These are foundational concepts and exercises of the Faery Witchcraft tradition that are referenced in this text, here given in simplified forms adequate for working with the material in this book. For a more in-depth look at these exercises and more, please see my book Betwixt and Between: Exploring the Faery Tradition of Witchcraft.
Our tradition can be thought of as “a monotheistic religion with many gods.”57 This is to say that we recognize a primary deity, but that deity is seen in a multitude of ways. Poetically this being is referred to as “the Star Goddess” or “God Herself,” and she is the womb of all creation from which all things proceed and to which all things eventually return. She is traditionally represented on a Faery altar by a large, black pillar candle. The lighting of this candle represents the first ritual act of any Faery ceremony and the rite is ended when it is eventually extinguished.
EXERCISE: Opening the Way (Three Souls & HA Prayer)
This is a foundational grounding and centering exercise used in BlueRose as a beginning to all other work that we may do. It is actually a few exercises merged together into one, and includes Soul Alignment and the Holy Fire rites. Given here in a simplified, formal format, you will wish to learn how to incorporate this into any informal work you may do, i.e., internally with a couple breaths and without tools, etc. Whenever “Open the Way” appears as a component to an exercise given in this book, it will be assumed that you will use your Star Goddess candle and follow this basic formula.
Items needed:
Your Star Goddess candle
Some matches or a lighter
Take a deep breath and relax. Take another. Imagine points of stillness and silence at the ends of your breaths. Breathe into them and imagine they grow larger with every breath until they meet in the center.
Imagine your talker, your ego-self, as a miniature golden sun shining in your head. Tune into your thoughts and let them go. When you feel clear, breathe deep and imagine a bloodred full moon in your lower belly … in your guts … in your sex. Your fetch is primal and you tune in to your body sensations and your emotions.
Breathe deep and imagine a star of Blue Fire shining above your head. Your holy daemon … your personal god … your God Soul … imagine it guiding you from above.
Breathe deep and return to the sun of talker … imagine a symbol that represents your three souls aligned. See it shining in your talker. Breathe deep and send this down into the moon of fetch. With every breath, imagine you are drawing in wraith force from the world around you and into your fetch … into that symbol.
Take four deep breaths of power and on the fourth and final exhale, cock your head backward and send the power and the symbol up into your holy daemon and exclaim, “HA!” Imagine your symbol exploding in the daemon and now raining down around and through you with a liquid pearlescent light. Imagine your fetch moving upward, while your talker moves downward toward your heart … the movement of talker drags the daemon downward where all three align in your heart center and appear like an eclipse. Say:
Shining star and moon and sun
Aligned within this vessel of the earth,
Together now, the Three made One
Our single voice, in union, given birth.
We are the three who speak as one,
We are the three who speak as one,
We are the three who speak as one.
So must it be.
Imagine yourself shining with the light of your own divinity like a flame … your holy fire. Take a moment to orient yourself to the directions (north, south, east, and west, above, below, and center). Feeling yourself in the perfect center, light the Star Goddess candle and say:
Holy Mother,
In You we live, move, and have our being.
From You all things emerge.
And unto You all things return.
Feel how the light of the candle flame and the light within yourself are one and the same. Your fire and Her fire are one. All flames are one flame.
To End Your Sessions
Having finished your other work, return your attention to the flame of the Star Goddess candle. Feel the unity of your fire with Her own. Draw your power back from the flame and breathe it down into your fetch to nourish and empower you. Recite the “Holy Mother” prayer. Extinguish the candle. Breathe three breaths of silence.
Most often referred to by the Hawaiian name Kala, which means to loosen, unbind, or forgive, this is a simple purification exercise that is a staple in Faery work.
Items needed:
A cup or glass of fresh water
Open the Way.
Step 1: Think of something that is troubling you. Notice how it makes you feel … emotionally and physically. Imagine this feeling is like a dark smoke or vapor that flows out of your body and is drawn into the water with every breath, leaving the cup full of a toxic “sludge.” If you have nothing specific you need to cleanse, you can skip ahead to step 2.
Step 2: Drawing from the light of the Star Goddess, feel her flame flowing into you, through your daemon, down into your fetch, up through your talker, and out through your mouth, and you breathe this light onto the surface of the water, transforming the dark sludge into a crystalline-rainbow light. You may wish to chant or hum to help facilitate this transformation. This may take the span of several breaths.
Step 3: Feeling this light at its peak, reverently drink the water, imagining this light shining within you, breaking down blocks, and bringing you a calm balance.
End as normal.
The lore stipulates that our first urination after performing this rite is to “finish” it. I see this as releasing all energies that do not belong to us, and being returned to the cycle of water.
This is a psychic diagnostic tool that explores five fundamental concepts with which we often have blocks or imbalances and which are essential to forming a strong magical will. In Faery training, much time is spent contemplating and doing rituals for each point of the pentacle. For now, just meditate on them and feel how they can inform you when you are out of balance.
Figure 20: Iron Pentacle
Open the Way. Imagine the points in the following locations of your body and with the following symbols:
Sex: Center of forehead/Spiral galaxy
Pride: Right foot/A flower blooming in the sun
Self: Left hand/An open eye
Power: Right hand/An oak tree, a lightning bolt, or a lightning-struck oak
Passion: Left foot/An ocean wave
Imagine these points and their symbols in each of the stations in your body. Contemplate each point and ask yourself, “What is Sex (Pride, Self, Power, Passion)?” Notice how you feel about each. Imagine wraith force flowing between each point, forming the star in your body. Build up a charge with your breath and allow the energy to move faster and faster between each point, revving up the energetic pentacle within you. When it feels like it is at its peak, feel yourself strong and open like a red, five-petaled rose. Say:
In the name of the Iron Pentacle I claim my being!
This is the counterpart to the Iron Pentacle. In fact, it is really the same pentacle, just seen from a different perspective. Where the Iron was personal, the Pearl is transpersonal. Each point on the Pearl is the same as the Iron, only extended outward like an open hand.
Figure 21: Pearl Pentacle
Open the Way. Invoke the Iron Pentacle. Breathing into Sex, see it transform with your breath into Love. Do this for each of the points using the following formula:
Sex: Love
Pride: Law
Self: Knowledge
Power: Power
Passion: Wisdom
Imagine the hot, red, iron energy transforming into the cool, watery light of the Pearl. Feel yourself calm and open. Sing or hum as you move the energy calmly between the “new” points. Feel yourself open like a white, five-petaled rose. Say:
In the name of the Pearl Pentacle, I claim my world!
A rite for accessing and honoring the Beloved ancestors and the Mighty Dead.
Items needed:
A white (or red) candle
Your ritual blade
An image of a skull (optional)
A mirror
Opening the Gate
Set up the skull in the west along with your candle. Position the mirror in the west so that it is either hanging on the wall or propped up facing you. Open the Way. Sitting or standing before the skull and candle, light the candle and imagine how it is calling the realm of the dead closer to you.
Stand before the altar with your blade in your hands and recite the following incantation:
I stand between the worlds of fate
And summon forth the Western Gate
By my blade I part the veil
Across the sea we set our sail.
Use your tool to “slice” open the space before you and the mirror with a vertical slash. See it separating the veil. Breathe into it and then reach into the edges of this “crack in the worlds” and then with a quick sweeping motion of your arms, open the gate, ending with your arms open, imagining the veil-gate open wide before you. Recite:
By moon that hangs low in the sky,
By ancient sea, the earth’s own womb,
I call the Gate to open wide,
That leads to life beyond the tomb.
Take a moment to feel this power shine upon you from the gate and know that YOU are the gate—the opening and the mirror are but extensions of your spiritual power.
You may light any special candles representing the specific Mighty Dead that you wish to work with (Victor, Cora, Gwydion, etc.) and call out their names, along with any titles, or descriptions of accomplishments that are relevant to their mythology. Take some time to honor their presence.
Closing the Gate
Holding the blade in one hand, extend your arms out to your sides so that your chest and stance are wide open as you face the gate.
Breathing into the very edges of the energetic gate, grasp ahold of them and pull them in toward each other in one quick motion as you exhale quickly. Imagine the vertical slash of light before you and seal it closed with Blue Fire from the tip of your blade slowly moving from the bottom upward until done. Trace a pentacle over the area, feeling this repair, and bless the fabric of reality. Affirm:
The gate is closed.
Extinguish the candle. Perform the Waters of Purity rite. End as normal. Record all of your experiences in your journal.
CONCEPTS: Hidden Temples/Beasts/The Watchers
The Hidden Temples are the astral constructs that represent a reverential intersection between the practitioner and the elemental power. The Beasts are a class of Guardian spirits that are rooted in the middleworld. The Watchers are Guardian spirits that are rooted in the overworld. And finally, the Wells are Goddesses that are rooted in the underworld. There are various concepts and symbols attached to each. What follows is a table mapping out these symbols and concepts for you to use in your work with them.
|
The Five Elements of Faery Tradition |
|||||
|
Air |
Fire |
Water |
Earth |
Aether |
|
|
Hidden Temple |
East, Spring Meadow at Dawn |
South, Summer Desert |
West, Autumn Beach at Dusk |
North, Winter Forest at Midnight |
Above, Below, and Center, All times, No times |
|
Glyph |
Golden yellow half-circle (flat side down) in the throat |
Upward-pointing red triangle beneath the navel |
Blue circle in the heart center |
Black (green-glowing) square in the solar plexus |
Above: Violet pentacle in the crown. Below: Inverted violet pentacle in the perineum Center: Rainbow light of the Blue God |
|
Beast |
Golden Eagle |
Red Lion |
Blue Serpent |
Black Bull |
|
|
Watcher / Power |
Star Finder / Knowledge |
Shining Flame / Truth |
Water Maker / Love |
Black Mother / Wisdom |
Above: Heaven Shiner Below: Fire-in-the-Earth (Pure consciousness) |
|
Well |
Arida, Well of Sunrise |
Tana, Well of Liquid Flame |
Tiamat, Well of Watery Abyss |
Verr-Avna, Well of Deep Space |
Above: Quakoralina (Stars) Below: Sugma’ad (Souls) Center: The Nameless Name (Void) |
|
Tool |
Wand |
Blade |
Cup |
Cube |
Above: Black mirror Below: Cauldron Center: Cord |
57. Faery Grandmaster Anaar.