What change would you like to bring into the world?
I would like for connection to become deeply important. I would like for each human to practice internal alignment so that our relationship to the world can come into greater alignment, so that our relationship with all the worlds can come into greater alignment. We can be strong, autonomous, compassionate, and free, living in right relationship, bringing our systems of imbalance toward integration. I would like for more and more people to want this change and actively work toward its fulfilment. I’ll keep starting with myself.
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The Resurgence of Faery Inspiration
“It is Credibly Asserted, that in ancient times that many of those aforesaid Gnomes, Fairies Elves & other terrestrial wandering spirits, have been seen & heard amongst Men, but now it is said & believed that they are not so frequent.”
The seventeenth-century Sloane MS 3825
It seems that every generation for the last several hundred years has commented on the dwindling relationship between humans and faeries, and yet most of the traditions, groups, and paths we have looked at in this chapter were either born or have grown immensely in popularity over the last half century! While all are expressed in diverse ways, what all these paths have in common is the theme of uncovering and embracing our true selves in order to be more fully in the world. When we can truly know and be ourselves, we can find what it is we are here to do. We can then use these gifts to build a bridge to the realm of Faery, just as the following inspirational artists, musicians, writers, entertainers, and craftspeople are doing through their work. May their words inspire you to find your soul’s true expression and bring potential to full bloom!
The Artists
There are many incredible artists working within the Faery community today, each with their own distinctive style and approach, yet all drawing their inspiration from the same source: the realm of Faery. I was lucky enough to be able to interview a few of the most influential and inspirational figures in the world of Faery art today, and here I share with you a glimpse into the lives of the people behind the beautiful art.
Brian and Wendy Froud
Brian and Wendy Froud are loved and respected around the world, bringing joy and inspiration to many through their many years of sharing their visions of Faery with the world. Brian is a fine artist and illustrator perhaps best known for his work as a conceptual artist in the 1980s hit movies Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, as well as many beautiful published works, including Faeries (with Alan Lee), Good Fairies/Bad Faeries, The Faeries Oracle (with Jessica Macbeth), and most recently How To See Fairies (with John Matthews).
Wendy is a doll artist, sculptor, and puppet-maker extraordinaire, with many published works to her name, including The Winter Child and The Faeries of Spring Cottage, as well as a recent collaboration with Brian on the Heart of Faery Oracle. Not only has Wendy worked alongside Brian on Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, but she was one of the original team of sculptors who created Yoda for The Empire Strikes Back! I visited Brian and Wendy in their beautiful hobbitlike home in rural Devon, UK, to gain some insight into their creative process and relationship with Faery.
Brian Froud, “Woodwoman”
I’m not going to bother asking if you believe in faeries, because we know you do…
B: People assume I’m just illustrating something, and I say no, I’m expressing something. There’s a big difference. Now we’ve just got this book out with John Matthews called How To See Faeries, there’s no way around it. Right now people are saying, “Ah, these people really do believe in faeries and are telling us about it,” and that, I think, has been a breakthrough in getting people to understand we do believe.
How did your awareness of the Faery realm first enter your life?
W: For me, it came really from my mother and my mother’s family. She’s always believed, and she just taught me to believe from an early age. It was just the most natural thing, and it wasn’t a cute little game we played or anything, it was just that they were there, and we could leave things for them, and we could feel them. We couldn’t see them particularly, but we could always feel them, so I just grew up thinking it was the most natural thing in the world.
B: I don’t know, because in Faery time it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. However, there were a couple of events that were reminders. One was when I was at art school and I was about to give up painting, because I felt that was not the right thing and not expressive of what I wanted to do, and I was going to do graphic design. As I was waiting in the college library for my interview I came across a book by Arthur Rackham, and in it were these wonderful drawings of trees with faces
