TIME TO CEASE YOUR LABORS for a FAIRY TALE

TIME TO CEASE YOUR LABORS  for a FAIRY TALE

Friends and guests know that they are in Faerie Territory when they visit Wiseacre, our garden by the East River. So often have the Little People, Old Ones and Faeries been sighted in our yard—we have turned the homeplace we steward over to people of all ages to stay, play and observe.

Throughout the years, kids’ camps, ethno-botanical groups, Master Gardeners and fey folk of all kinds have gathered here. Although we host FOLKLORE AND FAIRY-HOUSE CREATION WORKSHOPS every summer for the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival ( www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com), with very little guidance almost everyone who comes knows just what to do. Each person is drawn to discover his or her own Secret Spot along the creek, under tree roots, between stones, in garden shadows, on moss carpets or along the river bank. Initially designed for adults, our Fairy-House Creating Workshops encourage grown-ups to bend down and look close.

Our goal is for Big People, like kids, to unabashedly get their behinds in the air as they create microcosmic mansions for the Little People.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the “real” kids to infiltrate the adult workshops! And often, working side-by-side, old and young have created ingenious compounds and even entire villages meant to house fleets of faeries. Participants have crafted clothing hung on branches, hammocks made of leaves, ladders, tiny furniture and bridges of twigs and woven grass. (For information on handmade faerie fashions, doors and furniture please go to my “Notoriously Fey” friend and artist, Nancy Coker’s email:  ( ncoker9@gmail.com.) Other artful architecture includes stone lighthouses and comfy ports to entice the River Faeries, leaf and bark wigwams set in the crooks of tree branches and even a “Faerie Clinic” for the treatment of traumas imposed by the ever-transient impact of the 21st Century. Currently, there still stands a 4-story Water Sprite Spa and ancestral faerie castle built by an intergenerational crew of six dedicated designers. Homes for Flower Divas, Plant Spirits, Nisse and Duendes, Nymphs, Sylphs, Wights and Elves are all crafted with casual, yet exquisite care.

As the sun sets, we get out our flashlights and join the Home Tour of the Famous and Infamous Fey People.

Spotlighted in their magical settings, each elvin environment takes on a mysterious otherworldly glow. We can recognize the Sidhes, the ancient earth-root homes of the Celtic Banshees and Farshees, the mythic dwellers of the hills and mounds. Each faerie-house builder describes in detail, to the gathered group, what she or he has been drawn to create. In the telling of the story and the needs of the Ancient Ones for whom the shelter was designed, we are shining a light upon both our outer- and inner-worlds. In metaphorical terms, these personally-created dwellings speak about our own emotional environments. For some of us, these healing habitats offer snapshots of the children we could or should have been.

Each Faerie-House Creator invokes an enchanted folklore which expresses their unique connection with the Natural world.

As each creator recounts the tale of the elemental folk she or he has captured (in their imaginations), we experience these magical Creatures as near and very real!

One elderly man in his 80’s adorns his twig and bark creation with jolly festoons and swags of clover he has woven into chains. He also proudly sports a daisy-chain necklace and flower crown of his own design. With childlike excitement he announces:

“I’ve waited all my life to do this.  And now, I’m never going to stop!”

Fairy tales DO come true!

When we are pressed by impatient faerie-seekers asking: “Where are they?  How do I find one?” we say—“Faeries cannot be stalked or hunted. They refuse most definitely, being forced to show themselves.” Then, my wise Green Man partner, Mark reminds us—

“Whether you see the Faeries or not—They see you!”

As for an actual faery-sighting—please read my blog, soon to follow—“FAERIES AND FRIENDS’ PORTRAITS.”

Read or make comments for this article

I am Opinionated on ...
Comment from: nan (Guest)
I am Opinionated on this one. Faeries fly...why do they need ladders or stairs? I have thot long about this- that is why some of my faeries live in hammocks and tree crotches and, and, and,

BUT that is me and I love the ones I have seen now from the kids, the gardens, the wonderment of our invitations to them!
The faerie sightings...
Comment from: Nancy (Guest)
The faerie sightings are far and wide...even in the high desert. You can see many of these left overs at my Facebook page. There are faerie's clothing, houses, pictures, doors, and fashion of another mind. Lovely and important to our lives. Faeries have joined me since I was a child and I was taught by my mother. I can show you some of my experiences.
I have been thinking...
Comment from: Hayley (Guest)
I have been thinking of writing my mfa thesis on Faeries (and Flower Divas, Plant Spirits, Nisse and Duendes, Nymphs, Sylphs, Wights and Elves) in illustration- so reading this has lit the spark! xo
Marci, my dear. ...
Comment from: jude (Guest)
Marci, my dear.  geoffrey and I have been working for over a year on our own faerie house in the garden..as we are near the ocean we have provided beds of shells, ladders of driftwood to the lofts, and a canopy of seagrasses....there are acorn bells and sea stone walkways.  We believe our faerie friends love their accommodations!  I love you.  jude
very nice and thanks...
Comment from: Nancy (Guest)
very nice and thanks for the promo! will get the fairie houses in the mail for now...
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