Pixie Kiss # 16 – The Faery Queen’s Blessing

This is the sixteenth post in a series of suggestions for re-enchanting your life, one pixie kiss at a time. The introduction is here, and you can watch the path unfold here.

She who goes by many names, who wears so many faces…

The embodiment of Faery itself, The Faery Queen is the consciousness behind the patterns, the weaver of the web that underlies the natural world. Faeryland is the world of the spirit, the world of blueprints from which our world manifests, and she is the one that directs the creation of these blueprints.

And she is calling…

 

Sit for a time in the space you have made for yourself, with the tools you have created, with the stories and artworks you have collected. Ask your guide to be with you, as witness and guardian.

Muse on who you are and why you want to bring more enchantment into your life, into the world.

Cast a circle in the faery mists, a circle of blessing which will move with you, breathe in and allow it to settle around your body and go to a wild place of beauty.

Breathe out and let the circle of mists expand around you. Hold your musings in your mind…

Why do you want to enchant your life, the world?

Stand under the open sky and allow your senses to soften…

Let your heart call out to the Queen of Faery and, perhaps, she will come with the sound of bells or music or the scent of wildflowers to bless your choice to walk the path of enchantment.

Spend some time with her, in honour of her.

Maybe you feel called to make a pledge, maybe you simply feel her kiss on your forehead in blessing.

When you are ready to leave, thank the Queen and your guide, and allow the circle to sink into the earth, blessing the land beneath your feet. Leave an offering for the spirits of the place and return home.

Eat, drink water, do something mundane and get grounded!

 

 

I’ll be posting Pixie Kisses each week, if you’d like to subscribe to these suggestions for re-enchanting your life and to receive the occasional extra sparkle in your inbox which won’t be posted here, email me at: craftyhalo@gmail.com with ‘Pixie Kisses’ in the subject line.

The Faery Heart – An Announcement

The Faery Heart

I am delighted to announce:

My book has been accepted by a publishers!!!

A lovely German publisher has decided to take on The Faery Heart, and to publish it in a German translation with new illustrations by a gorgeous artist.

Celebration time!!! 🙂

It’ll be out, at the very earliest, late spring next year… so, in the meantime:

The original, English, version is up on Lulu!

Complete with my own illustrations.

Have a printed copy sent to your door, or download a digital version to read right away.

I feel like I’m flying 🙂

Happy thoughts to you all!!!

The journey so far…

I have been quiet in the world of pixels for a while now because I have been focussing on getting the manuscript and illustrations together for a FaeryHearted book, about finding your own Faery Heart, what it is, and why you might like to… the minimal response to the idea of a FeyHearted Zine at this point suggested that it would be best to focus on one FeyHearted project, rather than splitting between two! Perhaps a Zine is somewhere in the future…

I went on a retreat where I journeyed with others to the four celtic cities, in the four directions, and found myself subtly transformed.

I’ve also been reading The Tree of Enchantment by Orion Foxwood and Fairies and Fairy stories A History – by Dianne Purkiss, and I plan to write about what I’ve been learning about the realm of the Fey over the past few months. I’ve been thinking about the connections between the ancestors, the gods and the fey, and about where the Faery Path fits in on my personal journey.

I’ve a lot I’d like to share here, its just finding a place to start… how do you word something experienced wordlessly? How do you pull the thoughts milling around your mind from a period of time and lay them out for others to see? How do you organise a mixture of theoretical, practical and magical moments into somethign shareable?

We’ll see.  It’ll certainly be an adventure!

Faery Mythology – A Story – With Cards

This is a story I have written myself. A story of an imaginary history, a mythology of the separation of human and fey, both as beings and as natures within ourselves. This is a story which I translated into 8 images, 8 cards, cards which can be shuffled and laid out again as the events of this story can happen, really, in any order. It began here, travelled through here, and is now brought together right here…

Are you sitting comfortably?

A Full Moon Faery Ritual

The moon is full today, it grew and reached its bursting point in the middle of this afternoon.

The sky is grey today, soft and full of rain.

At the fullest moment of the moon I walked the path to Faery land… up the hill and down the hill, past yew and crops and daisies seeking sun in vain… I walk and weave and sing and tread carefully down paths muddy with welsh weather… until I cross the two streams before the Faery tree.

Over the style and I turn to my left, and the Tree, both living and dead, reaching up and down, struck by lightning but still standing, awaits me.

The sun and moon are in the sky, the air is warm but the wind is cool. It whips around the field, I see it moving branches, plants, clouds overhead, and yet it caresses my cheek so softly.

I approach the Faery tree, and in its side, the creviss, both dark and pale, I feel myself drawn through.

I weave through the branches, low and high, some living, some dead and, after leaving an offering, find myself sat at the base of the tree, where the trunk splits opening into the earth.

And I open, breathing deep. And the colours of the world shift. And I see a dark round door which i cannot help but open. And it opens onto stars! A narrow path winds, the only solid thing, through the starry sky.

I walk the path until I fall and fly and land upon the ground. I meet someone, who whispers words to me, words I must not share. And I know that I must court Nature like a lover, treat her well, treat her softly, earn her trust.

I return and thank the tree, full of delight and calm understanding.

And I walk home again.

The next step: Faery light – A Trance

A Faery Walk

The day begins, the sun dawns, the light streams into the world. We have decided to make space for our heart, for faery, and in making this choice our heart has opened, just a little… but we’re unsure.

At work, at school, moving through the world we live our every day in, we find ourselves wondering just how we can see what belongs in our heart, and what can be left behind, or kept only as a useful mask or tool, to wear and use but not to become too attached to.

We remember the stories, the stories of faery.

We remember our childhood walks, the moments where, just on the edge of our vision, we would catch a glimpse of the Fey Ones, shining and soft, sharp and powerful, caring and dangerous and ever so wild, Oh! Always, ever so, ever so Wild!

And you realise… Who else could help us find our Wild Faery hearts but the ever-beautiful Queen of the Faeries?

The moment comes upon you, sneaks up on you, dances towards you silently like an invisible sacred temple dancer… the moment where you realise, you can hear her voice. Her voice, calling you. The Faery Queen. She remembers you. She wants you to come home. She waits for you.

It is your choice, now, she offers an invitation, will you answer?

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Today, choose.

Will you follow the Faery Queen’s song?

Will you accept her invitation to see with Faery Vision, to see the untamed beauty of the world, to see to the heart of things?

Choose, and, as soon as you can, take a walk.

Breathe deeply as you walk, really feel your feet on the floor, really notice the world around you.

Breathe it all in.

Take a walk with the intention of opening to the fey.

Say with your footsteps; Faery Queen, I accept!

Search out somewhere that feels like magic, full of delight and a sense of wildness. I went to the edge of a forest, you might go to the top of a mountain, or to a fountain in the middle of your city, or maybe catch a train and watch the fields swish by.

Find somewhere that feels RIGHT.

And ask the Faery Queen to open your eyes, to wake you up.

Breathe deeply and let yourself open.

If you are unsure, or not ready, then accept this and promise yourself you will return when you are ready.

But if you breathe deep, truly ready, she will open your faery eyes, open your heart, and let you see.

All you need do is ask.

The Next Step: Some Words from True Thomas

Why walk this Path to Faeryland?

What are Faeries?

What is ‘Fey’?

If we look at the stories of faeries, all the myths and legends, we see a common theme; they are all very strongly connected to, or embodying, nature. They are not, however, merely the plants or trees or forces which they embody, they are beings which are inherently magical, beyond limits.

Humans are lured into Faery by beauty. Beautiful music, beautiful visions, beautiful food. And this beauty, once we return to earth, we pine for. So Faeryland is that place within the world, and ourselves, in which the sense of magic, wonder and beauty lies, the natural core of our being. Our Heart.

If our hearts, at their untamed core, are places of beauty and magic, then surely following the call to faery will open our hearts again to the beauty of the world? If we learn to touch the Fey parts of ourselves then we can move through our lives open to the beauty that surrounds us.

And, of course, we recall the other parts of the stories… the wilder parts… the dangerous parts…

In our heart we are natural beings, we have learnt really wonderful human skills like Compassion and language, but in our search for order we have tried to tame our Selves, and instead we have locked them away. And these parts of ourselves hurt, so we, inside, die a little each day.

Here we choose to walk down a path that will lead us back to the parts within us which we truly are. We seek all our parts, those that are good at communication, at compassion, and those that are good at standing up for ourselves and being Free.

Fey means free. Free of the locks we’ve used to keep ourselves acceptable, and free to choose to move in Compassion and beauty. Fey means to be free to be our Selves, to live our lives without unhealthy compromises, to dance to faery music so we are filled with love and joy and deep feelings even in a business meeting or a busy, grimy underground train.

Fey means so full of shiny, happy, beauty, that you cannot help but share it.

We look for our hearts, and when we live with them open, in the world, we are not only happier in ourselves, but we share some of that light with everyone around us. We need to be true to ourselves, and we need to live with others. I believe, with all my heart, that being true to ourselves will help us to be with others.

The world is getting greyer by the day, look at the people around you. I hope they are happy, but I fear they are not. Our world needs a resurgence of open hearts, shared beauty and joy. So let us join those that already search for their hearts. Let us walk this path into Faery so that we can return with our hearts and fill the world with colour again!

The Next Step: Starting Preparations

Can you hear her calling?

Music calls you.

Gently, insistently, just beyond the edges of your hearing, beautiful music.

The softest voice whispers in your heart, saying, Now is The Time.

You catch yourself halfway out the door, your feet followed your heart before your mind realised there was a journey to take.

Grab your coat, pick up a mirror, and walk with me.

We go to find our hearts, we go to find the heart of faery.

The Next Step: Why?