Lammas Themes for Workshop on Sunday, August 5th

Because the first Sunday in August falls close to Lammas, (with its old pagan focus on the grain harvest and bread baking), I typically do something focused on The Mysteries of the Grain, which also gets us into Ancestor World connections and The Magic of Interconnectedness.  So, for a simple, fun activity for this Sunday at the Triple Goddess bookstore in Okemos, I will bring out the Animal Cracker Oracle, which is a fortune telling exercise that was inspired by old Prussian ritual bread baking traditions, and uses animal symbolism for fortune-telling.

For the special card reading exploration activity, I’m bringing along two types of oracle decks: Brian Froud’s “Faeries” Oracle, and Mason and Franklin’s “Fairy Circle” cards to demonstrate readings that explore ancient connections with the fairy folk.  (If you happen to own one of these decks, you are welcome to bring it along for your own use—otherwise we just take turns with the decks I have brought, or use demonstrator decks.) We will also do the Tarot Round Robin.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am trying to trim the length of these sessions so they don’t get fatiguing, and I believe the above activities won’t run too long.  As always, these workshops are free and casual, so people can drop in and drop out as they feel like.

Fun with Faery Friends

On Sunday I will be demonstrating some things you can do with fairy-themed oracle decks, particularly with Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Oracle, and, if time permits with Mason and Franklin’s Fairy Ring deck.  On previous occasions when I have taken people through exercises with these decks, some people have told me that they already own the decks, but never actually use them.  (A lot of people buy decks as collectors, or just because they like the art.)  One of the things I have been hoping to accomplish through my workshops and through my writing is to offer ways that we can add a little bit of enchantment to daily life, and at the same time get more use and pleasure out of our card decks and other materia magica.  (This includes putting everyday objects to magical uses.)

By the way, you don’t have to own or purchase any of the fairy decks or other decks to participate in the activities planned for Sunday’s session, but I will be giving out “Faery Friends,” (cards from the Froud deck), for people to take home as talismans.  (I get a supply of extra cards to use as give-aways by buying used decks in good condition; if you like the idea of handing out talismanic cards to friends, this is something that could also be done with spare tarot decks and other types of decks.)  When giving out the Faery Friends, I have people go through a little ritual, because some of the faeries in the Froud deck (as well as other fairy-themed decks) can be tricksters.  Others are associated with the darker side of nature, though the Frouds emphasize that all of their faerie personalities—even the scary ones—are there to serve as teachers.

The ritual is a simple greeting.  As you pull a card from the deck, say something like, “I greet you friends in the world of Faery.  Show me your friendly faces, show me your happy faces.  Come and be my friends today.”  When you perform this ritual, even the dark fairies or trickster fairies will use their unique talents to help you.  Fairies will help people when politely asked for help, because it’s part of the Fairy Code—and because asking for help is in itself a magical act.

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.

Last Workshop for 2011:

Hey folks, for those who are interested in coming out to my workshops, I will be at the Triple Goddess from 1 to 3 this Sunday for the last workshop of the year.  Tapping into the Samhain season’s still-high-flying energies, we will explore Faery World encounters with the “Fairy Ring” and “Faeries” oracle decks.  This includes finding ways that faery energies may be active or activated in our lives, as well as some amuletic uses of the Faeries cards.  As described in the previous post, another of our themes will be “things that scare you,” using the Halloween Tarot.  Everyone will also get a chance to be the focus of the “Holographic Card Projection” technique, which is where we direct multiple images of a given card (that each individual selects for him or herself), to help each individual achieve a more holistic manifestation of its qualities in his or her life.  In the interest of toggling our amygdalae to access synchronicities and altered states of consciousness through T.D. Lingo’s “frontal lobes supercharge,” we will also bring back the dark chocolate induction.

Mixing Fairy Cards and Tarot Cards, Part II

One of the things that distinguishes “The Heart of Faerie Oracle” from Brian Froud’s previous Faeries Oracle is the inclusion of nine Faerie Queens: The Queen of the Golden Bough, Bedlam, Night, Day, Passage, Owls, Hearth and Home, Shadows, and Laughter. In folklore, there is a certain amount of crossover between fairy queens and goddesses such as Diana, Holda, and Freya. Fairy queens also have Ancestor World connections, as we see with some of the Irish fairy queens depicted in Mason and Franklin’s “Fairy Circle” Oracle, where certain fairies (such as Aine) have been regarded as clan mothers. Consequently, when you get one of the fairy queens in a reading, you might consider the possibility that some protective maternal powers are coming through.

At our May 2nd workshop, two persons drew fairy queens as their “fairy friends” (cards to take home). Coincidentally, these are sisters, one having gotten the Queen of the Golden Bough, and the other, the Queen of Passage. In such a case, it would be interesting for them to compare notes as to whether they have sensed any spiritually protective and guiding energies associated with a strong maternal presence at pivotal times in their lives, (as both of these fairy queens have liminal qualities, i.e., they are concerned with life’s transitions.) Because I had only one of each type of card in my give-away deck from which people drew these fairy talismans, it is possible that a single maternal entity is trying to connect through the two different cards—though of course, all of us have a multitude of maternal (and paternal) energy streams from which we can draw inspiration when we consider our genetic heritage.

When we mixed the fairy cards into our respective tarot decks to see how these fairy energies/entities might express themselves and offer guidance in different areas of our lives, the one sister got The Moon and the Two of Pentacles in association with the Queen of the Golden Bough, and the other got the Five of Swords and the Three of Pentacles in association with the Queen of Passage. (The latter was using the “Princess” tarot, which I don’t have, and I failed to note what the former was using, so I can’t reconstruct whether there were any unique image combinations, and so will have to stick to general interpretations.) Wendy Froud emphasizes the Queen of the Golden Bough as a card of soul healing, and also for healing “World Sorrow,” which is that sense of grieving for everything that’s wrong with the world. Because the Moon has a lot to do with the Unconscious, including dreams, dream exploration and the like can be a good way for this person to access the sort of healing that the Queen of the Golden Bough has to offer, and, indeed, this fairy queen may well be sending her comforting communications through Unconscious channels. The Two of Pentacles would suggest finding a way to bring the Queen’s healing, nurturing energies into the demands of daily life, to create a greater sense of balance by infusing life with soul. In the other reading, the Five of Swords, in common with the other Fives cards, can signify a time of transition, when a previously secure situation has become destabilized; with Swords cards, the changes in question can activate the survival instinct, sometimes also challenging a person’s ideals. However, the Queen of Passage is good for offering guidance when things are in flux, because she enables us to see events as part of a progression, as well as the creative opportunities present in times of change. This relates to the pomegranate which she holds, a fertility symbol showing, “[t]here is growth in the future.” Here, the Three of Pentacles reinforces the idea of applying these energies to creative projects.

To be continued.

A Cavalcade of Tarot Characters and Faeries

Next Sunday, November 1st, will be my final magical chat for this year, and because it is the day after Halloween, I will demonstrate the technique of passing Tarot card characters from multiple decks around the circle in a way that lets you participate in a masked Halloween procession without having to get out of your chair. (We did this at the same time last year.) Based on the idea that masked processions circulate chi through a community, the purpose of parading the cards is to circulate their archetypal potencies through your energy field, in a way that has a regenerative effect. (See previous October’s posts I’ve done on the “feng shui” of Halloween—I haven’t had a chance to go back and put tags on my old posts, but hope to do that eventually.

Also, because Halloween is a time of the year when the faery mounds open and the faery people go trooping over human byways, this is a time for faery magic. Because I haven’t done much with the faery cards this year, (other than May Day/Beltane, which is the other big faery high day), I’ll demonstrate readings using the Fairy Ring oracle deck to see what Faery World energies are at work in your life this Halloween-tide. I’ll also pass out faery friends from the Froud deck, and, if there is some time left over, do other sorts of readings with the different faery oracles.