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In this post, you will find:
.Irish and Traveller Beltane and fairy lore from the oral folkloric record
.Ideas for your own Beltane practices, including a protection charm and recipe for a face toner using morning dew
.Reflections on the season and journalling questions you might like to engage with
.Writing and publishing news and book recommendations
Beltane, or May Day, has long been associated with fairies, as well as with love and fertility. These days that statement may conjure up images of little flower fairies, or beautiful fairy queens, but the folkloric record shows a different picture. In the recollections gathered at Duchas, a folkloric database that gathers oral stories collected from Irish people in the early twentieth century, the fairies were seen as impish, trickster figures, causing mischief and sometimes even outright harm. One record states that in May, ‘the month of the fairies,’ they would steal butter and milk, harm and steal cattle and ‘a lot of other mischief.’ The first three days of May were especially dangerous. By the time these oral records were gathered, these beliefs were dying out, often described as held only by elderly folk, but they were still potent in living memory.
Across the records, this association of the fairies with May and May Day appears over and over again, as does the belief that they were likely to steal dairy products and cattle at this time. They might also cause the milk and butter to spoil, or the cow’s milk supply to dry up. Ways to guard against this included making the sign of the cross over the backs of cattle, tying primroses or rowan sticks or red rags to their tails, or scattering rowan ash around the butter churn. Given that milk and butter were staple parts of an Irish rural diet, and the frequency with which dairy production could fail, it’s perhaps not surprising that fairies became the scapegoats for these common fears and anxieties.
May Day Eve was also believed to be the day when groups of fairies travelled from one fairy fort to another, and getting in their way was a bad idea; they could enchant you with their music and steal you away. Flower picking on this day was also said to offend. And fairies didn’t just cause mischief. Stealing babies is frequently mentioned, especially those born on May Day itself, and some believed that the fairies can even cause death when offended. No wonder then that people stayed in on May Day Eve, after hanging protection charms and/or taking the protective measures described above. Rowan is mentioned repeatedly as offering protection, and is often referred to as the ‘May Pole tree.’ Primroses and blackthorn were also used, but hawthorn blossom was a no-no; picking it and/or bringing it into the home would invoke the fairies’ wrath.
Staying at home wasn’t always enough to save you from fairy mischief; other recollections state that over the first days of May, the fairies would directly seek to enter people’s homes and cause mischief, by knocking the door in the guise of ‘old women and wayfarers.’ They would steal coal, or the ‘herbs of power that were gathered on May morning with the dew on them.’ This belief likely offered poor families a good reason to not answer the door to those seeking hospitality, especially in a culture where hospitality was a core value.
Such a belief, however, often singled out the marginalised, from the poor seeking alms to Irish Travellers selling their wares. Just as old women were often targets for witchcraft beliefs in part to relieve poor communities of the burden of caring for them, the association of Travellers with fairies may in part have come from a similar place. Of course, Traveller lore itself often tells of a close association with fairies. Folklore is a multi-faceted thing.
All of this sounds a little dark, but of course May Day was also a time associated with light, life and love. It was a time for love spells, visiting holy wells for fertility and love blessings, and celebrating youth and beauty. Another frequent practice involved the May morning dew. Washing ones face with the dew on May Day morning was believed to make you more beautiful and also attract a lover, and so was once a common practice for young women, just as crowning a pretty girl the ‘May Bride' was.
If you would like to join in with the spirit of the season then, or have a modern folkloric or witchcraft practice, you might like to try the following; a protection charm for your home and a face toner incorporating the morning dew.
Folkloric Protection Charm
What you’ll need:
A small piece of red thread or ribbon
A twig or small piece of rowan wood (if you can’t find rowan, then blackthorn or a dried primrose flower)
A pinch of salt
A small iron object (a nail, ring, or even a key)
How to make it:
Prepare a quiet moment
Sit somewhere calm. This doesn’t need to be elaborate, just a place where you won’t be rushed.Hold the rowan (or wood)
In Irish tradition, rowan was strongly associated with protection against ill will and bad luck. Hold it in your hand for a moment and focus on the idea of safety and steadiness.Add the salt
Sprinkle a small pinch over the wood. Salt has long been used for purification. As you do this, think of it as clearing away anything unwanted.Wrap with the red thread
Wind the thread around the wood a few times. Red was often used as a protective color. As you wrap, say something simple, like:
“By thread and tree, by salt and iron, harm stays far from me.”
You don’t have to get the words perfect. What matters is that it feels clear and intentional to you.Add the iron
Tie or attach the small iron object to the bundle. In folklore, iron was believed to repel harmful spirits and fae mischief.Finish it
Hold the charm in both hands for a moment. Picture it doing its job quietly, like a boundary that keeps trouble out.
How to use it:
Keep it near your door, window, or in a bag you carry often
Some people would hang it above an entryway or tuck it under a pillow
This kind of charm isn’t about strict rules. In folklore, the belief behind the act mattered as much as the materials. If you want, you can adapt it to fit what feels meaningful to you.
May Day Dew Face Toner
A small clean glass jar or bowl (for collecting dew)
A soft cloth or cotton pads
1-2 tbsp May morning dew
1/2 cup rose water
1 teaspoon glycerin
A clean bottle for storage
When to go:
Go out at dawn on May 1st, before the sun has burned the dew away.
Where to look:
Find a patch of clean grass, leaves, or wildflowers preferably away from roads or pollution.
How to gather it:
Gently press your cloth or cotton onto the dew-covered grass
Wring it into your jar
Repeat until you’ve gathered enough (it takes a little patience)
A simple charm to say quietly while you gather:
“Morning light and silver dew,
Bring me freshness, pure and true.
What falls soft with rising day,
Keeps all harm and dullness away
Strain the dew
If there’s any debris, strain it through a clean cloth.Mix the ingredients
Combine:1/2 cup dew
1/2 cup rose water
glycerin
Bottle it
Pour into a clean bottle and keep it in the fridge. Since this is very natural and preservative-free, use it within about a week.
Reflections on the season with journalling questions.
There's a kind of wild energy to May. The flowers are blooming and the scent of hawthorn is everywhere. Rabbits play in the fields, foals chase each other and the honey bees are beginning their business. Even when I was living in the inner city on a council estate, I would open a window on May mornings and sense this blooming in the air. Perhaps catch a good wind scented with the crop of bluebells that had sprang up on the nearby wastelands, reminding me that some things can't be concreted over; that summer will always have its way.
Mapping the Wheel of the Year onto personal development, early summer has a different energy than spring. It’s less about beginning and more about becoming. Things are already in motion, so the focus shifts to growth, confidence, and care. With a sprinkle of joy.
Here are some journaling prompts that fit that mood. Take your time with them. You don’t need to answer all of them at once, or at all. Pick the ones that speak to you.
What in my life is starting to feel more stable or established right now?
Where am I seeing real progress, even if it’s small?
What am I nurturing that I want to keep growing through the summer?
Is there anything I’ve outgrown but haven’t fully let go of yet? Why?
What’s been giving me energy lately, and what’s been draining it?
When was the last time I felt genuinely light or joyful? What was I doing?
What would a “good day” look like in this season, realistically?
What small things feel like summer to me, and how can I bring more of them in?
Who or what feels aligned with the person I’m becoming?
Where do I need clearer boundaries to protect my time or energy?
Am I showing up honestly in my relationships, or holding parts of myself back?
Writing and Publishing News
An extract from my first book ‘Modron: Meeting the Celtic Mother Goddess’ was published in Mind Body Spirit magazine, available from WHSmith and other retailers.
I finally finished writing ‘Airmid: Goddess of Herbs and Healing’ and sent it to the publisher for editing! I honestly thought I would have to abandon this project due to increasing disability at one point. Thanks to the support of my husband, a lot of rest and getting to grips with speech to text software, I've managed to get it done and am now looking at potentially writing a book on Irish Folk Magic. I’ll be focusing on the folkloric record and oral tradition, including Traveller and diaspora lore. If this is something you have experience of and you would like to be interviewed for the book, please let me know!
I have another short story featuring Fairy Doctor Emmy Fairfax being published in an anthology this year and I'm going to make it available as a bonus for anyone who supports me through Buy Me a Coffee.
On that note, I'm also looking at making first drafts of ‘Irish Folk Magic’ available as a membership option over there, along with signed copies if and when I get it published (fingers crossed!) I want to keep this blog free, but also offer thank you gifts to readers who are kind enough (and of course able) to donate, so this feels like the fairest way.
Finally, it's not set in stone, but here's an overview of the posts I'm planning for this season:
A review of Tyson Yunkaporta’s ‘Snake Talk: How Ancient Serpent Stories Can Guide Us’
A post on ‘Fairy Doctors’ including Biddy Early
A post on ‘land spirits’ and plant consciousness with meditations and journalling
The start of a series on female Celtic saints and their nature and animal lore
A plant lore post on the beauty of cowslip, with reference to the medieval Irish medical tracts. Previous posts in this series are:
The Magic of Nettles (last years Beltane post)
What I'm Reading
I love a good book recommendation personally, so in case you love books too, here's mine:
I've just finished ‘Fairy Tale’ by Stephen King, which was an odd but sweetly touching coming of age/heroic quest story that shows a softer side to the Master of Horror (the dog makes it in this one.)
T Kingfisher’s ‘Thornhedge’ is a quirky but touching fantasy novella in which there's a very good reason to make sure Sleeping Beauty doesn't wake up.
I'm looking forward to reading ‘Isles of the Emberdark’ by Brandon Sanderson, a fantasy/sci-fi story with an environmental and anti colonial message, I believe. As well as T Kingfisher’s latest horror, ‘Wolf Worm' and the epic fantasy by Samantha Shannon ‘Days of Fallen Night' which I've seen dubbed as ‘a matriarchal Lord of the Rings.’
In non fiction I'm reading ‘Neurodivergent by Nature' a book about neurodivergence and nature kinship, and looking forward to the aforementioned ‘Snake Talk’ and ‘Finding Albion’ which looks at reclaiming British folklore and mythology from far right narratives, and will probably be next season’s book review.
Happy Beltane, and as ever I'd love to see your comments, feedback and suggestions!
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this post and would like to support me to keep writing here and offering this blog as a free resource, you can buy me a coffee here.
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