Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm Carding, Emily (first color ebook reader txt) 📖

They are the intelligence behind the living force of the planet, and as such they reflect the wondrous variety of our vibrant world. Their nature may be highly individual, part of a mass consciousness, or anywhere between, but they are living beings—with their own existences, functions, and goals—who inhabit a realm that is only separated from our own through a difference in frequency or resonance. Essentially they are around us all the time, in a more fluid and intangible form than our own comparatively solid reality. This makes sense on a scientific level when you realize that all matter is essentially energy, and its solidity is solely dependent on the speed at which the atoms are vibrating.

“Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don’t care to be confused with that painty-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of impostors?”

Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook’s Hill

We can add to our understanding by taking a moment to look at what they are not, for there are many misconceptions lurking in the guise of certain New Age teachings. They are not reflections of aspects of our personality, though they may choose to reflect those to us at times. Reducing magick and the otherworld to psychology is, in my opinion, one of the most harmful developments in magickal practice of the modern age. Neither are they all tiny winged striped-socks-wearing beings, though they may appear that way if they so choose. This is simply a modern fashion overhaul of the Victorian flower fairy. Faery beings do not simply giggle and play all day, though many are indeed fun loving, but they are as much a balance of light and dark as we are ourselves. I would also like to emphasize that working with them is about achieving mutual goals, not self-help. They do not exist purely to enhance our lives, though of course our lives are indeed greatly enhanced by their presence.

What is crucial to understanding is that Faery beings are our close relatives in the spiritual realm (hence they were and still are often referred to as “cousins”), and we are already connected to them, whether we are aware of it or not. The door is open—we need merely to learn how to perceive it and have the courage and discipline to walk through…

Why Work with Faery?

We are incomplete without interaction with the invisible realms of the inner earth. The land that Faery beings inhabit is the vibrant inner landscape of our world, where the full potency of the primal powers are preserved and may be accessed through our work to revitalize our own land and its inhabitants. To walk the earth in the pretence that all that exists is what is on the surface is almost like living off the leaves of a carrot. We may get dirt under our fingernails, but to delve a little deeper brings great rewards!

Denial of the spirit within the land has brought with it such severe destruction that the lasting consequences cannot be known. Although this century brings with it many great wonders, it also brings new terrors. Although we cannot know in detail the spiritual practices of our ancient ancestors, who depended on the land for their survival, in many ways we find ourselves full circle. We cannot help but be aware of the environmental crisis we find ourselves approaching, and our true dependence on the powers of nature is becoming more and more clear. Humankind’s attempt to tame the wild earth is failing, so it is time to revive our connection with the land through communion with our Faery allies. It is a common tendency to reach out to magickal beings for help, as we see them as being capable of great wonders beyond our means. However, it is of key importance to understand that in order to be truly effective in the physical realm, there are certain things that they need our help with. When we work with Faery, the whole definitely becomes more than the sum of its parts.

How Can This Book Help?

Faery Craft brings together many strands of practice like never before to give you a comprehensive guide to human-faery relations. Together we will look not only at ancient folklore but also at contemporary experiences in the context of relevance to our own work with Faery, and we will explore practical exercises to expand our awareness and form new bonds with the spirits of the land. We will also be deepening our connection and perception of the elemental beings of earth, air, fire, and water as part of our awareness of the world around us. We will learn how to create sacred space, how to use tools from the world of nature, and how to recognize and locate places of power within the landscape.

There are many ways to work with Faery, and though it can be an individual path, we will also take an objective look at some of the traditions and teachings that have developed over the years and see what they may have to offer. Join me while we take an inside look at how different individuals and groups working (and playing!) in the world today express their connection and love for Faery, including the modern phenomenon of the Faery festival. We will explore the creative expression of the Faery community through interviews with some of the most outstanding artists, musicians, and authors in the field.

How to Use This Book

Faery Craft consists of eight chapters, each of which is designed to build your strengths in the different qualities needed for Faery contact. The structure is built around the symbol of the Faery Star, or septagram, a symbol which has been used with many varying meanings throughout history and which I have used here in Faery Craft with original interpretations and meanings inspired by my own work with Faery. The “Faery Craft septagram” (as I have dubbed it) connects each point of the star with the seven directions of north, south, east, west, above,