Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm Page 10

  above: St. Nectan’s Glen in Cornwall

  below: Arch Rock on Mackinac Island, Michigan

  Rivers

  Water flows through the landscape in rivers and streams just as it carries blood cells around our body in arteries and veins. It is an intrinsically magickal substance and brings an enchanted quality to any area it flows through. Although rivers may not be seen as gateways in the landscape as such, by allowing yourself to relax and simply listen to the natural music of the water, worries can be eased away, and it becomes easier to enter an altered state in which connection and communication can be achieved.

  Rivers are often home to water elementals and also attract various Faery beings, as well as possessing their own spirit and identity. The spirit of a river can be a powerful ally for healing work, as you can, with repeated and extended physical contact with its energies, learn to “plug in” to its cleansing energies. This is particularly helpful with ailments caused by energy blockages.

  To greet the spirit of a river, open your heart to the flow of energy, and listen intently to the sound of the water. Allow music to rise up within you, and let your song join the sound of the water, linking your energies.

  Lakes and Ponds

  Naturally formed lakes and ponds are clear gateways to the otherworld, with many having their own ancient folklore attached to them, such as Dozmary Pool in Cornwall, England, which was said to be the home of the Lady of the Lake. There are many tales of faery queens and ladies whose realm is beneath the surface of a great lake, and, as in many of the old stories, there is a magickal truth hidden within. Lakes and ponds of still water are nature’s magick mirrors, full of memory and mystery. If you are able to visit a lake during a full moon, when the moon is reflected in the water, this can be a particularly potent time to experience otherworldly energies.

  Wells and Springs

  Wells and springs, where the waters of the primal underworld emerge into our own surface realm, are extremely important in Faery Craft. They are sources of purity and healing and are usually under the guardianship of at least one Faery being, sometimes in partnership with an elemental. Both site and being/s should always be treated with the utmost respect; given time and attention, they can become powerful allies.

  It would be wise to discover if you have a well or spring within reasonable travelling distance of your home, as this would be an excellent source of water for any magickal work you wish to perform, including consecrations and purifying space. Find your own way of greeting the well and its guardian/s, perhaps including a phrase, song, and a physical gesture of peace and honour such as the triple salute as mentioned in the previous section on trees. Offerings that leave no debris are also appropriate, but nothing should be placed actually in the waters themselves unless there is a justified long-standing tradition of doing so specific to that site. There are many wells and springs that have established connections with ancient Faery lore and myth, but in truth they are all connected and all sacred. All wells are one well, and when your awareness and sense of connection grows, you will start to feel the power that is held by their network of energies and the powerful link to the renewing energies of the underworld.

  Hills

  The Faery nobility are said to dwell within the hollow hills, and there are many examples throughout the world of high places where the power of the spirit of the land can be felt. Throughout folklore there are tales of people being taken into Faery through entrances in hills, often relating to genuine cases of real disappearances or mysterious deaths. One of the most famous of these hills is Doon Hill in Aberfoyle, Scotland, which is where it is said the Reverend Robert Kirk, author of The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Faeries, was taken into Faery to become a mediator between the worlds. Another famous example of a Faery hill is Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England, beneath which it is said dwells Gwyn Ap Nudd, the Faery king.

  Ancient hill forts also are particularly powerful locations for contact with Faery and the ancestors. Not all places of power have such established folklore associated with them, but they often seem to stand out from the landscape and can easily be spotted. Faery hills radiate a certain charisma that is difficult to explain but is readily felt, in the same way that charismatic people stand out from the crowd. Often sites of ancient power may have hill forts or churches built upon them, as people throughout history have been drawn by their natural magnetism.

  To connect with the spirit of a hill, spend time in stillness and contemplation, preferably at the top of the hill or within close proximity. The experience will most likely vary according to each hill’s history and nature, so allow your intuition and allies to guide you.

  above: Dozmary Pool, Cornwall

  below: St. Torney’s Well, Cornwall

  Stone Circles

  It is difficult to say whether the ancients used the thousands of stone circles, henges, monoliths, and avenues across the landscape of Britain and Europe as ways of honouring preexisting sacred spaces or intentionally created them as places of power, but what is certain is that they stand today as places between the worlds where the veil is thin and the power of the land can be keenly felt.

  When approaching a stone circle or henge, it is appropriate to seek out the gateway, or guardian stones of the circle, and greet them before entering. It will normally be obvious which these are, but if it is not, walk around the outside of the circle in a clockwise direction and see if you feel drawn to enter in a particular place, then greet the two stones that create that entrance. To sit with your back against an ancient stone under a starlit sky is to touch the magick of the Old Ones.

  above: Chalice Well

  below: Glastonbury Tor (both in Glastonbury)

  Chalk Figures and White Horses

  In the chalk downs of Southern England there are a large number of chalk figures carved into the landscape. These are mostly of white horses, which were sacred to the ancient Celts and Britons as symbols of sovereignty and were associated with a number of gods and goddesses as well as with Faery. There are also giants such as the Cerne Abbas giant in Somerset, which is said to mark the final resting place of a real giant and is still to this day visited by couples seeking to enhance their fertility. There is also the Long Man of Wilmington, who appears to be holding two staves but could also be holding open a doorway into the hill.

  Neil Gaiman graphically followed this line of thought in his wonderful Sandman graphic novels, showing Queen Titania, King Oberon, and the Faery host emerging from the hill through the Long Man’s gateway to enjoy the first-ever production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  Hedgerows

  By their very nature, hedgerows are spaces that define the liminal. Ancient border markers that teem with abundant flora and fauna, hedgerows are rich in Faery lore and are obvious places to feel the presence of nature spirits and Faery beings. Be wary, though, as many of the beings associated with the hedgerow are as dark and prickly as the thorn bushes themselves, so be sure to always greet them with respect and keep your wits about you. Time spent in stillness near a hedgerow will start to reveal its secrets, and you may find that you start to notice faces and other features within the branches, leaves, and roots. Listen to the whispers of the wind through the leaves. See if they have a message for you, and be ready to answer a riddle!

  Burial Mounds

  The connection between the Faery race and the resting places of the dead is so intimate that in Scotland and Ireland they were even called by the same name: sidhe. Burial mounds are intentionally constructed to be gateways into the underworld; as such, they are powerfully liminal spaces for Faery contact. Many such ancient sites were aligned with the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars, such as Newgrange in Ireland, where the entrance is aligned with the midwinter dawn; this adds to their significance as points of contact for Faery Craft. However, it must be remembered that burial mounds are also the re
sting places of the ancestors, and they must always be honoured alongside the sidhe when you are working in their space.

  When approaching a burial mound, keep respectful silence. The triple salute mentioned earlier is an appropriate greeting, and offerings of beer and wine are usually welcomed, but be sure not to leave any mess behind you.

  Native American Burial Chamber,

  Mackinac Island, Michigan

  Mountains

  Mountains are powerful forces of liminality, reaching from the depths of the underworld to the heady realms of the cosmos. They are sacred places in many cultures throughout the world, often formed by the stone-throwing contests of giants or from the sleeping forms of giants themselves. Mountains are the perfect place to experience the awesome power of nature and the spirit within the land, having been formed by primal forces and enduring many ages.

  Due to the size and slow (compared to us) energetic heartbeat of the great mountain spirits, they are often unaware of humans. However, there will most likely be several or even a huge number of spirits of place within and around a mountain. There will be the spirit of the mountain itself, possibly a faery queen and/or king, and quite possibly a whole kingdom and hierarchy beneath them. Address the spirits of the mountain as if you were a visitor at a noble court.

  The Hurlers, Cornwall

  Other Sites

  Not all places where the worlds meet are so obviously marked. Certain fields may be full of Faery activity, as may any space where there is growth or the potential for growth. In fact, Faery encounters can happen in such unexpected places as airports, train stations, and busy streets. Just because it is a built-up area in our reality doesn’t mean that there are not still places where the worlds overlap. However, the busy world of humanity, with its confusing electrical and airborne signals, is not conducive to the peace and harmony required for enduring Faery contact, which is best found in the green places of the earth.

  Flowers and Fungi

  Certain flowers have strong associations with Faery, such as bluebells, snowdrops, red campion, foxgloves, and roses, to name only a few. As is well noted in folklore, rings of mushrooms or toadstools, particularly the highly toxic and hallucinogenic fly agaric, are known as fairy rings. It is said that these are places where the people of Faery dance on starlit nights. It is also said that if you enter the dance, you may be taken into Faery and not return for many centuries, so such sites must be treated with great caution.

  Timing

  Although contact may be made either spontaneously or intentionally at any time (expect the unexpected when dealing with the Faery realms!), there are times of the day, month, and year when the connection between worlds is strongest and you are more likely to feel their presence. Dusk and dawn are powerful times to be out in nature. There are often fewer people around, and there is a tangible sense of magick in the air as you are between the night and the day. Around the hour of midnight is also a potent time; however, do take care that you don’t pass into places where you are not welcome or that are dangerous for more mortal reasons. The full moon is the best time for blessings, consecrations, and leaving offerings for Faery, whereas the new moon is best for divination and channelling work.

  During the course of the year there are times when the worlds are considered to be closer together, when the veil between them is thinner. The days that are most associated with Faery are Beltane, which in the Northern Hemisphere is celebrated between April 31 and May 2 (or, if you prefer a more natural method, when the hawthorn starts flowering), Midsummer (June 21/22), and Samhain (October 31). If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, Midsummer and Midwinter (or, if you prefer, the Summer and Winter Solstices) are swapped round, as are the dates for Beltane and Samhain.

  Far more important than the dates and traditions of cultures that might not necessarily relate directly to you is paying attention to the cycles of nature around and within you. Watch for when certain plants are flowering and fading. Pay attention to the cycles of the moon. Be aware of changes in the weather. Feel for the shifts in energy around you. When life is returning to the land, or fading back into the otherworld, these are the times when the presence of Faery can be most keenly felt.

  Guardians

  All sacred sites and places of power will have their guardians, and they must be treated with great respect. When greeting a site, you should consider finding your own way to acknowledge the power and importance of the place, honour the guardians, and introduce yourself. Show that you come with pure intent and integrity and that you mean no harm to the spirit of place or to the land itself. These are things that may be shown through energy and action in harmony, and any impurity of energy will be sensed easily by Faery beings. Any attempt to deceive them or to simply feed the human ego through your magickal endeavours will result in a descent into illusion and loss of true connection.

  Guardians may take many forms, both energetic and physical. Energetic forms vary wildly in appearance, nature, and size, according to the nature of the site. Your ability to sense their nature will improve with the amount of time spent building connection with the land and Faery. They will usually display an inclination towards the elemental strength of that area—for example, white ladies at water sites, giants at mountains, dryads in forests, and so on. Guardians often take the physical form of wild creatures, so be very aware of the behaviour of any animals you encounter when visiting places of power. For example, once when collecting water with a friend and fellow priestess for a ritual from an ancient pool, one of a crowd of wild ponies on the site left the others and walked some distance to stand directly in the path in front of us, blocking our way. We all stood there for some time until it occurred to me to ask politely if we may take the water from their pool, at which point it nodded agreement and rejoined the other ponies.

  You can see a most dramatic example of wild creatures acting as guardians in some film footage that was captured at a protest site in Newbury, UK, in the late 1990s. As ancient oaks are felled, two wild black horses seem to come from nowhere and start to confront the workmen, the police, and, in a most moving moment, the police horses. If you search for “wild horses of Newbury” on YouTube, you can watch this extraordinary footage for yourself.

  At other times guardians may be as small as a garden robin, but they are no less powerful and should never be disregarded. Awareness of the world around you and its intimate link with Faery is key.

  Finding Your Power Place

  Even in an urban environment it is possible to find a location or several locations that resonate with your energy, enabling you to establish a profound link to the inner landscape. The Walking in Awareness exercise at the end of this chapter is a useful technique to find the areas in your landscape that you are energetically drawn to. Spend as much time as you can outdoors without distractions, keeping the mobile phone and portable music player switched off. Be open to all sensory input, see where time and again you feel most drawn to, most energized, or most at peace. It could be a particular tree in a city park, a spot in the garden, or an overgrown patch of land.

  If you can find somewhere that you will be able to spend time undisturbed, this can become a power place for you, a place where you make strong connections with the guardians and spirits of place and are renewed by the primal energy of the inner landscape. This connection can be built through offerings and meditation, as well as the exercises and suggestions in this book.

  Wild horses near standing stones

  Dowsing

  You may wish to use dowsing techniques to aid you in building an energetic map of your area and help you to find places of power in the land. Simple tools such as a pendulum or dowsing rods can be used very effectively for this purpose, or if you are naturally energy sensitive, you may find that with your palms open and receptive, you are able to feel physical sensations such as changes in temperature and tingles, almost like static electricity, wh
en beings or places of power are near. The more you practice this, the more attuned this sense (or extension of the senses) will become, and the more detail you will start to receive. Don’t try too hard—this can result in the mind creating illusory results. Instead, take your time, be patient, and allow yourself to feel the authentic energetic nature of the landscape.

  Energy Lines

  Energy flows across our landscape in interconnected currents, sometimes known as dragon lines or ley lines. Consider this matrix of energy to be something like the nervous system of our planet. Like rivers, these currents of energy may change their course over time and be affected by activity in their surroundings, such as roads, power lines, mobile phone signals, and construction. If sites such as stone circles were created to harness these energy currents, it is worth considering whether in some cases the lines may have changed their course. In any case, there is an ever-shifting landscape of energies laid out in front of you, full of places of power that are yet to be discovered.

  The Walking in Awareness Exercise

  “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to…”

  J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

  This exercise begins as an extended version of the Faery Tree exercise, and it will benefit your level of awareness to practice the first stage a number of times before you expand it further into the walking meditation. The purpose of this exercise is threefold. It will enhance your general level of awareness and attention to detail, it will increase your sensitivity to energy, and it will enable to you locate your places of power within the landscape as well as potential tools and allies, depending on the intent with which you set off.