No matter what I might write about the faery/fairies/fairy/fays/feys/faeries, little attention will, in reality, be given to my attempted delineation of what is and what is not belonging to this class of Beings. This awareness became a common reality for me after the publication of my first book, dealing with this subject matter, in 1994, in which I attempted to examine a very outlined "Faery Lineage." Needless to say, there are many individuals who have never seen my books, who hold a gross misunderstanding in their consciousness regarding this class of beings, or, who are still yet, being spoon-fed such misunderstanding by modern fairy gurus. These modern fairy gurus have simply bought into the current trend in all things Faery and embrace the more fantasy portrayal of fairies, i.e. cute, harmless, albeit a bit on the mischievous side, diminutive, gossamer winged baby-dolls that live in our gardens.

	To begin by stating that the fairy are not what you think they are (or perhaps you are a person educated in the Faery Way) has almost universally prompted quite a rebuttal from the receiving end of such a statement. And why shouldn't such a statement provoke a negative response? To come to believe in fairies as an adult takes nerve, wouldn't you say?

Considering that usually fairies are the fantasy world of childhood, one grows out of that kind of belief, when Santa Claus is no longer real or the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.

You have found your way to our website www.FaeryFaith.org, as well as to this page, which leads me to believe that you still believe in the fairies… just as I do, my kindred spirit… On the other pages of this website, you have read that there is a Faery-Faith Tradition, Faery Spiritual Practices and beliefs and theology. Why, we even have a Faery Cosmology! The Faery-Faith Tradition has been around for a long time, long before you or I were born. It is safe to say that this tradition is thousands upon thousands of years old. I certainly didn't found this belief and tradition, although I did found the Faery-Faith Network in 1994 after the publication of one of my books.

I was not born into this tradition, although I am of Irish descent. However, it is safe to say I was born into the belief of Faery as real. But coming to Faery as a spiritual path and life commitment was a gradual awakening that began as a child and matured with me. After scouring through many religions and cults, I found my way to what today, I consider to be a pure tradition of ancient days, of ancient ways, of Ireland.

Don't get me wrong… I'm not saying that we hold a complete tradition handed down from ancient times. No, we only have fragments of it, but what we do still have is pretty concrete and the only pieces of our tradition we have to create are the modern ways in which we choose to celebrate our spirituality, i.e. our celebrative rituals. Otherwise, everything else is pretty much there in the old manuscripts and mythology -- the literature of the spirit.

Our mythology, Irish mythology that is, just like any mythology teaches us what's behind literature and the arts, it teaches us about our own life.

Joseph Campbell said that mythology deals with life, the stages of life, "the initiation ceremonies as you move from childhood to adult responsibilities, from the unmarried state into the married state. All of those rituals are mythological rites." Within the text of our myths we have found the deeper symbols, the deeper pathways that our ancestors knew and used and taught, those wisdom that were considered so important that they were placed into story-form and handed down mouth to ear for thousands of years.

We certainly don't look to the modern (meaning after the Jacobian era) fairy tales, as those are something entirely different.

We have come to understand that we search mythology to find an aspect of myth that relates to our own life. Myth provides four functions:

1. Mystical Function -- realizing what a wonder the universe is, and what a wonder you are, and experiencing awe before this mystery. Myth opens the world to the dimension of mystery, to the realization of the mystery that underlies all forms. If mystery is manifest through all things, the universe becomes a holy picture.
2. Cosmological Dimension -- the dimension with which science is concerned -- showing you what the shape of the universe is, but showing it in such a way that the mystery again comes through. The greatest scientists will tell you they dont have all the answers, they're just telling you how it works.
3. Sociological Function -- supporting and validating a certain social order and the dictates of Ethical laws.
4. Pedagogical Function -- how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.

Joseph Campbell said: "What is a myth? The dictionary definition of a myth would be stories about gods. So then you have to ask the next question. What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power or a value system that functions in human life and in the universe--the powers of your own body and of nature. The myths are metaphorical of spiritual potentiality in the human beings, and the same powers that animate our life animate the life of the world. But also there are myths and gods that have to do with specific societies or the patron deities of the society. In other words, there are two totally different orders of mythology. There is the mythology that relates you to your nature and to the natural world, of which you're a part. And there is the mythology that is strictly sociological, linking you to a particular society. You are not simply a natural man, you are a member of a particular group. In the history of European mythology, you can see the interaction of these two systems…. In the nineteenth century, scholars thought of mythology and ritual as an attempt to control nature. But that is magic, not mythology or religion. Nature religions are not attempts to control nature but to help you put yourself in accord with it."

You may be asking what does all this have to do with giving a delineation of the faery/fairies/fairy/fays/feys/faeries? And I must respond by saying, "everything." Here is where you and I might differ in our belief of these Beings: this is my religion, the Faery-Faith, earth-based and more pagan in nature, but one embracing early Christian esotericism and Judaic flavorings… to a certain degree that is. The "Faery" we know and are referring to when using that word differs grossly, perhaps not, than what you might know and refer to when using that word… if that is even how you spell it.

Likewise, we will hold many similar beliefs about Otherworld Beings, but simply call them differently or place them in a different hierarchy (if that is the correct word, which I use for easy clarification more than anything) and light. That is what this introduction is all about… to begin to highlight the divergence of our pathways, while spotting where they may converge.

Our "Faery" are found in ancient mythology, while your fairies may be found in modern fairy tales.

From the Heavenly Realm, from the Stars above, the Sidhe ~ the Shining Ones ~ descended to earth. The Sidhe walked upon the land with the sons and daughters of earth, with whom they held intercourse and thus began a new mutation of evolution, i.e. spirits of nature. The Sidhe continued to descend, moving into and through our world and beyond into Faery, the next wheel of existence, leaving behind a clear pathway on which to follow. These Ancient Ones lead us into Eternity, Immortal Awakening.

Heaven is of "un-ending time." It is not eternal. Eternal is beyond time. The concept of time shuts out eternity. It is over the ground of that deep experience of eternity that all of our temporal pains and troubles come and go. Wherever there is time, there is sorrow. But our experience of sorrow moves over a sense of enduring being, which is our own true life. We do not look to return to the Heavenly Realm, but seek to deepen into Eternity by following in the footsteps of the Sidhe. This is the core belief of our religion, which flavors our cosmology, theology and mythology. All of our Spiritual Practices focus on attuning us to the essence of the Sidhe that has been encoded in the whispering Stones, the sacred waters, the holy Trees, so that we may continue to see their pathway and thus follow.

Where dips the rocky highland

Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,

There lies a leafy island

Where flapping herons wake

The Drowsy water-rats;

There we've hid our faery vats,

Full of berries

And of reddest stolen cherries.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

~ 'Stolen Child', Yeats

PART TWO "If you believe in fairies, clap your hands?"

Subscribe to our FREE FFN e-newsletter and receive monthly updates and other fairy stuff from us.

Email:
Name:

Books by Kisma

Brigid's Press Faery Books	Lighting the wisdom way! Brigid's Press offers books written by Kisma K. Stepanich-Reidling especially for the Faery-Faith Tradition & Network
For our complete title list click button

TOP OF PAGE