Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

FAIRY RING

1) A natural mushroom fungus; that grows in dark rings on grass and turf. The mushroom is inedible - and animals tend to shun it - and has a reddish, buff or tawny cap. It is common in Europe, the British Isles and North America and often appears after heavy rains.

2) In folklore it is said to be the site where Fairies and Witches meet at night to dance and sing. In Britain, fairy rings also are known as hag tracks, in the belief that they are created by the dancing feet of witches.

Because fairies are associated with Magic, fairy rings have magical superstitions attached to them. It is said that if one stands in the center of a fairy ring under a full moon and makes a wish, the wish will come true. If one wishes to see and hear the fairies, who often are beyond the awareness of the five senses, one can run around a fairy ring nine times under a full moon. However, superstition holds, it is dangerous to do so on Samhain (All Hallow's Eve) or Beltane (May Eve), two major festivals of fairies (and witches), as the Fairies may take offense and carry the mortal off to Fairyland.

Fairy rings are still associated with natural magic and are used by contemporary Witches as sites for meetings and Sabbats.

Fairies also are said to dance around stone circles.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc