Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm (20 page)

Hagstones are also renowned as granting the ability to see Faery beings if you look through the hole. I would suggest that this is a simplified hint at a possible use in trance and journey work. Try holding the stone in your hand when out in nature, and then imagine yourself travelling through the hole as a gateway. See where it takes you…

Chalice or Bowl

Water, especially from springs and wells, is very important in magickal work, being used most often for clearing space, blessing (both space and individuals), healing work, protection, and to consecrate tools and other objects. Of course water needs to be contained, and a silver, glass, or wooden bowl or chalice should be dedicated purely for this purpose. If used for anything mundane in addition to your magickal work, the energies will become tainted and ineffective. Silver is most preferred due to its reflective qualities that aid in holding energy, particularly if charging your water with moonlight.

Drums and Musical Instruments

Faery beings enjoy music played by natural instruments rather than recordings. You will also find that different elemental beings will be attracted by different kinds of sound. For example, earth elementals find the sound of the drum appealing, whereas some water spirits enjoy voice and strings. (For more detail on this area, see the sections on the elements in
chapter two
.)

Drums and music can also aid in creating altered states in which you may experience a heightened awareness of your surroundings and the spiritual beings within the landscape, so it is definitely worthwhile finding something that resonates with you. A simple, regular beat on a bodhran (a traditional Irish drum used in journey work) can be highly effective. The trick is to listen for the vibration between the drumbeats.

Glass Bottles

Many people use plastic bottles to gather water from springs, rivers, or the ocean for their work, as they are lightweight and convenient. Unfortunately, plastic is an unnatural substance made from polluting chemicals and is thus unsuitable as a container for magickal energy, so try to use glass bottles instead. It is fine to reuse bottles that originally contained other liquids, providing that they are thoroughly cleansed.

Offering Dish

As has already been covered in the previous section, offerings are an extremely important part of Faery Craft, so it is a good idea to have a dish or dishes (again, not plastic) that are used purely for this purpose.

Earth

When consecrating tools, it is most effective to bless them by the four elements. You may wish to use a special stone or rock for earth, but another idea is to have a small wooden or ceramic box in which you keep earth, leaves, small pebbles, and so on from places that hold special significance for you. You can even ask friends to send you small quantities of earth from different sites around the world. Do be careful who you ask, though, as the average person is liable to think this a slightly odd request! I have a small box of earth from the different Celtic lands, and I use this for consecrating and sometimes for offerings, as it was a gift at my ordination and is sacred to me.

Censer

Loose-grain handmade incense burnt on charcoal is far preferable to joss sticks, so you’ll need either a censer or a ceramic dish dedicated to the purpose of burning incense. You may prefer something natural such as a large shell or even a flat rock on which you can place the burning charcoal disc.

Candles

A candle is the most obvious choice to represent the element of fire on your shrine or in any magickal work. If you can, try to get a special beeswax candle for use in consecrations.

Exercise:
The Consecration and Dedication of Tools

Consecration need not be a hefty or complex process; indeed, it can be quite simple. There is no set technique for consecrating tools for working with Faery, and you may find and adapt your own methods based on this basic formula:

Set up your sacred space in your preferred method (see sections on sacred space and the seven directions earlier in this chapter). Be sure to have representations of the four elements on your altar. Incense is normally used to represent the powers of air, a candle (red if you wish to use a colour) for the powers of fire, a chalice or bowl of water for water, and either salt, earth, or a sacred stone for the powers of earth. If you have magickal oil you can also use this to represent the fifth element of spirit, which also acts as a seal of the other elemental blessings. If you don’t have an altar, a special cloth that you bring out purely for this purpose and lay on the floor will be fine—just make sure that it is protected from any objects that may get hot, such as your censer if it is metal. Before you start, make sure that you have everything you need within your space.

You may wish to allow words or song to arise within you as you pass your tool or object through the elements, or you may wish to write something beforehand. You may use the following example as a foundation for developing your own personal practice:

By the east and the element of air I do bless this tool to bring clarity and truth to my Faery Craft.
(pass item through the smoke of the incense three times in a clockwise circle)

By the south and the element of fire I do bless this tool to bring will and passion to my Faery Craft.
(pass item through the heat of the flame three times in a clockwise circle)

By the west and the element of water I do bless this tool to bring healing and intuition to my Faery Craft.
(sprinkle item with drops of water three times)

By the north and the element of earth I do bless this tool to bring stability and strength to my Faery Craft.
(either touch your item to the stone or sprinkle with earth or salt, depending on your preferred method)

By the above, the realm of stars
(present to the above)
, and the below, the realm of the ancestors and sidhe
(present to below),
and by my own ineffable divine spark that dwells within and the stars within the land itself, by the spindle of the web, I dedicate this tool to my Faery Craft for as long as it will work with me.

Thank the powers and close the sacred space.

Weaving Magick

Faery magick has three main strands. There is magick that is performed in the otherworld, there is magick performed in this world, and there is magick that weaves the two together, the latter being the most profound. Magick encompasses many forms and methods but mostly follows the simple formula of intent + focus + energy + action = transformation. Thus the exercises throughout all the sections of this book are magickal, for they all use intent, focus, energy, and action in order to bring transformative powers into our lives, bringing us closer to connection and understanding.

All of the above elements are equally important and must be in balance for magick to be effective, just like the ingredients of a recipe or the elements of a car journey—if you have no fuel and you don’t know the way, you won’t be going anywhere even if you may know where you want to go. Equally, if you have fuel and a working vehicle and even a map but no idea where you want to go, you could end up anywhere. The outcome is unpredictable and the journey pointless, as much of a waste of energy as if you were to perform magick for the sake of it but without any real intent or focus. Even if you have a decent car, fuel, map, and an idea of where you want to get to, you have to drive it! Without action, all the intent, focus, and energy in the world will only remain within yourself.

Faery magick is essentially folk magick, simple and based in the world of nature. That, however, does not preclude exploration of other magickal paths in addition to Faery work; indeed, they can be complementary if the intent is in harmony and there is no conflict between practices. Knowledge expanded through a search for truth can only increase our understanding in other areas, all forming part of an enormous jigsaw puzzle. There are often as many moments of confusion and doubt as there are of illumination, if not more so, but with strength and persistence the light of truth is found and the patterns of connection become clear.

Faery Magick and the Elements

In Faery Craft we can use our understanding gained through contemplation of the elements and their different aspects as building blocks for practical magick. Here are some simple examples for you to try. You should recognise, within the simple formulae of these workings, the elements and the divisions of primal, living, and still that you were introduced to in
chapter two
. A good connection with our Faery allies and the world around us can teach us many such possible applications, which are simple yet potent techniques. Once you have tried these examples, work with your Faery allies to expand upon these principles and create your own practices.

The following practical magick exercises show how, in Faery Craft, actions and instinctive connection with nature take the place of the human construct of “spells.” As implied by the name, spells are constructs of words and symbols designed to combine with energy and intent to bring about a particular result. The practical magick of Faery Craft takes us into the realm of nature and is reliant on our connection with the elements and the hidden beings of the inner landscape. These workings are exceptionally simple in construct, the strength being in the action, energy, intent, and connection.

Exercise:
To Be Rid of Negative Thoughts

Sometimes we can get caught in negative thought patterns that can affect our well-being and ability to focus. For this simplest of magickal workings, take a walk by living water—either a stream, a river, or a waterfall. Whilst walking, bring the troubling thought to the front of your mind. Form the thought with as much clarity and definition as you can. Does it have a shape? A colour? A scent?

When you have the thought defined within your mind and separate from the rest of your self (as well as you can manage this), find a small stick or piece of wood that has fallen near or on your path. Taking this piece of wood in your hand, stand by the running water and feel the connection with your surroundings.

Call upon your Faery ally by whatever method you feel works for you, either internally or through words or song. Asking your ally to aid you in ridding yourself of this troubling thought, focus on your intent and the thought in as much detail as you can, taking a deep breath.

With your piece of wood in both hands before you, visualise the negative thought and feelings associated with it leaving your body with your breath, and blow them into the piece of wood. Throw the piece of wood with as much force as you can muster into the water, then breathe in feelings of peace and unity from the landscape around you. Envisage the space that the evicted negativity has left behind being filled with golden light, making you whole once more.

Give thanks to your Faery ally, and walk on without turning back either physically or mentally. This exercise may be repeated over a number of days if necessary.

Exercise:
To Aid in Healing

This may be performed on your own behalf or another’s, but be sure that whomever you are intending to perform healing for has asked for your help, as healing should not be performed without permission. This practice will be most effective for ailments that are the result of infection or toxins in the system and can be combined with methods of hands-on healing as covered later in the chapter.

Find a palm-sized stone out in the landscape that you feel somehow represents the person in need of healing. Call on your Faery ally to aid you in this work. Focus on the person and their ailment with as much detail as you can, and breathe into the stone.

Next, either in a small pot or a location that you will easily find again, bury your stone in soil for one night, with the intent that any illness will seep out into the earth. The next day, take your stone and any soil that is still attached and wash it in living water—for example, a stream or a river—with the intent that you are washing away impurities. Hold your stone up to the sunlight and visualise the power of the sun filling the stone with golden light. You may now gift the stone to the person in need of healing so they may carry it with them or keep it close to their bed at night as a healing charm.

This working may be adapted with intent to heal a particular location rather than an individual, leaving the stone in that location when the work is complete.

The Importance of the Moon

The quality of magick corresponds with the moon and the direction of below on the Faery Craft septagram, and the moon and her cycles are indeed useful things to bear in mind in the practice of magick. When the moon is waxing or full, it is a good time for productive or creative magick, building towards a goal. When she is waning, that is a good time for any clearing of blockages or banishing magick. When the moon is completely new and in her dark phase, this is the best time for any kind of divination or channelling work.

The following simple magickal working builds on elements you should already be familiar with from earlier chapters. It is written here for the solo practitioner, but you may easily adapt it for group work if you wish. It is broken down into clear sections so that you can clearly see the structure. This will help you devise your own future ritual workings.