If you can, breathe in steadily and deeply for the count of seven, hold for three, and then out again over seven, wait for three, then breathe in again for seven and continue. Three and seven are sacred numbers in Faery Craft. Don’t worry if you find this difficult; simply breathe steadily. It will become easier with practice.
Maintaining steady breathing, visualize your feet sinking into the ground. You are as solid and immovable as a tree. From your feet imagine strong roots growing, sinking deep into the ground. Take your time to feel the roots growing and drawing the energy from the ground. You are strong, vital, and stable.
Once you can feel your roots in the earth beneath your feet, keeping your arms straight, slowly raise your hands until they form a V shape above your head.
Remember your breathing—slowly and deeply, in and out.
Keeping your hands raised, imagine your arms as your branches, reaching high into the sky, just as your roots reach deep into the ground. Leafy shoots grow from your fingers and stretch into great tree limbs, strong and graceful.
Hold this image in your mind as you keep your breathing slow, deep, and steady.
When you are ready, with your next breath in, imagine you are drawing light from the inner earth up through your roots. The light and energy moves up your body slowly and surely with each inward breath, through your roots, into your legs, and finally into your torso. Draw the energy up into your heart and feel it opening your energy centre.
Now, holding that energy in your centre, focus on your branches. Feel the light coming from the sky above—the power of the sun and stars—as it flows into you. With every breath, feel the cosmic energy move down through your branches and into your body. Allow the energy from above to meet with the energy of below in your heart. Feel the power of the two forces meeting in your centre, how you are connected to all worlds, bridging the gap between.
Maintain this connection for seven breaths, breathing in for seven, holding for three, and releasing over a count of seven. (With practice, you may hold this longer and use this state for further work.)
When you are ready, release the energy back to the source with every outward breath, first back up through the branches. Once the cosmic energy is released, on your next breath out, slowly lower your arms so that the palms of your hands once more face the floor. As you do so, release the energy back into the ground.
Your energies have now been mixed with both the underworld and upperworld. Give thanks to the powers of place and sit or stand in silence for a while to process your experience. Make any notes you wish when convenient.
The Voice
“Deep as the sea we sing, as high as the moon we sing…”
Emily Carding, The Song of the Sidhe
A valuable tool that the vast majority of us have at our disposal is the voice. Voice has the power to carry the energy of emotion or intent into the surroundings, mixing with other sounds and vibrations, echoing off surfaces, instantly connecting our energy with the world around us. Voice can carry the power of words, bringing the internal into outward expression. Be careful that such words are always carefully chosen, for there are always beings who may take meanings literally or intentionally trip you up to teach a lesson! However, allowing wordless song to emerge from our spiritual centre is a powerful way to send out a call to the powers of the inner landscape as well as access our own innate wisdom.
By going out into the wild places and allowing energy to rise out of us as song, we honour the spirits of place as well as announce our intent to commune with them. It’s not important to be a strong singer, but it doesn’t help to be fearful of being heard. If the note or notes come direct from you and with pure intent, then not only will they will be effective, but in time your voice will become stronger. When we combine this simple technique with journey work and meditation, we can find particular musical phrases and vowel sounds for different tasks. For example, I have a musical phrase that acts as an invocation, calling the sidhe to meet with me. I also have phrases that I use to honour the ancestors, to clear space, or when giving offerings, as well as simply allowing notes to emerge spontaneously as they will. I advise singing to trees, wells, rivers, animals…whenever you feel moved by nature, allow the feeling to emerge through your voice. One day you may hear them singing back to you.
Exercise: Finding Your Voice
First let the feeling come. You may find it helpful to perform the Faery Tree exercise until the energies are meeting in your centre. Allow your internal focus to settle on the space just below the centre of your rib cage—this is where a sheet of muscle called the diaphragm lies and where your voice needs to be coming from. Try putting your hand over this part of your body and panting lightly to a “ha” sound, and you will feel the muscle working. This muscle is the foundation of your voice. Relax and breathe deeply, breathing right into the full capacity of your lungs and expanding your rib cage. When your rib cage is expanded, your diaphragm has more strength and so is able to lend more support to your voice.
Practice breathing in deeply and releasing your breath slowly with a hissing sound, allowing the breath
