To feed the faeries you must know their taste. Often it depends on your purpose and the faery, if you are making an offering to a certain one for a reason. For example, the Brownies of Scotland and many other benevolent househould fae prefer milk, sometimes sweetened with a bit of sugar and it is customary to leave your Brownie an offering while you sleep in thanks for their good work. Most sorts of faeries seem to be fond of sweet things and dairy products. Common offerings are honey, milk, and milk sweetened with a wee bit of honey or sugar. Afterall, how would you feel if someone had given you a gift of food and just threw it at you or onto the cold ground for you to get? Other common offerings are small tea cakes, biscuits/cookies, buttered bread, wine, and even sometimes vegetables. The vegetables are usually left at the time of Samhain as there are many beliefes that whatever of the harvest left unharvested after Samhain night belongs to the fae. Personally, in the summer months when I make homemade ice cream I always offer what's left to the faeries.
Feeding the faeries is simple but there are things to keep in mind. First, always serve the faeries on a plate or in a bowl. Occassionally I will use a teacup, but you want it to be in something. Afterall, how would you feel if someone threw food intended for you at you or on the ground? To neglect to put it on a plate or the like is a little disrespectful and the fae are very sensative most likely would become insulted. Also, it's good to put the offerieng on your doorstep if you want to invite them into your home. If, as in the case of a household Brownie, the faery you are catering to lives in your home by or on your hearth or any room you spend a signigant amount of time in is perfect. Should your intention not to be inviting them to your home but to establish contact and a relationship with you outside in your garden, a wooded area, meadow, or a known faery ring or glade is apporitate also. If you place and offering at a faery ring, never place it in or directly on the ring, be sure to put it beside it. Should you invite faeries to be present with you in your ritual then always leave them some of your ritual cakes and ale, to neglect to do so is rude and will certainly insult them! After you have set the food out, should you see an animal eatting (or drinking) from the plate then do not feel that the fae are not answering you. This animal could simply be a faery in animal form. Also, it is common for the fae to take the astral part of the food away, the essence of it, and leave the physical "husk" behind so should you see the food where you left it the evening before, do not be discouraged. The best time to leave an offering for the fae is as always before you go to bed or in the evening.
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