Fairy Castles on the Moon?
An interesting article on the NASA website talks about the behaviour of shadows on the moon. One phenomenon astronauts observed is a glowing halo around the shadows cast by their helmets. This is the ‘Opposition Effect’ – caused by tiny grains of moondust sticking together to make fluffy tower-like structures, which researchers have christened ‘Fairy Castles’. Intriguing stuff – you can read the full article here.
Filed under Nature | Comment (0)New Barbie Fairy Dolls
Coming this August is a new Fairytopia doll in the Barbie Collectors range. Elina (shown on the left) is a beautiful flower fairy who longs to have wings, and embarks on a musical adventure to save her beloved Fairyland. Her outfit was designed by renowned Broadway designer Gregg Barnes who also created the costumes for ‘Barbie, Live in Fairytopia’. She wears a delicate pink ensemble with faux pearl embellishments and butterfly accessories.
Earlier this year Mattel released another character from the Fairytopia movie, The Enchantress (shown right). These limited editions are aimed at the collectors market, but there is the rest of the Fairytopia range suitable for younger Barbie fans.
Travellers Guide to Fairy Sites by Janet Bord
Whether you are intending a real holiday or just a journey via your armchair, The Travellers Guide to Fairy Sites is indispensable reading. Containing over 500 entries for England, Wales and Scotland, it concentrates on fairy sites that are identifiable and able to be visited today. It draws upon sources of traditional folklore and many modern first-hand sightings, including an intriguing account of little men in little cars seen in the late 1970’s. The entries give precise locations including Ordnance Survey map references so it is possible to see many of them for yourself. The variety of sightings and the spread of locations is amazing – there are only a handful of Counties not mentioned, the rest having multiple entries. Faerieland is far more widespread than you would have thought, and far closer than you dreamed possible. This book is a call to get up and start exploring.
Buy The Traveller’s Guide to Fairy Sites from Amazon.co.uk
The Faery Ball comes to Cornwall
I am very, very pleased to announce this October sees the UK’s first Faery Ball.
It is being brought to you by Woodland (the people behind the Oregon Faerieworlds Festival) and Love and Light, who hold the twice yearly ‘Fairy, Angels and Healing Fayre’.
The special guests are Brian and Wendy Froud, and music is to be from Woodland and Daughters of Gaia.
It is to take place on Friday 13th at the Acorn Theatre, Penzance (Cornwall UK). Tickets are £15 ($26 USD) and are available direct from the Acorn or through the Faerieworlds site, and also include entry to the Fayre on the 14th and 15th.Tickets are selling fast though, so get them soon!
Filed under Events | Comments (2)Thomas the Rhymer
Thomas the Rhymer (also known as True Thomas) is an anonymous ballad dating from the 17th Century. This version is from ‘The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.’ (Edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1919).
Popular belief is that Thomas was a real man, a poet and seer who lived in Erceldoune in the 13th Century. He prophesised several significant points in Scottish history and is said to have mysteriously disappeared, thought called back to Elfland, but will return in the hour of Scotland’s greatest need.
TRUE Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;
A ferlie he spied wi’ his e’e;
And there he saw a ladye bright
Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her skirt was o’ the grass-green silk,
Her mantle o’ the velvet fyne;
At ilka tett o’ her horse’s mane,
Hung fifty siller bells and nine.
True Thomas he pu’d aff his cap,
And louted low down on his knee
‘Hail to thee Mary, Queen of Heaven!
For thy peer on earth could never be.’
Jade Adornments by Natasha Dean
The adornments crafted by Natasha Dean are something to behold. Tangled roots, mossy vines, and toadstools mingled with vintage buttons, shredded lace and twinkling charms. There are necklaces, brooches, arm cuffs and hairclips – each one unique and never to be repeated. The emphasis on reusing and recycling vintage or unloved items is admirable, and there is talk of an upcoming line of faerie fashions also from recycled material. The Enchanted Earth collection is the most fae-like but there are many other lovely things to see, and there is a custom design service available too.
Filed under Faeriewear | Comment (0)Happy Fairy Day!
So here is it, the first Annual Fairy Day!
I hope you have lots of lovely things planned for today…
Perhaps you could read your favourite fairy books (while eating fairy cakes!)
Do a spot of gardening – plant flowers the Fae find attractive. Remember they don’t like things too neat and ordered.
If you don’t have a garden how about visiting a nice spot in nature. Get out to the countryside or just visit the local park.
Support the faerie art scene and treat yourself to a print to hang in your home.
Or get arty yourself and draw, paint, craft and be-glitter your own creation.
Make Your Own Faerie Door
If yesterday’s post about the Faerie Doors of Ann Arbor has inspired you, do take a peek at author Fiona Broome’s Faerie Magick site for instructions on how to make your own. She used a bought dolls house door as a base and then added twigs, moss, dried flowers, gems and other found objects to create a unique door to install in the home.
Filed under Crafts | Comment (0)Urban Fairies Take Up Residence In Ann Arbor
Illustrator Jonathan B Wright created the Urban Fairies website to chronicle the appearances of mysterious Faerie Doors around the town of Ann Arbor (Michigan USA).
It started with finding a tiny door under the stairs in his home, which when opened led to a miniature staircase. Before long a residence was spotted in the fireplace, and then the kitchen! Now it seems the faeries are spreading, with doors being spotted in a coffee shop, gift shops, a market, a theatre, a gallery, a frame shop and in the local kindergarten. The doors match those of the ‘bigfut’ buildings, and some lead to elaborate interiors which also mimic the human’s environment and can be spied on through equally tiny windows.
As well as details of locations and photos, the site records entries left in the faeries guest books, faerie ‘droppings’ (gifts left for the faeries) and even (gasp!) faerie traps, created by children at the kindergarten.
New door details are added as they are discovered, and a book telling the story of the Urban Faeries is in the works.
Faerie Folks Are In Old Oaks
There is an old rhyme that runs ‘Turn your cloakes for Faerie Folks are in old Oakes’, and oak is also one of the ‘Fairy Tree Triad’ of Great Britain.
Oak is known to be ‘King of the Forest’ – a single tree can live to be incredibly ancient and grow to a tremendous girth. One hollow oak was 20 metres round at the base – ample enough in fact for it to contain an alehouse!
The Greenman is more often than not depicted wreathed in Oak leaves, and acorns with a face drawn on them are considered lucky as they contain his spirit and the seed of potential. It was believed Oakmen lived in saplings sprouted from felled Oaks. They are unpleasant creatures who take delight in offering seemingly delicious food to travellers which is actually glamoured poisonous fungi.
There are several well known ‘Fairy Oaks’, individual trees with their own stories relating to the Fae. One such is found in Flintshire (Wales) – in the 18th Century a couple left their baby under its boughs believing the child to be a changeling. The next morning however they found the baby still there, thus it couldn’t be a changeling otherwise its Faerie parents would have taken it away.
