Well, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be! Why not? One of my teachers, Roberta Gray, who was an astrologer and very knowledgeable in Celtic tradition, used to say—she said this in the late 1960s/early ’70s—that there were more and more beings being born into human bodies that had not been human before. That was very interesting, because she was saying that in the late 1960s, before the New Age movement, before any of the stuff we’re so familiar with today, so that gave it a unique authenticity. It wasn’t just a cool “something” that was around in a book. So I think it’s very possible.
What do you see the future of Faery tradition being? Do you think practitioners will always be in the minority or do you think it will be more respected and known about in the future?
I don’t know, I think there are multiple answers to that question. If, for example, our modernist culture breaks down and people start to live in new ways—like new versions of old or ancestral ways, I suppose—then we would see quite a widespread return to relating to the Faery beings and nature spirits, because it’s clear, from tradition, that our ancestors regarded that as essential to survival. If our modernist culture doesn’t break down, and we get more and more attuned to computers and cyber-networks and machines, then we’ll continue to lose that awareness until eventually we lose it altogether. So I suppose the answer is we’ve got to find a middle ground somewhere between those two and hope that the culture doesn’t break down but that people do become increasingly aware. Again, for me, the key is the environmental movement, because that’s what makes people more aware of the spiritual worlds of nature.
So perhaps it will be the increasing connection with Faery that will stop the breakdown from having to happen?
That’s a very interesting point, yes, I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that.
For more information, visit www.rjstewart.net.
Celtic Shamanism and John and Caitlín Matthews
Celtic shamanism is a path that embraces the native spiritual practices of the British Isles, honouring the ancestors and spirits of the land. It appeals to those who are drawn to nature-based spirituality and trance techniques and wish to work with the spirits of the Celtic and British landscape or who are of British or Celtic descent. As such, interaction and connection with Faery beings and nature spirits forms an important part of this practice. Shamanism and shamanic techniques in all their forms have become very popular in recent years, and two of the most prolific and respected authors in this field are John and Caitlín Matthews, a husband and wife team who have between them penned over a hundred books on Celtic mythology, shamanism, and related subjects, as well as taught core spiritual practices all over the world. I spoke to them about their relationship with Faery and the use of shamanic practices to strengthen our connection with the unseen realms.
John and Caitlín Matthews
(photo by Mark Brome)
How important is interaction with the Faery realm within Celtic shamanism?
J: Shamanism works at the level of spirit, and spirit includes the Faery realm, so they are actually very close. I find that the Faery kind show up quite a lot in journey work, though, in a way I can’t really describe, my own encounters with them happen in a different way to normal journeying.
C: All shamanic traditions interact with different kinds of spirits, but the hidden ones are part of every tradition in every country, not just in Britain and Ireland.
Our ancestral traditions are informed by Faery lore, music, and wisdom on every level: historically, in the written record as well as in the oral tradition. But it is an ongoing, living lore, not one that has been anthropologically filed and forgotten. Those pathways have not been lost, but every time we journey or meditate or pray, we make “paths through the wheatfield.”
Whenever we come to the thresholds of place or time, we encounter the hidden ones. As the elder race to humans and our neighbours, Faeries and ourselves have encounters and relationships; sometimes these are not happy relationships—especially when we build upon land without consideration—and these upsets often need to be arbitrated shamanically, for they can have consequences upon our descendants.
How can we strengthen connection with the Faery realm?
C: To have a strong relationship with the hidden ones, we need to acknowledge our interdependence with all life forms and live accordingly: with prayer, consideration, and respect. These are the daily duties towards the Faery realms that everyone should have. For myself, the songs I receive from Faery and the offerings that I give make a pathway down which mutual understanding has grown. The Faery allies that work with me in my shamanic practice do so because we enjoy each other’s society and understand that their hearth and my hearth are those of neighbours.
J: Journey work strengthens any links with the otherworld in whatever form or of whatever type. Depending a lot on the individual, some may get Faery contacts of their own accord, others may have to work harder at it—it is those who could find shamanism a good means to opening doors to the Faery realms.
What advice would you give to people who wish to work with Faery?
J: Don’t! Half seriously, I would say if you do so, be wary of all kinds of strangeness and wonder. Your whole life can be turned upside down by these beings, who can be every bit as cruel as they are kind. Of all the inner beings I work with, the Faery folk are the most uncompromising and variable. They can really like you one day, then, apparently, dislike you the next.
C: Be aware that the hidden ones are not there to grant our wishes: any relationship that we have with them is wrought of faithfulness, honour, and respect. Like humans, faeries can be
