In her delightful companion book to the Faeries Oracle Jessica MacBeth suggests an exercise for getting to know the faeries. You are to find the card that appeals the most to you, and the one that you find the most disturbing, and do some journaling with them. I happen to have found The Pook somehow comforting in an odd way, and his brother (if the deck was ordered, which this one seems to not care to be, they would be only two apart) The Glanconer made me downright uneasy. You were then to turn over the other cards and find one that wanted you to pick it up. Surprise, surprise, I got Sylvanius again.
The first card is something you desire in your life - The Pook is Shape-changer. Good in bad, bad in good. Paradox. Resolution. I am not completely familair with these fellers yet, so I turn to the book for a little help. It describes him as wanting us to break through our mental barriers, learning to see what is as opposed to what we wish. I can definitely see that as something I wish to cultivate in my life.
The second card is something you are having trouble dealing with in your life. The Glanconer is Illusion. Delusion. Lust. Projection. Clear Sight. (Yes, I am aware these two seem to be opposite sides of the same coin, in appearance and message. That's how I roll.) Whenever I make mistakes, it seems to be because I have convinced myself that things are the way I really want them to be, or because a person has shown me who they really are, and I have not chosen to believe them. And lust (for things, for life, for what we usual associate the word with, for food, for experiences), nope, no problems with that at all, not here, *grin*.
The third card is a message from the universe, and I laughed when Sylvanius showed up again. I think him and his sword wielding girlfriend, and their sidekicks have something they really want me to know - Truth. Cutting through deception. Clarity.
I think to the quote by Marianne Williamson which says, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
I think Sylvanius there wants me to be living up to my full potential and stop hiding behind my thoughts of inadequacy, because sometimes I am guilty of letting myself think that I just can't, when I need to fill my life with the positive affirmation of - "Of course I CAN."
I am digging these faeries!
The other reading I intended to share today was done for my middle child, my Little Big Man. All my kids love getting readings, and he asked for a Past, Present, Future spread and chose The Fey Tarot, a delightful little deck that I often use for the children (though I took extra notice of how buxom they seem to be while reading to a nine year old little boy *smile*). They do not get the option of things like the Thoth or Necronomicon, haha. I was, however, rather alarmed to see all those swords in his reading! In case you cannot tell, they are the Eight, Seven, and Five of Swords, left to right.I read it to him as follows - "It looks like today at school you felt like you were in a bad situation and you didn't know how to get out of it. You wanted to fight but you didn't. You just waited. I think for the rest of the week you will have to remember that, and just sort of sit on your sword, so to speak, and not fight even when you feel you should." I realize those are not necessarily "book" meanings for the cards but I prefer to look at the cards and say what I see, and shore that up with my book knowledge if I am not making sense.
"Yeah, that is what happened, Momma!" he exclaimed. "Bret was teasing me and I felt bad and then I felt mad and I wanted to hit him but I didn't want him to feel bad, too, so I didn't, but I don't want him to make me feel bad anymore. And I don't wanna get in trouble," he added sheepishly, and isn't that most of our reasoning for not doing things we really want to? My heart could have melted, I tell ya! We talked about how sometimes kids are mean because their mommas don't hug them enough, and how anger and violence only breeds more, but love can break that cycle. Deep stuff for a nine year old, and I am not promising he got it all, but learning to turn the other cheek, which Jesus admonished us to do, by the way, is a life long process, is it not? I would like my children to do things just because they know they are the right thing to do, but for the moment I will take not wanting to get in trouble as a motivator.
We invited Bret over for some Wii action and laser tag, by the way, and I will serve them the yummiest snacks and we will try to model good behavior for this child, and hopefully we can turn an enemy into a friend. And I shall hug Bret to little bitty pieces, if he will let me.
These images are from Brian Froud's Faeries Oracle, and The Fey Tarot by Mara Aghem.
