The Celtic Faery Path of the Shaman

[ënagualí ~ Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ ኔጡ።]

The Celtic Faery Path of the Shaman

The Celtic faery path of the shaman is based on the faery faith of Western Europe.

This belief is rooted in knowing that everything–in this world and the next–is alive and possesses its own spirit or soul. It is not a new belief system, as animism has been around since long before the birth of Christ.

At one time man believed that everything had a soul; the trees, the earth, rocks, animals, everything. This included the belief they could also communicate with nature. The most prevalent belief in today’s world is that man is the only being with a soul and everything else on the planet was put here for human kind’s use which for some, gives them free rein over nature and its beings.

Fairy Faith Wants to Protect Nature

The fairy faith has little (no pun intended) to do with the tiny, light winged images of Disney fame. While some fair folk are as small as the popular Tinkerbelle, others are quite large, and not all are as cute and playful.

Contact between fairies and humans was quite common during pre-christen times, but with the crusades also came the need to demonize the fey folk. Communication was cut off or very limited; the fairies retiring to their world on the other side of the cloak, in order to protect themselves from the ignorance of humans. Today Celtic shamans are some of the only humans able to cross into this realm and they continue to seek guidance from these wise faeries.

Celtic shamans know that one tribe or clan is truly no better than the other. They follow their ancestral paths just as American Indians or Australian Aborigines follow theirs.

There has been a reconstruction of this path, as it fell into memory during the last centuries, but it has experienced resurgence with the rising of earth consciousness and today one can become an apprentice and begin to rediscover their shamanistic roots.

Celtic Shamanism Embraces All of Nature

Celtic shamanism is not a religion or a faith, it is a belief system.

With no dogma or doctrine, practitioners are free to follow their hearts and create their own belief systems within the shamanistic traditions of reverence of the earth and all who dwell upon or within it: all of nature, and all of humankind.

You are free to dance in fairy rings or mud puddles and to become a part of “The Great Work;” making, mending, helping, and healing. Most Celtic shamans are teachers, healers, or counselors and celebrate whatever holidays that they choose.

Shamanism is inclusive: Some are Christian, some Muslim, others have a strict set of faith and others have very little structure at all. What they have in common is a bond with the fairy folk in seeking answers in order to help each other and the earth. They can move between the two worlds in order to seek guidance and give thanks. This is the way of the Celtic Faery Path.

Books on Shamanism

The Ancient Art of Faery Magick by D. J. Conway is a book you might really enjoy reading if you are intrigued by Celtic shamanism and the realtionship of faeries. The publlisher states the book is a thorough introduction to faeries, including history, lore, and spells for making contact with these magickal creatures. And followers of Celtic, Faery, Dianic, and Nordic traditions will all find an abundance of knowledge valuable to their beliefs throughout this magickal faery book.

There are many books that describe Shamanism and practices that aim to raise conscious awareness of how we are all connected and how what we do impacts the earth and all its habitants.

A Little History of Wicca and the Relationship to Fairies

The practice of Wicca was popularized by a retired British civil servant, Gerald Gardner in 1954.

It is a belief system set in motion by a reverence for the earth and the natural order of the universe. The practice stems from a secret mystery religion that had existed in secret for hundreds of years.

Wicca Misunderstood

Often misunderstood and highly villainized by Hollywood as Satanists, witches (in the worst sense), or kooks who communicate with the dark side, sacrifice children, and wreck havoc on their neighbors with the help of black cats and faeries.

Wicca simply means “to bend”, and these practitioners, whether solitary or part of a group, want only to be let alone to commune with the earth and forces of nature.

Practitioners of Wicca celebrate and acknowledge the passing of the seasons, remembering a time when all that grew and provided sustenance was determined by simple things such as rainfall and the condition of the soil.

There is much more to the creation and meaning behind Wicca, but for this article, we will concern ourselves only with their involvement with the Wicca Faery.

Wiccan Fairies

It is no wonder Wicca practitioners would find comfort and friendship in communicating with Fairies (sometimes FAERY or FAERIES, using the old English spelling) and other natural spirits of the woods and gardens.

If you can get the fairies to trust you, they can be of great help with spells and take a certain amount of pride and vanity in showing off their abilities. However, they don’t make friends easily and especially with humans.

After all, humans are responsible for tearing up much of their habitat and for the most part they feel they can’t be trusted. Wiccan faeries are really not differentiated from other fairies.  All fairies are could be termed Wiccan because Wiccans are pagan and fairies are pagan.

The definition of “pagan” is simply “those who live in the grove.”

The term simply referred to villages that were settled far away from the main gates of the town, and so did not become as “Christianized” through the Crusades as readily. They were also very unwilling to give up their reverence for the deities whom they believed were responsible for the success of their crops.

Love is Within

Don’t bother with love spells or prosperity spells when asking the fairies for help. They are pure energy and so have no concept of love as something outside themselves.

They also are not concerned with material possessions for the same reason. They care most about health and nature so if you need rain for your plants or a specific herb to grow well in order to make tea for an ailing friend or family member fairies are more than willing to help if they trust you and you leave them a sugary little snack!

One last thought on fairies. They are the focus of many legends, and some were not so kind. While fairies are mischievous, there are really “bad” faeries. Wicca teaches that there is no good or bad; else what you personally deem. Therefore, there are no evil fairies, unless you think of their pranks as evil.