Have you ever wondered about the fairies, gnomes and elemental beings that grace our world? The water sprites and the fire ones? The benevolent and the malevolent ones? How can I see and honor nature and welcome the spiritual world alive within me and with such beings?

A long time ago, I saw fairies. I had a connection to the unseen world. I learned quickly to shut those down and now I work hard to reconnect with this magical world just to feel, sense, and know the loving support that is available to us if we start to slow down and feed that curiosity. To sit with stillness — to practice wakeful dreaming — to tend to outdoor and inside altars and leave offerings — allows us to come close and meet those spirits — the spirit of the trees, plants, rocks and river.  To acknowledge the benevolent spirits of the land and those departed — our helping spirits, angels, guides. And to invite them to live in harmony to support our earthly lives. Elementals are said to be able to move through their own elements as human beings move through air. Gnomes, for example, can move through rocks, walls, and soil.

I had two girls come to make soaps and lip balms recently. They got distracted by the tree house and my crystal and rock collections. Their eyes got big. Are these all yours? Yes, they are what the fairies, leprechauns, and gnomes have left me and my boys over the years, I replied. I could instantly see their minds working. They couldn’t wait to get started thinking how they would create homes/traps for the little folk back at their house.

It is really important to me to care for the beneficial nature spirits that grace our property. In addition to practicing biodynamic gardening, I have a couple of places around the house that are tended to. The whole process of biodynamic gardening has that element for me–the element of knowing we are not doing this alone. We invite the rhythm of the cosmos to influence our planting, harvesting and spraying schedules. When we build on the land-we are potentially disrupting the home of the elementals and without our mindfulness around the spirit of the land, we can create confusion and angry spirits — not the best way to start off a relationship. On our property, I strive to keep the relationship harmonious. When I remember, I provide a little water or food/offering. Always grateful for the protection of our home and gardens.

We are lucky to live in an area that has a lot of animal activity. From squirrels and rats, to bears and mountain lions. We watch as the spring rabbits come, then the foxes move in, then the coyotes will push the fox and the kits out… and sometimes we are visited by a bear or mountain lion. We occasionally hear and see the big owls (and sometimes their prey). There are always a lot of deer in the neighborhood that I discourage from hanging out — they will chomp everything during the night and into wee hours of the morning. We love our bit of country within the city.

Tending to these creatures has provided years of magical wonder for my boys. Hours upon hours have been spent creating 2 story shoebox traps or homes — with the hopes of capturing one of those elusive and tricky green men. (FYI–they have been caught with honey — but they are impossible to keep!!!) Or the hope that they will leave a crystal or gift for them in the hollow of a cottonwood tree (a more realistic outcome).

I think about all that we may not see in the day or the night time, but that is a form of energy–an understanding of how the way we think and act could affect things we may or may not see.

I welcome these helping benevolent energies in my life and in my boys lives. They create the magic all around us. Our fairy gardens are as important as our veggie and flower gardens.