Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm (21 page)

Exercise:
Full Moon Ritual

Preparation

This ritual must be performed outside under the light of the full moon, so you will need a suitable location where you will not be disturbed. You will need a chalice of water (preferably silver if you can manage it, but certainly of a natural substance and not plastic). If you have a wand, you may wish to use this for the circlecasting. You will also need to have an offering of food and/or drink prepared, traditionally a saucer of full-cream milk, but look to the section on offerings for other ideas. You will need to be aware of the directions, using a compass if necessary. You will also need a glass or ceramic container in which to keep your water after the ritual.

The intent behind this ritual is to call on the energy of the moon, the seven directions, and your Faery allies to aid you in a creative goal for the month ahead, so be sure to have a positive goal in mind.

Greeting and Asking Permission

With all your tools and the offering prepared and accessible, centre yourself using the Becoming the Faery Tree exercise on page 50. Touch the fingers of your right hand (or left if you are left-handed) to your lips, heart, and forehead in turn as a greeting. With arms by your sides and palms facing forward, call to the spirits of the place:

Spirits of this place, people of peace, dwellers of the hollow hills, I humbly greet you and ask you to grant your blessing upon this work tonight. I bring you this offering as a gesture of cooperation. I honour you and the spirit within all things.

Present the offering and give the triple salute again. Wait until you feel that your request has been accepted or declined. If declined, give thanks and farewell to the
spirits
of place and proceed no further. You may wish to try again in a different location. If accepted, proceed as follows:

Create Sacred Space

Use the circlecasting technique detailed on page 136. If working in a group, you may wish to call to the seven directions with different people calling to each direction.

Invocation

Raise arms in a
V
shape up to the moon, with your chalice of water ready.

Great Mother, mirror of the Source, gateway to the enchanted realm, I call to you! Blessed Queen of the tides of life, ruler of cycles both without and within, hear my call!

Drawing Down the Moon into Water

Holding your chalice in both hands, raise it up high over your head so that the light of the moon is reflected in the surface of the water. Hold this position and will the power of the moon into the water as you speak:

As your silver light descends into this cup, so may your blessing fill this water. Imbue it with your great love so that it may carry your magick and inspiration forth into the world.

Hold for a short time. When you are confident that the power has entered the water, bring the cup back down. Use your forefinger to trace a septagram in visualised blue light above the surface of the water to seal it.

Blessing and Dedication

Described here for solo ritual, this may easily be adapted and performed by one member of a group as priest/ess, with another of the group performing the blessing on the priest/ess at the end. Simply change the wording in each case to “your” instead of “my.” Hold the chalice of water in the left hand as you speak:

I consecrate my body as a tool of creation and inspiration for my Faery Craft.

(face east)

May the spirits of air bless my thoughts with clarity and spiritual knowledge!

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to forehead; face south)

May the spirits of fire bless my centre so that my inner flame of divine inspiration will always burn brightly!

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to solar plexus; face west)

May the spirits of water bless my heart so that it may be open to the flow of truth and the purity of love.

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to chest; face north)

May the spirits of earth bless my hands so that they may be tools of sacred creation within the world, bringing the beauty of Faery into manifestation.

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to centre of palms; face the above)

May the spirits of the celestial realm bless my spirit so that it may shine like a star as a beacon for others.

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to crown of head; face the below, crouching down if possible)

May the spirits of the ancestral realm bless my feet so that they may walk with respect upon the sacred earth and ever feel the support of those who have walked these ways before me.

(dip little finger of free hand into water and touch to both feet; rise, and hold chalice in both hands over your centre)

With the blessings of all the directions and my Faery allies, I will carry this light into the world. May it shine through my every action, through my work, and through every part of my being.

(take sip of the water)

Close the sacred space and give thanks to the spirits of place. You may store the rest of the water for use in other work.

Other Subjects to Explore

This is a huge area, and there is not enough room in this book to cover it all in detail. In addition to the foundation techniques covered so far, I have highlighted some areas that you may wish to explore in more detail if you feel called to do so. With the aid and advice of your Faery allies, through journey and meditation, and also simply through spending time in the landscape and being open to experiences, you may find yourself being called to delve further into any of these practices.

Healing

If you use or feel drawn to try any kind of hands-on energy healing, this can be greatly supported by connection to the land around you. I am particularly lucky to live near a river and a holy well, and when healing I connect to their energy, feeling the power of the water flowing through me and clearing away energetic blockages.

Spirits of any of the elements may be able to help you in your healing work. Spirits of stone, hill, and mountain may help to bring stability and stamina or aid in healing bones, where the quality of stone is echoed in our bodies. Similarly, spirits of living earth may help with the healing of muscle and fleshy tissue. The energy of fire must be used with caution, but to have fire, or even just a candle nearby, to draw on when healing can add necessary focus and energy, bringing the light of hope to dark places. This connection can also be honed to purge unwanted energies but is not as gentle as water. Air, of course, can be called upon to help with respiratory ailments, and the power of breath can be used both to help in extracting what is not needed and bringing in favourable energies.

When performing healing, always be sure that you have the permission of the person in need of healing. Holding your hands a few inches from the patient’s body, you may find that you can feel energetic tingles, blockages, cold and hot patches, or that images or even words come to you. Tune in to your Faery ally and trust your intuition. When you do place your hands on the patient, allow your breathing to become deep and steady, and focus on a nearby landscape feature or place of power, allowing the energy to flow through you.

Sigils

A sigil is a symbol created as a focal point for magickal intent. It can be a preexisting symbol or one specially created for the purpose. We have already seen with the great glyph of the sidhe how a sigil can act as an astral doorway into the otherworld. Sigils have a number of other uses, including as a point of focus for magickal work or for protection. You may wish to journey with your Faery allies to find suitable sigils for specific purposes, remembering to state this as your intent when journeying, or you can craft a sigil consciously for a purpose. To do this, consider the qualities that you wish to encapsulate, find or create suitable symbols for them, then merge these into the simplest possible form that you can, containing elements of all the symbols.

When using a sigil to protect the home, you may want to paint it on a stone or stones, empower it by breathing your intent and energy into it, then place it with intent near the entrance or windows of your home. To use a sigil as a temporary magickal focus, either draw it on a piece of paper or some other temporary form, such as sand on a beach. Imbue it by building up energy with focus, either through physical activity such as dance, breathing, or your preferred method, then destroying the sigil and thus releasing it into the universe. Drawing sigils on the beach is a lovely method, for you can focus on your sigil and then allow it to be washed away into the ocean by the waves on the shore.

Divination

We have already discussed the gift of prophecy and its strong connections to the realm of Faery, so naturally you may wish to train in a method of divination. There is no particular method that is most connected with Faery, so simply explore, listen to the guidance of your Faery allies, and find what works best for you.

If you connect particularly well to trees, you may wish to learn more of the ancient druidic alphabet called the ogham, which can be used for divination in a similar way to runes, which are another popular choice. If you are a strongly visual person, then I recommend acquiring a set of tarot or oracle cards that speak to you. There are a number of excellent sets available that feature Faery, and these can also act as a bridge to their realm for communication as well as for divinatory purposes.

Other possibilities include scrying into a pool of still water or into the embers of a fire. Simply still your mind and allow images, sounds, or words to form without judging them, and then interpret them later. Keep a journal of your efforts—this can be most helpful to look back on and compare results.

Dreams

Working with Faery tends to enhance dreams, and powerful messages may come that need to be acted on. Try keeping a regular dream diary to help you recognise recurring patterns and symbols. This not only trains your mind to recall dreams more easily, it can also lead to active lucid dreaming. This is a state of dreaming where we become aware that we are dreaming and thus are able to control our dream environment, which is a very useful tool for Faery work. You may also try sleeping with certain objects—say, an empowered pebble or crystal—beneath your pillow or near your bed to enhance your dream experiences.

Finding Your Gift

You may already have a good idea of where your strengths lie and what gifts you would bring to the world of Faery. Are you a healer? An oracle? A visionary? A bard, perhaps? All of us have particular areas that we are drawn to more than others, and these can be developed into a set of skills that benefit both our world and Faery. Consider what you have learnt so far, which exercises you felt worked best for you, and which qualities of the elements most resonated with you. These should give you some clues. There is no quick and easy path to self-knowledge, but the gift that takes time and effort to find is worth all the more, like a rare treasure in an archaeological dig. Keep strong connections with the land and your otherworldly allies, and this will help you uncover your potential. The following exercise was gifted to me by Faery to help you on your way…

Exercise:
The Apple Seed

For this exercise you will need one apple, preferably locally sourced. Sit comfortably in a place where you will not be disturbed. Hold the apple in your hands, resting on your lap. Take three deep breaths and release all tension, then breathe steadily, relax, and close your eyes. See the apple in your mind’s eye. Consider the apple as a symbol of knowledge, experience, and wisdom. Know that the skin of the apple is your outer self—all your day-to-day thoughts and mundane needs and responsibilities. See the skin peeling from the apple, leaving the flesh beneath. Discard the skin and, along with it, any of your mundane concerns of the moment.

Now you see the apple. Know that the flesh of the apple represents your acquired knowledge and experience of this lifetime, the world that you have built around yourself. You now see that the apple is divided into a top and a bottom half, and it splits into two halves along the horizontal, one half in each hand. Look at the revealed centre of both halves of the apple. In both halves you see the pattern of a five-pointed star, just as you would if you cut open an apple in physical reality. In one of the halves, you see five seeds in the star pattern.

The five seeds begin to glow. They may take on different colours and different levels of brightness. Something about one or more of the seeds draws you to it/them. Laying down the other half of the apple, take the seed or seeds out of the apple and place it in the palm of your hand. The seed changes shape and becomes a new object. This is a symbol of your Faery gift, a part of your divine nature, what you are here to share with the world. Remember this symbol well. If it does not make sense now, study it, meditate on it further, and it will make sense in the future. Trust. The symbol becomes a seed once more. Ask your Faery ally or animal guide to take you to an appropriate location and plant the seed in the ground of the otherworld. When this is complete, return to your starting location and slowly return to normal awareness.