Beltane - Summer Solstice: It's Faerie Season!

Yesterday even though it was freezing cold, I couldn't help feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the first flush of Beltane fever, and the impulse hit me to end my One Deck Wonder with the Cosmic Tarot and focus on faeries from now until Summer Solstice. I found my book by Emily Carding, my two copies of the Tarot of the Sidhe, and my Faeries' Oracle by Brian Froud. They will be my exclusive divinatory tools from now until Summer Solstice. I am excited!

The book, Faery Craft, is not related to the two decks, but instead is about Faery lifestyle and practices. I haven't read it yet but have flicked through it on several occasions. It contains some information on Emily Carding's (and other's) ideas about faery, and there are lots of exercises suggested to help you get in touch with the faery. The remainder of the book focuses on the Faery lifestyle, a community of people who enjoy expressing their faery vision through artwork, writing, festivals and events--and dressing up!

Wow, do these folk like to dress up. The book is filled with snapshots of Carding and her friends and community members in costume, and also contains helpful hints about creating your own faery outfits (on a budget). 'Upon first glance  [the Faery community] can seem flaky and superficial, but there is so much love and genuine magic to be found within!' Carding writes. The fact that a large portion of the book is made up of an exploration of this community is a strength for now (publication date 2012), but could be a weakness in a few years when the information becomes a bit dated. Then of course, it will come around to being useful again when it becomes a historical snapshot of an era in the Faery community. So it all works out, I guess. I look forward to reading it.

The tarot deck, Tarot of the Sidhe, was created by Emily Carding as well, and published in 2010 by Schiffer. I am lucky enough to have two copies of the deck, one I bought myself, and one was trimmed and presented as a gift to me by a lovely friend. (Thanks, Chloe!) The deck is so very special. I have not worked with as much as I would have liked, but I intend to make up for that over the coming weeks. I will be posting about Tarot of the Sidhe most days between now and Summer Solstice.

Finally, Brian Froud's luminous Faeries' Oracle had to come out to play with the others. I first saw this oracle when visiting a friend. At that point, I had never considered buying a faerie deck. I didn't understand faeries and people who said they saw them or dreamed about them or communed with them, or whatever they thought they did. To be honest, I still don't understand it, I'm still quite skeptical about it, but I feel an energy when I contemplate faerie, just when I spend time thinking about them in an open manner, it's almost like some sort of energy is drawing near to me, and this intrigues and also frightens me a bit. I want to immerse myself in faerie for the coming weeks, and see where it takes me. I have a feeling it could get very interesting indeed. Any of you experienced Faery folk who wish to offer me advice and guidance, I am all ears. (You might remember the incident of my lost eyeglasses last year!)