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Authors: Emily Carding

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The sacred number three can also be found within the mathematical pattern of this star, as when it is drawn point to point, every third point connects. This shows that though its use as a sacred symbol within Faery traditions is extremely recent, the relevance is inherent within its very structure.

Pentagram

The five-pointed star, or pentagram, has become very recognisable as a symbol of Pagan beliefs, most particularly Wicca-based paths. Within this context it represents the balance and power of the five elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit, and it is used for both invoking and banishing the powers of these elements, as well as for protection. However this symbol has been in use for many thousands of years and by many different cultures.

The Pythagoreans, to whom it symbolised mathematical perfection, used the pentagram as a secret symbol by which to identify each other. They identified the five points of the star with the five elements, which continues to this day. Though many Christians may look down upon this symbol due to its overuse in kitschy horror flicks as well as its association with Pagan and magickal paths, early Christians actually saw the pentagram as symbolic of the five wounds of Christ and a sacred symbol of universal truth.

Though the earliest evidence of this symbol can be found in ancient Babylonian pottery fragments from 3500
bce
, in truth this symbol has been with us since the evolution of life. The mathematical pattern it encapsulates is seen throughout the natural world—in flowers, in the core of an apple, even in our own bodies. Of course the innate relationship with the elements and perfection in nature gives this symbol great relevance in Faery Craft, as does its effectiveness as a symbol of protection.

One more fascinating detail is its use in the Grimoire tradition for summoning Faery beings. The grimoire magicians would use very similar methods to summon Faery beings (normally to help in the hunt for hidden treasure) as they would for angels and demons, only instead of a constraining triangle outside the circle, they would use a pentagram. As grimoire expert David Rankine notes in
Grimoires, Fairies and Treasure
:

Even then the magicians were sensible enough not to try and apply the same rules to fairies as to demons, recognizing that fairies were already far closer to the physical realm and able to manifest at will rather than needing to be summoned, as was the case for many other spiritual creatures.

Triskele

The triskele or triskelion is an ancient Celtic symbol that can be seen to have many meanings within its obvious triple nature. The name of the symbol translates as “three legged,” and indeed, in its form as the Manx flag, the spirals do take on the appearance of legs in motion. We may think of it, then, as a symbol of cycles that never end—the journey of life, death, and rebirth that is constantly in motion. The three spiral arms of the triskele may also be seen to represent the past, present, and future, with the centre showing where we stand in connected awareness of all that is, has been, and will be.

The number three is of great magickal significance and can be seen repeatedly and in many forms in Faery lore. We see it in triple-formed goddesses such as the Morrigan, Hekate, and the Fates themselves; in the triple crossroads, the paths leading to hell, heaven, and elfland; in the traditional three wishes of fairy tales; in the three guesses to the riddle; in the three colours of red, black, and white; in the three realms of land, sea, and sky; and even in the elements of earth, air, and water, with fire being the divine spark that dwells within.

This ancient symbol resembles the patterns of water as they flow around obstacles in a river or the ripples that are sent out when a stone is thrown into a pond. Indeed, spirals can be found throughout nature—from the DNA that carries seemingly impossible amounts of coded information, to the largest galaxy. As above, so below. The world of nature holds much wisdom, and that is reflected in this symbol. We should always remember that we stand in the centre of our own world, sending out ripples of consequence with every action.

Equal-Armed Cross

The equal-armed cross within a circle is the alchemical symbol for earth and is used within Qabalah to represent the material realm of Malkuth. As a symbol for earth, its significance to Faery Craft is obvious, not the least because this symbol actually appears naturally on the Faery stone known as staurolite.

We can also see this symbol as representing the sacred crossroads between the worlds. In Celtic myth and folklore there are many tales of humans and Faery beings meeting at crossroads, such as the Cornish tale about Cherry of Zennor and the famous Scottish ballad about Thomas the Rhymer. It can also be seen as the meeting place of the paths leading to the four cities of Falias, Gorias, Murias, and Finias, which, according to the eleventh-century collection of ancient Irish folklore called
The Book of Invasions
,
are the cities from which the godlike Tuatha de Danann originated. These four cities are connected to the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water and the sacred hallows of the Tuatha de Danann.

This symbol can also be seen to represent balance between the elements and the position of the self as being always in the centre of the directions, protected by the circle. If you think of the symbol as being two lines crossing rather than four lines meeting, then it can be seen as the meeting of two worlds or two polarities (in this case, our world and the otherworld). The worlds are brought together to meet in the cross and brought together in harmony by the circle, an ancient symbol of perfection.

Four-Leaved Clover

The four-leaved clover is nature’s own symbol for (or perhaps from) the Faery realm. Though most people know that to find one of these rare mutations is considered to bring good luck, many have forgotten that they are also said to bring the ability to see Faery and herald the presence of nearby Faery beings. In many old tales there is mention of an ointment that enables true sight of the otherworld, including the ability to see through glamour, of which it is said that four-leaved clover is a chief ingredient. In the old tale
The Four-Leaved Clover
, a milkmaid is given extraordinary vision of mischievous piskies through accidentally placing some in her hat:

In looking it over by the candlelight she found a bunch of three-leaved grass and one stem with four leaves. She knew it was no strange thing that she should see the Small People… (Hunt,
Popular Romances of the West of England
).

Conversely, this rare gem of the natural world is also said to bring protection from the faeries. We can interpret from both these meanings that the four-leaved clover gives one a certain amount of power within and over Faery. It is also interesting to note that from above, the four-leaved clover resembles the equal-armed cross surrounded by a circle.

The Great Glyph of the Sidhe

“I dreamed I was back under the mound of Gortnasheen, which seemed as if lit by flickering candlelight. I stood before the glyph, which glowed as if lit from within, unable to tear my eyes from its shape. Then slowly I became aware of a figure…”

John Matthews,
The Sidhe

Symbols can be extremely effective gateways, and one especially suited for connection to the land and beings of Faery is the great glyph of the sidhe. This symbol was first brought to public attention by the author John Matthews in his channeled work
The Sidhe: Wisdom from the Celtic Otherworld
, but it has been in use by certain practitioners for some time. This labyrinthian spiral provides a simple yet extremely potent method for communicating with Faery beings and for visiting their land. There is no prescribed method of use, nor is there any guided element to the result. By providing this symbol, I am merely presenting a door through which you may choose to pass, and all visions and insights will be your own, authentic and unique to you.

Exercise:
The Great Glyph of Sidhe Meditation

If this is a method you wish to try, I recommend painting the image yourself onto a canvas of reasonable size, thus imbuing it with your own energy as well as giving you a clear image large enough to use for meditation. You may wish to light a candle on either side of the image, as John Matthews suggests in his work.

Simply sit comfortably in calm surroundings and allow the symbol to become ingrained in your vision. When you can confidently see the symbol in your mind’s eye, close your eyes and see the spiral becoming a tunnel stretching out before you, through which you can pass. Remember to act with courtesy to all beings you might meet and to act only with truth and honour and be grateful for any gifts or wisdom received. Afterwards you may wish to make notes or drawings of any further gateway symbols received. The glyph can work both ways, so you may find beings coming through it to greet you.

I have a piece of slate upon which I have painted the glyph in gold acrylic that forms part of my outdoor Faery shrine. It can also be incorporated into artwork to bring it into greater circulation and strengthen the bridge between worlds, as I did in my own
Tarot of the Sidhe
.

Suggested Activities

Research

Spend some time researching the area where you live. If you have moved areas or even countries during your life, as so many of us in the modern world have, also learn about where you were born. If you’re not sure where to start, try your local library and the Internet. Are there any traditional sacred sites? Any wells or springs? Any trees or areas of woodland with significance or lore attached to them? What are the stories of these places? Also look into your own ancestry if possible. What are the traditions of your ancestors? Do any of your relatives have any tales of Faery contact or strange happenings?

Create

Which of the symbols do you feel most drawn to? Practice drawing all the different symbols and see which seems to resonate most with you. You don’t need to be a great artist! When you have one or more symbols that you feel a connection with, you can paint or embroider it in the colours of you choice, as simply or as elaborately as you like, on a piece of natural material—for example, cloth, wood, clay, glass, or stone. You could, of course, use copper, silver, or gold if you’re feeling flash, but other metals may be inappropriate, especially if they contain any amount of iron. You could also use leather, but if using any kind of animal skin, give due thought to the source. The energy of the kind of animal, the life it led, and how it died will all be contained within its skin.

When you have your completed item, take good care of it. You may choose to use it as a focus for meditations or simply keep it in view in a special place, maybe lighting a candle or burning incense near it. This item will become important later on as the centrepiece of your Faery shrine.

Practice

Perform the meditative exercise as suggested on page 43 at least once during this first month, preferably more. This will help to prepare you for later work, building both your connection with the otherworld and your visualising skills.

[contents]

chapter two
Connection

N
ow that we have started to assimilate some background knowledge and experience, it is time to start building connection. This crucial quality is linked to the direction of above and the stars. The stars represent the wisdom of the Divine, the power of destiny, and our own cosmic origins. We all gaze at the same sky in wonder, and hence the stars connect us all.

In this chapter we will learn about why connection is so important and how to involve all our senses in our Faery work. We will spend time on strengthening and balancing our energy in the Becoming the Faery Tree exercise, as well as learning the importance of the voice as a tool and how to use it. We will spend some time learning about the elements and elemental beings, including contemplations performed out in nature in order to increase our awareness and connection. Then, through exploration of the completely original Faery zodiac, we will apply this understanding of the elements and elemental beings to our own personalities, giving us a stronger idea of where our elemental strengths and weaknesses lie, and what manner of beings we might best collaborate with in our Faery Craft.

The Importance of Connection

“If ordinary people really knew that consciousness and not matter is the link that connects us with each other and the world, then their views about war and peace, environmental pollution, social justice, religious values, and all other human endeavors would change radically.”

Amit Goswami,
The Self-Aware Universe

One of the most common questions asked about Faery is how to see them. We live in a very visually oriented culture, so it is only natural that we wish to see with our eyes in order to truly believe. Many understand the elusiveness of Faery beings and believe in them regardless, but even so the emphasis on needing to see and the implication that only a chosen few are allowed to can lead to disappointment or, worse, the desperate creation of illusory experience.

Brian Froud, “Connection”
(www.worldoffroud.com)

Illusion is a glamorous and tempting slippery slope, and since it creates experiences from the mind that are designed to make us feel better about ourselves, it is a difficult trap to escape. This is why our approach should be to seek to strengthen our connection with the invisible without placing undue emphasis on making it visible. If you were to go out into the woods and desperately try to
see
a faerie, you would be unconsciously closing off the perceptive possibilities of the other senses and their mystical extensions, making it less likely that you would directly experience their energies. On the other hand, if you were to work on all of the senses in heightened awareness and use your energy to reach out and perceive the subtle energies around you, you are, in fact, much more likely to experience those energies, and the experience in time may lead to visual as well as auditory and empathic sensations.

In my experience, the true path to Faery is through the heart, not the eyes or head. If we approach with an open heart, free from distrust and the ravages of scientific cynicism, then we will soon feel the presence of the spirit within the land. When we do see Faery, we see it not simply through our eyes but through our whole selves. We see through our hearts, through all our senses, and through all our experiences in life. Thus Faery beings, being of fluid energy and not tied to linear time and physicality as we are, may take on wildly differing appearances from individual to individual, according not only to their nature and what they wish to communicate but also to our perceptive ability, which can be influenced by preconceived ideas.

To hone this ability, learn to connect and perceive through the heart. When we can allow our hearts to become a clear channel of perception—in other words, get ourselves out of the way—those initial emotive and energetic sensations can be translated into communication and images through our trained visual imaginations and mystical senses. Like any explorative rather than dictated spiritual path, it is a thin line to walk, and we must always keep a check on ourselves so that we do not descend into delusion. However, if we form a strong connection with the land, learn to trust and root our experience in practical results and pure intentions, the path before us will remain clear of illusory weeds.

Exercise:
Becoming the Faery Tree

The following exercise, which can be performed anywhere, is designed to open up your awareness to the flow of energy within your body and your connection to your surroundings. It will enhance not only your sensitivity to the otherworld, as well as the beings that inhabit it, but with repeated practice will also help you to feel rooted as a part of the landscape, bringing balance and control. It can help connect you to any specific sites in which you perform it, creating sacred space around you.

This is a useful exercise to help ground and focus before any magickal work, especially outdoors, and you can incorporate more elements as you become fluent with the procedure. For example, if you are undertaking magickal work within the landscape or at a sacred site, you may wish to incorporate a call to the spirits of the land at the peak of the exercise as your energies open (suggestions for how to go about this may be found elsewhere in the book). You will find a more advanced version of this exercise later in the book, called Walking in Awareness, but it is wise to become familiar with this simple yet effective version first.

While this may also be performed sitting, standing is preferable. Find a flat and even space to stand, with your feet slightly apart so that you feel strong and stable. If possible, barefoot is best. With your hands by your sides and palms facing down to the ground, focus on your breathing, and use it to calm your mind. As you breathe out, release any worries or tensions of the day. As you breathe in, remember your focus and intent of connection.

If you can, breathe in steadily and deeply for the count of seven, hold for three, and then out again over seven, wait for three, then breathe in again for seven and continue. Three and seven are sacred numbers in Faery Craft. Don’t worry if you find this difficult; simply breathe steadily. It will become easier with practice.

Maintaining steady breathing, visualize your feet sinking into the ground. You are as solid and immovable as a tree. From your feet imagine strong roots growing, sinking deep into the ground. Take your time to feel the roots growing and drawing the energy from the ground. You are strong, vital, and stable.

Once you can feel your roots in the earth beneath your feet, keeping your arms straight, slowly raise your hands until they form a V shape above your head.

Remember your breathing—slowly and deeply, in and out.

Keeping your hands raised, imagine your arms as your branches, reaching high into the sky, just as your roots reach deep into the ground. Leafy shoots grow from your fingers and stretch into great tree limbs, strong and graceful.

Hold this image in your mind as you keep your breathing slow, deep, and steady.

When you are ready, with your next breath in, imagine you are drawing light from the inner earth up through your roots. The light and energy moves up your body slowly and surely with each inward breath, through your roots, into your legs, and finally into your torso. Draw the energy up into your heart and feel it opening your energy centre.

Now, holding that energy in your centre, focus on your branches. Feel the light coming from the sky above—the power of the sun and stars—as it flows into you. With every breath, feel the cosmic energy move down through your branches and into your body. Allow the energy from above to meet with the energy of below in your heart. Feel the power of the two forces meeting in your centre, how you are connected to all worlds, bridging the gap between.

Maintain this connection for seven breaths, breathing in for seven, holding for three, and releasing over a count of seven. (With practice, you may hold this longer and use this state for further work.)

When you are ready, release the energy back to the source with every outward breath, first back up through the branches. Once the cosmic energy is released, on your next breath out, slowly lower your arms so that the palms of your hands once more face the floor. As you do so, release the energy back into the ground.

Your energies have now been mixed with both the underworld and upperworld. Give thanks to the powers of place and sit or stand in silence for a while to process your experience. Make any notes you wish when convenient.

The Voice

“Deep as the sea we sing, as high as the moon we sing…”

Emily Carding,
The Song of the Sidhe

A valuable tool that the vast majority of us have at our disposal is the voice. Voice has the power to carry the energy of emotion or intent into the surroundings, mixing with other sounds and vibrations, echoing off surfaces, instantly connecting our energy with the world around us. Voice can carry the power of words, bringing the internal into outward expression. Be careful that such words are always carefully chosen, for there are always beings who may take meanings literally or intentionally trip you up to teach a lesson! However, allowing wordless song to emerge from our spiritual centre is a powerful way to send out a call to the powers of the inner landscape as well as access our own innate wisdom.

By going out into the wild places and allowing energy to rise out of us as song, we honour the spirits of place as well as announce our intent to commune with them. It’s not important to be a strong singer, but it doesn’t help to be fearful of being heard. If the note or notes come direct from you and with pure intent, then not only will they will be effective, but in time your voice will become stronger. When we combine this simple technique with journey work and meditation, we can find particular musical phrases and vowel sounds for different tasks. For example, I have a musical phrase that acts as an invocation, calling the sidhe to meet with me. I also have phrases that I use to honour the ancestors, to clear space, or when giving offerings, as well as simply allowing notes to emerge spontaneously as they will. I advise singing to trees, wells, rivers, animals…whenever you feel moved by nature, allow the feeling to emerge through your voice. One day you may hear them singing back to you.

Exercise:
Finding Your Voice

First let the feeling come. You may find it helpful to perform the Faery Tree exercise until the energies are meeting in your centre. Allow your internal focus to settle on the space just below the centre of your rib cage—this is where a sheet of muscle called the diaphragm lies and where your voice needs to be coming from. Try putting your hand over this part of your body and panting lightly to a “ha” sound, and you will feel the muscle working. This muscle is the foundation of your voice. Relax and breathe deeply, breathing right into the full capacity of your lungs and expanding your rib cage. When your rib cage is expanded, your diaphragm has more strength and so is able to lend more support to your voice.

Practice breathing in deeply and releasing your breath slowly with a hissing sound, allowing the breath to exit the bottom of your lungs first, leaving the rib cage expanded until the last of the air is expelled. Now try this again, but with a humming sound. Settle on a note that feels comfortable and resonant within your body. You may feel your back and chest or perhaps even other parts of your body vibrate. When you have found this note, allow your humming to become stronger and increase in volume. This can all happen over as many breaths as you need it to, but remember to take good, deep breaths and keep your rib cage expanded. When you are ready, open your mouth and allow the humming sound to expand into a vowel sound, any vowel sound that comes.

When you are confident in this technique, allow the note and vowel sounds to vary, and you’ll soon find yourself bringing through simple and powerful melodies. However, you don’t need to use your voice to sing tunes; the act of finding your true resonant note is a powerful exercise in itself. All things in existence vibrate at different frequencies and join together to create the harmony of the song of the universe. By performing this exercise we are consciously joining the song and expressing our true spiritual self.

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