Fairy Doors, Fairy Shrines

While thinking about how we could use fairy cards (such as Froud’s Faeries’ Oracle or Mason and Franklin’s Fairy Ring decks) in creative projects such as altar arrangements and fairy shrines, I recalled that the city of Ann Arbor has become known for a number of “fairy doors” that have appeared on the sides of buildings about town.  These colorfully detailed miniature doors are a project of the artist Jonathan B. Wright, [urban-fairies.com].  When I did a keyword search on “Ann Arbor” and “fairy doors,” I read a number of accounts from tourists who related that looking for the fairy doors added much fun to their visits, as well as residents who feel that the doors enhance their delight in their community.  The Ann Arbor fairy doors don’t actually open up, but it’s fun to imagine what sort of miniature scenes one could peep into if they did.

It occurred to me that persons wishing to create little fairy shrines at home, but who don’t have carpentry skills, could purchase miniature doors from dollhouse shops or websites, and mount/affix them to walls, trees, fences, boulders, etc.  For doors and windows that can be opened, you could set them into some kind of a framed backing, with one of the fairy oracle cards (or any other fairy images) inserted, so you could have the pleasure of opening the door to greet a fairy friend.  This would also activate “the magic of opening,” and traditionally fairies do help us open to magical adventures and insights.

Upcoming themes: Faery World and the Magic of Flowering

Looking forward to my next workshop: because the month of May opens with Beltane, which is an important festival in fairy lore, I turn my thoughts to special things we can do with fairy-themed tarot decks and oracle cards.  My magical chat session for May will be on the 6^th, (the first Sunday in May), at the Triple Goddess, from 1pm to 3pm.

I particularly like to work with Brian Froud’s “Faeries' Oracle” cards, because the faery personalities portrayed more directly engage the viewer.  (Some of the Froud faeries are from traditional lore, while others are “revealed” faeries.)  I also use the “Fairy Ring” oracle by Paul Mason and Anna Franklin, which portrays fairy types from the British Isles.  Along with these, we might bring in some tarot decks that work fairies into tarot illustrations.

Another theme for May is “the magic of flowering,” because this is when so many wild flowers as well as other flowers are in bloom.  (This follows the “magic of opening,” which we discussed in relation to the beginning of April.)  Faeries are concerned with flowering because traditionally, the good energies raised by their dances, revels, and processions enhance Nature’s fertility.  Because fairies appreciate beauty, laughter, and celebration, anything you do to generate these qualities energizes the fairies, which in turn sends more good energy to the green-sphere and to what my friend Fred Adams called “the Imagination of the Earth,” Gaia Chthon.  There are all kinds of theories about who or what fairies are, but I believe a number of fairy encounters are contacts between human minds and various intelligences in Nature, including the Imagination of the Earth.

So, among other things, I’m planning the usual exercises for May, which include giving out “Faery Friends” (Froud cards) as talismans to keep, pairing the Faery Friends with Doreen Virtue “Fairy Messages” cards to give the faeries a voice, and inserting the faery cards into regular tarot decks and other decks, to see how Faery World energies might open/blossom out into other areas of our lives.  Even if you’ve seen these techniques demonstrated before, there is always something new to learn about cultivating relationship with Faerie.