Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm Page 19

  Lisa Hunt, “Lord of the Greenwood”

  (www.lisahuntart.com,

  reproduced with kind permission of US Games Systems, Inc.)

  Otherkin, Elven Spirituality, and the Silver Elves

  One of the most recent groups to emerge within the Faery community is that of the Otherkin movement. Not a tradition as such, people who call themselves Otherkin believe that they are nonhuman souls, most commonly of the Faery races but also of magickal creatures such as dragons or animals such as wolves, born into human bodies. Whilst a number of these cases can be put down to pure fantasy or a psychological need for escapism, there is reason to give credence to the possibility that nonhuman souls could be born into a human life, particularly if your belief system includes reincarnation. Many believe that these souls have elected a human life to help bring humanity into a new age of connection and understanding.

  Though the Otherkin movement arose as recently as the 1990s, its origins lie a little further back, in 1970s California, with the first group of people who dared to publicly come out as being “other,” practicing nature-based magick and embracing an elven identity as daughters (though they were both men and women) of the great Earth Goddess. I interviewed a magickal couple known as the Silver Elves, who discovered their own elven identities through contact with the Elf Queen’s Daughters in the 1970s, as I wished to learn more of their fascinating way of life.

  How would you describe your path?

  The Elven path is unique in many ways to each individual since it is about the discovery and development of each person’s individual nature. That is why we created the word s’elf to indicate the link between being an elf and one’s true self.

  We believe in The Magic, which we define as the Infinite Potential that is the source of all things. And while most people look to escape the phenomenal world and return to the world of spirit, we elves see ours’elves as here to instil the phenomenal/material world with spirit, to master it and to create Elfin-Faerie Paradise on earth and among the stars.

  So what is the elven way? It is the path that each elf chooses for hir (his or her) own s’elf. There are no rules, no requirements, other than be true to one’s own s’elf. If one is true to one’s s’elf, then the elf cannot go wrong. And we believe all true elves will do all in their power to help one discover that way and pursue it.

  The Silver Elves, Zardoa and Silver Flame

  How did you first become aware of your elven natures?

  Zardoa, like many elves and faerie folk, or Otherkin, as we are often called, which we like to call the elfae, became aware that he was different from the normal folk around him at a very early age. However, it took some time for him to understand what exactly that difference meant and what/who he really was/is. He was a child, of course, and a boy, and he had gotten so far as being a “young man” when he realized that, try though he may, and he did for a while, he would/could never be, nor become, a “real man.” This posited the question in his mind: if he wasn’t a “real man,” what was he? He had to be a real something. Alas, it took years of searching, initiation into three different forms of meditation, and the exploration of various spiritual paths before he discovered what exactly that was.

  In early 1975, he came upon two letters posted outside of an occult bookshop in Carbondale, Illinois. The letters were by the Elf Queen’s Daughters and bore an address to which he replied. They responded shortly thereafter, and after a few months of back and forth correspondence, they arranged for him to come visit with them at their home in Aurora, Illinois. Four elves lived there at the time, and in the course of the weekend he spent with them, without any urging on their part, he came to realize he was/is an elf.

  This was not a simple realization, however, but a full-fledged awakening of deep psychological impact that made him realize that not only was he an elf and that he had finally found his people, but that that information had been hidden within him his whole life waiting for that moment, those events, to come and trigger this awareness. Due to this profound awakening, he has dedicated his life to awakening other elves and elfae and to the continuation and development of the elven culture.

  Silver Flame’s awakening came a few years after Zardoa’s. She did not have a sense of not fitting into society as he did, however; her sense of integrity and her devotion to human beings and their welfare over the needs of institutions and their expediencies led her into conflict with the academic institutions where she was employed over and over again.

  In 1978, she came to think that an academic career was not the right thing for her, and she decided to go on a vision quest, holding in her mind the vision of a Native American shaman à la Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan, whom she expected she would meet. Instead, she came upon an elfin shaman named Zardoa. She realized then that she was an elf, and it gave her a realization of why she and her sister had made faerie houses when they were children.

  Now, some thirty-five years after Zardoa’s awakening in a world in which almost no one recognized their elfin being, there are elves, faeries, and others all over the globe. That we have had some small part in this awakening through our books and other writings, and through the giving of elf names (we have given over 5,000 elf names to elves all over the world), is greatly pleasing to us, and we feel privileged and delighted to be participating in this great dharma, the awakening of the elven people, and thus the re-emergence of Faery.

  Why is connection to the elves and the world of Faery so important in our modern world?

  Asking why the connection to elves and the world of Faery is so important in the modern world is like asking why love, beauty, creativity, honor, fairness, joy, happiness, friendship, play, vision, hope, delight, and wonder are important to the world. And the answer is that these things, these values, these virtues are at the heart of what it means to be elfin. They are also the ultimate goals of humanity, what we live for, and, perhaps more importantly in this time, the means by which we may truly move beyond the mysterious puzzle, the malady of spirit that plagues humanity and threatens to destroy it.

  There is not a call to Faery that goes unheeded, there is not a person who steps toward it that it withdraws from. It is equally true that while Elfin/Faery exists all around us in potential, it also exists within us, and curiously it is usually only by finding it within us that we can see it about us. Or to put it another way, if we can’t see it within us, we will only see it apart from and without us.

  This is where elfin magic comes in, for magic is a combination of action, will, and intention, and when we will to be elves and live our lives as elves with intention, we become, by magic, ever more elfin—that is to say, ever more in touch with our elfin natures, our true s’elves, and in this way increasingly in tune to the power that is Elfin/Faery.

  So why is our connection to the modern world so important? Because we represent an opportunity for a better, more loving, fulfilling, and exciting life for all who wish to embrace it. And why is the modern world so important to the elves? Because this is where we are now. This is where our dharma and duty lives at the moment, where evolution and destiny have brought us, and we intend to do our best, as we ever do, to make the most of it.

  We have been told numerous times, and often by quite educated folk, without the slightest shred of scientific evidence, that there will always be war because it is part of human nature to go to war. This is the most amazing nonsense, and while we do not wish to take away anyone’s right to live in a world of constant conflict and turmoil, they will not find the elven there. We are here to create Elfin-Faery Paradise on earth, and those who are determined to live in a world of war will only ever see us in their dreams in those brief and fleeting moments when they dare to believe there can be a better world.

  For more information, visit silverelves.angelfire.com.

  Tië Eldaliéva, the Elven Spiritual Path

  Tië eldaliéva, or the Elven
Spiritual Path, is a path based entirely on the works of Tolkien, most specifically his lesser-known work The Silmarillion, as a valid mythology, or set of spiritual teachings accessed through story. This is a fine example of an individual path that has been created as the result of personal resonance derived from existing material that has gone on to inspire others. To quote from the website: “This is not a role-playing game (RPG) or a work of fiction, but rather an actual spiritual path for anyone who wishes to travel it, and experience it, on a very practical level.”

  Tië eldaliéva works specifically with the beings known as the elves, or quendi, who are of celestial origin, and though they acknowledge the close relationship with Faery beings that might be considered more akin to nature spirits or elementals, it is not the focus of their path. There are clear parallels with the noble Faery races such as the sidhe or the Nordic alfar, whose origins may also be considered to be of the stars. I spoke to the founder of this path, Lisa Allen, also known within her tradition as Calantirniel, about her inspiration and beliefs.

  Julia Jeffrey,

  “Dawntreader”

  When did you first realise that there was more to Tolkien’s work than simply fantasy?

  It was entirely unexpected, that is for sure! It was in April of 2005 when I finally got around to reading The Silmarillion on my husband’s suggestion. The original idea of reading the elven origin stories was to educate me particularly about the elven archetype shown in Tolkien’s more popular stories. However, when I actually read the words, I could actually feel something happening to me, and at first it was sort of scary. It is hard to explain, but it would be likened to my blood, my DNA, just opening up and “singing” —and an overwhelming message was relayed to me that this was not imagination, this was real! I attempted to rationalize this feeling away and tried to tell myself (like anyone else would) that this wasn’t happening and that these were just made-up stories, but this feeling got stronger and more insistent the more I tried to refute it, and I finally arrived at the conclusion that not only were these stories real, but that this was the spiritual direction I was supposed to explore!

  I was not prepared for this at first and wondered if others felt this way when they read these materials too. Luckily, after searching online for a couple weeks or so, I found people who were not embarrassed to have arrived at the same conclusion as me! That was the humble beginnings of tië eldaliéva, the Elven Spiritual Path. Frankly, we thought others must have done this before. While we had found evidence that some parts of Tolkien’s works were integrated into other existing Pagan-themed traditions during the 1970s at the earliest, we failed at finding any tradition based wholly on what Tolkien termed “the Legendarium,” or the whole of the Middle-Earth stories.

  Why is the message of his books relevant today?

  I was also curious about this question—not just “why me?” but “why now?” In digging deeper with the Legendarium writings, it is apparent that the age cycles that Tolkien presented could be overlayed or correlated with those that have different origins, and we are not the first to discover this. Virtually everyone now knows the significance of 2012 being a huge turning point for the planet, shown not only by world mythologies (especially the Mayan one, which narrowed the dates down the most) but also by science. Within the approximate 26,000-year cycle that our solar system revolves around Alcyon, the Central Sun, the year 2012 could be likened to a solstice point. So for 13,000 years the energies flowed one way, and this is the turning point for them to flow the other way. While the prophecies for this time are understandably rather dramatic, I remain hopeful and have made a conscious decision to live with my heart rather than my head—and that is what everyone can do to welcome this time in the best way possible. For those that the Elven Path resonates, it is one method to live through your heart!

  What is it about Tolkien’s elves that resonates with you?

  I have looked into what is termed “otherkin,” and while I can appreciate the philosophy, I do not feel this is an identity—only a path to travel. While I love the fact that some or even all humans could possibly have elven DNA, science cannot demonstrate this today. Instead, the way I (and a handful of others) resonate with elvenness is in wanting to learn the inherent wisdom and foresightedness, as well as embrace their balanced expression of beauty and harmony with nature, magick, and technology. While we are mortal humans, making it hard to be as wise as immortal elves, nonetheless we can still strive for that!

  How aware do you think Tolkien was of what he was writing?

  Actually, this was shown to me by Tolkien himself. Listening online to the Tolkien Professor, there is an introductory lecture wherein Tolkien had begun writing these stories much earlier than their publishing dates—I believe 1917 is the earliest of these writings we know of, and these were while he was in a war in a trench! He also had pictures of how he traversed to what he called “Fearie,” which is what can be likened to Faery. When prompted by his Inkling colleagues about questions in the stories, Tolkien did not respond with “Oh, I need to rework that.” He actually said, “Oh, I need to go find out”…

  For more information, visit www.ElvenSpirituality.com.

  Feri Tradition and T. Thorn Coyle

  “God is self and self is God and God is a person like myself.”

  Victor and Cora Anderson, founders of the Feri Tradition

  The Feri tradition (spelt in this unusual way to prevent confusion with other groups and traditions), a modern tradition inspired by traditional Witchcraft, was founded in California in the 1950s by Victor and Cora Anderson. They worship a celestial Goddess (whom they refer to as “God herself”) and her consorts, divine twins of light and dark who contain both male and female within them.

  There are many parallels to be found with their beliefs and the Jewish mystical system of Qabalah, including the power of polarity and the Triple Soul—that is, that the human soul comprises three parts: the nephesh, which is the basic energy of life that stays with the body after death; the ruach, which is the spirit; and the neshamah, which is the higher self and connected to the world soul. In Feri tradition they refer to these three parts of the soul as unuhipili, ke uhane mulama, and aumakua, showing a great influence of Hawaiian Huna, a Hawaiian shamanic tradition.

  Feri also contains elements from many other magickal traditions of the world, including Voudou and Italian Witchcraft, and they greatly revere the peacock angel Melek-Taus, leading to mistaken and inaccurate associations with Satanism. It would be more accurate to connect this with the association we discussed earlier with Faery, the world soul and “fallen” angels, Melek-Taus being strongly linked with Lucifer.

  The Feri tradition seeks to liberate and empower the individual to embody their full potential as divine human beings. One of the most inspiring modern teachers to emerge from this tradition is the popular and internationally respected T. Thorn Coyle. The author of Kissing the Limitless and Evolutionary Witchcraft, she hosts the Elemental Castings podcast series; writes a popular weblog, Know Thyself ; and has produced several CDs of sacred music. Thorn’s spiritual direction, soul reading, and body/spirit coaching practices help people worldwide. Pagan, mystic, and activist, she is founder and head of Solar Cross Temple and Morningstar Mystery School and lives by the San Francisco Bay. Though she now teaches her own magickal tradition, she shared some insights into the Feri tradition, what she learned from it, and the directions in which life and work are taking her now.

  What do you feel you’ve learned from your long involvement with the Feri tradition?

  I have learned that diligent practice is necessary to maintain one’s sense of growth and equilibrium when the power and energy we are capable of accessing begins to move through our lives. People who don’t keep up with foundational practice are often bowled over by the power that opening to clear streams of life force and magick open up. I also gained a deeper appreciation for the presence o
f the realms seen and unseen, and how all participate in the divine emanation through space and time.

  Shay Skepevski,

  “Peacock Vision”

  How did it help you to develop your own methods that you now teach? What do your teachings offer?

  Anderson Feri tradition and the teachings of Victor and Cora have had a huge impact on my life. The concept that our soul has facets that need to be explored and brought into alignment is a core teaching that I use each day. The reclaiming of the energies of sex, pride, self, power, and passion has also had a profound impact.

  We have the power and ability to live with strength, effectiveness, and integrity in full alignment with all parts of our soul. The fact that there exist practices to help us deepen and balance our connection to this power is even bigger.

  This weaves through my work, coupled with steady self-observation, meditation, and the idea that God Herself is present in all things, and we therefore have a responsibility to co-create the universe with the gods, nature, and the totality of divine flow. We can come into full possession of our own divine selves, living in harmony with all the realms, and taking our rightful place in the unfolding of the cosmos.

  You seem to put a good deal of emphasis on empowerment and

  self-awareness. How does that expand into awareness of Faery?

  I once asked Victor Anderson what the Fey wanted from me, and he replied: “For you to become more yourself. For you to become more human.” That hit me strongly! For me to live in greater harmony with all the realms means I have to live in greater harmony within myself! That, to me, is what the tools and practices of magick are for: to become fully ourselves so we can actually be of help to other beings.

  Our work is not about running off into other realms but about bringing ourselves and our own realms into the greatest health and balance possible so that we can better share space with all the realms.