As I know there are a lot of people who can’t make it to the launch (by which I mean most of the world, which is probably for the best as we wouldn’t all fit in the Old Hall!) I thought I’d make a couple of videos to introduce myself and what I’ve written about and… well… I started off trying to stick to some kind of script and then it became very clear that there was little point in doing that! Instead, then, you have a rather candid ramble about what Faeries mean to me and why I think they’re important to us today. Enjoy!
I’ve toyed with various outlines for topics for the introductory talk at the launch and I suspect I’ll find myself doing a similar thing and following the Will’O’Wisps of inspiration rather than a script, which is generally the best way to work with Faery magic. I will probably also read a bit from the book, which you can listen to now if you like?
New Book due out 11th December 2015!!!
I’m getting very excited now, the books have arrived, I’ve booked the room and collected candles (LED) to light the space, the dancers are gathering their wings and the storytellers are preparing their tales…
And I’m looking forward. What is next on this adventure? I wonder if I can offer my work as a workshop again, as I have at events in Spain and in my homeland of Wales… what do you think? Where might be a good home for me to share the Feyhearted path?
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…
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!
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.
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!
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!
Wood smoke coiling overhead, melding with the music dripping from a flute as the pagans file down to the sacred site. Beltane eve, invited to the enchanted realm… roses twining around us, scarlet and ivory blossoms declaring the edge of our world and theirs… a time of no time, a place of no place.
The Queen arrives, carried by emerald mists, a smile upon her elfin lips, with unusually long fingers gently blessing each waiting crown.
“Leap.” She commands. “Whatever you are dreaming of, whatever wishes you brewed in the darkness of the year, step into that realm now.”
“The power of the earth rises now. The veil between our worlds thins now. The door opens for you to enter, now.”
In our circle, our grove, our sacred temple, she embraced her consort. The Queen of Faery and her King met in the mists of Beltane and their passion blessed each waiting heart with the courage and conviction to follow their dreams and the power to make them come true.
This is the true gift of The Faery Queen at Beltane; a glimpse into her world in which power comes from within and passion can be ridden into reality, and the understanding that follows of how to carry enchantment with you from that world into our own…
Originally posted by Moon Books, who will be publishing my upcoming book “Your Faery Magic” later this year…
Due to my obsession with the Fae, I read a lot of Faery books, so when I had the opportunity to read and review this one, of course I said yes.
This is a really sweet introduction to Faery spirits, with a strong emphasis on the elementals which are a really good place to start in magical working with the Fae. I really enjoyed Flavia’s sharing of personal stories which give a flavour of what it is like to work with these spirits.
My only reservation is the same issue I have with most Faery books, it is that I disagree with her premise that the Fae are all our kin in sweetness and light. Yes, many of them want to work with us and help us, but that isn’t necessarily always the case, now or historically. There is a long history of the Fae stealing children, spoiling crops, drowning lovers and generally causing mayhem. However, the benefit of books that ignore those aspects is clear – Flavia directs her readers very firmly to that spectrum which contains those spirits that do like humans, and avoids those Fae who do not want to work with us. (I’ll post more about this topic some other time…)
So with the caveat that I’d like people to be aware that there is something to beware of when working with spirits, the exercises and stories contained within this sweet book are a really lovely way of getting in touch with those helpful elemental spirits. Flavia has clearly spent years in relationship with them and speaks from experience and I really appreciate that she shares that direct working knowledge here.
This is a book that contains lived experience and a great deal of beauty, not a compilation of other people’s information. If you are of a Seelie disposition, want to learn more about elemental spirits from someone who clearly has a deep connection with them, and enjoy a smile as you do so, this book is for you.
Sometimes, other Enchanting individuals write something for us at A World Enchanted and it makes my heart sing to hear how others are re-enchanting the world too. Demi Morgen-Fox, whose work as a Priestess, mermaid and dancer I admire, is a dynamic Faery lady who I have followed for several years as she pumped up the rock in her Priestessing! Demi very kindly wrote this for you to enjoy, and it speaks beautifully of the work of becoming a Priestess or Enchantress. So, welcome to A World Enchanted, Demi!
The Priestess and Mermaid, Demi Morgen-Fox, in human form.
If you want to live a life enchanted, you gotta show up for it.
My biggest inspiration spirituality-wise is the faery goddess, super-enchantress and all-over badass Morgan le Fey.
I actually first read about her in a book called “Faerycraft” about a decade ago. At that time I was 16 and just totally obsessed with finding a patron goddess. I’d been involved in witchcraft for five years and had decided I neeeeded a patron goddess, otherwise I wasn’t a real witch. Duh. I found Morgen and something about her got me all excited: maybe it was her connection to Avalon, or her wild seductive faery nature, or her thing about walking through the darkness to find the light. Whatever. I wanted her. So sixteen year old me did a ritual to call her in as my patron.
So I waited and I got pretty a big fat nothing. No magic, no dream visitations, no signs, nothing that would signifying that Morgan was paying me attention. I began to think that little rationally about this. Why would hell would I want somebody who is all about the darkness and transformation to be my patron goddess? It sounded like a lot of hard work. Faeries are fickle anyway. Maybe it’s a good thing she never responded.
After a few years, she did start turning up more and more. I’d pray for her for help and she’d hit me up with damn good advice. She’d helped me out with my tarot readings. My obsessive search of her lead me to learn about Avalon, and watch a lot of questionable Arthurian TV dramas. Now she’s there every day.
My big thing is becoming a priestess, zealously devouring anything that can possibly related to priestess stuff. To me Morgana, the Queen of Avalon, land of the sister priestesses, is kinda like a High Priestess goddess. She is a loving teacher and a guide, wise and kind and a little bit pushy. As a Faery Goddess and a Sorceress she teaches us how to experience the world as enchanted, and what that means.
To me so much of the work of being a priestess is connection with the divine. I’m crazy for the word “Yogi” right now – Yoga means Union, so Yogi means one who united. That means being present and showing up to be united. This mean being awake to experience the world around us lit up by the divine, being able to see and feel all the magic and joy and awesomeness that’s available to us every minute.
In our fantasies we see magic and enchantment as something supernatural. It’s has to be a faery rade riding by or something big and flashy with a latin startup, something that would embarrass science with it’s flagrant disregard for physics.
It’s gotta be something special, right? It has to be different than what’s already here because, well, I’m here already so this isn’t special. We’ve gotta be drugged out, tripped out, drunk on something, right?
I don’t think so. Seeing magic is as simple as letting go of all our human mind crap for a few moments being present, showing up for enchantment and magic to find us. Holy CRAP there is so much magic and power and freedom when we just show up for a moment and let it get to us. We’ve just stopped paying attention to something that should be our birthright, our greatest comfort: that the world is and always has been a magical, amazing, enchanted place.
It’s stealth magic. Hiding in plain sight. We don’t even notice it.
How the faeries would laugh at us.
***
Demi Morgen-Fox is a modern-day priestess of the Goddess, Mermaidenly Lady and lover of all things peanut butter flavoured. She lives over at Rockstar Priestess (www.priestesstraining.com) where she talks and teaches about living life with the Goddess, the pathway of a priestess and how to become your biggest, badassest Mermaid self.
As I know there are a lot of people who can’t make it to the launch (by which I mean most of the world, which is probably for the best as we wouldn’t all fit in the Old Hall!) I thought I’d make a couple of videos to introduce myself and what I’ve written about and… well… I started off trying to stick to some kind of script and then it became very clear that there was little point in doing that! Instead, then, you have a rather candid ramble about what Faeries mean to me and why I think they’re important to us today. Enjoy!
A World Enchanted 