Or I would stroll along in the darkness slowly, deliberately, watching my feet as I stepped lightly on the long grass, so as not to disturb it. It spoke to me in whispers so faint I could scarcely perceive them.
As I walked on, I began to hear more distinctly the water speaking its lapping language, the rocks humming and moving in time to the cricket's song, the light summer breeze sighing through the grass and the trees swaying in the twilight air, murmuring words of wisdom.
I continued on, feeling at one with these beings. As the moon caressed my hair, I could feel the eyes on me.
My horse nickered, "Where are you?" I could hear him following along at a distance, munching clover, occasionally blowing through his nose as his way of letting me know he was still there. He often wondered why I did the things I did, but he was content with my company, so he stayed with me, knowing that he would get an extra ration of sweet grain later.
I persisted onward. The crickets chirped hello, the bullfrogs warned me in their deep voices of the foxes hiding, just over there. "Hello brother fox! How are you?" I sang my hellos to the creatures and the warm night air and all around me they sang back. The songs vibrated deep within me, and I was healed.
I recognized the little people in the animals that were around me every day. The ground squirrels were just elves that were hiding behind that shape, as were the jay, the crow, the owl, the cat, the fox, the otter, the snake.
My eyes grew accustomed to "the seeing," as I called it then. I saw the little people everywhere, and I heard the trees, the water, the air, the earth, the fire; they spoke in a language all their own. I saw the human forms of these beings, and I knew that others had seen them before me; I wasn't the only one.
I first remember them talking to me when I was just a tot. They were my friends then, and I played with them. My parents called them my "imaginary friends." When I happened to mention them in school, the other kids made fun of me and I was sent to the child psychologist once a week for the duration of the third grade. Luckily, my parents stood up for me and told the principal and the teacher to leave me alone.
I continued to talk to the fey, and they advised me. They told me things in thoughts sometimes, as if telepathically, or feelings. Sometimes I would suddenly feel an overwhelming sadness, or anger, or happiness. It would be them, communicating in their peculiar way. Then sometimes, if I was in a spot that felt uncomfortable, I would ask, "What's wrong?" They would usually react with disparagement about something done to them by a human, or many humans. They sometimes didn't differentiate between one of us and all. So I would send healing energy and ask for forgiveness, and they would usually mellow.
Mostly, though, they were happy to communicate with me, as they didn't frequently get to talk with humans in quite that way.
I got to know them and their ways, and they to know and like me. This was a good thing, as a lot of them were none too fond of humans, because of our lack of concern for the Earth and her creatures. They were concerned for the pollution that was building up, and I couldn't understand what they were so worried about - this was in the 1960s. Now I know they were trying to warn me, even then, that we must be careful and conscientious about our ecology. They were concerned, for they saw the destruction that was coming. I was only a little girl; what could I do? I asked them, and they replied, "We all must do what we can; you will teach the others in time."
Now I teach what I know of the Earth and the fey kingdom.
Contacting the fey kingdom
We have all heard the fairy tales of childhood, and some of us have seen the little people. There have been innumerable conflicting stories about them. Curious? They can be reached. If you strive to do effective magick, you probably want to use all the energy available, and the fey are one of the many energies that lie virtually untapped. I have always been fond of fairies and elves myself, and they help me a great deal in my magick and my everyday life.
We have such busy lives; we are always running to and fro. We have lost our sensitivity to the subtle and fine energies of the fey kingdom. Any time we actually stop and look around, we see so much; we receive constant, profuse information to process. But if we look carefully, we can see the fey shimmer like heat on a scorching summer day. We can see them sparkle like the last vestiges of fireworks in the Fourth of July sky.
In our world, real silence is infrequent. Ordinarily, life is like being in the center of a crowd; there is a humming or buzzing noise almost everywhere. The buzz of electricity, appliances, computers or traffic, or the drone of voices, is always going on behind us.
The soft sound of an air sprite is akin to hair blowing in the wind. The voice of a water fairy is barely audible above the sound of a rushing stream or brook, and we must listen very closely to hear them.
The fey are master shape shifters and can assume almost any shape they please. Sometimes they appear as animals, sometimes as energy, sometimes as a picture in your mind. We must let them communicate as they will, without projecting our preconceived notions of how they should look or sound. You may have been seeing and hearing them all along and just didn't know it.
One of the ways I can always tell when the fey are present is, I get an overwhelming urge to laugh or smile or just a distinct feeling of something being very funny! Then something usually goes wrong or gets lost for a time, or someone gets his or her words tangled up so they come out sounding really silly. It is obvious to you after you get to know the fey when they are around and paying attention to you.
You may already be living with the fey. I find that when you have an interest in them or like them, they seem to know and congregate around you and your space. Whether you know it or not, you acknowledge them by having a fondness for them. They like that; it makes them happy when humans like and respect them. Sometimes, though, the fey are even happier to have us fear them. But there is nothing to be afraid of, although I do advise a healthy respect be shown them. They are able to make life uncomfortable if they get to dislike you.
Some of them find us humans quite dull and stupid, which is one of the reasons that they are amused by playing mischievous tricks on us. They can be bouncing up and down right in front of our faces, and we don't see them. They can be shouting at us to water our house plants, and we don't hear them. How silly of us humans to think we are the only intelligent life; how vain we are to not notice the life teeming all around us.
The fey tend the plants, trees and flowers; if you appreciate these things, they will not be far away.
It is really easy to see and to hear the fey when you learn how. To connect with the fey, go to a park if there is one close by, or outside into your yard if you have one - even on your deck if you live in an apartment. You may even find fairies among your house plants!
Once you're in a relatively quiet spot, outdoors or with plants about, close your eyes. Take several deep cleansing breaths, and spend a few moments in meditation. Let go of whatever assumptions you may have about how the fey look or sound. Let go of your need to see them as a particular thing, like a picture you have seen in a book. They do not necessarily appear like any of our preconceptions.
Concentrate on some plants, the foot of a tree, a flower. Allow yourself to "tune in" and be very present. Allow your eyes to unfocus; open your hearing. Then, focus your attention, opening up to the vibrations that are so high and fine that you nearly cannot perceive them.
Look and listen very closely, and you will see and hear them. Let them communicate as they will, and without any preconceived notions of how they "should" look or sound.
To be able to "hear" the voices of the fey, you must learn to tune out the drone. You must learn to be able to discern the tiny tinkling voices, above and past the noise. Sometimes it's easier to tune into the messages they send through your body or mind than to literally "hear" them. Pay attention.
You may not contact them the first time you try. Connecting with the fey is like other things: It works better with practice. You also need to recognize your own natural way of receiving information. Some people hear, some see, some feel, some "just know"; all of these are ways of discerning the fey. Allow yourself to have the most complete experience of the fey that you can.
Once you contact them, if you want their presence in your life, you can ask them to come to you, invite them in, compliment them on their abilities to make things grow.
Ask them for a favor and leave them a gift in return; plant a tree for them, plant some flowers, build a shrine. If you persist, they will come, and they will make their presence known to you.
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