~J.M. Barrie
~Richard Dawkins
A fairy ring is the occurrence of a complete circle of mushrooms. Fairy rings are most prominent in European folklore. They are considered gateways into fairy kingdoms. According to lore, a fairy ring appears when a fairy does and will disappear in less than five days. However, the lore states that if you wait for the fairy to return to their ring, you have a chance of capturing it.
Although some legends vary, most believe that to enter a fairy ring is quite dangerous. Fairies themselves can be mischievous and cruel. Superstition calls fairy circles sacred and warns against violating them out of fear the fae would retaliate with a curse. Some say that to enter a fairy circle will cause you to die at a young age; others claim that once you’ve entered the circle and thus the fairy realm, you can never leave. A particular piece of knowledge seems to be universal. Do not eat anything a fairy offers you, or you become theirs forever.
It is especially dangerous to enter a fairy ring on Halloween.
Normally to become free of the fairies and their realm you need help from the mortal one. One defense is to touch the captive human with iron. Fairies, as well as many other supernatural creatures often shy away from iron. Iron is seen as a pertinent piece of our human life force, as our blood contains iron. In myth iron itself is somewhat sacred.
Although they have strong associations with doom, some legends paint fairy circles as places of fertility and fortune. Welsh folk belief is that mountain sheep that eat the grass of a fairy ring flourish, and that crops sown from such a place will prove more bountiful that those from normal land.
No matter what you believe be cautious where you’re walking, the fae are very particular about their choice of friends.