My own view is that faeries are beings who exist in another dimension, and who have interacted with humankind for countless centuries. They possess the ability/technology to move back and forth between their dimension and our own. I will admit to having personal experiences with the faery race as I perceive them. Some of these meetings have been wonderful and others were very disturbing. One particular encounter was actually quite unsettling in which a faery took on the form of a frightening creature. A teacher of mine once said that if all our encounters with faeries are always lovely ones then we are not actually having any.
When I reflect upon my own encounters with faeries, in comparison with reported faery encounters in the time of the witchcraft trials, I cannot dismiss the reality of the latter. The reactions of the people, and their interpretation of events, do make sense to me (although I understand the experience differently). People in past periods thought and reacted in ways not unexpected for the time period in which they lived. Therefore, the reports of faery encounters in the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods contain both grain and chaff. The same is true today.
I believe it is easier for people who have faery encounters to arrive at a closer understanding of the events than it is for those who have not had their own personal experience. Likewise, I believe that people who practice witchcraft, and have had the experiences it can generate, are better able to sort the facts from the fantasy. From this perspective a modern witch's understanding about what appears in the writings on witchcraft in the past is based upon his or her experience in the world of witchcraft. The understanding of an inexperienced person will always fall short of fully understanding witches and witchcraft.
The type of witchcraft I refer to has little in common with popular modern notions about witchcraft. Old World witchcraft is glimpsed in shadow because the shadow's edge is the threshold of the portal to the inside. Stepping across the threshold and coming back again is what brings about realization. It reveals the difference between witchcraft as something to do on the weekend and witchcraft as something much larger and greater than the witch. Old World witchcraft is empowering and transformative. It is more than a philosophy and a self image; it is how we interact with our connection to, and relationship with, all things.
There is a reason why witchcraft is traditionally linked to the night and intimately connected to the moon. In a mystical sense the moon is a form and is formless at the same time. From earth's perspective the moon appears to change shape in the night sky and even disappears entirely for three nights each lunar cycle. Its shape is not constant like that of the sun and stars. Therefore, it becomes a metaphor for altered states of consciousness. To stand beneath the moon in a state of receptivity is to invite the "otherworld" into our mind, body, and spirit.
As humans we possess what is essentially a duality of awareness: conscious and subconscious. In Old World witchcraft the conscious mind is linked to the sun and the subconscious mind to the moon. We often call the conscious mind "the guardian" and it is his role to deal with material reality. He keeps us focused on the finite, tangible, and linear realities because they serve to sustain the life of the physical body. The subconscious mind is known as "the way-shower" and her role is to reveal non-material reality. She keeps us connected to the limitless, ethereal, and spherical realities because they serve to sustain the spiritual nourishment of the soul. The conscious and subconscious minds are two equal halves of one greater whole; by analogy, we possess two arms, and it is more effective to use both than to always rely only upon one.
The guardian mind cannot, by itself, accept the existence of non-material reality. In order to do so, it must share consciousness with the way-shower. For example, the guardian mind cannot believe in an invisible and silent deity because it does not experience this through the five senses. The way-shower has no objection to the idea of deity, but it cannot maintain it as a lasting concept (because in dreams nothing exists as something that cannot change form or meaning). It is only when the guardian and way-shower meet in a merged consciousness that faith becomes reality. Without this merged consciousness, the guardian regards faith as foundation-less and the way-shower sees it as merely a fading entertainment. But together our conscious and subconscious minds exchange part of their nature to each other. Through this exchange the conscious mind can accept inexperienced as something actualized, and the subconscious mind can regard imagination as a manifest and lasting form.
In Old World witchcraft the moon is not only a visible reminder of the occult mind; it is also the light that governs the most receptive time for a witch's magic-the night. Equally important is the fact that spirit activity is more pronounced at night. This is also the best time for communication with the dead. There is a difference between night and darkness. The former is determined through its relationship with the repeating cycle of light, and the latter is known by the shutting out of light. Therefore, we can be in night or in darkness. The Old World witch works with the night.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In