Following Delight – A World Enchanted

Dream-Building and Map-Making, Enchanted, Faery, Faery Magic, Following Delight

Dancing with the Faeries

I’m very excited to announce that there will be an OFFICIAL book launch on 12th December in my home town of Lampeter. I know it is a long way for many of you but you’re all invited anyway!

I’m both terrified and thrilled. I love the spotlight, I love Faeries (clearly) and I love talking and dancing and having a party. I’m also, honestly, scared all my friends will judge me for being such a fluffy hippy for having an obsession with these magical, mystical, amazing wild beings because, let’s face it, they’ve not had great press. Or rather, the press has been too good, too sweet, too silly. And we don’t value silly enough. In the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft – which I’ve spent many years involved in – I came across a fantastic phrase: “Reverent Irreverence”. The art of making magic through fun. The skill of doing proper, serious, important work with a light heart. The practice of not taking oneself too seriously and thus cultivating the ability to make powerful magic in pixie wings and glitter, whilst still genuinely honouring the spirits that weave within this land.

Working with faeries is often dismissed as not being serious magic, but you and I know that it is. It is very serious. Faery magic is spirit work. It is delving into the core of yourself and finding the wild magics of the heart of nature, because that is what we are. It is seeking truth and finding our own ethics, with a laugh and a whole heap of sparkles (biodegradable sparkles, mind you!).

I’m always nervous that people will look only at the surface, that they’ll see the word “Faery” and dismiss me as lacking in dedication, or without the guts or the brains to do “real magic” or “real work”. So this book launch is more than just an excuse for a party, it is a declaration that I can be a serious, philosophical, hard-working magical practitioner and that working with the Fae is real spirit-work… and that this is not incompatible with glitter. I forget this often myself, so, finally, this is also a milestone. It is the night I stop worrying about taking it seriously and wake up to the fact that I do, and no-one else needs to validate that for me!

This is not a book for those that want fancy occult rituals or deep, secret lore. It is for those who feel like the world could do with a bit more magic, but aren’t quite sure how to find it in their own way… and love faeries as much as I do!

Onwards and upwards, Feylings, onwards and upwards. Now, where did I tuck that glow in the dark wand…

Event Details:

Facebook Event!

Poster (PDF)

Saturday 12th December 2015

Old Hall, Old Building, Lampeter University (UWTSD), Lampeter, Wales.

FREE – you are welcome to come to all or some of it. Bring snacks if you wish and a donation for tea/coffee.

“Your Faery Magic” is being released on Friday so on Saturday we’re meeting to celebrate. I will open with a talk on my philosophy of faeries and how we can relate to them from 6pm-7pm ish. This will probably turn into a Q&A session.

From 7pm there will be:

dancing from the ladies of Tribal Unity Wales and for all who wish to
storytelling with Milly Jackdaw and Will Rathouse
book signing (if you like!)
and a faery themed open mic session.

*Note* If you want to do something at the open mic, you can sign up for it at 7:30, and we’ll have it run from 8-9pm (ish) for them that wish to share something faery (or fantastical) themed… music, stories, poetry, readings from a play, whatever you fancy!

I may even bring my top hat for an appearance of The Goblin Circus if requested!

Enchanted, Enchantresses and Enchanters, Faery, Faery Magic, Following Delight

Why I love the Frouds

Clambering the ladder to my attic bedroom, a teenager clutching a box of mystery, I slipped out of the grey day and into a space away from everything. The night was drawing in as I laid the cards upon my bedspread.

The Journeyman, The Friends, The Green Woman, Himself.

Finally I’d found a reflection of the world of Faery that I knew. They gathered round, peering over my shoulder, laughter just beyond the edge of hearing. My room felt crowded, full of wild spirits and playful mischief, old wisdom and sacred irreverence. I could feel them there. I could hear them. I was not alone. And I’d come home.

I adore the sweet, sparkly flower fairies. I love the wings and the wands and the sparklefluff that inspires lighthearted smiles.But I’d spent every single one of my (few) years up until then searching the wilder corners of my world for the beings I knew were there… and only sometimes were they sweet and giggling. In these slips of card and ink, in the paintings of Brian Froud I discovered that I wasn’t the only one that encountered both the Sweetlings and the Wild Ones without fear.

As I lay out those cards they spoke to me, just as Wendy Froud’s sculptures and puppetry in The Dark Crystal spoke to my heart and reminded me that there was magic and wonders just beyond the everyday, but even more so. The spirits here were real, they danced around me, sat solemnly in the corners, poked the card patterns I’d made thoughtfully. The Fae Ones, both Wild and Sweet, ancient and ever-young, spoke to me that night, as they do often, and, pointing to those cards, reminded me that I’m not alone.

In the work of the Frouds I saw the magic I have always felt manifested in a way that can touch so many hearts, in a way that can bring a kiss of wonder and delight into lives that need it so. Our world is a hard one, even for those of us lucky ones. We all struggle with a system that is devoid of humanity, let alone magic. We all battle with day-to-day existence that steers us away from our roots in the wild world. But the magic of the Frouds and the artists like them is such that they can open those gateways which the stories tell us are always closing.

The secret is, truly, those gates can never close because they live in each heart touched by magic, touched by wonder. "Your Faery Magic" Book cover

The work of the Frouds inspire me, every day, to continue trying to share my
love of the Faery realm, my passion for the Fae magic which we each hold, and my belief that every act of wonder and every moment we choose to move into a good relationship with the spirits of the wild is a step closer to re-enchanting our own worlds. They are part of the reason I wrote my book, “Your Faery Magic,” I want to inspire people in the way they inspired me.

Thank you, dear Frouds, and thank you, Fae ones, for leading me to their work!

Enchanted, Faery, Following Delight, Magic, Queenship

Faery Book Release Date!!!

It’s official! Your Faery Magic is on its way!!!*

Release date: 11th December 2015

Ready for pre-order with Amazon now!

This is a book for beginners on the Faery path, it is for those of us who loved the tales of flower fairies but felt more at home with the goblins and dryads, carving our own wands and brewing up our own potions. This is a book for finding your way towards a faery path of your very own. It is the book I wish I had found when I began in paganism, and I hope it will help guide many feet towards uncovering their own relationship to the spirits of nature.

It has been described as gentle and mature, non-prescriptive and fascinating.

This is the official blurb:

“Have you ever felt that you were ‘different’? That the Otherworld was closer for you than it is for other folk? Have you ever wondered how you can tap into the wild, untamed magic of your own faery heart? Then this book is for you. Once upon a time ‘Fey’ meant both the spirits of the natural world and the nature of those humans that were in touch with that magic in themselves; the seers, the spirit workers, the ones who walked between. This is your guide to finding that Fey magic which sings in your heart. Through this book you will meet your guide, visit faeryland, learn about the beings of the faery worlds and develop your own faery craft to work in harmony with the power and cycles of the earth by unlocking the nature of your Fey spirit. Time for you to become the Fey you truly are.”

I’m SOOOOO excited!!!

*happydance*

*I’ve been offline since moving house… and the release date, book cover and advance copies all arrived whilst we were offline! So technically this news is a little late, sorry!