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Feri Tradition and T. Thorn Coyle
“God is self and self is God and God is a person like myself.”
Victor and Cora Anderson, founders of the Feri Tradition
The Feri tradition (spelt in this unusual way to prevent confusion with other groups and traditions), a modern tradition inspired by traditional Witchcraft, was founded in California in the 1950s by Victor and Cora Anderson. They worship a celestial Goddess (whom they refer to as “God herself”) and her consorts, divine twins of light and dark who contain both male and female within them.
There are many parallels to be found with their beliefs and the Jewish mystical system of Qabalah, including the power of polarity and the Triple Soul—that is, that the human soul comprises three parts: the nephesh, which is the basic energy of life that stays with the body after death; the ruach, which is the spirit; and the neshamah, which is the higher self and connected to the world soul. In Feri tradition they refer to these three parts of the soul as unuhipili, ke uhane mulama, and aumakua, showing a great influence of Hawaiian Huna, a Hawaiian shamanic tradition.
Feri also contains elements from many other magickal traditions of the world, including Voudou and Italian Witchcraft, and they greatly revere the peacock angel Melek-Taus, leading to mistaken and inaccurate associations with Satanism. It would be more accurate to connect this with the association we discussed earlier with Faery, the world soul and “fallen” angels, Melek-Taus being strongly linked with Lucifer.
The Feri tradition seeks to liberate and empower the individual to embody their full potential as divine human beings. One of the most inspiring modern teachers to emerge from this tradition is the popular and internationally respected T. Thorn Coyle. The author of Kissing the Limitless and Evolutionary Witchcraft, she hosts the Elemental Castings podcast series; writes a popular weblog, Know Thyself ; and has produced several CDs of sacred music. Thorn’s spiritual direction, soul reading, and body/spirit coaching practices help people worldwide. Pagan, mystic, and activist, she is founder and head of Solar Cross Temple and Morningstar Mystery School and lives by the San Francisco Bay. Though she now teaches her own magickal tradition, she shared some insights into the Feri tradition, what she learned from it, and the directions in which life and work are taking her now.
What do you feel you’ve learned from your long involvement with the Feri tradition?
I have learned that diligent practice is necessary to maintain one’s sense of growth and equilibrium when the power and energy we are capable of accessing begins to move through our lives. People who don’t keep up with foundational practice are often bowled over by the power that opening to clear streams of life force and magick open up. I also gained a deeper appreciation for the presence of the realms seen and unseen, and how all participate in the divine emanation through space and time.
Shay Skepevski,
“Peacock Vision”
How did it help you to develop your own methods that you now teach? What do your teachings offer?
Anderson Feri tradition and the teachings of Victor and Cora have had a huge impact on my life. The concept that our soul has facets that need to be explored and brought into alignment is a core teaching that I use each day. The reclaiming of the energies of sex, pride, self, power, and passion has also had a profound impact.
We have the power and ability to live with strength, effectiveness, and integrity in full alignment with all parts of our soul. The fact that there exist practices to help us deepen and balance our connection to this power is even bigger.
This weaves through my work, coupled with steady self-observation, meditation, and the idea that God Herself is present in all things, and we therefore have a responsibility to co-create the universe with the gods, nature, and the totality of divine flow. We can come into full possession of our own divine selves, living in harmony with all the realms, and taking our rightful place in the unfolding of the cosmos.
You seem to put a good deal of emphasis on empowerment and
self-awareness. How does that expand into awareness of Faery?
I once asked Victor Anderson what the Fey wanted from me, and he replied: “For you to become more yourself. For you to become more human.” That hit me strongly! For me to live in greater harmony with all the realms means I have to live in greater harmony within myself! That, to me, is what the tools and practices of magick are for: to become fully ourselves so we can actually be of help to other beings.
Our work is not about running off into other realms but about bringing ourselves and our own realms into the greatest health and balance possible so that we can better share space with all the realms.
How would you describe your relationship with Faery?
My relationship is that of the poet to the muse, the warrior to the fire of courage, and the human soul to nature. Faery connects me to the light in the land and the possibility of beauty. It also is helpful to me in that it affords an opportunity for my sceptical brain to hold space with my imagination and with energetic and emotional experiences. It is good to doubt the reality of the unseen realms and simultaneously stretch my mind to include rationally inexplicable happenings. Making space for dissonance keeps us strong and flexible. I have experiences of Faery and can also hold that these perceptions feel irrational. I’m okay with that.
T. Thorn Coyle
Why is working with the seven directions important?
The seven sacred directions help to orient us in space and time. We have a center at our core and a circumference that extends 360 degrees around us. If I can maintain awareness of
