Hiding, Healing, Power

Faerie art, Francesca De GrandisHiding, Healing, Power
Written and painted in March and/or early April, 2012.

I call the following piece a Faerie tale. That is accurate but not by most standards. The piece is part my thoughts, part my paintings, part my methods for empowerment (perhaps in less overt forms, such as asking you a question), mixed with little magical stories told through word and visuals. By my definition of shamanism, that is a faerie tale: The sum total helps you live in myth—live in myth generally speaking, and in the particular myths I’m creating here, and in your own unique myths that this piece can help you find and/or better dwell in.

I painted the illustrations brush stroke by stroke—digitally. I just paint on a computer screen instead of a canvas. And with that:

Hiding Fey Warrior In Training. Click on the painting to see it large and without blurring that occurs when WordPress shrinks a pic to fit the page.

Part One

This is a Faerie tale about healing and power. And about hiding. This story is for grown ups.

Sometimes we need to hide. There are many reasons. We might have to hide because we hurt. We find a safe, secret place to heal, or at least to be away from whatever might hurt us.

Do you ever hide? Do you need to tell someone why? Or is it better that no one knows you are hiding?

Sometimes we hide because it is fun.

Sometimes we hide to be alone with our thoughts.

Or with our “imaginary” friends.

Hiding, Faerie Healer in Training. Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture.

When children have to repeatedly hide to protect themselves, it can injure their spirit in ways that haunt them into adulthood. But they’re doing the best they know how to keep themselves safe, and that is an act of power.
 
Hiding can also be an act of power when motivated instead by happy events and sweet wishes. We don’t always stay out of sight because of fear and pain; for example, you might simply tuck yourself away in a special place for a while, in order to flourish undisturbed. 

Some people hide to gain powers that only come where no one—without those powers—can see them. They work hard and often joyfully, secretly doing what the Cosmos asks of them. That is what this little Fey fellow is doing—he is a Faerie healer in training.

And perhaps he is also making himself safe from trouble; if you ask him sincerely, he might tell you. Or maybe he’ll just keep peeking out at you from his hiding place.

I’ll post part 2 in two weeks, here. I blog once a week, and am going to try alternating between this and the blog at my other site. Two blogs with two separate RRS feeds.

Please share the URL to my above story; here it is to copy and paste for Facebook or an email or whatever: https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/13/hiding-healing-power/    I want folks to know about my new Faerie tale and my refurbished site (the site you are on has been updated lately with a new look and all sorts of other new stuff). Thank you for your support. I cannot do without it, truly! Oh, wait…I am so 20th century! Unless you’re viewing this blog entry on my site’s home page, you can like my Faerie tale with the nifty Facebook button, right below, next to the Twitter button and the like. Duh!

Paper Cutting and Candle Magic

Papercutting, Horned God, FDG, 1994

I find folk art intrinsically magical. And I find the art of papercutting wondrous in and of itself: I am amazed that something as humble as an old piece of paper can be recycled—using nothing more than a pair of scissors—into an object of beauty. I just can’t get enough of it.

I may not always be good at it, but I love doing it. I’ve filled my home—and that of my friends’—with paper cuttings since the 70s, if not earlier.

I also came up with a way paper cutting can augment the power of candle magic. Here it is:

1) Choose a magical goal—e.g. love, money, confidence.

2) Choose a simple symbol or symbols of your magical goal. E.g. a heart for a love spell. I often like to do more than one spell on a candle at a time. The house blessing candle below is also in remembrance of my mom; she read playing cards; so, in addition to symbols that represent houseblessing for me, I also chose the shapes of the suits in her honor.

A House Blessing

Optional: Also add symbols you find powerful, just to add more “juice” to the spell. For example, in the cutting to the left, I added a seven pointed star.

3) Cut the symbol(s) into a piece of paper that will wrap around the glass container of a seven-day candle. Use fancy paper, plain paper, newspaper, a pretty page from a mag, whatever.

When doing this kind of papercutting, I usually am not concerned about making it fancy or artistically “right.” I might make a quick rough cutting, instead of the more laborious precise efforts I made for the above Horned God cutting. I can be a perfectionist when making that sort of cutting but, when cutting for candle magic, I usually prefer ease—to just have fun, keep it simple, unless I feel like taking time on making it ornate and “just so” visually.

4) Wrap your glass container, fastening the ends of the paper together with a bit of tape.

Be safe: Do not let the paper wrapping extend even to the lip of the glass container; do not wrap paper directly around a candle itself; do not leave a candle burning unattended.

4) Light your candle as you make a wish for your goal. That’s it! Simple, fun, powerful, and a chance to be creative.

Another example: For a money spell, I cut the word “cash” into paper. Here is the paper cutting before I wrapped it around the candle.

Below is the paper cutting for my above house blessing, laid out flat. (It is the reverse side so, being a magazine page, has entirely different print on it.)

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I hope you like my idea! If you do, please share a link to it—that would be lovely and needed support. Do not lift my idea wholesale onto your site without my permission. Play fair. Power to the people means the right to choose what is done with the fruits of your labor. And the contents of this site are under copyright. Thank you so much!

Upcoming Class

Updated for a July 2012 event (Erratum: The main header says upcoming class, but this is a ritual, not a class):

Francesca De Grandis, May 2012

Hurt in the Name of Spirituality?
A Seven-Week Healing Ritual

I am going to lead a seven-week healing ritual for people who have been hurt by spiritual teachers or groups. The ritual will also help you find power you lost due to such injuries.

Suitable whether the problem was caused by mainstream religion or an alternative teacher or group.

Whether the hurt comes from a Christian, pagan, new ager, or other, there are many reasons pain is caused: fundamentalism (fundamentalism can be found in any spiritual context, even pagan), ineptitude, jealousy, competitiveness, and unsound teachings are just a few sources of damage. There are also many types of injuries that result but, whatever the type one suffers, it might be extensive and have even ruined one’s life.

I am motivated to offer this ritual because, in my decades as a community shaman, I have seen it all, a zillions injuries in the name of spirituality.

Here are a few examples of issues I have addressed:
1) I’ve helped a lot of people recognize their power, beauty, and unique value, after they had been demoralized by invalidating teachers and groups who treated them as it they were “less than.” Often, the injured party was spiritually beaten up by mainstream religion, so turned to alternative situations, only to be trampled all over again, by the very people they had hoped would understand and be supportive.
2) I have been repeatedly asked to fix a botched initiation. I can not tell you how many times someone asked me, “Can you help? So and so was initiated, and it didn’t go right!”
3) I have facilitated the healing and empowerment of students whose teachers could not handle the techniques they taught, so the energy got out of hand and hurt students, who were then shamed and deserted, instead of helped.
4) Careless teachers introduced students to techniques they were in no way ready for. They experienced psychic burnout, negative entities, or other problems. I helped pick up the pieces and fix the situation.
6) Some people didn’t know what the wound actually was, they only knew they were not the same anymore, they felt lost or unwholesome or vaguely “wrong.”

The ritual is relevant to most types of injuries, but if you have any doubt, feel free to call me.

This will be a seven week ritual, not a therapy, discussion, or support group. There will be plenty of support, but if you need therapy, or a good many long dialogs, this is not the right process for you. Dialog will happen, but is not the core process. What I do offer is
* expert shamanic healing of your spirit
* limited enrollment so you receive individualized attention
* rituals tailored to your specific needs
* safe, ethical tools that empower you to self-heal when needed, but to reach out when that is a more appropriate choice. The first option helps you feel your power to be in control, while the second allows support when needed.

It might be hard to understand how I could be caring and sensitive to your needs, without there always being a lot of dialog. I cannot explain the process I use, it has to be  experienced. But I can say a few things:
* The ritual is not the same shamanic stuff you might have already tried. So if that didn’t work, or not work fully enough, my approach adds new elements.
* I have spent my life learning traditional shamanic techniques, developing innovative healing modalities, and perfecting my skills. I trained in this field fulltime. This was not academic theory but skill training. Then I worked fulltime as a spiritual guide. My hands-on experience is massive. If you want more info about how solid my background is, read my bio.
* Look into your heart, to know whether this group feels safe and right for you.

We meet in a group phone call. No computer or special equipment needed. Just dial your phone.

The ritual is without prerequisites and suitable for newbies. I individualize material, so adepts who need help past their own methods will be given substantive support. The group involves no religious doctrine. This is about your spirituality, whatever that may be.

This group can be used as one of the electives required to participate in Third Road Advanced Shamanic Training.

The group meets every THURSDAY, for a total of seven meetings, starting JULY 12. The meeting goes from 6:00 PM (EST) to 7:00. RESERVE Thursday, AUGUST 30, same time, for a makeup class in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions.

TUITION is $250. TO REGISTER, sign up for “Special Event” at http://www.well.com/user/zthirdrd/specialevent.html  You might pay long-distance charges, depending on your long-distance plan. If so, they appear on your phone bill. The event’s area code is a U.S. #.

Upon receipt of payment, your place is reserved, and event details emailed to you. No refunds.

If u need more info, can’t use PayPal, or want to discuss scholarship or trade, call me: 814-337-2490. Don’t email; disabilities = I can’t discuss events by email.

This essay on ethical and unethical teachers might be of interest.

Love, Francesca De Grandis

Being Fey Magic

Ok, I posted this quick n dirty. Heh, thank you so much guys for being interested in my idea. I love that I did not have to explain what I meant by “being fey magic instead of doing fey magic.”  

Ok.  A spontaneous class on being fey magic instead of doing fey magic: 

Tues noon, EST, May 22 & 29, an hour each time. 
Reserve June 5  for make up session just  in case emergency = I cannot make one of the planned sessions. 

Special price: $25. 

No experience needed. Adepts and newbies work together. 

We meet in a group phone call. No computer or special equipment needed. 

TUITION is $25.  You might pay long-distance charges, depending on your long-distance plan. If so, they appear on your phone bill. The event’s area code is a U.S. #. 

To register: go to www.paypal.com * Log into your account * Click Send Money tab. * Use outlawbunny@outlawbunny.com as the Recipients Email. * Fill in the amount of $25 * Put the following in the notes section: “Being Fey Magic”; your name; your phone #.

Upon receipt of payment, event details emailed to you. The Faerie queen blesses us!

Blessing #2 and Gratitude

Detail, Faerie Landscape, Outlaw Bunny

As the relaunch of this site approaches, I pray to all gods I hold dear, World Tree, the lines which I come from and which I create, and the rest of my Faerie crew, please keep safe and bless this site.

Please keep safe and bless all who support this site through their direct work on it or simply by visiting in good cheer.

Please keep safe and bless me and mine, all my work and all my life.

May this site be maximum fun and beauty, helping cosmos, my Gods, Tree of life, the lineages I come from and which I create, the rest of my Faerie crew, and all beings stay safe, whole, ecstatic.

May this site be maximum service, helping all be safe, whole, ecstatic.

Keep me and my work in your light
that my own light be bright—a beacon.
May all I do and am be a shining beacon
for those who should see it—not a beacon to me,
because I am too frail to carry anyone,
but a beacon leading people to Divinity, as they see it,
that they be loved so fully as to be stardrenched.

May I shine bright in joy.

May I shine free from harm.

May I shine hidden from anyone who’d try to
extinguish my light or otherwise harm me and mine.

May all for whom I am the right spiritual guide find me.

May this site create abundance for me and tribe. 

May this site and all my work
be a welcoming hearth to star-dusted travelers.

May all I do here be according to the Divine Will.

Thank you. So be it.

Dear visitor, a bit of the above blessing is adapted from an earlier prayer I wrote on my other site.

On another note: Humbled by blessings in my life, I had to paint this banner to express gratitude. It hangs in my kitchen. I put it here to send thanks into the universe, to you who bless me—this includes a site visitor who blesses me simply by a single good-willed visit here, whether now or any time since the 90s when the site started.

It is such joy to love my gods, ancestors, and the rest of my community­—the joy of loving a blessing itself.

I feel excited wonder about all the blessings this site has received during our revamp of it, so want to share about that in upcoming blogs.

Thank you for visiting.

Kathi, my webmaster. I painted it in gratitude for and homage to this amazing woman

Blessing This Site

Blessing the revitalization of this site and ever-revitalization of my life. The festival of Imbolc approaches. Brid, all the Gods on my God committee (AKA my pantheon, dear visitor to this site—Faerie Gods, Oxala, Exu, Great Trickster Goddess, and all other gods I hold dear), my ancestors, and the rest of the crew, thank you!! The updated site is not ready to show yet, but I want even our process setting it up blessed and bawdy, holy and fun, and of service. May I remember that being whole and centered and healthy during the huge amount of web work needed on this project is in itself a service to the cosmos, Gods, all humans, all beings. May I be my best for the folks helping renew the site, never letting my worry about or ideals for the site’s renewal interfere with me being supportive and fun.

Thank you for being with us in the months of prep needed to get even this far. You bless me.