General/Non-Specific: Unsure if I should be worried!

[IdesofAugust]

Howdy!
I’m not a particularly good witch (by which I mean I don’t know a lot but I enjoy it immensely!) I’m always trying to keep my eye out for things that make me feel more connected to my craft so I’m a bit upset with myself for not considering this sooner but essentially here is my concern:

I spend a moderate amount of time outside and recently while moving around my yard, I’ve been discovering robins’ egg shells, feathers, and other fun nature objects that I’ve collected and been excited about! But then it occurred to me that I was maybe accidentally accepting gifts from the fae and now I am TERRIFIED. Like I said, I am not an experienced practitioner so I hadn’t planned on working with the fae anytime soon (if ever!) Part of me wants to put out offerings for them just in case it is the fae but I wouldn’t want to attract them to me if it isn’t them!
I do live in an area with plenty of robins so maybe it’s just nature being nature! Or maybe it’s something else trying to get my attention! I’m not sure! I’d love some guidance on what to do in this situation!
Any help is appreciated! Thank you!!

[Jenett]

I spend a moderate amount of time outside and recently while moving around my yard, I’ve been discovering robins’ egg shells, feathers, and other fun nature objects that I’ve collected and been excited about! But then it occurred to me that I was maybe accidentally accepting gifts from the fae and now I am TERRIFIED. Like I said, I am not an experienced practitioner so I hadn’t planned on working with the fae anytime soon (if ever!) Part of me wants to put out offerings for them just in case it is the fae but I wouldn’t want to attract them to me if it isn’t them!

Sometimes (often, honestly), nature just produces objects. That said, there's a couple of things to be aware of.

1) Chances are, a bird feather you find from a natural source in the United States is subject to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which means that owning feathers or other parts from migratory birds is illegal except under some pretty specific exemptions.

That act is extremely punitive about ownership, because it's super easy for people who want to break it to say "Oh, I found this out there somewhere" rather than admitting to poaching/hunting/etc. It's a thing you want to be aware of if you were thinking of posting photos or details about what you've found online. (It's not super likely that you'd get in trouble for it, but it's not impossible. More to the point, it may encourage other people to think that messing with birds is okay, which I am guessing is not what you want here.)

2) So, do you get any sense that these are particularly patterned? You have lots of robins around, so seeing robiny stuff isn't particularly weird, that's the sort of thing where you go "There's a lot of robins around, robin stuff, right."

But if you're seeing it show up at particular times (after asking for a sign during ritual, or related to something that happens in divination or meditation), but not at other times, then that would be something to be paying more attention to. Keeping a journal can be really helpful here, both of what you're doing in your practice, and of when you find stuff outside (and what.)

3) Not all things that are out in the larger landscape are fae. It could be a connection with your local land spirits, with whom negotiations about space and exchange might be different. A lot of local land spirits are pretty much "You're being good to the space? Could you water this bit some more? Great." rather than being intentionally tricksy or unintentionally really functioning very differently than humans.

If you started seeing signs of sort of more direct specific things (rings of mushrooms, particular kinds of fae-focused plants when that wouldn't normally be a thing, etc.) then that might be more of a concern.

4) General offerings to the local spirits without expecting any exchange or creating a sense of gratitude on either side is usually a pretty straightfoward way to go. A "Hi, here's some cream I'm sharing with you, I have some extra." or "Here's some fresh water, since we're in a heat wave." It's the exchange process that usually gets tricky (because cultural assumptions about what that means and what the long-term implications are complicated even between human cultures, never mind not-same-species ones...) 

Honestly, though, taking care of the outside space (watering responsibly, dealing with invasive plants, doing some stuff to make it a more hospitable space for local species, etc.) is likely to go a long way to having good relationships with whatever beings are in your outside space. And that will leave you the most options down the road, should you decide you want to do something more specific with some of them.

[IdesofAugust]

Sometimes (often, honestly), nature just produces objects. That said, there's a couple of things to be aware of.

1) Chances are, a bird feather you find from a natural source in the United States is subject to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which means that owning feathers or other parts from migratory birds is illegal except under some pretty specific exemptions.

That act is extremely punitive about ownership, because it's super easy for people who want to break it to say "Oh, I found this out there somewhere" rather than admitting to poaching/hunting/etc. It's a thing you want to be aware of if you were thinking of posting photos or details about what you've found online. (It's not super likely that you'd get in trouble for it, but it's not impossible. More to the point, it may encourage other people to think that messing with birds is okay, which I am guessing is not what you want here.)

2) So, do you get any sense that these are particularly patterned? You have lots of robins around, so seeing robiny stuff isn't particularly weird, that's the sort of thing where you go "There's a lot of robins around, robin stuff, right."

But if you're seeing it show up at particular times (after asking for a sign during ritual, or related to something that happens in divination or meditation), but not at other times, then that would be something to be paying more attention to. Keeping a journal can be really helpful here, both of what you're doing in your practice, and of when you find stuff outside (and what.)

3) Not all things that are out in the larger landscape are fae. It could be a connection with your local land spirits, with whom negotiations about space and exchange might be different. A lot of local land spirits are pretty much "You're being good to the space? Could you water this bit some more? Great." rather than being intentionally tricksy or unintentionally really functioning very differently than humans.

If you started seeing signs of sort of more direct specific things (rings of mushrooms, particular kinds of fae-focused plants when that wouldn't normally be a thing, etc.) then that might be more of a concern.

4) General offerings to the local spirits without expecting any exchange or creating a sense of gratitude on either side is usually a pretty straightfoward way to go. A "Hi, here's some cream I'm sharing with you, I have some extra." or "Here's some fresh water, since we're in a heat wave." It's the exchange process that usually gets tricky (because cultural assumptions about what that means and what the long-term implications are complicated even between human cultures, never mind not-same-species ones...) 

Honestly, though, taking care of the outside space (watering responsibly, dealing with invasive plants, doing some stuff to make it a more hospitable space for local species, etc.) is likely to go a long way to having good relationships with whatever beings are in your outside space. And that will leave you the most options down the road, should you decide you want to do something more specific with some of them.

Wow!! Thank you so much for all of this information! Thanks for the tip about the bird legality! It hadn’t occurred to me at all!
After reading this, I feel pretty satisfied that I’m probably not dealing with the fae after all! This is such a relief! I’ll definitely keep in mind what you said about dealing with other nature spirits! That’s helpful to know!

Thank you so so so much for your help! I feel so much better and more prepared! I appreciate this immensely!

[Noctua]

Wow!! Thank you so much for all of this information! Thanks for the tip about the bird legality! It hadn’t occurred to me at all!
After reading this, I feel pretty satisfied that I’m probably not dealing with the fae after all! This is such a relief! I’ll definitely keep in mind what you said about dealing with other nature spirits! That’s helpful to know!

Thank you so so so much for your help! I feel so much better and more prepared! I appreciate this immensely!

I also just want to mention that I get robins eggs in my yard all the time- it's because I have a yard that robins like to nest in. They throw the shells out the nest soon as the babies hatch (usually flying them some short distance away) so predators can't easily spot the blue shells. I still keep them because even if they aren't intended as a gift, it's still a neat thing to have and potentially useful.

I can understand your trepidation about the Fae, but my understanding is that "gifts" from them aren't going to be something that just show up randomly. Maybe several centuries ago that might have been more likely but now the relationships between humans and the good folk are different. Back then people were more likely to reciprocate and give something back if they found a boon, but these days with the average human that's almost never the case. So it appears as if they only begin to do that if you already have demonstrated that you know "proper etiquette" so to speak and start the exchange first.

In my tradition we open each ritual with a phrase, which paraphrased is "spirits of this land, though I do not know your names, you are welcome". It's a nod to anything that may be in the area that we don't know of or haven't built a relationship with. Acknowledging them and letting them know we are friendly (or at least harmless). I will often leave things, usually food or drinks, for the local spirits as well- which may or may not be Fae. Personally because I know that relations with the good folk can be tricky (I've heard enough stories from my friends to make me cautious) when I leave things I NEVER tell them it is a gift. Instead it's merely phrased as "here's something I have and I invite you to share if you'd like because we're neighbors and I want us to be on good terms" rather than "this is for you and you alone".

[sevensons]

Howdy!
I’m not a particularly good witch (by which I mean I don’t know a lot but I enjoy it immensely!) I’m always trying to keep my eye out for things that make me feel more connected to my craft so I’m a bit upset with myself for not considering this sooner but essentially here is my concern:

I spend a moderate amount of time outside and recently while moving around my yard, I’ve been discovering robins’ egg shells, feathers, and other fun nature objects that I’ve collected and been excited about! But then it occurred to me that I was maybe accidentally accepting gifts from the fae and now I am TERRIFIED. Like I said, I am not an experienced practitioner so I hadn’t planned on working with the fae anytime soon (if ever!) Part of me wants to put out offerings for them just in case it is the fae but I wouldn’t want to attract them to me if it isn’t them!
I do live in an area with plenty of robins so maybe it’s just nature being nature! Or maybe it’s something else trying to get my attention! I’m not sure! I’d love some guidance on what to do in this situation!
Any help is appreciated! Thank you!!

Hi do you have personal contact just interested I call mine the goddess she knows everything.