Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm (15 page)

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, when 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.

Many years ago I performed a similar exercise, and it was one of the most profound experiences of my life, which is why I suggest it to you now. I set off into the landscape of Roslin Valley in Scotland with the intent of finding an animal ally that would work with me in the otherworld. I wanted to see that magick could manifest in the physical world, to prove to myself that it wasn’t merely a creation of my imagination or a psychological illusion. I had no mobile phone, nor did anyone know where I was, and the landscape was unfamiliar so there was an added element of risk. After walking a short distance into the wooded valley, I heard the hooting of an owl—rather surprisingly, as it was the middle of the day. The owl followed me for some time, moving from tree to tree in the branches above my head. As amazing as this was (and the ally has stayed with me to this day), I knew that there was more to come.

It was an incredibly wet day, with the kind of heavy summer rain that thoroughly drenches you to the point at which you no longer care, as you know you can’t get any wetter. As I wound my way down the valley, a movement caught my eye down by the stream many metres below—an otter? I leaned over on the muddy bank to get a better look and slipped. I started to slide uncontrollably down the steep, wet slope, catching hold of thorns and brambles to slow my fall. After sliding down about thirty feet, I finally managed to stop. There was still about the same distance again to travel downwards before I reached the valley floor, and no way to scramble back up to the path in the wet conditions. After mulling it over for some time, I realized that I would have to keep sliding, giving up control and trusting the journey. Eventually, much relieved and unharmed save for a few scratches and bruises, I reached the valley floor, full of joy and amazement at my adventure.

Then the most wonderful thing happened. The sun came out and shone in a dazzling golden ray onto the stream. It was shining directly onto a beautiful red deer that was standing in the stream and looking right at me; I knew I had found what I was looking for. The experience left me in no doubt, and I treasure the memory to this day.

Exercise:
Walking in Awareness

Choose a location to begin your journey. This does not necessarily need to be somewhere familiar to you; indeed, I recommend when you are confident in the technique to try it in places that are completely new to you, but it is advisable to start somewhere where you will be undisturbed. If, as the journey goes on, you do encounter people, treat them as part of your journey. Wisdom and insights can come from unexpected places! Begin with the
Faery Tree
exercise as featured earlier in the book, drawing energy from above and below to meet in your centre. See the energies meeting at your heart centre in a warm golden light. Now, instead of releasing the energy back to the above and below, allow the golden light to grow and expand around you. Keeping your breathing steady, see the light reach from you, into your surroundings, in tendrils. These tendrils reach in all directions, connecting to the life around you. The light mingles with the energies of trees, of bushes, and of any creatures or energy beings in the area.

Can you feel a response from the life that you connect with? You can choose to either stay with this moment and then allow the energy to return to you, releasing it to the above and below, or you can hold on to this awareness and start to move forward into the landscape. If you are standing at a gateway, be aware of the gateway as an entrance into a new space, a new level of awareness.

Using the tendrils as a guide, feel your way through the landscape. Where does the energy draw you? Are you pulled along a path? Are you drawn to connect with a particular place on the landscape? Pay close attention to all around you…every breeze, every quivering leaf, every sound of a passing bee or bird. This is all part of the greater pattern of existence, the web of life in which you are now an active and aware part. Look at every detail. Listen intently to every sound. Where are you being led? What are you being told? Savour every fragrance in the air and every texture. Touch and feel the bark, the grass, the moss. Rub leaves between your fingers.

We are surrounded by a world of amazing sensory experience that we are often closed to, our minds busy with our lives and other matters. All this mental clutter is put aside, all that is now is the moment, the place where you are now and the feelings you are experiencing. Allow yourself to be guided by sensation and energy through the landscape. Look with both your inner and outer senses. Uncover your own adventure. Make connections and discoveries or simply find the peace of oneness. Pay attention…trust… if you truly pay attention, you will not get lost (unless you are meant to).

When you are ready, return to your original location, bring your tendrils back into your centre, and return the energy back to the above and below, thanking the land and its spirits for the experience. Sit with the experience for a while, and make any notes that you wish. A drink and a small bite to eat, or rubbing your hands in salt, should ground you. Though everyday life cannot be conducted in this intense level of awareness, your everyday awareness and sensitivity will naturally be expanded. This exercise can and should be repeated on a reasonably regular basis and in different locations.

Suggested Activities

Practice

Perform the exercise
Walking in Awareness
as featured above at least once during this month. If possible, try doing it during different phases of the moon, and make notes on any differences in energy and experiences.