up a few things for breakfast as well.' Kitty handed back his wallet and looked up, Sybil was standing in the window calmly watching the couple outside.
Kitty waved and she smile slightly in response.
'She seemed very nice, she;s a friend of Mr Beamish. She knew all about us.'
'Really?'
'She even knew I was called Kitty.'
Gordon looked puzzled for a minute. Hr started to say something but behind them the shop lights suddenly turned off leaving them standing in the dark.
'Oh, time to go I think,' as he said this he turned and glanced back into the darkened interior of the shop, just on the other side of the window a dim figure stood, arms folded watching them through the glass. Gordon shrugged off the strange feeling of unease and took Kitty's hand.
'Come on; let's get off to the pub Kitty.'

The Lavender Witch
available Amazon www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk

The Lavender Witch cont...

Gordon rubbed a hand over his face. 'Okay, I'll look at it tomorrow; have you found the coffee yet?'
'What?'
'The coffee,' he said impatiently. 'Oh never mind, I've got it, Gordon opened the jar. 'There's not enough here for one cup let alone two.' He looked at his watch. 'I wonder if the village shop is open.'
Kitty looked up from the box. 'I shouldn't think so, not at this time of night.'
Gordon sighed. 'How about a beer then?'
'A beer? Well,' she hesitated. 'Yes that would be nice, I could do with getting out of here for a while,' she looked at the dog who was pushing his now empty bowl around the floor. 'And Nero could do with a walk,' she bent down and fondled his ears. 'You've been such a good dog today, haven't you?'
Kitty straightened slowly wincing. 'I'm going to ache tomorrow,' she complained, rubbing her back.
'Why didn't you let the men do the lifting?'
'I had to help, Gordon; I couldn't stand there and just watch.'
She turned away from him to shut the back door and noticed an elderly grey cat sitting in the doorway.
'Hey, we've got a visitor, our first one. Hello puss.' She put out a tentative hand and gently tickled it behind it's ear. 'Now who do you belong to?'
Gordon came back in from the hall, he had taken off his jacket and tie and had pulled on a thick jumper.
'What?'
'A  cat,' she turned back to the door. 'Oh, it's gone already.'
'It's probably from the farm or a stray.'
'It looked too plump to be a stray.'
'Then it's from the village, or the farm, and no... we are not taking it in, he warned her.


Gordon pulled the door shut behind him and followed his wife down the drive. He glanced back at the house. 'Once we sort out the front garden the place will look as though as though it has always been here.'
Kitty stopped and turned round, she smiled contentedly. 'It blends in nicely with the old farm buildings, doesn't it? And it feels like home already.'
Gordon put his a rm around her shoulder and gave her a hug as they walked out into the lane. 'We need to plant some more apple trees in the back garden, we can't call it Orchard Cottage if it hasn't got an orchard.'
'Maybe, it's a shame we couldn't keep a few more but I think most of the old trees were past saving.'
They turned right and followed the old stone wall of the orchard past the farm and walked down the lane into the village, the dog running a few paces in front of them. A bat swooped over their heads and disappeared into the farm buildings.

The Lavender Witcn cont...

Friday

There were a few early fallers under the two remaining apple trees in the orchard behind the house, the old neglected trees had long since stopped producing a decent crop but the wasps had found the few apples that had dropped and were drunkenly crawling over the rotting fruit.
One stray wasp flew in through the kitchen door and buzzed slowly around the room until it found the empty tubs of the Indian takeaway on the table. Kitty flicked it away with a tea towel and swept the debris into a carrier bag.
'Thanks for bringing the Indian.'
Gordon pushed his empty plate away and stood up. 'Well I thought it would be easier for you, after all,' he said looking at the pile of boxes in the hall. 'You've had a busy day. So what time did the removal company finish?'
Kitty sighed and pushed her greying hair back from her face.
'I think we finished unpacking the van about five, so then they had one last cup of tea and went on about five thirtyish.' She picked up the dirty plates and piled them in the sink. 'I've run out of milk as well, they drank so much tea and coffee. I was brewing up the whole time they were here.'
'Oh well, at least they worked hard for it and moving all our junk in one trip! I'm sure they deserve all the tea they could drink for that.'
A cool breeze blew in the door, outside dusk was falling and the last few minutes of birdsong drifted over the newly landscaped garden.
'Thank goodness it stayed dry, there's nothing worse than trying to move in the rain.'
Gordon opened the fridge. 'Yeah.. We were lucky this time, is there enough milk left for a cup of tea?'He picked up the carton and shook it. 'Nope it's dry,' he complained. 'It will have to be a black coffee.'
Kitty pulled a couple of clean mugs out of a cardboard box on the table.
'I hope I've got enough coffee left, there's some tea,but black tea? And by the way, there's something wrong with this door,' she indicated the back door. 'It won't stay open.'
Gordon raised his eyebrows and sighed mockingly. 'Anew house and you're finding fault already.'
I'm not finding fault, it just won't stay open. And the front door is just as bad. It kept shutting when we were trying to bring things in. I'm sure the men thought I was doing it for a joke, so Greg propped it open with your armchair. He had a look at it; he said it might be the hinges.'

Published 2013
available from Amazon & www. magic-myth-legend.co.uk

The Lavender Witch

The first few paragraphs of  The Lavender Witch

Elizabeth Andrews

Devon, a beautiful green county of gentle rolling hills and woodlands. Steeped in history and home to the Anglo Saxon tribe the Dumnonii from which the county reputedly gained its name. Dumnonii meaning 'deep valley dwellers'; an apt name for this beautiful countryside, hiding scores of small villages and hamlets deep in the fertile valleys of the Blackdown Hills. Reached by a maze of winding single tracks lanes enclosed on either side by high banks and hedges which in high summer grow together and meet overhead forming long green tunnels. Within just a few miles of the bustling towns and streets you enter a different world where the past is so close that it could be just around the next bend of the road.

The small village of Medbury, worthy of mention in the Domesday book is bounded by the river Yarty to the west and the county border of Dorset to the east, its single street winding its way way along the valley and rising gently to the slopes of Castle Hill. The street peters out at the rambling buildings of Castle Farm, originally the last residence on that road but with the overgrown orchard to the side of the barn recently having been sold, a new dwelling had risen inside the old stone walls of the orchard. The builders rubble had gone, lush green turf had been laid and a new gravel drive led up to the front door. Orchard Cottage was finished, and deep in the soil something stirred.

Published 2013

Redcap, most evil of the border goblins

Now this is an evil resident of the faerie world! He is called Redcap and is well known for being the most evil of the border goblins. He is short and wiry with ragged pointed teeth and sharp claws like steel. Redcap lives in any old abandoned castles or towers that he can find, he is especially fond on any with a violent history.
Hermitage Castle in Roxburgh was the home of Lord Soulis, a man with an evil reputation, and keeping him company was  a Redcap who acted as his familiar.
Redcaps are fond of killing people by rolling boulders onto them or tearing at them with his sharp claws before drinking his victims blood. His name comes from the fact that his cap is dyed in his victims blood!
Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

Hairy Meg of Scotland

This is another creature of the world of fae that should not be judged by her appearance!
Hairy Meg was a brownie that lived a hundred years ago in the farmhouse of Achnarrow near Glenlivet. She was a grand worker and practically ran the place single handed, in fact she was too good! All she required in payment was a bowl of milk and an oatcake. At this time the farmer was struggling financially after a bad year of crop failure and sickness in his livestock so he decided to sack the rest of the servants to save money.
Hairy Meg was not pleased with this and decided to go on strike, refusing to do any of the chores and throwing pots and pans at the farmer if he ventured into the kitchen. She made such a nuisance of herself that the farmer had to relent and re hire all the servants. Hairy Meg was delighted to see them all back at the farm and peace and harmony reigned again.

The Grugach of Scotland

There are many strange creatures in the world of fae, not all are beautiful, but still, what glitters is not always gold! Take the Grugach for example, she is very ugly but always welcome where ever she goes, as she is the guardian spirit of grazing animals in the Highlands of Scotland. The old crone protects the animals from harm and if she does enter the crofters homes to seek warmth from their fire, she will bring good luck with her.
Up until the 1900's milk was still poured into hollow stones as offerings for her.

Well, I have just sent off my artwork to China for printing. It is my latest book called Faerie Flora, it's a seasonal guide to  our most common flowers and plants including the myths and legends for each plant and including spells, herbal remedies and culinary recipes.
It's like giving birth in a way, painful to get out and you're not sure what it's going to look like!
China was the obvious choice for printing because of the price, I would have liked to keep the printing in Britain but it was not cost effective. Luckily the nice girl I have been communicating with speaks very good English, especially as my Chinese is non existent!

 Just put on an image of the cover!

Faerie Flora should be available June/July

Mad March Hares

Now is the time that Hares begin their strange and mysterious mating rituals. In 1607 according to Edward Topsell writing in his History of four footed Beast; most people believed that hares were one year female and another year males. Hunters believed at that time that they were hermaphrodites.
There are many strange tales and beliefs surrounding the hare, that it is unlucky to meet one when setting out on a journey, or to mention one by name before putting out to sea, if you must then use  a nickname like Wat or Old Malkin.
And if you see a hare acting oddly it could be a shape shifting witch ( as told in my novel A Lavender Witch) or a were hare which can only be killed by using a silver bullet.

There is a goblin who resides on the Isle of Man called a Phynnodderee,  a very helpful chap but not too bright. He offered to help a local shepherd bring in his flock of sheep from the hills. Much later the goblin trailed into the farmyard exhausted,complaining that the  shepherds small brown sheep had caused him endless trouble when he was trying to round it up with the other sheep. The man was very puzzled when he heard this as all his sheep were snowy white. So he went to inspect the flock and cowering in the middle of the flock was an exhausted small brown hare.

Faerie Castle

There are rumours of many faerie castles in Britain, one such is Castle Howe 

situated on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria. On misty mornings 

or sometimes late in the evening, the reflection of it can be seen in the waters 

of the lake but the actual castle is never seen.

Two children disturbed this faerie site and roused their anger when they started 

digging in the soft earth with toy spades. Their father saw what they were doing

 and sent the family dog over to attract the children's attention, but before the 

dog could reach them, it stopped dead in its' tracks as though it were paralysed.

The Mound of Hostages, Tara

The Mound of Hostages in Ireland is a ancient burial site famous as the capital of the High Kings of Ireland and a holy site for thousands of years. Originally named Temair after a Princess Tea married an Irish King, she brought with her as a gift to the King the  Tiatha de Danann's legendary Stone of Destiny, the Lia-Fail.

Much spiritual power and strength dwells in this stone and it is on this that the King would sit at his coronation. If he is the rightful heir the stone would roar beneath him. It was removed from Tara by Prince Fergus and taken to Iona and from there the Scottish King Kenneth MacAlpine carried it off to Scone. But this was not the end of it's travels; Edward the first then had it carried to Westminster Abbey in 1296 and had it built into the throne used for English coronations. It has since been returned to Scone.

Back to the site... near the centre of the main part of the mound is the Fort of Kings and on top of the high mound stands a stone that although is called the Lai-Fail is not the original gift from the Tuatha de Dananns.

Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

witches and ill wishing

The Falmouth police in 1845 arrested three women from the De Freez family for 

assaulting a woman called Warne. They could have exonerated themselves 

during the trial but the witnesses who had seen the assault would not appear 

in court as they were afraid of the woman Warne saying that she was a witch

 and would ill wish them. In another case in Cornwall a man was brought before

 the court accused of beating his wife and of keeping her on rations of bread and water. 

His defence was that his wife's sister had ill wished his pigs and he had beaten his 

wife so that she would ask her to remove the curse!

A common way to remove a curse cast by a witch is to draw blood from her, 

this will diminish her life force and her magical power would be destroyed. 

The blood of the cursed person can also be used by placing it along with their urine,

 hair, nails in a bottle; this is then heated over the fire making the witch writhe in agony 

until she lifts the curse. Urine is a very good deterant against the evil eye, by sprinkling

 it over the threshold to prevent the witch from entering or sprinkle it over the afflicted person.

If you were unable to lift the curse yourself then a 'pellar' would be consulted. 

These people would roam the country offering love philtres, finding lost property and 

countering the curses of witches. These pellars where also known as wise women or men, 

conjurors or white wizards.

One of the objects that aided them in this was a ring made from a blue stone with 

a yellow twisted line running through it; 'adder stone' or 'millpreve'. It was believed to 

a remedy for snake bite, the stone was created from a hundred adders that gathered

 to create the stone by hissing and spitting on a hazel wand. 

Writen charms were also provided, written on parchment and worn around the neck.

The magic charm is made up of five words, each appearing four times as the rows were

 read from top to bottom:

S A T O R

A R E P O

T E N E T 

O P E R A

R O T A S

A  sheeps head would be stuck all over with nails and roasted before a fire while the affected persons family would gather around it and chant:

It is not this heart I wish to burn

But the persons heart I wish to turn

Wishing them neither rest nor peace

Till they are dead and gone

 

There is an old tale in Cornwall of a failed faerie snatch, it happened in a remote 

moorland cottage near Towednack. The mother's name was Betty Stogs; she lived 

there with her husband and six month old baby. She was a slovenly neglectful mother 

and would leave the baby alone all day in the cottage with just a cat for company. 

Her neighbours angrily asked her why she didn't look after the baby better as the  

child was getting so dirty but she just replied that  the moor was a cold place and a 

good layer of dirt kept it warm. One night after being away all day Betty returned 

home to find the baby and the cat gone, she and her husband searched the cottage

 and then started to search the cold moor but they could find no sign of the child

 or the cat. Betty resumed her search the next morning and as she was walking over a 

nearby tor spotted the cat in the  distance. She hurried after the animal and followed 

it into a furze bush where she discovered a bundle of old fashioned chintz, inside was 

the baby fast asleep. It was dressed in beautiful silk clothes and scented with sweet

 herbs, it's own rags were nowhere to be seen and for the first time it was clean. 

When her neighbours heard this declared that the baby had been taken by the faeries

 to take back to the faerie realm. However it must have taken them so long to clean it's 

filthy little body that they ran out of time before the sun rose and left it hidden in 

the furze bush, meaning to come back for it later.

Art Exhibition

First exhibition of original work  for quite a while! 

It's a joint  showing between myself and a friend Steven Shipp. 

He specialises in acrylics and oils  and exhibits throughout the west country, 

while I paint in watercolours.  

We are holding it at the Holyrood Lace Mill in Chard,  Somerset for two weeks 

from the 18th Feb to the 2nd of March. 

Hope to see you there!

Stonehenge and Woodhenge

I was lucky enough to visit these two ancient sites last weekend, I should have

 gone before having driven past many times. It had stopped raining so we 

decided to venture out of the car. Even tho it was freezing and blowing a gale the 

Stonehenge site was packed with bus loads of tourist , like us!. 

The stones are magnificent but unfortunately I didn't get a feeling of connection 

with them at all. I think it was because we weren't allowed close enough and

 surrounded with clicking cameras didn't help.

 However it was a different matter at 

Woodhenge, we had the place to ourselves. I think this site isn't as well visited as 

it's bigger and more imposing cousin! I stood in the middle of this circle and could 

feel the power of the ley line running through it, amazing! of course it might 

have just been hypothermia setting in! To one side of the middle marker is a tiny grave, 

inside was found a small crouching body of a child, apparently a sacrifice. 

( I didn't find this out until I got home, thank goodness, there is also another grave of a teenager to one side that had also been sacrificed)

 Not much is known about these bodies as the skeletons were taken to London and 

destroyed during the Blitz. 

These two sites are on the main ley line that runs across the country from East Anglia 

down to the south west.

Eilian of Garth Darwen

The story of Eilian of Garth Darwen illustrates the power of faerie glamour very well. 

Eilian was a poor servant girl who worked long hard hours for a local midwife, 

when Eilian disappeared one day it was agreed by her mistress and the neighbours 

that the girl had gone off with the faeries. The girl was not seen for some time until 

one dark stormy night the midwife was called out by a stranger to attend his wife, 

who was about to give birth. She was taken to a richly furnished room inside a 

grand house where a young woman  lay on the bed. After a while the baby was 

delivered and the father handed a pot to the midwife and asked her to rub the 

ointment onto the baby's eyes; she did this but accidentally smeared some on to 

one of her own eyes. Instantly the wonderful room vanished and instead there 

was just a damp dark cave and lying on a bed of bracken was the servant girl Eilian. 

The midwife was paid for her services with a handful of gold coins but by the time 

she had reached home the coins had disappeared and dried leaves lay in her purse.

Several months passed before she saw the father again strolling through the 

local market. He was very surprised when the midwife greeted him and inquired 

after the mother and baby. He asked with which eye the midwife could see him and 

when she pointed to it, the eye instantly went blind.

Faerie Glamour

The faeries art of concealing their true appearance is called glamour and is often

 used to conceal mortals, they can alter their own shape as well as the appearance 

of food, money and surroundings. So a splendid feast spread out on a beautiful table 

could be nothing more than nuts and berries laid out on a log.

The term glamour comes from the Scottish word glaumerie which means magic,

 traditionally this power was used to capture mortal partners for breeding. 

As mentioned before faeries are always trying to improve their own race by mingling 

it with human blood.

The use of faerie ointment on your eyes will reveal them in their true state but 

be careful, their wrath can be terrible!

'Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles'

Faerie Markets

A faerie market takes place on the Blackdown Hills every week, many mortals have 

stumbled across the faerie gathering and have fared differently according to the 

respect that they show the faerie folk.

They gather dressed in bright colours on the side of the hill and mill around the 

many tents that are set up  around the field, inside they are piled high with various

 faerie goods and peddlers walk amongst the crowd with trays piled high with 

trinkets and ribbons. Musicians dance and pipe around the crowds as the faerie 

folk make their purchases.

There is one account where a man travelling home came across the fair, as he 

drew nearer the crowds faded from view and as he passed through the invisible 

throng he felt himself being pushed and pinched. 

The man began to feel extremely ill and hurried home as quickly as he could. 

By the time he had reached his home in Combe St Nicholas he was paralysed 

down one side , this affliction stayed with him for the rest of his life.

The market has been seen many times but most avoid it, one man however was 

more fortunate. He had always put out a plate of fresh water outside his home for 

the faeries and a dish of scalded cream. This served him well for one night he stumbled 

into the faerie market, seeing the wares on display he decided to buy a 

wooden  cider mug. This he bought and received  a handful of leaves for 

change, he politely said nothing and took the mug home. 

The next morning the mug was solid silver and the leaves had turned into lumps of gold.

Happy new year to you all

May you start the new year with

 a song in your heart and a spring to your step!

My steps will not be that springy as I have eaten too many mince pies!