We went to a Faery ritual on Sunday. The flyer suggested coming as one's elfin self, and in costume. So I spent time this last week trying to put together a costume. I walked up and down State Street trying to find emerald green tights. No such luck. A few days later I covered an entire mall: all the clothing stores, Halloween stores, odd little gift stores, odd little clothing accessory stores in slightly over an hour. I was incredibly focused, going in and scanning for the colors I was interested in and leaving if they didn't have any. I didn't look at any of the clothing that caught my attention although there were a number of things I would be interested in normally. And I did manage to find the tights, a shirt that I could use though I am really interested in a leotard-type shirt, a green boa, and a fabric butterfly in white and green. For the ritual I put this together as green body with tights and shirt, sequined sarong over that, green boa trailing down from my hair in back with the butterfly resting on it at the top. I felt quite whimsical.
The ritual was fun and led to some insight. I have been feeling somewhat intimidated by the Faery experience of someone in my area who has a very specific view of that realm. I let this person make me doubt my own experiences in that area because mine don't fit the view they hold. My more structured and traditional approach seems to be part of what has led to this conclusion. But in the ritual I had visions of Faery and realized that I had indeed been there before; it was all so familiar.
Gerald Gardner has written on Faeries. One of the accusations made about witches were that they had congress with Faeries and in fact, that was one of the points involved in hereditary witchcraft, Faerie blood. While Gardnerians certainly can't claim to be hereditary witches with the Faerie bloodline, nonetheless, that energy is present. And it is passed down from group to group. One of the covens I was affiliated with did quite a bit of Faerie research and work. Not all traditional groups work with the Faerie energy available to them through the handed-down energy line but I have.
It amazes me that some are still playing the "my way is better than your way, or if it doesn't fit what I think/experience then you must be wrong" game. I don't expect that others will approach magick or ritual the way that I do. I like how I practice magick and ritual for myself. It doesn't mean that I can't appreciate the differences in the way others practice it. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for others to allow me the same courtesy.
Copyright © 2000 Kyril Oakwind