FAIRY MAGIC FOR BELTANE

Hi all!  I will be back at the Triple Goddess tomorrow to demonstrate some uses for fairy cards, in honor of the great fairy festival of Beltane.  In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about ways that we can enjoy a good relationship with the fairy folk.

When we look at the role the fairies play in so many different cultural traditions, we see that the fairies’ activities raise the vital energy that enlivens the universe.  Or maybe I should say, “multiverse.”  Actually, I like the Buddhist convention of talking in terms of “the ten thousand world systems.”  When viewed from that perspective, there can also be many different types of fairy realms, and other realms that can feel the influence of fairy magic.

 

So, if so much of fairy magic is spreading well being, what can we do to generate some good energy to keep the fairies going?  Well, traditionally, some of the most basic things are 1) acknowledging the fairies and their good work through greetings and ritual, 2) setting out suitable offerings, 3) creating beauty--as beautiful words, gestures, things, and places give fairies delight, and 4) engaging in celebrational activities, because festive energies revitalize fairy life.  Of course, in planning your celebrations, be sure to acknowledge the fairies by inviting their participation, set out foodstuffs such as miniature sweets or pour libations in their honor, and be creative about ways to bring beauty and grace into the festivities.

Of course, working with the different fairy decks is another way of acknowledging fairies.  So, now I have something personal to relate.  After drafting the above three paragraphs, I got up to read some fairy cards for myself, as I am about to go out on a walk, and wanted something to muse over, as well as some fairy companions to accompany me.  Well, seconds after pulling cards from assorted decks—and I’m talking seconds, because I don’t think even a minute had passed—I found my little gold mano cornuta necklace & pendant, which I have been looking for for two weeks, and had given up for lost, figuring it had fallen off during one of my walks.  I think the little folk are trying to tell me something, in affirming their existence.  Incidentally, some of the cards I drew were the Brownie from the Mason-Franklin “Fairy Ring” deck, and “Gawtcha,” a fairy type that catches you unawares, from the Froud “Faeries Oracle.”   So, one of my errands today will be to buy a fancy cupcake to set out as an offering, since fairy magic should always be acknowledged with gratitude.

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.

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.

A Tarot Rite for Sharing Blessings with Spirit

Sunday afternoon, we concluded our chat session with a little ritual that was new, so I thought I’d write it up for those who weren’t able to be with us. As I often say, these get-togethers are a chance to bring our spirit mentors along with us, to a place where the better sort of spirits converge, so they can share information by hobnobbing with each other, and we can benefit from their collective wisdom and advice. So, as we had a nice little circle arrangement, we used tarot cards as a way of circulating blessing energy for ourselves as well as our friends in Spirit.

To do this, each person pulls “The Star” and “The Ace of Cups” cards from his/her personal deck. The Star represents spiritual sources, and the Ace of Cups chalice can serve as a symbolic libation cup. Among ancient peoples, offering libations was one of the most common ways of showing respect to Spirit. (If you’ve read the Iliad, you may recall how the principal characters—even the gods--always had their libation cups at the ready.)

Now, with your left hand, raise The Star card, and say something like, “We honor our friends in Spirit, whose blessings and wisdom flow through us!” The left hand is the receiving hand, which draws from the Unconscious, so visualize energy being drawn from the realm of Spirit, and channeled through your being. Then, with your right hand, which directs energy outward, hold the Ace of Cups before you, pointing toward the center of the circle, and say something like, “We offer gratitude to all our friends in Spirit!” The energy thus directed to the center is both concentrated and amplified for all in Spirit to enjoy. Then, each person touches his or her Ace of Cups chalice card to the next person’s Star card as a way of creating a circuit of energy that flows through the circle, and say something like, “May all beings be refreshed by the free flow of spirit!” (This, of course, includes the Fae folk as well as other friendly spirits.) The circulating energy refreshes humans and spirits alike. Then, as part of a coordinated motion, have everybody bring their hands and cards flat to the table and say something like, “So be it!” to bring things to a close.

Also: I took a few notes on some of the readings we did, where first we selected Fairy Friends (from the Heart of Faerie deck), and then inserted them into tarot decks or others, in order to see how those fairies’ energies can operate in different areas of our lives. Among other things, we also paired our fairy friends with Doreen Virtue’s “Magical Messages from the Fairies” oracle cards, to give them a chance to speak. Although we had a lively discussion on the implications of the different cards, I shall take another look at my notes, to see if I can offer further insights into how the faeries might express themselves through the tarot in upcoming posts.

Faery Challenges

On Sunday we pondered ways the Tarot can tell us about ancestral issues that can affect us today, and we also drew cards from the Froud "Faeries Oracle" and Mason and Franklin's "Fairy Ring," to consider our ancestral relations with the Faery World. Because cultures the world over have interacted with the Faery Folk, it is unavoidable that a number of your ancestors will have had special relationships with them. In drawing the cards, some people pulled cards with glamorous faeries, and others got scary or trickster faeries. It is to be expected that some of the faeries your ancestors dealt with were trouble makers, and they may have represented challenges that your family deals with still today. Throughout the year, I demonstrate various other techniques using the faery cards, so inevitably a certain number of our visitors get the unglamourous ones. When I can find more time to write, I want to post some thoughts on interactions with the different faeries we have encountered through these card decks.

For now however, in considering how we should approach the scary faeries, I'd like to share some words from Rainer Maria Rilke. The following is from his essay, "The Dragon Princess," published in "Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties," edited by John J.L. Mood.

"We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us. Has it terrors, they are our terrors; has it abysses, those abysses belong to us; are dangers at hand, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult, then that which now still seems to us the most alien will become what we most trust and find most faithful. How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us."