How To Protect Against Fairies

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers about the fire!

This week, we did get better weather and some rain. Yesterday we had a storm that seemed to really come down right over the affected areas. Containment levels are up, and hopefully the fire will be out soon. People are already able to go home after being evacuated, in some areas.

Okay, so the title of the post.

I'm working on a nice autumn story right now, a novel about fairies in New England. When I asked a friend in my writing group what I should post on my blog today (it was a long day, and my brain is tired), she suggested talking about the new project.

It's about fairies, and it's kind of a dark take on folklore and fairy tales, set in New England. I think I've mentioned this before as a WIP. But the fairies I'm writing about are the Celtic ones, that are sometimes godlike in power and are amoral. They will help mortals they like, but curse badly the ones they don't.

So today's blog is a dumping of some of the lore I've learned on how to deal with this kind of fairies, especially some of the lore I use in this book.

Let's get started.

IRON

Iron, usually called "cold iron" (though this is a poetic term for iron), is supposed to be the best deterrent for fairies. They can't touch it and they can't even, sometimes, go near it. To protect babies from fairies, iron shears might be hung over the cradle.

Don't ask me why shears and not horseshoes, which, hung over a door frame, could stop fairies from entering. Sounds like a hazard, no matter how you slice it.

RED

The color red is sometimes a deterrent to some fairies. Red berries, like those from holly or rowan (pictured above), are sometimes used to keep fairies away. However, leprechauns and red caps are fairies who wear red and to some fairies, rowan is a sacred tree. So better to use iron.

PLANTS

Some plants can keep fairies at bay. Some of these are St. John's Wort (above - apparently this is also available in pill form, so for the modern fairy problem?), primroses, and marsh marigolds. Putting garlands of these on horses could keep fairies from stealing them, and on windows and doors, keep them out of your house.

Four-leaf clovers can prevent fairies from being able to hide. Fairies can go invisible and have glamors that make them look different. Carrying a four-leaf clover can cause the wearer to see through those glamors to the fairy's true form.

That said, DO NOT ALLOW THE FAIRY TO KNOW YOU CAN SEE THEM. Fairies don't often take kindly to humans being able to see through their glamors. If a human reveals this ability, the fairy might strike the human blind in retaliation.

Which brings us to...

ETIQUETTE

Fairies are very polite creatures. They work by rules of give and take, and they have rules of etiquette that can cause help or harm to humans. For example, if a human were helpful to a fairy, they may receive help or gifts. Squirting some milk on the ground for a fairy, when milking a cow, or leaving gifts of food or silver behind, could win the regard of a fairy. Obviously, harming trees (like hawthorns or oaks) or mounds sacred to or living places of the fairies is a bad idea.

(Hawthorns also have red berries, by the way.)


Fairies are offended easily, often by lack of hospitality. If they think they are owed something by right, and they are denied that thing, they may retaliate badly. Kindness and hospitality are good safeguards, but some fairies will take advantage.

Fairies cannot lie, but they can mislead. They twist words until what may sound like a straight answer actually means the opposite. They're like lawyers that way.

Don't offend fairies, but in dealings, there are some things that are not wise to do. Telling a fairy your name is a bad idea, as names have power and can give the fairy power over you. The reverse is also true: knowing a fairy's name allows you to summon it. If a human should ever make it down to the fairy's lands under mounds, they must not eat or drink anything down there. That will tie them to that world. Time also runs oddly in fairy lands, so a person may seem to spend one night and return a hundred years later, or vice versa.

Other things that can protect against fairies are running water, church bells, and bread, although the term "fairy" can cover things like mermaids, so obviously different rules apply.

It has been fun researching this topic. I've learned a lot, and I look forward to using these and other ideas in my novel.

Pray For Rain

So, the writing is going well, and I'm deep into a new project. Revision, but hard-core revisions to the point that this is practically a first draft. Just moving along, there.

But right now there's a much more pressing matter I want to ask for your help in.

Right now in Utah there's a nasty fire raging just south of where I live in Provo.

Actually, there are two of them. The Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires, but recently they just combined to make one mega-fire.

The fires were caused by lightning strikes on September 6, and were allowed to burn as controlled fires can help the environment out here. But due to drought and high winds, they burned out of control and now are burning pretty badly. The fire has grown past 86,000 acres and is at 2 percent containment. Many communities, like Elk Ridge, Covered Bridge, and Woodland Hills are evacuated, with other communities evacuated as well or put under pre-evacuation warning.

If you want to learn more, you can visit the sites below:

Daily Herald article

Pole Creek Fire InciWeb

At the time of writing this, no structures have been lost. No one has been seriously injured (there are reports of sprained ankles). However, it's a bad fire, and the fact that there have been hot, strong winds and no rain have only made it harder for firefighters to stop the blaze.

Also, as far as I understand, no physical donations are needed right now. This article says that the Red Cross has stopped donations due to abundance. There have been little miracles all along this experience: the fact that the fire's spreading hasn't been worse than it is, the structures that haven't been damaged, the people unhurt. The fact that 6,000 people needed places to stay and no one is in a shelter during these evacuations.

But like I said, it's a bad fire and they're still fighting it. Weather has not been on our side. So, while we don't currently need help with physical donations (though if you'd like to help, keep watching the news in case they are), please, please, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm serious. We need better wind conditions and we need rain. We need things that can't be bought or donated. So, if you're a person of faith, please say a prayer for Utah. Send physical donations to those who need it due to Hurricane Florence, and while you're praying for them, could you please mention Utah?

I realize there are many other people who need help, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd keep us in your thoughts as well.

Thank you.

Lots to Talk About

Whew, that was a busy week.

I posted my first YouTube episode! You can see it here.

I also went to Salt Lake FanX. It used to be Salt Lake Comic Con, but then San Diego got hissy about Salt Lake using their name. As far as I know, they haven't attacked New York, so I feel like it's about something other than the name, but that's just me.

And yes, much shade was thrown at San Diego at this year's FanX.

I only went on Thursday, so it was a relaxed kind of con year. Thursday had a lot of the voice actors, so I saw Vic Mignogna (of Fullmetal Alchemist and pretty much every other anime ever) and he was a super-nice, friendly guy. He was driving his handlers crazy trying to get him to places on time, since he just wanted to talk to his fans.

So go him.

I also got to see a panel with Paige O'Hara and Robbie Benson, who were the voices for Belle and the Beast in the animated Beauty and the Beast. They're great. I came out of there really admiring Paige O'Hara and thinking she is a great person. She shared a story about how starstruck she was when she met Julie Andrews (!) and, I don't know, she just seemed very grounded and relatable.

I'm starting to feel like the celebrities who are voice actors or who have more of a niche fandom are a bit more down-to-earth than others. Anyway, FanX 2018 was overall very wholesome. And such great cosplays! Here are only a couple.

I also cosplayed. Here's me and my sister taking our picture next to Han Solo:

I'm not a zombie (I was asked). I'm Jekyll and Hyde; my right side is Jekyll and my left is Hyde. It was my Halloween costume last year. I'm very proud. And, you know, it kept me from being one of a zillion Links, so there you go.

I also got to go down to St. George and see The Prince of Egypt (stage musical) with my siblings and grandfather.

This wasn't a picture from our performance, by the way. That was banned.

But here's a video from it!

It was good! The staging was amazing; the Tuacahn is an open-air theatre set in a canyon, so they could use fireworks, live animals, light projections on the cliffs behind, and water features like flooding the stage.

And they used all of it. The Plagues song was stunning to watch.

Plot wise, I liked the movie better. I think this a watered-down version of the movie, which has so much power in it. This was a nice story, with good music, but I think it lacked that same power.

Partially because the burning bush scene was greatly diminished. Just a few seconds instead of getting this:

So great.

The musical focuses more on the love Moses and Ramses have for each other as brothers, and for more of the family dynamics. Again, it made for a good story. Our Ramses did a great job; I really liked his performance. There were also some added songs, like "Footprints in the Sand," that I thought were beautiful.

But to me, the movie is a classic. Nothing can beat it, although my grandfather, not seeing the movie before, liked the musical better when we did show him the movie.

So, I do recommend it, especially of an example of phenomenal staging that uses every possibility. Still, I think it won't replace the movie anytime soon.

This week, I'm posting another video. Last week I made a retrieval puzzle, so this week it's the Beccas of the world's turn with a detective puzzle.

It's challenging to make up these puzzles, but I'm having fun. I hope others do, too.

Reversing a Common Fan Question

Hey, folks! I don't have a lot to say this week. Not much is happening.

Oh, wait. I'm posting my first episode to my YouTube channel this week.

Wheeee! To all of you who have viewed this promo and subscribed to my channel, a huge, glowing, heartfelt, THANK YOU!

And, this week I'm also going to FanX for a day, and going down to see the stage production of The Prince of Egypt over the weekend, so next week I should have more exciting things to say to you.

This week, though, I've been writing, and getting first-draft annoyed because I took a break from this draft to work on another, and now that I'm back, I feel like I'm writing a different book with a different feel.

I like it better, and I think this is more what I want, but GRRR! Do you know how much revision I'll have to do later?

So, hoping for better adventures to report next week, and maybe how it was launching my first full episode. I imagine it will take some time to post. Because bandwidth and video size. So, this will be interesting.

This week, though, I want to ask you a question. Or, two. Bear with me.

First, what fictional world would you like to visit?

You probably have a good answer to this. Hogwarts, or Narnia, or Middle Earth, are my go-tos, depending on how I feel. Right now, it's Middle Earth.

The point is, you've probably been asked this before. But have you ever thought about the reverse?

Who would you like to take from a fictional world and introduce into our reality?

Any ideas? I'll tell you mine. This guy:

I would take Arthur Weasley to the movies. And on an airplane. Heck, I'd show him Disney World and blow his mind.

And you? Do you have an answer to this question? Anyone you'd show the big, beautiful world that you belong to? Let me know your answers!