Faery Craft: Weaving Connections with the Enchanted Realm by Carding, Emily (sad books to read .TXT) 📗

prefer something natural such as a large shell or even a flat rock on which you can place the burning charcoal disc.

Candles

A candle is the most obvious choice to represent the element of fire on your shrine or in any magickal work. If you can, try to get a special beeswax candle for use in consecrations.

Exercise: The Consecration and Dedication of Tools

Consecration need not be a hefty or complex process; indeed, it can be quite simple. There is no set technique for consecrating tools for working with Faery, and you may find and adapt your own methods based on this basic formula:

Set up your sacred space in your preferred method (see sections on sacred space and the seven directions earlier in this chapter). Be sure to have representations of the four elements on your altar. Incense is normally used to represent the powers of air, a candle (red if you wish to use a colour) for the powers of fire, a chalice or bowl of water for water, and either salt, earth, or a sacred stone for the powers of earth. If you have magickal oil you can also use this to represent the fifth element of spirit, which also acts as a seal of the other elemental blessings. If you don’t have an altar, a special cloth that you bring out purely for this purpose and lay on the floor will be fine—just make sure that it is protected from any objects that may get hot, such as your censer if it is metal. Before you start, make sure that you have everything you need within your space.

You may wish to allow words or song to arise within you as you pass your tool or object through the elements, or you may wish to write something beforehand. You may use the following example as a foundation for developing your own personal practice:

By the east and the element of air I do bless this tool to bring clarity and truth to my Faery Craft. (pass item through the smoke of the incense three times in a clockwise circle)

By the south and the element of fire I do bless this tool to bring will and passion to my Faery Craft. (pass item through the heat of the flame three times in a clockwise circle)

By the west and the element of water I do bless this tool to bring healing and intuition to my Faery Craft. (sprinkle item with drops of water three times)

By the north and the element of earth I do bless this tool to bring stability and strength to my Faery Craft. (either touch your item to the stone or sprinkle with earth or salt, depending on your preferred method)

By the above, the realm of stars (present to the above), and the below, the realm of the ancestors and sidhe (present to below), and by my own ineffable divine spark that dwells within and the stars within the land itself, by the spindle of the web, I dedicate this tool to my Faery Craft for as long as it will work with me.

Thank the powers and close the sacred space.

Weaving Magick

Faery magick has three main strands. There is magick that is performed in the otherworld, there is magick performed in this world, and there is magick that weaves the two together, the latter being the most profound. Magick encompasses many forms and methods but mostly follows the simple formula of intent + focus + energy + action = transformation. Thus the exercises throughout all the sections of this book are magickal, for they all use intent, focus, energy, and action in order to bring transformative powers into our lives, bringing us closer to connection and understanding.

All of the above elements are equally important and must be in balance for magick to be effective, just like the ingredients of a recipe or the elements of a car journey—if you have no fuel and you don’t know the way, you won’t be going anywhere even if you may know where you want to go. Equally, if you have fuel and a working vehicle and even a map but no idea where you want to go, you could end up anywhere. The outcome is unpredictable and the journey pointless, as much of a waste of energy as if you were to perform magick for the sake of it but without any real intent or focus. Even if you have a decent car, fuel, map, and an idea of where you want to get to, you have to drive it! Without action, all the intent, focus, and energy in the world will only remain within yourself.

Faery magick is essentially folk magick, simple and based in the world of nature. That, however, does not preclude exploration of other magickal paths in addition to Faery work; indeed, they can be complementary if the intent is in harmony and there is no conflict between practices. Knowledge expanded through a search for truth can only increase our understanding in other areas, all forming part of an enormous jigsaw puzzle. There are often as many moments of confusion and doubt as there are of illumination, if not more so, but with strength and persistence the light of truth is found and the patterns of connection become clear.

Faery Magick and the Elements

In Faery Craft we can use our understanding gained through contemplation of the elements and their different aspects as building blocks for practical magick. Here are some simple examples for you to try. You should recognise, within the simple formulae of these workings, the elements and the divisions of primal, living, and still that you were introduced to in chapter two. A good connection with our Faery allies and the world around us can teach us many such possible applications, which are simple yet potent techniques. Once you have tried these examples, work with your Faery allies to expand upon these principles and create your own practices.

The following practical magick exercises show how, in Faery Craft, actions and