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January 30 through February 5, 2023

The Gemini Moon will have us engaged in social and intellectual pursuits on Monday and Tuesday, as we search for creative ways to change up our routines and think outside of the box. If there’s anything you need to get done, however, do it now, as come Wednesday things will slow to a halt and the rest of the work week can be a bit ethereal, thanks to the Moon’s travels through Cancer. Use these days to reconnect with loved ones, restore order to your home, or practice the art of self-care. The weekend’s Leo Moon will bring out our generous sides, as we unite with others in a common goal or reach out to those in need. Sunday’s full Moon in Leo inspires a time of release, so clear out those closets and get things ready for the donation center, or journal to let go of the past and anything that is holding you back from living in the moment or moving forward.

7 Steps to Connect with Faery, by Emily Carding

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

In the Twenty-First Century, the Faery realm is as popular as ever; yet, in our culture of instant gratification and unmoderated media platforms, there are many false paths and illusory pitfalls to distract and misdirect us. How, then, can the true seeker of Faery be sure they are not following some metaphorical (or sometimes literal) Will-o’-the-Wisp into hazardous swampland? Here are the seven steps you need to take to be sure that you are living authentically and in sync with our Faery cousins.

1. Knowledge
Read widely and wisely! Of course books are not the only source of knowledge, but they are a good place to start (and continue—we should never stop learning!), in balance with the more experiential steps to follow. Find recommendations from people you respect and familiarise yourself with traditional folklore and mythology, particularly Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. Any good book on Faery should also have a good bibliography, which you can explore for further reading and deeper exploration. The more varied your reading, the stronger your discernment will be and the less likely you are to be led off the true path into illusion. It's also important to realise that many faery beings are hostile and/or unpredictable. The more you know, the more prepared you will be.

2. Expand Your Awareness
It can be all too easy to get stuck in our heads and mistake wishful thinking and the untrained imagination for real experience. Therefore, one of the most important steps to true connection with Faery is to expand your energetic awareness outside of your own body and into the world around you. Here is an exercise that is featured in both Faery Craft and my new book, Seeking Faery.

Exercise: Becoming the Faery Tree
This exercise is designed to connect you to the energies of the land and to open up your heart centre to increase sensitivity to the presence and communications of Faery beings. Depending on your physical capabilities, this may be performed standing or sitting, but in either instance you should ideally have your feet bare and on the land outside, in as natural a space as possible, ideally where you won't be disturbed. Keeping upright and relaxed, with your feet a small distance apart and your hands by your sides, take seven slow deep breaths (in through the nose, hold for three seconds, and slowly out through the mouth), as you allow tension and concerns of the day to melt away.

On your next breath, with your palms at your side facing downwards, imagine your feet slowly turning into tree roots and digging down into the earth beneath you. Feel the strength of the earth and the stability and nourishment that the roots provide you with. Maintain this for seven deep breaths in and out.

Now, for your next seven breaths, maintaining your roots, slowly bring your arms up into a "v" shape and raise your palms to the sky. Imagine that your arms are becoming great branches, reaching for the light of Sun, Moon, and Stars. Maintain both roots and branches for a further seven deep breaths.

Keeping your arms upright in the "v" position, now imagine that your roots are drawing emerald green light up from the earth towards your heart. Breathe it in and draw it up with seven deep breaths. Now imagine that your branches are drawing down the silver light of the heavens into your heart. Draw it down with seven deep breaths. The green and silver light meets in your heart and becomes golden and swirling, opening your heart to the energies of Earth and connecting you to above and below.

For beginners, maintain this as long as you are comfortable and then release the energies back up through your branches and down through your roots, slowly lower your arms and slowly draw your roots back into your feet and become your normal self again. Seven deep breaths to recover. As you become more used to this exercise, you may find you can do shorter or longer versions as you wish.

3. Offerings
As well as expanding your awareness energetically, it is possible to reach out and connect in a more tangible way with appropriate offerings. This not only helps to form an energetic bridge between the worlds but also shows your willingness to collaborate and not simply expect gifts or guidance with no effort on your part. The choice of offering is significant, as is being sure to clean up afterwards. It is a good idea, if possible, to find an outdoor location for your offerings where you instinctively feel your connection with Faery is strong and where you will not be disturbed. Whilst this might be an established sacred site, it can be more powerful to find a personal connection on a less-trod path. Consider the value of the offerings you bring, and the impact on the environment. If leaving food of any kind, be sure to check that it is cleared and not simply left to rot. Very often these offerings will be consumed by animals, which is absolutely fine (faery beings sometimes borrow these physical forms to accept offerings) so long as you make sure they contain nothing toxic to animal life (for example chocolate).

4. Ethics and Honour
You may think that it's faeries who are usually invisible, but the truth is, they can see right through you, too! If there is any deception or falsehood in your heart, they will sense it and treat you accordingly. Like any magical path, it is of utmost importance to know yourself and establish a strong code of honour and ethics that you abide by in every aspect of your life, not just your work with Faery.

5. Expression
For many, myself included, communication with Faery comes through creative expression. This is a direct communication heart-to-heart or spirit-to-spirit, and these channels must be free and open to receive. Any negative thoughts about your own creativity need to be overcome by simply creating in any way you feel moved to, be it art, dance, poetry. Nobody will judge you, unless you choose to share it with the world, but your soul and your faery allies will thank you.

6. Imagination
When working with Otherworldly beings and forces, the imagination becomes an extra sense through which we can perceive those things which are hidden from our earthly senses. The traps here are clear, and thus it is important to train the imagination through visualisation, meditation, and journey techniques so that it becomes a reliable translator of energies rather than a fanciful self-deception.

7. Grounding
Always come back to this. After any encounter or working with Faery, be sure to ground yourself in your body and the physical world around you. Release the otherworldly energies to their source, feel your feet on the earth, taste good food and drink water. Regularly take time to simply be in Nature, see the wonder that is the world we inhabit, and you will have no need for illusion—you will simply learn to see the magic in deeper truths as you walk the path of Faery in peace, truth and joy.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022. All rights reserved.

My question is concerning my son Stephen. Lately he has been coming in at all hours and saying we "wouldn't understand" what he is going through. We think it's a girl thing. My husband and I try to listen, but he says so little. Is there hope for him to come back to be as close to us as he used to be? We miss the days when he was younger, as he is now in this "cocoon" of his own making. He seems a thousand miles away. I have a hard time believing he's even the same person anymore. We know he smokes some marijuana, but I honestly do not have a problem with that as long as it's under control. Do you have any suggestions on how to bring him back to us? Our older son is 22, and he is so much more loving and forthcoming. He tries to help us too. He says he also has some trouble communicating with Steve. He seems to be going through a time of isolation from his family, but he is still very active with his many friends. Is there a spiritual approach/answer?

Dreamchaser:

There are a few things going on here, the first being his typical teenage behavior. He is at an age when nothing is more important than his life, his friends and his activities. He does not want to stay home, and he does not want to socialize with his family. It is pretty normal. I know your other son was much more sociable with you and your husband, but you gave birth to two very different individuals, so you must expect very different behavior.

Another thing happening here is his obvious drug use. You are aware of and apparently condone his marijuana use. He has not stopped at marijuana. He is drinking and doing other drugs as well. His behaviors are "symptoms" of deeper drug use. I want you to start vigilantly keeping a log of his schedule, behavior and appearance, Marcie. You will start to see patterns. I want you to compare those patterns to known drug use symptoms. You have to prove this to yourself to believe it. I am concerned about him. Please do not brush this off. This needs your immediate attention.

Now, before I tell you the following, I want you to understand that how someone feels is valid. It does not have to be realistic. If I FEEL like I have ants crawling on me, I will act like I have ants crawling on me. It does not matter if I really do. Having said that, you should know that Steve feels like he is in his big brother's shadow. His big brother is this and that and does this and that and Steve NEVER has accomplished the things that his brother has been able to accomplish. I know you and your husband do not dote on the oldest son any more than Steve, but this is Steve's perception. That is one reason why his brother is having a hard time reaching him. Find something Steve excels at in his own right and emphasize that. It may be slow going, but over time it will make a difference.

The spiritual approach to this is to pray. Pray for guidance and wisdom. Pray for Steve and his soul. Most of all, Marcie, pray for the ability to let go so that he can learn his own lessons. That could very well be the hardest thing about being a parent. He is searching for himself and his own way. He will find himself. It will take a little time, but he most definitely will find himself.

I wish you and yours true contentment.

*****

Astrea:

I'm glad you have an open attitude about the pot smoking, but keep a weathered eye, okay? Aries youngsters can become excessively involved in things. Aries is the FIRST Sign, and often wants to "do it until it is all gone." Compulsive behavior is common in Aries boys his age.

Usually with a young Aries boy, I would be somewhat more concerned with GAMBLING being the problem "you wouldn't understand." Coming and going at all hours would tip me off to that. Check his pockets, Mama. (You're still the Mom here!) Is he working? Where is that money going? Heck, just ASK HIM if it's gambling! He'll tell you the truth. I know you guys want to be gentle and spiritual with him, but he might be in a little money trouble.

Mostly, however, it's this older girl. Yes, she's OLDER - at least 22. If he's WORKING, that is probably where he met her. She's a nice girl: pretty, cute figure, and immature for her age. She is probably a SCORPIO or a GEMINI, and she's been hurt but never married. She has nice parents who would just DIE if they knew she was seeing your 17-year-old son! You'll like her if this lasts long enough for you two to meet.

Your son is becoming sexually active with this girl. As I see it, it's only this ONE girl, so that's probably as safe as anything like that can be. She's older but she doesn't have any children yet, and she probably wants to keep it that way for now. She has just finished college, and may start teaching grade school (probably third or fourth grade) next fall.

He thinks he loves her. He IS taking care that he doesn't do anything to hurt you and the rest of the family. He's cautious, careful. He gets that from YOU. Aries are terrified of messing up their lives with unwanted kids, and they fear deadly illnesses more than any other sign, so you can be confident that he's taking every precaution against pregnancy and STDs too. He's a good boy, and knows what's what. He's a lot more mature than other boys his age. All these things are blessings for which to be grateful.

You son is keeping his own counsel right now because he doesn't want to WORRY the two of you. Aries people have "secrets." They just DO. There isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do about that birthday and that attitude. He will come back to you as soon as he gets his big head thinking again. At the moment he's one big ball of Fire Sign Hormones! You'll reconnect, don't worry. Give him his space now to grow.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.