Fairy Fortune for Sunday, December 11, 2022
Beware! Of the Pooka Puer
A shapeshifting beast who will dare
He offers a change
Prophetic exchange
It’s risk when you seek out his lair!
Puer the Pooka hails from Ireland and prefers the shape of a human sized rabbit or sometimes a horse. In more ancient times, the last of the summer’s blackberries were given to him and his kind in exchange for prophecy for the coming year. Divination is one of Puer the Pooka’s many gifts. There is often a price to pay for prophecy though. Not from the Puer the Pooka though, the blackberries are payment enough…as long as they are good blackberries. No, the price comes when you live in the future and not in the present. Living in the future comes with worries and doubts…or instead offers arrogance that may lead to foolish disregard for planning. The truth of divination, even from one so skilled as Puer the Pooka, is that it shows possibility. Probability, yes, because even life likes to follow patterns, but probability still has a margin and sometimes it can widen with the tiniest of bumps. But to bring Puer the Pooka blackberries can lead to a self-fulling prophecy where the seeker makes his warnings come to pass. Be careful what you wish for and remember that it is far easier to get what you want than to know what you want.
Fairy Fortune for Monday, December 12, 2022
Tristitia Tengu the bird
She offers her wisdom of word
Your sorrow will wane
Find courage in pain
Lamenting is meant to be heard
Tristitia in Latin translates to Sorrow. I find that many humans eschew sorrow; and that isn’t helpful to the soul. There are no words in the fairy languages for “good” and “bad.” So, fairies like Tristitia the Tengu do not label any emotion as a good emotion or others as bad ones. Emotions simply are, and you feel them. Sorrow is often the emotion of the warrior. If a warrior doesn’t allow themselves to feel sorrow for the lives they must sometimes take, what are they suppose to feel? Happiness? That seems…a little inappropriate, don’t you think? Sorrow is informative, it can offer great wisdom, but only if it is allowed to be.
Fairy Fortune for Tuesday, December 20, 2022
A Villa like Via loves change
Her home any road she can range
A whirlwind this sprite
Her weakness is spite
But vigor and vim her exchange
As the solstice approaches a feeling of nostalgia is in the air. Via the Villa is connected to the ancestors and the beloved dead and has me thinking of the past and has me curious about traditions. Food is an expression of nostalgia and tradition for me. My mother would make fruit filled kolaches around this time. Fresh out of the oven they were doughy and soft. The fruit was so hot I’d burn the roof of my mouth because I couldn’t wait for them to cool. My mother was so dramatic. She’d bake all night and we’d discover her passed out by the warmth of our wood burning stove covered in flour and powdered sugar. Even in the darkest corners of the past, Via the Villa wants to remind us that there are nuggets of pure joy to be found.
Fairy Fortune for Wednesday, December 28, 2022
When Populus Penates plays
The party can last many days
She’s fond of the home
Unlikely to roam
In comfort, in pleasure, she stays
Suffering does have some advantages, that said, it’s largely over rated. Suffering can teach compassion; but as far as moving you forward – not so much. Moving forward takes inspiration, and to be inspired you have to allow yourself to experience desire. Desire is the key to unlocking all things magic. But fairies like Populus the Penates do not mean need when they speak of desire. Yes, we need to sleep, we need to eat, we need to drink, we need physical connection. We also need to shit, that a fact. But while your bathroom breaks may be a need, your excrement isn’t going to inspire you to travel, or take a class, or take a risk!
If you take away any lesson from Populus the Penates it is this: Desire has NOTHING to do with need. Desire comes from pleasure. A ham sandwich will feed you, but a beautifully cooked steak will also feed you and reach something in your heart and soul. Unless your vegetarian…but you get the idea. Pleasure inspires. Pleasure is tapping into vulnerability. Pleasure gives you permission to explore possibility.
So, do tell me…What is it that you truly desire?
Fairy Fortune for Friday, December 30, 2022
The Alicorn Albus observes
As witness she listens, she serves
Her reason and rhyme
Brings peace sublime
Her duty is pure and preserves
Albus the Alicorn appears often with a reminder to pay attention. Small details matter. Nuance and subtlety are incredibly important. To explore this concept, I’d like to discuss the difference between discomfort and pain. In a human context they are often used interchangeably. Albus the Alicorn however warns that this is actually dangerous. If someone bumps into you, that is discomfort. That is not pain it does not require that you attack the person who bumped you (even if they didn’t apologize for bumping you). If you have broken your leg, you are not uncomfortable, you are in pain. There is a vast difference. There is also a shift in responsibility. You are responsible for your own discomfort. Your pain, you are not responsible for. Pain can be uncomfortable to sit with, perhaps that is where the confusion comes from. With the pain of a broken leg, you are stuck with it until your leg heals. Sadly, the pain may whisper back when snow falls. That said, a healer is responsible for helping you set your leg and watching for infection. That responsibility isn’t yours.
Emotional pain is even more nuanced. Humans mistake emotional discomfort for pain all the time. A child’s racing energy may make an adult uncomfortable; and what does that adult do? They yell at the child. The adult was not in pain, they were uncomfortable. The child was behaving as a child should, they were not responsible for the discomfort. Yelling at the child though, THAT causes pain. Real pain – pain as real as a broken leg; but unlike a broken leg the whisper of it will come back a great deal more than just snowfalls. The child is not uncomfortable, they are in pain and that is squarely the responsibility of the adult.
Pay attention. Are you really in pain? Or are you just uncomfortable?
Fairy Fortune for Saturday, December 31, 2022
She cunning the Caileach Carcer!
Her pampering tricks will ensnare
Face isolation
And limitation
Enslaved by the spell of her stare
Carcer the Caileach is a bit of an imposing figure to great us on the last day of 2022…wouldn’t it have been nicer to have the Fairy Princess instead? But instead of a whirlwind of hope and beauty, a summer maiden, we are greeted by the foreboding crone. Carcer the Caileach is out gathering her firewood at this time, hunkering down for the rest of the winter. If she encounters our Fairy Princess, she’s going to clock her in the head with her staff and drag her back to her basement to share the winter with her!
That is pretty sinister. There really isn’t a way around that.
But the truth of the matter is, that Fairy Princess is a bit of a spoiled brat. Without the forced tutelage of Carcer the Caileach, she would make a particularly selfish queen. Maybe we too need to spend some time peeling potatoes for Carcer the Caileach. Times have been hard lately, very hard. We have lost a great deal, institutions, patterns of thinking, and people. Let us especially remember the people, and then be grateful that we are alive in a universe that is alive. The scars we wear remind us of who we are. Our calloused hands show us our mettle and all the possibilities we are capable of. Carcer the Caileach will release the Fairy Princess in the Summer. She will be full of knowledge! Of herbs and animals, history, and recipes. And when her eyes see the bright summer sunshine, she will know how glorious a new day truly is.
Fear not the darkness, my Fair Friends, your time in the sun is coming.