Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm (6 page)

This is a fascinating way of looking at hierarchy within Faery, more like a Russian doll than a pyramid, with the smaller beings contained within the energies of the larger landscape spirits. Of course, this also works with the idea of the world soul, as all beings would then be contained within the greater planetary spirit.

Unseelie, or the Darker Side of Faery

“We remember the elves for their beauty and the way they move and forget what they were. We’re like mice saying ‘Say what you like, cats have got real style’…”

Terry Pratchett,
Lords and Ladies

It is extremely important to understand when working towards connection with Faery and cooperation with their realm that not all Faery beings want to work with us. Most of us are lucky enough not to encounter directly negative attention from Faery, as most who do not wish to work with us simply wish to be left alone, and this wish should certainly be respected. Others amongst them may be termed unseelie—a term from Scottish Faery lore that translates as “unholy,” as opposed to their polarity, the seelie, or “blessed,” court. Religious connotations aside, these are the beings whose solution to the problems of the world would be to simply get rid of humans if given the chance. An excellent portrayal of this in recent popular culture can be seen in the hit movie
Hellboy II
, which also succeeds in making their viewpoint quite understandable.

Scotland is not the only place to draw a clear distinction between the dark and the light courts of Faery. In the Nordic myths there were light and dark elves, or alfar and svartalfar, who lived in Alfheim and Svartalfheim, respectively. In South Africa, where there is a strong belief in Faery beings, they raise the beds of children from the floor to protect from the dangerous
tokoloshe
. Almost all the Slavic faeries are considered extremely malevolent, and Native American culture has its harmful spirits also, who cause disease and famine.

Emily Carding, “Svartalfheim”

Indeed, most countries have their Faery races, and within them may always be found purely malicious beings. You will most likely not encounter these beings, but if you do, treat them with courtesy and respect and do all you can to keep them at a distance. It is important to understand that they cannot be reasoned with. If necessary, iron may be used, but only as a last resort—and it will also drive away most other Faery beings. Bear in mind this may offend them, and they have long memories.

Truthfully, any Faery being is dangerous when crossed, to different extents, according to their natures. Who is to say that those we call unseelie do not have good reason to be, from some past betrayal? That is why it is so important to always be honourable in our dealings with all otherworldly (and, indeed, this-worldly) beings, for applying certain rules in some cases and not in others, or neglecting to live by our spiritual principles in daily life, does not a true and clear path make.

Faery Etiquette

Unfortunately, amidst the modern prevalence for quick fixes and doing “whatever feels right” in the modern magickal community, the ancient rules of Faery etiquette, which are woven throughout our myths and folklore, have been much neglected. However, they are highly relevant and ignored at our peril!

Iron

The prohibition against iron is well known, and there are a number of differing theories as to its origins and reasoning. It has been suggested that it is man’s use of iron in weapons, bringing an end to the Bronze Age, which originally drove the Faery race beneath the hollow hills and beyond the veil. This may have some truth in it, but the simple fact is that iron has the power to hurt all spiritual creatures, not only Faery beings. This is why magicians use a sword containing iron to control summoned entities.

It is considered extremely rude to carry iron tools or use them in Faery Craft, and for this reason steel is to be avoided also. When cutting any plants or trees for Faery work, a sharp knife of bronze, stone, or bone is preferable, and this must also be with agreement from the spirit of the plant. There are several exercises within this book designed to strengthen connection to the point where communication of this sort should be possible with practice. There is, however, no need to be paranoid about iron content in metal to the extent that you worry about belt buckles and underwired bras!

Taking from Sacred Sites and Trees

One of the chief causes of anger amongst the Faery realm against humanity is our propensity for taking without the thought of asking or giving fair exchange in return. This is another reason for working on connection and intuition before all else, so that we develop a strong sense of when a site or tree is sacred. Not all places that are sacred are marked in obvious ways, and certainly not those places that are sacred to Faery and beyond the ken of humanity. Permission must always be asked from the spirits of place before working on their land, and nothing must be taken from the area without explicit permission. There are well-documented accounts in folklore of ill-fated men cutting down Faery trees (usually thorns) or even taking branches from them, and then being stricken with serious illness and even death. Moving sacred stones also elicits similar punishment:

There was a man on the road between Chevy and Marble Hill, where there is a faery plumb-stone that stands straight up and it about five feet in height, and the man was building a house and carried it away to put above his door. And from the time he brought it away, all his stock began to die, and whenever he went in or out, night or day, he was severely beaten. So at last he took the stone down and put it back where it was before, and from that time nothing has troubled him. (Lady Gregory,
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland
)

In fact, in November 2011, there was a report in an Irish newspaper of a wealthy man who lost all his fortune reputedly because he had removed an ancient burial mound from his land. The headline read
Sean Quinn’s Downfall Is Fairies’ Revenge
, a clear sign that belief in the ancient Faery lore is alive and well!

Thanking

There is a curious piece of Faery lore that says we should never thank them for things they do for us. This is seen in a number of tales, where being thanked or given payment of any kind results in the faerie leaving and never being seen again. It is my personal opinion that this is down to misunderstanding on both sides, and that simply giving thanks without following reciprocal action can be seen as being dismissive. We should indeed be grateful but show our gratitude through continued cooperation and team-work rather than thanking and drawing the alliance to a close.

Lying

Lying is very simply unacceptable—to them, to ourselves, and to others. Equally important is the keeping of promises, as failure to keep a promise is a form of lying. Faery beings will always know, and they will have no dealings with those who have the shadow of deception upon their heart.

Offerings

There are a number of important considerations to bear in mind concerning the very important area of offerings, and these are covered in great detail in
chapter four
.

Eating Faery Food

Most people have heard the prohibition against consuming food or drink from the land of Faery, and it is right to be wary. It is important to spend many years working on connection and building up experience to be able to judge when this particular rule may be broken.

Faery Beasts

“She turned about her milk-white steed,
And took True Thomas up behind,
And aye whene’er her bridle rang,
The steed flew swifter than the wind…”

Thomas Rhymer, traditional Scottish ballad

There are a number of animals that seem to have special significance or connection to the Faery realm and its inhabitants. Often their appearance in our world heralds the presence of other Faery beings, sometimes the beginning of an adventure into the Faery realm, or in some cases they may be Faery beings themselves in borrowed or shifted form. Often there is some distinctive physical characteristic that betrays their otherworldly natures. Often Faery beasts are either completely white, completely black, or white with a striking touch of red, such as the hounds of Annwn, who are bright white with blood-red ears. The colours black, white, and red are sacred to Faery. They are alchemical colours that, amongst other things, represent the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; the rivers of blood and tears that flow through the Celtic underworld; and the triple realms of upperworld, underworld, and middleworld.

Horse

A majestic white horse, often bedecked with many bells, is the traditional steed of Faery queens. Horses are particularly associated with the Celtic goddesses Rhiannon, Epona, the Morrigan, and the Greek Hekate, who is sometimes depicted as having three animal heads upon one body, one of which is a horse. All of these goddesses may be considered to be queens of Faery, alongside many other titles in some cases. Horses are also the companions of Faery kings, of course. Manannan Mac Lir had a magickal horse that could carry people over the waves and deep into his otherworldly kingdom beneath the sea.

Marc Potts, “Pixy and Skylark”
(www.marcpotts.co.uk)

Horses often appear as Faery beings in their own right, such as the kelpie, a lethally dangerous and malicious spirit of water who drowns any who climb on its back, and of course the beautiful symbol of spiritual perfection and purity, the unicorn.

Folklore aside, horses are extremely intelligent and magickally sensitive creatures and will often act as guardians. The landscape of the British Isles is blessed by many chalk figures of horses carved into the landscape. They are of varying age, but some, such as the famous white horse at Uffington, have been shown to date back to the Bronze Age and possibly even further. These are truly sacred sites, where the veil between worlds is thin and may offer you a glimpse of a gleaming white mare dancing elusively in the dusk…

Birds

Birds have long been associated with the Faery realm, most particularly black birds, such as ravens, crows, and, of course, blackbirds. In
The
Book of Invasions
, Eochaid, the son of the high king, receives a prophetic dream that predicts the arrival into Ireland of the Tuatha de Danann, in which he sees them as a flock of blackbirds. The shapeshifting goddess Morrigan, who as we have already noted is a Faery queen, is strongly associated with ravens and crows, often taking their form. The goddess Rhiannon, another Faery queen, was accompanied by blackbirds who had the power of enchanted song. As blackbirds can be heard singing at the liminal times of dawn and dusk, when faerie activity is most apparent, they are considered to be gatekeepers of the otherworld.

Cows

Within Faery lore there are both cows that are very much independent Faery beings in themselves and those that are simply property. In the ancient tales of the Tuatha de Danann, the Cattle Raid of Cooley was a major campaign, caused by the trickery of the goddess Morrigan. This extremely cow-oriented adventure also features the Morrigan taking the form of a white heifer with red ears and, later on, as an old woman milking a three-teated Faery cow.

There are also many tales within more recent folklore of faeries taking the milk of cows, causing milk to sour, or making cows’ udders dry up when they are wronged or denied in some way.

Pigs

Pigs may seem an unlikely contender for the Faery kingdom, but herds of pigs are a regular feature of the old Celtic tales. Manannan of the Tuatha de Danann owned a herd of pigs that could be slaughtered and eaten one night and be returned to full health the next day. The Norse god Freyr, who was the king of Alfheim (Elf-Home), rode a wild boar named Gullinbursti, who had the power to travel over earth, air, and sea. Myrddin Wylt, the mythical or possibly historical wild man of the woods, from whom the more well-known mythical figure of Merlin arose, counted a pig as one of his close friends of the forest and famously addressed poetry to him.

Insects

It seems obvious to point out that there is a close connection between certain insects and the Faery realm, though there is not a great deal of lore to support this. Faeries are often depicted as riding on the backs of certain insects, particularly dragonflies, ladybirds, and butterflies. Though it would be easy to dismiss this as mere fancy and aesthetic license, and mostly a result of the “flower fairy” mentality, there is some truth to be found in this. To “ride” an animal of any kind is a term that can be used in a Witchcraft context to mean not literally physically riding but to astrally ride alongside the spirit of that animal within its body. In my experience, Faery beings have an intimate relationship with all creatures of this land, which enables them to do this easily, and I believe this explains many instances of unusual behaviour in animals and insects, particularly when guarding or protecting places of power and sacred sites.