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Halo Quin

~ Author, storyteller, singer-songwriter, witch

Tag Archives: Faeries

Writing and whirlwinds

20 Thursday May 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted, Following Delight, Magic, Reflections, Witchcraft 101

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

A World Enchanted, Author, Bard, book, Creation, creativity, Diary of an Adventuress, Enchantment, Faerie, Faeries, Faery, faery magic, fairies, folklore, Garden, growing things, Imperfection, Journey, Landwights, learn witchcraft, Living Life, Neopagan, New book, online course, Pagan, practice, Reflection, Sun, The Faery Heart, Thought process, Wales, Wheel of the Year, writing

Spring arrived, and with it went my focus. It’s always an inspirational time of year for me, the rush of energy bringing so many new ideas, so much potential, that I find myself led astray by beautiful new possibilities… And some things get dropped in the whirlwind romance of life. Like consistency.

Once upon a time I’d have felt guilty for that.

Coming to honour my cycles is a really important step in not beating myself up, and I don’t think I’m alone there. Each of us has cycles and seasons, and for some of us the effects are more pronounced than for others… Have you noticed that? Have you noticed your energy and attention fluctuating with the moon, or the sun?

Even e when it gets dark there’s light. Like here; there’s a boat on the horizon, dramatically lighting its own way in the dusk.

I definitely go with the seasons, the kiss of the sun on the land… Each season feeding into the other, a circle that repeats every year.

And each year I know a little more, recognise it a little sooner, so the circles become spirals, the same shape but a little further ahead, building a little higher than last time.

At least, that’s my goal.

And so far it seems to be working. I’ve noticed myself wanting to chase all the gorgeous idea-bunnies and remembered to pull myself back to centre. Those inspirations are wonderful, and if I follow them all I’ll forget the garden one been tending.

Do you find this? Do you find you cycle through patterns each day, month, year? Do you tend to overdo it in the summer, like me? Or do you let it go and take a holiday when the sun shines?

This Spring I’ve been nurturing a few writing seedlings which are strengthening day by day. The Enchanted Academy (TEA) with my courses on magic is one, the Crimson Coven is another, and if you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen today that I’ve just signed contracts for two new books!

I decided years ago that I wanted to write books and teach, and that’s the spiral staircase I’m climbing each year… Each revolution, a little further along the path of doing what I love, even when my energy waxes and wanes with the seasons.

Whatever the sun is doing, I keep my dream in mind. If you hold true to who you choose to be then, every season, every revolution, you’ll have spent a little longer doing what feeds your heart’s garden. Don’t let the down times make you forget that.

Oh and learning your cycles and patterns, recognising the flow of the world around you, and learning to work in tune with both, is part of the craft of the witch, too.

I have, however, accidentally let the purple sprouting broccoli in my actual garden blossom and go to seed (I think?) because I was writing. Oops. It’s still pretty though!

In an attempt to get better at this while “making a living writing” thing, may I just remind you that I have books for sale! You can find them in my new online bookshop, Quin’s Books, or at your local bookshop. Or, if you’d like, you can support me on Patreon and unlock bonus audio content and early access to magical writings…

TEA with Halo!

06 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted, Following Delight, Magic, Reflections, Witchcraft 101

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Tags

Celebration, Divination, Faeries, Magic, Pagan, The Enchanted Academy, witchcraft

Hey lovelies,

I wanted to invite you over for tea, but the world being as it is, that’s a bit tricky… so I made an academy for us to all hang out in instead. An Enchanted Academy… The Enchanted Academy, to be precise, or TEA for short.

This is where I’ll be hosting classes and hang out sessions – I’m hoping for a free live chat once every month or two – and you can use the text based forums whenever you fancy. To avoid too many trolls turning up I’ve set it up so you have to register for my mailing list to get an invite link but I do hope you’ll join me there!

I would really love to know what you’d be interested in chatting about, so do drop me a comment below if you’ve got a curiousity about anything magical which you’ve seen me mention, and I’ll see what I can do.

Next up I reckon I’ll do something on divination… with a focus on Tarot. How does that sound?

So, if you haven’t signed up already, here’s a button!

Join TEA!

The launch party for All That Glitters was really lovely, thank you to everyone that came! I’ll be sending a link out to the recording via my mailing list soon… *grins* Next up on my writing pile… The sacredness of pleasure, and the divine erotic. Given how important embodiment is to the pagan path, and my kinky poetry book, Twisted out last year I think it’s time to engage with that Iron Pentacle point of Sex (including pleasure, desire, and lifeforce), don’t you?

Happy thoughts and Pixie dust to you all,

~Halo

Faery Magic; What are Faeries?

15 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Faery, Magic, Philosophy, Witchcraft 101

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Tags

Faeries, Faery, faery magic, Faery Queen, fairies, folklore, learn witchcraft, Magic, paganism, witchcraft

 TRUE THOMAS lay oer yond grassy bank,
 And he beheld a ladie gay,
 A ladie that was brisk and bold,
 Come riding oer the fernie brae.

 Her skirt was of the grass-green silk,
 Her mantel of the velvet fine,
 At ilka tett of her horse’s mane
 Hung fifty silver bells and nine. 

~ Extract from The Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer

The tale of True Thomas, or Thomas the Rhymer, is an old one from the wild borderlands of Scotland (in the North of the UK), though working with faeries and otherworldly spirits is certainly older. The earliest recorded version of Thomas’ story is recorded in a manuscript dating from around 1430-1440, and Thomas of Erceldoune, of whom the tale is written, lived two hundred years before that. The ballad which his story is most often told through nowadays was recorded in the early 1800s, and it keeps many of the key images from the earlier manuscript, demonstrating the strength of those images and their value as signposts to encounters with the fae.

“Thomas the Rhymer” is the story of how a bard gained the gift of prophecy from the Fair Folk, and it begins on the bank of a river, under a tree (most often hawthorn), where the Queen of Elfland comes across a sleeping Thomas. She takes him away, across vast rivers and past apple trees. He is taken into her service for seven years and warned to not speak a word whilst he is in Faeryland. At the end of his service to the Queen she gives him the gift of the tongue which cannot lie.

In these images we can find doorways to magical states and magical lands, guidance for developing a relationship with the fae folk and a structure through which we can build our own practices.

What are Faeries? Clues from the Queen

In all my time working with them I’ve come across a great many explanations for what they might be or how they may have come into being.

The description of the Queen in “Thomas Rhymer” as a beautiful lady in green silk, on a fine horse with bells in it’s mane gives us a few clues as to the nature of faeries. The green colour shows her role as part of the green world and the land, her horse shows her power and the bells ring with the music of faeryland. Beauty and music are signs of the way in which faery magic enchants us and conjures a sense of wonder – which encourages an openness to the world. It also reminds us that they are quite capable of showing us what we want to see in order to gain our trust. The specific location and Thomas historical status illustrate that the Fae are often connected to specific, real, places, even while they travel, and the river and the hawthorn tree are also notable as water is often a gateway to faeryland and the hawthorn is said to guard the entrance with it’s thorns, whilst the beauty of it’s blossoms open us to the sense of wonder required for travel between the worlds.

From both my experiences and the stories in which they feature I have come to the conclusion that the fae not simply one kind of being, but are a collection of related beings and powers, or spirits and energies, who embody (but are not limited to) the magic of the land and the natural world. They can be guardians of places, they are most often part of the green world or the water or stones, and they are very closely related to spirits of the dead. As spirits without bodies they are shapeshifters and so appear differently at different times, they are not limited as we are but they have a definite consciousness. They appear to me to have grown out of the earth and the land, much as we have. They make choices, have names and hold their own ethics and rules which differ from ours. 

The categories of “spirits” are impossible to define with any absolute authority, however, as the lines between spirit beings do not seem to be as clear-cut as we like to describe them. There are tales of how the fair folk were once fallen angels, or gods, and some may be becoming deities again… The spirits of the land are often considered of a different ilk, and yet they share commonalities, and our own ancestors can sometimes be found among the elves. Some traditions describe elemental spirits as faeries, and others use the term to indicate the spirits of plants. 

The common thread is that they are spirits; the magical, untamed, others who hold the magic and wisdom of the otherworld in ways which are reflected in their form. They are mutable and powerful, and, if we’re really lucky, they might just lend their power to our cause…


This is an extract from my online Folkloric Faery course, including both theory and plenty of practice. and there are currently spaces on the beta testing cycle available! Come join us!

You also can read more of my earlier thoughts on the magic of faery and how we can cultivate it in ourselves in my book Pagan Portals: Your Faery Magic published in 2015 by Moon Books.

"Your Faery Magic" Book cover

Originally posted on Patreon. Thank you to my Patrons for your support! If you like what I write then please do consider supporting me as a Patron here. Your support means I can write more for you! And you get the posts early… *tempts*

You can also tip me via ko-fi, it all helps!

You can also Follow the blog, Share this post, and find me on Twitter to join in the conversation for free!

Over to you in the comments. How would you describe faeries?

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A Poem; The Changeling Child

08 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Faery, Poetry, Reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Changeling, Faeries, Faery, Poetry, witchcraft

One eye brown and one eye green,
cheekiest child that you’ve ever seen,
oak’s ancient knowing held deep in those dreams,
strange for a small one, not quite as he seems.
Do not be wary, do not take fright,
if you care for him always he’ll keep safe the night,
but if you would rather a meek child returned,
then fair’s our exchange, so you’ll lose what you’ve learned.

From my faery poetry collection due out later this year…

Originally posted on Patreon. Thank you to my Patrons for your support! If you like what I write then please do consider supporting me as a Patron here. Your support means I can write more for you! And you get the posts early… *tempts*

You can also tip me via ko-fi, it all helps!

You can also Follow the blog, Share this post, and find me on Twitter to join in the conversation for free!

Over to you in the comments.

(Comments are moderated for spam so may take a day or two to appear.)

Sign up to my mailing list here

Forgotten Pockets

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by Haloquin in Selkie

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Tags

Faeries, Faery, folklore, Magic, Pagan, poem, Poetry, Selkie Dreams

I find my skin
hiding in the attic,
dusty with memories.
I almost dive through the door then and there,
but I am sensible,
and it is a long way to fall.

‘Twas a robin told me
where most skins are kept,
as in the garden I wept for something I could barely recall.
I’d always thought of myself as
a dreamer. One who keeps precious things
like wishes and prayers
safe in their pocket
ready to pull out and savour
or follow
whenever the sun blinks.
Turns out I’d left them in the wrong pockets.
Who forgets which skin their Dreams are dwelling in?

I found my sealskin in the attic,
dusty with memories
and weighed down with half-eaten dreams.

Funny thing about dreams;
the teeth marks come right out with
a bit of love and elbow grease.

~11th November 2017

Unwanted Attentions

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by Haloquin in Collection, Faery

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Tags

All That Glitters, Faeries, folklore, Magic, Pagan, poem, Poetry

Turn your coat now inside out,
to send their glance around you.
Hold an iron nail close,
to pin you to the ground.
Rowan hung above the door,
will keep their hounds at bay,
and blessed salt marks boundaries,
to send them on their way.
Wouldn’t it be right and sweet
if this worked on mere mortals?
Seems like only Faery folk
behave just like they ought to.

 

~ Winter Solstice 2017

from the collection All That Glitters

The Changeling Child

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by Haloquin in Collection, Faery

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

All That Glitters, Faeries, folklore, Magic, Pagan, poem, Poetry

One eye brown and one eye green,
cheekiest child that you’ve ever seen,
oak’s ancient knowing held deep in those dreams,
strange for a small one, not quite as he seems.
Do not be wary, do not take fright,
if you care for him always he’ll keep safe the night,
but if you would rather a meek child returned,
then fair’s our exchange, so you’ll lose what you’ve learned.

~ Winter Solstice 2017

from the collection All That Glitters

Looking for Faeries

03 Sunday Jun 2018

Posted by Haloquin in Collection, Faery

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

All That Glitters, Faeries, folklore, Magic, Pagan, poem, Poetry

For glint of glitter in the air,
the flash of light that has no care,
for Tinkerbell and Barker’s Fae
I’d search and search both night and day.

Deep in hedges, high in trees,
thorn-scratched palms and muddied knees,
never once a-wavering
I knew I’d find my Faery Kin.
I knew that Oberon was near,
I knew Titania’s voice I’d hear,
I knew the whispers on the wind,
would delight and magic bring.
I held no thought of wishes three
nor gifts brought from the fae to me,
all I sought for hard and long,
was to learn that magic song,
just to feel enchantment’s grace,
and magic’s kiss upon this place,
I had no doubt that it was near,
and so I hunted with no fear.

Finally my wish was granted,
in my heart the knowledge planted,
underneath the old Yew-tree
their light arrived surrounding me.
I read them poems, sang them songs,
they took me to their realm ‘ere long,
and I learned to walk the ways
‘tween faery twilight and our days.

One word of warning I will share,
if you take magic in your care,
a changeling you will always be,
always betwixt and wandering.
Never home in either place
but blessed with sweetest faery grace,
one foot planted in each world,
whichever way they twist and turn…

 

Once they’ve caught you you are theirs,
and not all that glitters does play fair,
so if you choose enchantment’s grace,
know there’s a price that you must pay.
But even with that warning told,
I know what they knew of old,
the cost indeed it may be high,
but with their blessing you will fly.
And once you’ve been there you will find,
you could not leave that bliss behind…

 

Winter Solstice 2017

from the collection All That Glitters

Faeosophy; Just Another Spiritworker?

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted, Faery, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Faeosophy, Faeries, Faery, Feyhearted path, Magic, musings, process, Spirit work, spirits, spiritwork

Faeosophy – the philosophising of and about faeries and fae-ness.

Back in this post I shared some questions I’ve been pondering in my development of a Faerie philosophy. I began with asking who and what the Fae might be, and, based on the approach that I take to Fae-work, the Fae are spirits. Our experience of them means that they are a real part of our world (for those of us that share our world with spirits or whose world-view allows for spirits, at least) and they exist in a world populated by spirits generally. In which case;

Is the Faery work I do (just) another form of spirit-work?

To be clear, there would be absolutely nothing wrong with this. I’m not using “just” in a derogatory way, and, in fact, it will make life easier if I am taking a simple, easily defined path.

As with most of my ponderings, however, I have to say here;

Yes and no.

Two crab shells, facing each other, on old wood.

These things are rarely straightforward, except that they are. Its always about relationships and how we grow within and from them.

Working with faeries is working with spirits, yes, and all that entails (learning their rules, learning how to listen/hear them, opening/closing gates, discretion, consistency, commitment, offerings, reciprocity, service, mediation…) and the way I approach Faery work is through the Path I call FeyHearted – in which we learn about our own fey nature.

If we are to work with and develop a relationship with them then we must have a strong sense of ourselves and an ability to tap into the magic in us which is akin to theirs.

Also, for me, it is about embodying the lessons they teach about creativity, connection and magic – or, put simply, Enchantment.

As a modern European, I’ve been brought up in a materialistic culture. As an academic I’ve spent a lot of time in my head. As a dancer I’ve learnt to climb back into my body and as an Enchantress – a Fae Witch – I’ve learnt to find the enchantment in the world.

Faery magic is spirit work of a particular kind, one that encourages full, embodied presence in the world and a steady, creative re-enchantment of our lives. In working with them we get bigger and clearer, rooting deep in the earth and blossoming in the sky.

Although, of course, whichever spirits you work with will change how you are in the world, won’t it? So the short answer, really, is yes. Faery work, the way I do it, is just a spirit-work with a particular branch of “nature”-based spirits.

 

Do you work with spirits? Do you work with Fae spirits? How does this work shape you and your life? How has it changed the way you relate to the world?

Halo Quin, with pixie ears and knitted wings, signing a copy of her book by candlelight.

By the way, there are more (coherent) ponderings and exercises for working with the Fae in my book, “Pagan Portals: Your Faery Magic”. Available on Amazon and from all good book shops!

 

Faeosophy; Are Faeries Real?

06 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted, Faery, Philosophy, Reflections

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Faeosophy, Faeries, Faery, Faery philosoper, fairies, Fairy, Feyhearted path, Magic, musings, Pagan, paganism, Philosophy, Stories

Faeosophy – the philosophising of and about faeries and fae-ness.

Back in this post I shared some questions I’ve been pondering in my development of a Faerie philosophy. Of the questions listed I though these were a good place to start:

“Who and what are the Fae? How metaphorical are they? How metaphorical is our relationship to them?”

enchanted-grove-header-small.jpg

On the path of working with faeries, it’s useful to know what they are…

When working with faeries this is a kinda fundamental question on the one hand, and completely irrelevant on the other. My bottom line is that this work works for me, and it works best when I act as-if they are real. From a pragmatic perspective, then, I will continue to act as-if, and to believe that, faeries are literal, non-metaphorical beings.

One other thing – your mileage may well vary. Just because I encounter Faeries in this way does not mean that this is the only way of doing it, or that I’m right! Faeries are notoriously tricky to pin down. They are known for living in liminal spaces, for being betwixt and between, for leading us astray. They are perfectly capable of being kind and cruel, tangible and otherworldly, here and not both at once.

In which case – one answer to the question “what are the Fae?” is “paradoxical, illogical and variable.”

That’s not quite the kind of answer I was looking for though, so I’ll try again.

Little Lilith

They are the magical consciousness of nature.

In the stories they are a people with a different ethic and attitude to us. Or they are creatures intent on leading us away from human civilisation. They live in wilder places than we are used to. They can offer us help and unexpected wealth. They are uncompromising when their rules are broken. They are powerful, but subject to certain rules. They are beings of the natural world, but beings with magical powers.

 

In which case, they are the magical consciousness of nature.

But is this just a metaphor? Are they actual beings or are they stories we tell ourselves about the natural world but actually we don’t mean it?

When we encounter anything we have an experience, which we then understand in a certain way. We hear laughter – soundwaves are generated by someone, they enter our ears and are interpreted by our brain as laughter – just as we feel that something otherworldly is at play in the depths of the wildwood. When the laughter does not come from another human but we still hear it, echoing like bells over the waves, or when we are unsettled and certain something fae is watching us, whatever the tangible facts, we are experiencing faeries. The experience is not a metaphor, it is very real.

And, as I’ve said before, when I act as-if, when I believe that something more than what I would expect is possible, magic happens. I see or hear things that don’t make sense until I tell myself the story of faeries. They are a real something, there is a reality to them, and they make the most sense to me when I approach these experiences as faeries.

If they were just metaphors, however, they’d still be useful. If I told you a tale of dryads as a metaphor for the ways in which trees communicate through fungi and care for seedlings and stumps, and if you listened to that tale and treated trees better for it, then the metaphor would have given you a healthier way of relating to the world.

This is different to saying they have a reality independent of our stories – I and others have definitely encountered something when we’ve gone looking for faeries. When I say “I’ve seen a faery.” I don’t mean I’ve seen a flower do something I can’t explain, or that I’ve run across a natural process which I’ve needed to respect according to it’s rules. I mean I’ve had an experience, a real experience, which I understand as seeing a faerie.

Waiting for the Sun

The have a reality which is based in our personal and direct experience and so they walk alongside us, as family.

When I say “Faery”, I’m not talking metaphorically, I really mean “Faery”, because that is how I experience them. Ultimately, there is a reality here, it is my reality, and it works for me.

And perhaps that’s part of the magic of faeries; our relationship with them, our connection to them, is inherently and essentially personal and direct. We meet them, for the most part, one-to-one. They are not distant beings directing things from afar, they are walking beside us through the woods. Those that work with us are holding our hands, tripping us up, pointing out shiny things… like cousins ready for a giggle at our expense, but also, often, ready to be our family.

 

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