The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #793   Message #82711
Posted By: Cat a Tonic (inactive)
29-May-99 - 06:51 PM
Thread Name: Songs of Faery / Fairy / Fairies
Subject: RE: Songs of Faery
Loved the songs/poems and recorded recommendations. Being a long time Faery/Fairy enthusiast, I alway appreciate new stuff. I would like to donate the following:all from Herb Companion Apr/May/93

Fairy or Faerie? The etymology of the term "fairy" is long, complex and ambiguous. Most sources agree, however, that faerie originally referred to the place where fairies dwelt ("fay" + "aerie"), rather than to the creatures themselves.

Fairies They range in height from a mere half-inch to 6 feet or more, and in color, from gray to green to pearly white. Their temperament may be sweet or sly or surly; some are said to have the intelligence of an insect, others, the wisdom of the ages. They have caused delight or consternation in almost every culture from earliest recorded time. But a recurring common trait of these slippery folk is their special relationship with plants. Entire books have been written about fairies: about the origins of the concept, the folktales that describe their habits and deeds, their clans and tribes and individual names, their relation to reality. We'll home in here on a few fairy facts of special interest to herb lovers. Keep them in mind as the summer solstice approaches - who knows what's to be seen "on a bank where the wild thyme grows"?

If you want to make us faeries dance Make us sing and make us prance Plant some thyme, we'll come around Enchant the air, enchant the ground. (m.e. johnson)

Fairy Herbs Fairies have been thought to cause annoying maladies such as stitches, itches, sneezes and cramps. St John's wort is the chief protective herb against such ills. Other herbs in the powerful pantheon of seven fairy herbs are: vervain, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, yarrow and self-heal These are said to be best gathered at noon on a bright day, near the time of a full moon.

Foxgloves or folk's gloves, are often reputed to be fairy plants; the juice of ten foxgloves, according to Irish legent, will cure a fair-struck child

Four leaf clovers will break fairy spells

Mugwort has been called a magical fairy herb; running footmen once put it in their shoes so they might run all day without tiring.