Whether you call them faeries, fairies, the fae, or the fey, nature and elemental spirits are powerful and poetic allies. Working with them has many benefits. They can make a house feel like a home, and can bring a sense of etherial magic to your practice.
I’ve been blessed with fae energy throughout my life. I credit this to my mother, who believed in faeries long after her childhood, and raised me in a home decorated with beautiful, witchy objects.
Unfortunately, a lot of homes and outdoor areas have negative energy, which repels the fae. They aren’t attracted to any form of low energy, whether it’s harsh chemicals, litter, foul language, stagnant energy, or negative thoughts. But it only takes a little bit of time and effort to bring them into your life, and it’s well worth it. Here are my tips on attracting the fae and working with them.
Find a nice place for your faery altar
The first step to attracting the fae to your home or yard is to find a powerful place for your altar. This will increase your attention to it and magnify the energy. Indoors, these are the areas where energy tends to flow toward. For example, when you walk into a bedroom, the first thing you might see is an antique dresser. This is the perfect place for a fae altar.
(Note: In my experience, they don’t like rooms with televisions, probably because of the noise and violence, so don’t use that room. They’re also repelled by cigarette smoke, loud or obnoxious voices, and arguing. Place the altar far away from these areas.)
Outdoors, you’ll want to find a space that cannot be easily seen by passers-by, or at least, isn’t as obvious. If you have a spot in your yard that feels magical already, it could be a good starting place. A tree trunk or a tucked-away area is perfect. Dappled sunlight through leaves is best — it shouldn’t be too sunny or too shady. Stay away from noise pollution, such as a roaring highway, if at all possible.
Clean. No really, clean!
I know I have virgo rising, but you can believe me when I say this. You really have to clean if you want to attract faery energy. The fae can’t stand clutter, dust, or a mess. They feel it energetically, and it weighs them down.
After decluttering your altar room, wipe down indoor surfaces with a clean cloth. If you need to use liquid, use rainwater or distilled water. If you need to use soap, use a soap from a health food store, either with essential oils or no scent.
(Another side note: the fae can’t stand synthetic perfumes or fragrance oils. I’d even go as far to stay away from chemically extracted oils, due to the difference in energy. It makes sense — they’re nature spirits. Why would they like synthetics when the real thing is so much better?)
Outdoors, pick up litter, sticks, and stones everywhere around the area. Remove any eyesores from the place. You may have to get creative with new plants or pots. You may also want to purchase additional dirt or sand to make the area more level.
To cleanse the space energetically, burn a little white sage or palo santo. Waft the smoke over you, too, and set a happy intention for the place.
Decorate the altar
Now it’s time to create a place to attract the fae. Either purchase or look around your home for beautiful objects such as crystals, ribbons, plants, figurines, or other fancy stuff. The thrift store and dollar stores can be great places to find amazing little items for cheap. Just make sure to cleanse everything before you add it to the altar.
Outdoors, choose weatherproof items. I like wind chimes and ceramic figurines. You can arrange stones or crystals in a fancy pattern, if you wish. Plant flowers or fragrant herbs to attract the little ones. Finish the altar with a light sprinkling of glitter.
Include the senses
Speak softly to the fae, or sing, if you can sing on key. If not, play music — either your own, or someone else’s. I like to play Damh the Bard, Owain Phyfe, and old Green Crown recordings, but any beautiful music will do.
Light up a stick of natural incense or drop some essential oil into a small dish or onto the ground. Put out some food — faeries love sweets and fruit. You can put out honey in a small dish, or juice, or a little booze. As with any food or beverage offering, remove the offering after about a day, as that will be enough time for the spirits to absorb the energy of the offering.
Open your mind. And then some.
As the Peter Pan saying goes, you have to believe in faeries. Do you? If so, say it out loud!
“I do believe in faeries! I do, I do!”
If you need some inspiration, play the Peter Pan clip below.
Another thing you can do to open your mind is to read fairy tales. I recommend the Fairy book series by Andrew Lang, in all of the colors. I love reading these, and the illustrations make them even more alluring. It’s one of my favorite things to read right before bedtime, and I feel it opens my mind up even more while I sleep.
It may take a few months before the fae accept your invitation, but have patience and hope. Stay positive. Be child-like. Fae are attracted to this energy.
How will I know when it works?
If your place feels happier and fresher, you may see subtle movements in a sunbeam or feel a lovely energy dancing about. That’s the fae!
Faeries are usually invisible, but they sometimes choose to reveal themselves. I usually see them as a dazzling point of light that hangs in the air for a second or two before vanishing. The size varies. Usually, they’re a pinpoint or a little bigger, but I’ve also seen them as big as a marble.
Points of light can come in all colors, though you’ll probably find that you attract mostly one color at a time. The different colors probably have different meanings, but I don’t quite understand what the colors mean. It might help to keep a record of what colors you seen and your mood in your Book of Shadows.
Whenever you see a point of light, acknowledge it with a smile. Give it love and gratitude. After doing this for a while, you may find that they want to stay longer, or that you’ll see more, or different colors.
Working with the fae in rituals
Elemental spirits bring a sense of magic to any place or ritual. I don’t know about you, but I can feel them on a palpable level. When they arrive, I get shivers up my spine.
I like to call the fae when I call north, for the spirits of the land. Sometimes after I call them, I hear the buzzing of insects. It always makes me smile. Occasionally, I’ll see a butterfly or a moth. Recently, at a sacred space near my home, after I called the fae, a dragonfly repeatedly bumped against my legs, hand, and shoulders. I laughed and took it as a very good sign that they were with me and my goals.
I always advise people to work gently with any spirit or god, and this includes the fae. Don’t ask for much from them for the first six months of the work. Instead, bask in their presence and be gracious. Be a source of laughter and good energy. Give them more of what they like. If it’s honey, increase the amount, or try different kinds. They’ll most likely appreciate it.
Meditations with the fae are also blissful and serene, and are likely to become more so as you work with them more.
Long-term benefits to working with the fae
Fae energy can help the earnest, good-hearted practitioner in many ways. The fae seem to be a buffer for depression and low-energy thoughts. Other benefits include feelings of a child-like sense of wonder, optimism, and freedom. Anyone wanting to reclaim innocence will benefit greatly from any fae work.
Beauty and a somewhat-prolonged youth are other fae benefits, though these should never be the sole reasons for working with them. I’m pretty sure anyone interested in the fae for glamor reasons will be treated as a shallow soul, and will not be taken very seriously.
That being said, if you ever need to use glamor for any reason, you can channel it easily if you’re on good terms with the fae. However, this power comes with responsibility. You should use this energy for a good purpose and not for manipulation. I like to use a little bit of glamor for fire dance performances and during photo shoots.
Inappropriate uses of glamor would include seducing someone or wielding the energy to influence someone’s decisions. The fae have a moral code, and while you might be able to break the rules sometimes, they don’t like it. I personally have never tested them, as they can break away easily and leave you feeling a little cold.
The fae are creative communicators. They supply inspiration easily. You can see evidence of this in the multitude of artists who used faeries as their chosen subjects. They’ve also been known to whisper flashes of insight, causing creative breakthroughs.
Perhaps the best gift of working with the fae is a profound sense of peace and bliss. This is not to say you’re removed from the world. You still can be (and should be) an activist for positive change. It just makes coming home to a place filled with magic and wonder all the more pleasurable.