Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm Read online

  About the Author

  Emily Carding (Cornwall, United Kingdom) is an author, artist, and priestess. An initiate of Alexandrian Wicca and a member of the Starstone Network, Carding has been working with inner world Faery contacts since childhood. She has been trained in techniques of Celtic shamanism by John and Caitlín Matthews, and has worked with renowned Faery teachers R. J. Stewart and Brian and Wendy Froud. A respected and active member of the Faery and tarot community, Carding’s work has received international recognition.

  Visit her online at ChildOfAvalon.com.

  Llewellyn Publications

  Woodbury, Minnesota

  Copyright Information

  Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm © 2012 by Emily Carding.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

  Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the author’s copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

  First e-book edition © 2012

  E-book ISBN: 9780738731599

  Book design and edit by Rebecca Zins

  Cover and color page design by Lisa Novak

  Cover images: grunge weathered circular: iStockphoto.com/Roy Konitzer,

  grunge spring frame: iStockphoto.com/Megan Tamaccio, grunge swirls

  background: iStockphoto.com/Aleksandar Velasevic, grunge corners,

  Arabesque decoration, textured background: iStockphoto.com/David Crooks

  Interior photos and illustrations are credited by individual pieces;

  floral and Celtic ornaments are from Dover Publications

  Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

  Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

  Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to current author websites.

  Llewellyn Publications

  Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

  2143 Wooddale Drive

  Woodbury, MN 55125

  www.llewellyn.com

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  This book is dedicated to that Faery being

  who is reading over your left shoulder right now…

  Contents

  The Faery Prince

  Preface

  Introduction

  chapter one: Knowledge

  chapter two: Connection

  chapter three: Trust

  chapter four: Honour

  chapter five: Magick

  chapter six: Joy

  chapter seven: Inspiration

  chapter eight: Balance

  The Raven King’s Daughter

  Acknowledgments

  Bibliography

  The Faery Prince

  A Faery Prince has snared my heart

  Hiding it deep within his own

  From all things mortal kept apart

  Where roots and brambles overgrown

  Guard it well against the light

  And keep it green and shadowed there

  Though I have searched by starry night

  And in the spring sun warm and fair

  Not prince nor heart may yet be found

  But promised whispers on the breeze

  And sweetest music in the ground

  Lead my senses with their tease

  So I must venture in between

  Where dusky rose sings her lament

  And seek by twilight what lies unseen

  With hope to heal what has been rent…

  Emily Carding, 2011

  Preface

  I was honoured when I was asked by Llewellyn to write a book about Faery lifestyle and practices, but I was also daunted. How could I convey to others a connection and way of life that has always been so instinctive and natural to me?

  As a child I would go on missions for the faeries in my dreams, passing through a little wooden door in a hill and visiting a magnificent underworld realm of vivid colours and magickal creatures both menacing and benign. It was not until much later in life that I would learn of the truth behind these visions and the legacy of the Faery tradition, in which the Faery beings dwelt in the hollow hills. How fascinated I was to learn that my dreams had revealed this realm to me! The diminutive flower fairies of English lore had never held the same kind of wonder.

  My connection with this realm led to an aura of otherworldliness that made many people uncomfortable, including my parents, when I would spend the longest time simply contemplating a blade of grass in the garden, admiring its microcosmic magnitude!

  Upon leaving home for university, I was soon able to develop my fascination for magick and the otherworld with the discovery of a local magickal community. As my college was within the grounds of a nature reserve, most of my time was spent by the lake in the company of trees rather than in class, but it was there where I learnt the lessons of most value.

  My connection with the Faery realm has strengthened still more over the years, and I have felt their presence with me through life’s many ups and downs. Divorce and motherhood set me on a completely new path, one I never could have planned for, as it has seen me leave my work in theatre for a new career as an artist and author, creating work with the aid of my guides and allies that opens gateways to the otherworld. This includes the groundbreaking Transparent Tarot (Schiffer Books, 2008) and its sister deck The Transparent Oracle (Schiffer Books, 2010), which brings together aspects of shamanism, Faery lore, and ceremonial magick in an original structure based on the seven directions. Though published more recently, my first creation of this kind was The Tarot of the Sidhe (Schiffer Books, 2011), a series of seventy-eight visionary paintings created over a year and a day using methods of trance channelling.

  Over the last few years, I have discovered and immersed myself in the vibrant Faery community through festivals and events. Upon first glance it can seem flaky and superficial, but there is so much love and genuine magick to be found within! A large section of this book is dedicated to the beautiful, creative, and inspirational people of this community.

  At the same time, I am equally involved in the magickal community as an initiate of Alexandrian Wicca and member of the Starstone Network, a network of Wiccan covens and groves founded by Sorita D’Este and David Rankine. I have a keen interest in varied aspects of magickal practice, including Qabalah and Western Mystery tradition, and have trained in Celtic shamanic techniques with renowned teachers Caitlín and John Matthews. I am also a torchbearer in the Covenant of Hekate.

  I have pieced together the advice and exercises within this book through analysing my own experiences and with the guidance of m
y own inner contacts. My goal is to help the reader, with time and patience, to create and strengthen a connection to nature and her hidden inhabitants. I have attempted to consciously re-create those simple yet powerful moments in which connection and magick may be found. Alongside these lifestyle building blocks, if you will, is as much information about the different paths and various ways people have of expressing their love and commitment to Faery as I could possibly fit into one book, so that you may find what inspires you. May it be a torch to light your way.

  This book can be what you want or need it to be. The simply curious may just read through it to catch a glimpse of the lives of others. Those who are truly called to work with Faery and wish to deepen their connection may find within the contents of these pages a labyrinthine map with many routes. It is not my intention to spoon-feed—rather, I prefer to open the door to an adventure. It is your choice to pass through; indeed, which path will you take? Follow your heart, and your own true path to the hidden realms will reveal itself to you…

  [contents]

  Introduction

  “This is what Mr. William B. Yeats wrote to me, while this study was in progress, concerning the Celtic Fairy Kingdom: ‘I am certain that it exists, and will some day be studied as it was studied by Kirk…’ ”

  W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

  The world of Faery has always been with us—from the time of our ancient ancestors and their deep connection with the land, forged from the need to survive; through the rise of Christianity, merging new beliefs with the old ways; through the Industrial Revolution and humankind’s rising need to “tame” nature; all the way into the twenty-first century. Beliefs and practices have changed much over the centuries, as fluid and mercurial as the shapeshifting realm of the otherworld itself, and yet, through all of that, the core of truth remains.

  One hundred years ago, the anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz undertook a remarkable task. Over the course of many months, he travelled to a great number of locations within the Celtic landscape of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, the Isle of Man, and Cornwall and interviewed those who had personal tales to tell of contact with the Faery realm or valuable gems of folklore. Most of the eyewitnesses he managed to interview for The Faery-Faith in Celtic Countries were extremely elderly, and it must have seemed as though contact with Faery was a fading relic of the past, a victim of the rising tide of industry and technology. Yet here and now, in an era of rapid progress and almost unbelievable technology, it is clear that the Faery faith is not only alive and well but thriving. After all, here you are—reading this book!

  Why Faery Craft, not Faery Faith?

  For good or bad, we do not live in an age of faith; we live in an age of science and proven results. However, there is no need to see this as being in opposition to a practice of magick or interaction with otherworldly beings. On the contrary, the need for experiential evidence and transformative results from our actions and interactions can do nothing but strengthen what is true and enable us to discard what is false or ineffective. These results may be subtle indeed, but for those who make genuine contact with the Faery realm, life will not be the same again.

  Of course, this is also an age of quick fixes and instant gratification, which is a path that benefits no one. In order to truly gain wisdom and evolve as spiritual beings, we need the discipline of “Craft.” The term Faery faith implies a passive, though respectful, belief passed down through generations without it necessarily involving any experimentation, effort, or discovery. Faery Craft, on the other hand, is more evocative of a practical approach of work and collaboration with the Faery realm. The Craft is, of course, also a well-known term for Wicca and Witchcraft, for much the same reason: it is a discipline that requires practice and skill and produces results. So are you ready to roll up your sleeves?

  Of course, it’s not all work and no play—this is Faery we’re talking about, after all! The Craft is, in essence, referring to the art of integrating Faery into our day-to-day lives, not as a form of escapism but as a way of truly engaging with the world on a deeper level.

  A Note on the Spelling

  For those of you drawn to this subject for the first time, the spelling of Faery/faerie as opposed to the usual “fairy” is used to differentiate between the modern, disempowered fantasy creation and the authentic living beings (faeries) and tradition (Faery), which can be surprisingly different from expectations!

  Before We Go Any Further, What Exactly Is Faery?

  “Something from the dawn of time. Who could possibly put a name to that?”

  Captain Jack Harkness in “Small Worlds” (Torchwood season one)

  There is certainly no “exactly” when it comes to Faery! What we understand as the Faery realm today is an umbrella term that covers a huge variety of beings and phenomena, from the piskies of Cornwall to the tall and noble sidhe of the Gaelic lands. But the Faery realm is by no means solely Celtic in nature or tradition. It encompasses the spirits of place and nature and otherworldly beings of the entire globe, which can vary in size and appearance as much as the landscape of the world itself—from the small yet potent to beings of almost unfathomable size.

  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 consequence
s 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.