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Halo Quin

~ Author, storyteller, singer-songwriter, witch

Tag Archives: Magic

Map Making Step 3 – An Enchantress is… Fae

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted, Faery

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Enchantress, Faery, Faery Queen, Feyhearted path, Honesty, inspirations, Magic, Map, musings, process

Moving through the darkness
Light a candle
Say a Prayer
Sing your wishes to smoke on the air
Music lingers
Notes unsaid
Kisses from Angels
Of deep black and red.
The Waterbound lady
Holds out a blade
Choosing wishes and dancing
Or the quietest glade.
~Halo 15/11/12

An Enchantress is… One who enchants;
One who brings beauty, healing and delight to those around her.

One who works magic of the Fae.
One who brings beauty to the world.
One who causes change.

What do these mean?

First, ‘the magic of the Fae’ asks the question, who and what are the Fae?

Being Fae, 
from my writing project ‘Faery Steps’

Words weave strange tales, a vision of what is and was and will be…

Fey; adj. Mysterious and strange, ‘fated to die’, ‘visionary’ and ‘mad’.
Fairy; from faierie (Middle English); the realm or characteristic activity of the faie; enchantment.
Fay; from Faie which evolved from fata (Latin); one of the ‘Fates’; i.e. a spirit
(Courtesy of Wikipedia!)

‘Fey’ and ‘Fay’ have different roots, words which have come to be connected through the resonance we hear and thus cousins. We, as strange mortals who see beyond the veils, become fey and thus fay. Fey is the human that is visionary, seeking magic and the world’s beyond. The Fay are those that live beyond the material, that shape the land and guide the growing things, the spirits who weave the destiny of each living thing. Untamed and wild, their ways are often different to our but strictly governed by their own code of conduct. The first rule of conduct is ‘Honesty’. Honesty with oneself allows you to know who you are, what you want and how your subconscious will effect your choices in ways that support or contradict your conscious choices. Honesty with the Fae is firstly a matter of respect – if you break your word to them you show you do not respect them – and secondly it shows that you can be trusted. Without honesty you cannot trust yourself to navigate the brambles to the Well of Vision and the Fae will not trust you to deal fairly with them.

As a word for the land, the act of enchantment and now the people who enchant, ‘faery’ reveals to us the interconnected nature of all three. As the fate of nature Faery is that which must be, the blueprint and soul of the natural world.As seekers of the land of faery we become visionaries, we become fey. In becoming fey we become fay and thus faery. This, in turn, connects us to the land that is Faery and we join the magic that moves through the realm that gives shape to the world we walk.

We are the realm of magic. Our hearts beat out the rhythm that shapes the world.

Map Making Step 2 – Commit

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Enchanted

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Tags

Enchantress, Feyhearted path, Living Life, Magic, Map, musings

As the moon swung into darkness I dreamed.

I dreamt of the sea, crashing against the shore.

I dreamt of emerald green forests on red cliffs.

A butterfly landed on my head and I heard music.

The song of the wild world.

I took a deep breath and I sang.

At the dark moon I made space for my enchanting, an altar to the Queen of Faery and Enchantment in my studio space.

As the moon turned bright I lit a candle and prayed that She would guide me along the path of enchantment and that I, in turn, could bring beauty, joy and healing to the worlds every day.

I felt her presence and her assent.

I dreamt of stairways through darkness and coridoors that moved, of hidden rooms and choosing life.

I felt the weight of mundanity. How to follow the magic while working retail? I walked through the dark, breathing, waiting, praying. How? Until the darkness lifted and I realised that even here were people to enchant, folks to offer laughter and to lighten the day for. I remembered my goal as someone who offers service to customers… I hope to bring a little joy to each heart that I encounter, to help them leave with a smile even if not what they came to buy.

I know I do not always succeed, but even at work there is space for joy. Everywhere there are people there can be enchantment.

Enchantress in Training; Lesson 1.

Commit to enchantment even where you don’t think it is possible. Try, wherever you can, to bring a little joy into the lives of those around you. Make this your offering to the Queen and a gift to those around you. Remember that you cannot please everyone and remember that every real smile makes the world a little happier.

Commit to enchantment.

Stargazing Winter Hare

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Art Craft and Beauty

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Tags

Art Craft and Beauty, cosmos, Hare, Magic, Painting, process, stars

A Stargazing Hare - painting

Winter Solstice

The cosmos opens above our heads, shining light in the darkness as we gaze at the possibilities and dream.

A Song of Autumn

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Following Delight

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Art Craft and Beauty, creativity, inspirations, Journalling, Journey, Living Life, Magic, musings, Ocean, Painting, process, Whale

The song begins, calling the sun to leave.

I begin with blobs of colour, a canvas and a sense for the atmosphere I am searching for. My brush spreads the paint, thick and textured, across the woven surface. A space emerges, like an ocean from the pearl-white ground.

Sun on the waves…

As the sun sets in the distance, mimicking the turn to the darkness we know will come again, a song hums through the waves and carries our thoughts into the depths.

A song from the depths, returning to the deep…

My Beltane Quest

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Following Delight, Magic, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Beginnings, challenge, Devotion, Faery, Faery Queen, Feyhearted path, Honesty, Intent, Journey, Living Life, Magic, musings, process, Strangeness of Life

The thread of fate weaves through the tapestry of life… like Ariadne’s thread leading you to your centre, to the heart of your life.

Beltane. The turning of the year from darkness to light.

A time of transformation, of beginnings, of springing into the future.

A time where that which you have dreamt over the long winter nights can enter the world…

It has been a magical month, Beltane coincides with May Day and this year May itself became the day on which the year turned!

It began with the full moon’s growing before May itself. A birthday party. Divination by the river… a call to sovereignty. My question was; how can I make a living doing what I love?

The answer; first you must be Queen.

Well, what do you do with an answer like that?

I committed to finding Sovereignty in my life, trusting that it would become clear. And so began my Beltane quest.

I wonder; what is the quest you are on right now? What is the quest waiting for you?

 

(Watch this space for the unfolding of the story…)

The Story of the Rabbit

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Art Craft and Beauty, Faery, Magic

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Art Craft and Beauty, Artwork, Faery, Feyhearted path, Goddess, Hare, Magic, musings, Painting, process, Rabbit

Painting - Spirit Rabbit Gate

A butterfly enjoys the artwork which captures the spirit of a being who travels between the worlds and brings magic and love into our lives.

When I finished writing my Faery Heart book I had a dream for the artwork on the cover – a gateway between two trees through which the magic of Faery would shine. I took up my brush and painted the first of my Faery Gates series, pouring magic into each brush-stroke as a prayer in pigment to bridge the worlds and allow enchantment to pour through for each person that gazed upon it.

My flat is now full of these gates, they flow from my brush and feel like coming home. But the second that I began… it remained formless for two years. I painted the faery-light but there was something missing. So I painted others and waited.

And then my bunny died.

She reappeared in the painting. Finally, it was complete.

Domino was a rabbit, but in the picture she also becomes a moongazing hare, carrying the magic of the ability to burrow into the dark places for healing and the sacred swiftness and stillness which is twinned in each of the long-eared Goddess-beasts across the neo-pagan world.

The hare has long been seen as a familiar, or a form, of the witch, wise-woman, magic-worker, the one who crosses the gap between the worlds beneath the full moon’s light to bring back knowledge and power into our realm. This picture is one of reflection, of becoming aware of other worlds and other possibilities deep within ourselves and within the heart of the world. It is an image of love and the peace before action. As a painting it holds all that I poured into it and all that you find within it. As a prayer, a spell, it carries the magic of the otherworlds and the blessings of the spirit-world into our lives. And it honours the hare, the rabbit, the Goddess and those that we have loved and lost who are never far away…

I am producing a limited run of 50 canvas prints, hand-made, mounted, numbered and signed by me. When they’re gone I won’t be printing any more like this!

To own a beautiful, limited edition print of a sacred piece of art, follow this link to my Etsy listing!

A Painted Adventure

04 Friday May 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Faery, Following Delight, Magic

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Art Craft and Beauty, creativity, Devotion, Faery, Feyhearted path, Land, Living Life, Magic, Painting, process, Studio, Wales

Faery River painting In Progress

Through the studio inspiration flows as a river from faery. Painting – my prayer, my ritual, my magic – brings me to the power in the land.

I’ve been painting more now, when I have to travel to my studio, than I ever expected. Having a dedicated space encourages me to set aside time for painting and encourages focus. I’ve got at least five paintings in progress now, including ones I’ve not worked on for almost a year which are suddenly talking to me again!

The more I paint the more truth I find in the thought that painting is prayer and prayer is conversation with the divine. I’m finding my magic leading me deeper into art and further into working with the magic of the land I live upon and the people I am descended from. The stories of Y Mabinogi resonate in this landscape and the Norse tales echo in my bones. I find myself painting Blodeuwedd and Freya side by side.

My own work with the Faeries is still central to all that I do and it is becoming clear that my path is taking me deeper into exploring the magic of this land. As I open to listening, the responses come back clearer and clearer…

I find myself stepping back magically from other traditions (though they still inform my practice) and deepening the connections within my heart, working directly with the spirits and gods who are walking with me. Its an exciting time and I do not know quite where this path is heading but I know it is enchanted!

It is wonderful, the magic that occurs when you make space for it.

How are you making space for the things you love? And what path opens up to you when you do so?

Longing for space…

02 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Creative Process, Following Delight, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Art Craft and Beauty, challenge, creativity, Determination, Feyhearted path, Imperfection, Living Life, Magic, musings, process, Strangeness of Life

Pink Winged being flying

Can I spread my wings and allow myself to be bigger than I am already? Can I keep growing and exploring and playing? Can I afford to keep playing small? Can you?

Something in this post by Pixie has cracked my heart.

I gazed at the images of her filling her new space, of her Pandora’s box and giant thirsty canvasses, and my breath caught in my throat.

I’ve long longed to spread colour on larger canvasses, to have a bright space full of sunshine and shelves and drawers and places to put my paints within easy reach… I’ve long kept my artworks small because my living space seemed to require it.

But what if that isn’t so?

What if that cannot be so?

What if I can spread out and create the space I need in this wonderful home of ours?

What if I only think I cannot spread my wings out as far as I wish to?

What if my thinking small, my playing small, is the only thing keeping me that way?

Maybe I’ll try a bigger canvas and decide it isn’t for me… but I have everything to lose by never trying… and much to gain if I do.

Time to stop waiting for the right time.

Open, Breathe, Remember.

Sea-Staff

11 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by Haloquin in Reflections

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Magic, process

Stood by the pier I sing softly to the sea
I pray to La Siren and the Gatekeepers…
“As I walk along the shore, let me see what I need to see.”

I breathe in deeply of the salty air, the cries of gulls fill my ears and I begin to walk.

Do I look hard, I wonder, or try to just relax and let reality wash through me? Taking my cue from the ocean I choose the latter.

Maybe five steps I have taken before I see, standing in the sand and calling to me, a staff of driftwood. The perfect height for me.

Sometimes what you need will come to you.

You cannot run from what you hold inside…

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

challenge, Fear, Living Life, Magic, Ocean, Power, process, Strangeness of Life

I’m learning what it means to hold an ocean inside me.

Oil Painting - Water Gate

Light shines from the depths

For so long I ran from water – fearing the depths of the ocean which engulfs, the river which sweeps away, the floods which drown. I knew its power, this water, I turned from it not because I thought it held no power but because I feared it because I knew its power.

Now I come to learn that I hold an Ocean within me. How can you hold an ocean within you and not break?

Trying to keep it contained lead to cracks through which it seeped.

I tried to build a relationship with Water outside of myself. This did not work. What I’ve come to realise is that what I ran from was what I carried within me. You cannot run from what you hold inside.

I feared that it would break me. If I had not begun the process of accepting it… it would have done.

Slowly I feel my way through holding an ocean within my self. Slowly, like the turning of the tides, I come to find the depths within my core, the power and the freedom there. Simply acknowledging that Water is so much a part of Me relaxed something clenched so tightly. Relaxing into my own nature, a source of perhaps my greatest power, allows me to hold it without breaking.

I will not be washed away as long as I remember that I AM the Water.

I have run from the things that hold power for me so often.

What do you run from? Which of those things hold power for you?

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(c) Halo Quin ~ author, storyteller, witch

Re-enchanting the world, one story, one song, one spell, at a time.

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